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.
29 Apr 2016 - 4:22pm | AT News
Dr Arati Barua from Assam who is an Associate Professor, Philosophy, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi & the Founder Director of Indian division of the Schopenhauer Society (...
12 Feb 2014 - 8:52am | AT News
Assam Higher secondary examination begins in science, arts and commerce streams on Wednesday.According to the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council over 2,54,000 candidates are appearing ...
8 Jul 2014 - 8:06pm | Hantigiri Narzary
Hundreds of students activist and tea garden workers with festoone,banner and placards participated in a protest rally against the exploitation, colonial hangover and negligible wage...
20 Dec 2007 - 5:50am | editor
Several people have been injured while police shelled tear gas to disperse the protesters who blocked the National Highways 37 at Naduwa in Upper Assam's Dibrugarh district on Thursday. The...
Our Correspondent Guwahati: A war of word between Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and peace broker Mamoni Roisom Goswami may put the peace process in yet another logjam. Talking to a vernacular daily on its Monday issue, the award winning writer says she is not satisfied the way Mr Gogoi urges her to rush to Bangladesh. “If need be I am ready to leave for Bangladesh with Rebati but it must be a decent appeal.” “Let the Government make necessary arrangement to go to Bangladesh. I will do it tomorrow itself. But it will not be my personal initiative. The Chief Minister knows: how a top ranked leader of a banned outfit can be met.” She rues that she finds it...
From Our Correspondent GUWAHATI: Development in any form must ensure the well being of the people of all section. But what the Government does these days only to safeguard the interest of the multi national companies. A strong movement is neccessary to stop these style of exploitation in the name of development. These are more or less of what Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA)-pioneer Medha Patkar says at a function at Gauhati University on Sunday. She expressed grave concern over the environment of Assam saying the scenario is at stake due to unilateral action by the Government for construction of big dams and industrialization like steps for seismic survey on the Brahmaputra riverbed...
Our CorrespondentGUWAHATI: Caught in a controversy over the imposition of President’s Rule in Assam, former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta ridicules that the sitting Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi does not know what is there in the provisions of Article 355 and 356 of the Constitution.Addressing a press conference in the city on Sunday, Mr Mahanta says, without undertanding the previsions of these Articles, Mr Gogoi is attacking me and my party time and again.”According to the AGP(P) supremo, the state’s law-and-order situation is totally dismal and now it is more serious then what it was during his tenure.Mr Gogoi has been failing to deal with the situation these days...
The legacy of Assam’s culture would be a lot less enriching if we overlook the contribution of the legendary Shri Jyotiprashad Agarwalla. Similarly there are many other non Assamese in Assam who are more Assamese than many Assamese themselves.Assam is not by the Assamese alone but it is a conglomeration of various communities, tribes, sects etc. It’s a melting pot of many cultures.. Assam’s present status its economy would not be what it is without the contribution of the entire society irrespective of what language they speak and which community they belong to. Therefore the recent spate of killings of non Assamese people comes as a shock to every Assamese and saddens him...
The President of India is elected by an electoral college, comprising the Members of both the Houses of Parliament as well as the MLAs of all state Assemblies. The total number of members in the Electoral College for the Presidential elections in 2007 is 4896 (233 Rajya Sabha MPs + 543 Lok Sabha MPs + 4,120 State MLAs). However, unlike any other election, the value of votes of the voters are different here. While the value of votes of each MP is the same, the strength of a vote of an MLA is determined by way of proportional representation. The MPs, too, have a specific value for each vote that is determined by dividing the total value of votes of all the states by the total number...
New Delhi: The Congress High Command sprung a surprise for the Presidential Elections in India scheduled on 19th of July 2007. Ms Pratibha Patil has been nominated by the Ruling UPA- Left combine as their nominee for the highest post in India. Pratibha Patil has formerly served as Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha besides being the Governor of Rajasthan and a minister in Maharashtra. Ms Patil is married to Devisingh Shekhawat of Losal Chhoti, barely 30 km from the Vice-President's village Khachariawas in Rajasthan. This brought to an end the hectic parleys that have been taking place in the ruling coalition over the last few days. The decision was reached in a meeting between the...
Did you know that there was an Act banning sale of egg-bearing fishes? Ministers of Assam really seem to be looking into records and Acts. The Assam Fisheries Act, 1953 prohibits sale of egg-bearing fish during the breeding seasons i.e. between April 1 and July 15 every year. The Act was put in place to ensure that the fish production in the State goes up. According to an official press release here, Fisheries Minister Nurjamal Sarkar has directed the district and police administrations all over the State to strictly enforce the Act and to take ensure that it is fully implemented. The Minister is of the view that this would lay the foundation for a blue revolution in Assam And yes the...
Guwahati : The Assam United Democratic Front has distanced itself from its MLA Rasul Haque Bahadur who had demanded creation of an autonomous council for the minorities of Golapara, Barpeta, Dhubri, Bongaigaon and Darrang districts. Mr Badruddin Ajmal, President of AUDF has said that a Central Executive Meeting of the party would be convened where Haque would be asked to explain his statement. Ajmal further clarified that the party would never subscribe to these views as it did not believe in development of all the people in the State and not only of the minority community.
Some 28 candidates will apply for the top job at ONGC. A search panel headed by the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) Chairman, Mr N.K. Sinha, held interviews on June 5-6 to select the Chairman and Managing Director of the exploration giant. The interviews assume significance as the names of earlier candidates short-listed after interviews conducted by the PESB in August 2006 were returned by the PMO. Those in the race for the job include Mr R.S. Sharma, acting Chairman of ONGC; Mr A.K. Balyan, Director (HR); Mr A.K. Hazarika, Director (Onshore); Mr D.K. Pande, Director (Exploration); Mr U.N. Bose, Director (Technical Services); and Mr R.S. Butola, Managing Director, ONGC Videsh....
India's information technology sector would require nearly 500,000 professionals in the next five years to cater to the growing needs of this booming industry, Mr Kiran Karnik, president National Association of Software and Service Companies said. Currently, the industry required 300,000 professionals, however the number was expected to nearly double with the sector being poised for huge growth, he said during the inauguration of the country's first IT finishing school. Though the institutes churned out a huge number of engineering graduates, the industry was left with less than 300,000 professionals to hire from, since many of them turned entrepreneurs, some sought jobs overseas...
Comments
Pages
Add new comment