Khandakar Rezaul Karim went to California in the United States to visit his brother. While there he suddenly fell ill, and when his illness worsened he was admitted to hospital. On hearing the news, his son Khandakar Tanvir Murad Tapu quickly obtained a US visa and made the long journey to America. But after a hard fight with death over several days, his father passed away, and the decision was made to bury him there.

In 2015, Shykh Seraj, head of the Hridoye Mati O Manush team, and his colleague Toufiq Ahmed, a university friend of Tapu (both were students of the 26th batch of Jahangirnagar University), went to Los Angeles to film a documentary on agriculture. The work was about how farming in the region was surviving drought.

On 30 March 2015, when they found a little free time, Shykh Seraj went with Toufiq to Rosamond. Passing first through Palmdale, then Lancaster, and then cutting across the Mojave Desert, they reached a place 213 miles from central Los Angeles. There, in a graveyard beside the Masjid Al Sheikh Jaber, Tapu's father lies in peace. The purpose was to visit his grave. Such a personal experience alongside the work truly moved everyone.

Moazzem Hossain and Arif were also companions on the journey. The trip kept reminding them that no one knows where and when death is written for each of us; such has always been the uncertainty of death. May the soul of Khandakar Rezaul Karim rest in peace, and may all departed Muslims rest in peace. May Allah grant Khandakar Rezaul Karim Paradise, and grant Paradise to all believing Muslims. This is our heartfelt prayer to Almighty Allah.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Hridoye Mati O Manush. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.