When BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman shared a photograph from inside a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, the caption captured the weight of history: “In the skies of Bangladesh after 6,314 days.”
It marked the end of a 17-year exile and the beginning of a long-awaited homecoming.
Yet beyond the politics and the emotion, another detail quietly seized the attention of readers and netizens alike – the books placed beside Tarique Rahman and his daughter, Barrister Zaima Rahman.
In an age of slogans and soundbites, those two books offered something rarer: a glimpse into thought, memory and identity travelling home alongside their readers.
A novel shaped by exile, ideas and Bangladesh
Resting beside Tarique Rahman was In the Light of What We Know, the widely acclaimed debut novel by Bangladeshi-born British writer Zia Haider Rahman. Published in 2014, the book has since earned a reputation as one of the most intellectually ambitious English-language novels of recent times.
Set against the global financial crisis of 2008 and the war in Afghanistan, the novel weaves together philosophy, mathematics, economics, politics and history. At its centre are long, probing conversations between Zafar, a mathematical genius, and his banker friend – dialogues that gradually open up questions of migration, power, class, moral responsibility and belonging.
For Bangladeshi readers, the book carries particular weight. Large sections explore the country’s political crises, social upheavals and unfinished struggles. That a political leader returning home after nearly two decades of exile was seen carrying a novel so deeply engaged with Bangladesh’s past and present felt, to many, quietly symbolic.
Zia Haider Rahman’s novel won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the oldest literary award in the UK, and has been described by international critics as “one of the defining novels of the 21st century.” Following the viral image, several Bangladeshi booksellers reported a sudden surge in demand, with copies quickly running out of stock.
A century of Bengali voices at Zaima Rahman’s side
Equally striking was the book seen beside Barrister Zaima Rahman: The Penguin Book of Bengali Short Stories, edited and translated by acclaimed translator Arunabha Sinha and published by Penguin Random House.
This landmark anthology brings together some of the finest short stories from Bengali literature, spanning both Bangladesh and West Bengal. It introduces English-language readers to works by literary giants such as Rabindranath Tagore, Manik Bandopadhyay, Akhtaruzzaman Elias, Shahidul Zahir, Humayun Ahmed, Satyajit Ray and Selina Hossain.
The stories chart a century of Bengali life – colonial rule, partition, the Liberation War, urban dislocation, poverty, resistance and the quiet complexities of human relationships. For many observers, the choice of this book carried its own unspoken meaning.
Zaima Rahman, who grew up abroad and is professionally trained in law, returning home with a volume so steeped in Bengali language, history and memory, was widely seen as a gesture towards cultural roots. Academics and readers alike noted that the inclusion of Liberation War narratives added an emotional layer to the moment of return.
A teacher from Jagannath University’s Department of Mass Communication and Journalism described the image as “deeply symbolic”, suggesting it reflected an effort by the younger generation of the diaspora to stay connected to the intellectual and cultural foundations of their homeland.
When books speak louder than words
In politics, appearances are often carefully choreographed. Yet the presence of these two books did not feel staged. They did not shout, campaign or provoke. Instead, they whispered – about ideas, memory, exile and return.
For many readers, the image offered a refreshing contrast to the usual theatre of power. It suggested that leadership, identity and belonging are also shaped by reading, reflection and engagement with history. In the hours after the photograph circulated, social media feeds filled with discussions not of speeches or slogans, but of novels, short stories and literary heritage.
On a flight carrying a family back to Bangladesh after 17 years, these books became more than travel companions. They stood as quiet witnesses to a journey home – reminding many that before nations are governed, they are imagined, written and remembered.