My mind towards Assamese Literature was literally like an Axanto Electron. (The electron is a subatomic particle carrying a negative electric charge. It has no known components or substructure. Therefore, the electron is generally thought to be an elementary particle.) Coming from an English medium school I hadn’t read anything Assamese apart from my course work all my life. SKC is responsible for turning it around. Quite late in life, I asked my friend Aporaj to suggest me an Assamese book to read. Prompt came the answer. Suran Medhi’s work. I was like... Who? And why would you suggest reading his books.
Now Aporaj being a calm and composed poet friend as well as an avid reader not to mention, a huge fan of SKC gave me a “prolonged summary” of his work and narrated some of SKC’s book scenes to me. I decided to give it a go. The first story I read was Gulam. My mum, my biggest critique and rock in life after Deuta, saw me reading SKC’s book. A sarcastic smile followed by her saying... Make sure you finish the book. Reading a signboard and completing a book are two different things. Yes it was hard in the beginning and it took me twice the time to read a page in Assamese but then... language is practice. The more you speak and read, the easier it becomes. Maa is also an avid reader of Assamese Literature and I often felt left out when she discussed about her books with her friends. I am still learning and enjoying the richness Assamese Literature has to offer.
I was hooked on SKC. I smuggled Aporaj to Panbazar and instructed him to get me the best SKC’s books and I dutifully carried them back home to London. Manoj Goswami once told me that he requested SKC to write a New Year peice for his then Axomia newspaper. SKC was reluctant and later Eta Bhaal Khobor was on the papers on one new year’s day. Altaf Da made a short film out of it , When I watched it, I was gobsmacked to see the impact, the subtleness and the beauty of narrating a story. A very well made film . I liked the angel Altafda chose for the film. I also liked the fact that SKC was subtle and was thrilled that he used a pseudo name. I write my blogs as Rukmini Boigari. Why? Well why not? It isn’t necessary for people to know you as long as they read what you wrote. A journalist once asked my=e why I chose the name. Rukmini gave from North East and I came from the same part of the world and Boiragi is a surname is secretly loved to have. It sounds like a song. Beautiful. In real life I cannot us it for that became my pseudo name. The fact that SKC writes under different name gave me a kick. Not that I am comparing him with me for that will be preposterous.
Every Time I visit Guwhaati, I am tempted to ask Altaf Da to introduce me to SKC but I shy off the idea and tell myself- Bublee Toi Jugyo Nohoi. You are not worth enough to meet such a persona. But deep in my mind I connected with him and had immense respect for his work. His passing away news came hit me like a bolt out of the blue through his Facebook SKC Fan Group. I was not prepared as I was not aware that he was ailing.
25th June is a very special and private day for me for its that day when my idol and The biggest inspiration in my life, Deuta passed away... four years ago. It is spooky that SKC passed away on the very day day. I felt as though somewhere in ether he connected with me and gave me his blessings which I couldn’t get in flesh and blood. People like him should not be mourned for he will live forever. Eti Londonor Duporiyat,bagisat rod loi moi Apunak shrodhanjali jonalu. Ehaat dobar khelor dore, hothaht apunar dehatu hera kintu apuniye hol Asomor Baputi Sahun.
The Justice Manisana Singh Commission has submitted its report on Beltola incident before Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at his residence on Monday. The panel set up on November 24 conducted several rounds of public hearing and even visited the clash site last month and received some startling fact relating on this incidents. Several top ranked civil and police officials including some prominent citizens and even victims deposed before the panel. The incident took place at a public rally organised by the All Adivasi Students Association of Assam and the protesters turned violent and had clash with some other people which left several people injured.
People of Dimoria joined a prayer meeting organized by Karbi Students Union, Dimoria Tribal Sangha and Dimoria Jila Journalist Association for the peace of the departed souls in yesterday's road mishap at accident spot at Patgaon, Sonapur on 25-02-08.12 people died on the spot at Sonapur when a Guwahati-bound bus fell into a river after the driver lost his control at the dead of the night on Saturday. Pix by UB Photos.
