“My father Sir Keith Cantlie served in the Indian Civil Service from 1910 till his retirement in 1947. So, in a way I consider myself daughter of Assam, a land of outstanding natural beauty with distant views of the snow and Himalayas”
With her disarming smile simple down to earth and smiling manner the bespectacled Dr. Audrey Cantlie welcomes you with a big smile at her door at Oxford street as if somebody of her own. She has an emotional bond for Assam and the Assamese people.
I still remember the day I met her sometime in September, 1998 at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, London) I introduce myself as an Assamese I could see the sparkle in her eyes: said to me "How many Assamese people are in London? I love to meet them". Dr. Audrey Cantlie was born in Shillong in 1923. She spent her six years in Jorhat where her father was Deputy Commissioner. So, in some ways she consider herself a daughter of Assam.
After taking a degree in Sociology at the London School of Economics, she returned to Assam for fieldwork and carried out a study of a village near Jorhat, which was later published under the title of ‘The Assamese’. It is perhaps the only intensive work done in the plains of Assam and I like to think of it as a small contribution to understanding a unique way of life and, more particularly, the religion founded by Sankardeva.
After working on the staff at the London School of Economics. She moved to the School of Oriental and African Studies where I still teach part-time to the present day.
Few weeks after we have organized the 550th Sankar Jayanti at Wembley when we invited her as our chief guest. The speech she delivered about Sankardev was so informative. Since then Dr. Cantlie always shares every Assamese Community function in London. Her guidance and support is very valuable to me at my work in a women oriented matter.
From studying, Sociology at the London School of Economics and to teach at (School of Oriental and African Studies. Her beautiful past as an Assamese is still in her mind. She wrote “The Assamese” dedicated to the memory of her father Sir Keith Cantlie who served 40 years in the state of Assam. How beautifully she expressed the qualities of Assamese people in this book.
Call her a professor, teacher, academician for rest of our Assamese society in London she is just our “Cantlie baidew”
During her stay at Guwahati, we have organised an interactive session with teachers, academicians, journalists and students at Sudmersen Hall, Cotton College on Wednesday 13 February, 2008 at 4:00pm.
PermalinkSubmitted by Utpal Hazarika on Sun, 16/11/2008 - 01:32
I am from BANI MANDIR, a publication house from Assam since 1949. Many people want to buy this book, but due to the price 99% people cannot effort. If I get the publication right I can reprint the in Indian cheaper price and most of the people can buy and can preserve the book. I tried with the author but could not contact. Can anybody passon this message to the author of the this book.Thanks.
Utpal Hazarika
banimandir@gmail.com
Assam will soon have a special cell of police to tackle the menace of fake currency racket. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Monday, chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that the incidents of recovery of counterfeit currency are increasing. He said that the fake currencies are pumped into the state mainly through Bangladesh and anti-national forces like ISI are involved in it.
Gogoi said that the Vigilance Cell along with CID, Bureau of Investigation of Economic Offices (BIEO) have already been working on this. The cell will also have officials from the Reserve Bank of India. “We will also take help from the National Investigation Agency over this," said the chief minister.
Assam Chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that active role of police would make National Counter Terrorism Centre more powerful. Talking to reporters in Dispur on Monday, he said that a slew of amendments were required in NCTC which he said would help NCTC to help efficiently deal with terror elements.
Notably, Gogoi virtually opposed the NCTC in the recent chief ministers’ conference its present form and stressed involvement of police in it.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday slammed Nitin Gadkari a day after the BJP president blamed Congress government for backwardness. Talking to reporters in Dispur he said that BJP has been keeping the state deprived of its due privileges for yeas. He said only the Congress government has been giving peace a chance to prevail in Assam.
Criticising the BJP leader's comments on Hindu refugees, Gogoi said he was shedding crocodile tears and that the party was not interested in solving the age old infiltration problem through Bangladesh.
Guwahati police recovered cash worth Rs 13.29 lakh from a garbage dump in Barpeta district on Sunday. According to police, the money was recovered from a garbage dump behind the house of one Kishore Deka. Deka had been apprehended recently by the police here for stealing over Rs 21 lakh from an ATM at Guwahati's Gorchuk locality a few days back.
police had recovered Rs 8 lakh from him. Based on his confession during interrogation, police today raided the house at Sarthebari in Barpeta and recovered the money. The notes of Rs 500 denomination, tied up in bundles, have been identified as ones stolen from the ATM.
Sensation prevails in Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh following the sensational murder of a patient on Saturdayu. Incidents after incidents seem to have crippled the premier medical institute in the north eastern region. Even the patients are not safe and secured. Unidentified miscreants killed a patient at the plastic surgery department on Saturday. The victim was identified as Biju Dutta who lost his life when he was undergoing treatment. His sister was also injured in the miscreant attack. He was rushed to the AMCH because of burn injuries along with his sister who succumbed to her injuries.
BJP president Nitin Gadkati said on Sunday that his will soon approach the National Human Rights Commission to seek constitutional safeguard for the Bangladeshi Hindu refugees. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati Gadkari said that denial of citizenship to Hindu refugees is a violation of human rights. He accused Delhi and Dispur of committing injustice to Hindu refugees by denying them citizenship. BJP Human Rights Cell head Avinash Rai Khanna would soon visit Assam for doing ground work for the petition which was expected to be filed next month. State BJP leadership has been directed to start a mass movement in Assam against the step-motherly treatment to Hindu refugees by the...
BJP on Sunday blamed Congress for the lack of development in Assam. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on, party president Nitin Gadkari lambasted it for failing to live up to the expectations of the people in Assam despite being in power for 11 years. He said that the wrong economic policies and corruption of the Congress government are simply responsible for the current state of affairs in Assam and the north east. Assam in the first state in the country where power generation has fallen over the years, he maintained. BJP has prepared 'vision documents' for development of Assam and the other north eastern states.
Unidentified miscreants shot dead by a businessman in Dhubri district on Sunday morning after he refused to pay the money they demanded earlier. The incident took place when the two miscreants entered the grocery shop owned by Jhumarmal Jain in the morning and demanded Rs 10 lakh in cash. When refused, they shot him from a point blank range and vanished from the spot. Jain was rushed to a local hospital, he was declared brought dead. Jain was badly hit by the bullets in his neck and chest. Police said locals apprehended one of the two miscreants who shot the businessman dead, while the other managed to escape.
A 17 member delegation from Assam visited Tripura for four days to study the secrets behind the consecutive success in implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Sent the chief minister Tarun Gogoi, the team is headed by additional district collector of Morigaon district, Surendra Sharma.
Tripura retained the top position in the country in implementing the MGNREGS successfully third year in a row. In the last fiscal, Tripura offered 72.39 per cent man-days to the rural household.
The All Assam Students Union too criticised the government for remaining mute on the unprecedented power cuts in Assam. The student body said in a statement that it will conduct a survey of the difference in prices of essentials by visiting households in different areas of the state from May 14. Meanwhile, PowerGrid says that the power situation would improve marginally from Saturday midnight.
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