A kaleidoscope of memories shine in front of my eyes as I write this – memories of Professor Dr. Jamal Nazrul Islam. Professor J N Islam, a Bangladeshi, was a prominent physicist and cosmologist in Asia as well as an internationally recognised and revered scientist. I had the honour of knowing this eclectic and brilliant scientist during my childhood days, owing to the fact that he was my father's teacher and the PhD theses supervisor of both my parents. I had the good fortune of seeing him in close proximity. Notwithstanding the fact that I admired him a lot from the very beginning, it wasn't until I grew up that I realised what a significant figure he had been throughout his life and career.