Altogether 61 poachers in the Manah National Sanctuary on Monday have surrendered before the BTAD administration at Lobdang guri market in Bagsa district. They further have left some arms and ammunitions while they laid down their arms before the BTAD Deputy Chief Executive Khamba Borgoyari. These include 24 hand made guns, several round of bullets. These poachers are residents of ten villages adjacent to the national sanctuary. They have surrendered at a function organised by an NGO Wild Life Trust of India and No 32 Company of SSB in Lobdang guri LP School. They further have pledged not to repeat these mistakes in future.
Two people dead and nine others have been seriously injured when a Tata Sumo in which they were travelling fell into a deep pond in Jengrai in Majuli on Monday morning. According to information, the vehicle had 11 people while it was falling. Two people died on the spot. Later, the local people came and rescue these passengers. All the nine injured people have been rushed to the hospital. Details are awaited.
Preparations have reached the final stage in Guwahati to host the East Zone Ranji Trophy One Day cricket match from Tuesday to be held in Nehru Stadium and Maligaon NF Railway stadium. According to information, ten matches are in the schedule this time. The participating teams from Orissa, Jharkhand, Tripura have already arrived in the city. The Bengal team is arriving on Monday, say the organizers here adding that two former star cricketers Debashish Mohanty and Opener Shiv Sundar Das have also accompanied their teams to Guwahati. Bengal skipper Sourav Ganguly will not be playing the first two matches, but he is arriving on February 29. Meanwhile, the home team has declared former Indian...
Five of the 12 bodies of those left dead in the Sonapur incident on Sunday wee hours have been identified and handed over to their relatives at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital campus after postmortem. Five of these bodies were identified and accordingly handed over their relatives. The relatives of these victims broke down as the bodies reached the Hospital campus for postmortem. The five dead bodies have been identified are Pradip Konwar, who was pursuing PGDCA course at Epitom, from Gaurisagar in Sivasagar district; Sushil Ranjan Ghose, manager with the Guwahati based Sri Gautom Construction Company from Bilasipara; Indranil Chakravartty of Silchar who works with the Panbazar based...
Karbi Longri National Liberation Front (KLNLF) militants have killed two Hindi speaking people on Sunday in Assam's Karbi Anglong district early in the morning. According to information, both the victims were from Nagaon who come to Rongpur village when the militants shot them dead from a close range. The KLNLF involvement is evident from KNLF chairman P Dili's recent statement threatening the Hindi speaking people alleging that the government was attacking the KNLF insurgents. That too in the time of peace talks. Earlier on Saturday, nine people sustained injury, when KLNLF militants attacked them with a hand grenade in Diphu.
As many as fifteen people have been feared killed at Sonapur in Kamrup district when a Guwahati bound Green Valley bus from Silapathar fell into a deep stream at the dead of the night on Saturday. According to information, the driver of the bus carrying 22 people including 18 passengers, is said to have lost its control which lead to this tragic incident.One of the drivers is absconding while the another died on the spot. A staff member named Amal Das from Barpeta has been found injured who was rushed to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital early in the morning. His condition is said to be critical. Twelve dead bodies have been recovered while people barring three found alive have been...
One of the leading Newspaper of Assam "Asomiya Pratidin" Sunday issue (24th February) has been seen burnt down by the angry BPF Supporters at Kokrajhar on publishing of a news item on Transport Minister Chandan Brahma regarding the money spent in BTC Chief Hagrama Mahilary's marriage ceremony.According to the newspaper, the marriage spending was over Rupees 4 crores which Minister Chandan Brahma conspired to spend to malign the image of the BTC Chief Hagrama Mahilary in front of the people of the BTC area, most of whom still sleep with just one-meal-a-day. Pix by UB Photos.
By Education, I mean what we generally believe---'the concept of acquiring one degree after another'. The reader might be shocked to see the word 'Curse' in this context. But, in order to understand the point, one has to go through this write-up. At the very outset, I would like to state that this piece is not applicable to parts of the world other than Assam. Being born and brought up in the State of Assam, I can cite various examples how education has proved to be fatal for the Assamese people as a whole. The erosion is going on without observation. Just take the example of the so called 'Assamese middle class' (those with the surnames 'Hazarika', 'Gogoi', 'Barua', 'Bora', 'Kakoti' et...
Comments
Pages
Add new comment