Jewel Aich (born 10 April 1950) is a Bangladeshi magician and bansuri player. He is a

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

of the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

Personal life

Aich was born in Shomdekathi,

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

(present-day

Barisal District Barisal District, officially Barishal District () is a district in south-central Bangladesh, it was formerly called Bakerganj district, and established in 1797. Its headquarters is in Barisal city, which is also the headquarters of Barisal ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

), the fifth of nine children born to Indian businessman Bijoy Kumar (B.K.) Aich and Saraju Aich, a homemaker. He became interested in magic and

choreography Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

early in his life. His interest grew after a Romani man performed a magic and dance routine during a visit to Aich's family home. On 23 July 1985, Aich married Pasha Khoshnu, daughter of Professor Darbesh Ali Khan and a political science teacher at Dhaka University. After their wedding, Pasha Khoshnu became known as Bipasha Aich. The couple have one daughter, Kheya Aich, who has appeared onstage with her mother during Aich's performances.

Participation in the Liberation War

In 1971, after finishing his studies, Aich and his family participated in the Bangladesh Liberation War. While in Bahadurpur (Nadiya), West Bengal, India, at a freedom fighters' camp, he taught students in refugee camps. He also performed magic to entertain the children at the camp.

Origin of name

After the Liberation War, Aich began writing regularly for '' Kishore Bangla'', a newspaper for young people. One young fan from

Rajshahi Rajshahi (, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major Urban area, urban, administrative, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi Distr ...

would address him as "Jewel Aich" instead of "G.L. Aich." Finding this simpler than his own name, he received permission from his family before changing his name to Jewel Aich.

Professional career

After seeing a Romani man perform magic during a visit to his village, Aich was immediately drawn to it. He later saw a circus performing in a nearby settlement and was impressed by a magician who appeared to cut off his assistant's neck. Inspired by the trick, he designed a special knife, which he later demonstrated to his friends by "cutting off" a friend's leg. Aich learned some tricks from fellow magician Abdur Rashid of the Lion Circus in Pirojpur. By the time he enrolled in college, he was already known in his district as an amateur magician.

TV appearance

In 1977, a Bangladeshi TV host, Abdullah Abu Syed, invited Aich to perform magic on his show, which was Aich's first appearance on television. He would subsequently appear in more television shows, such as Ananda Mela and Ityadi. Later, he created his own TV specials at Bangladesh Television (BTV); one of these, 'Anandamela, Magic World of Jewel Aich', was named Program of the Year.

Music

Aich is also a flautist, having studied with Ustad Abdur Rahman, Profullo Masid, and his son Montu Masid. From 1973, he began playing flute on Dhaka Radio (Bangladesh), Kolkata Radio (India),

Radio Beijing China Radio International (CRI) is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of China. It is currently headquartered in Babaoshan, Shijingshan, Beijing. It was founded on December 3, 1941, as Radio Peking. It later adopted the pinyin f ...

(China),

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

(Germany),

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

(UK), and VOA (USA).

Awards

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak () is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of martyrs of the Bengali language movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contributions in a number of fields, including culture, education, and e ...

(1993)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aich, Jewel 1950s births Living people People from Barisal District Bangladeshi magicians Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Bangladeshi flautists Year of birth missing (living people)