“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
29 Mar 2020 - 5:49pm | Siddharth Deb
Silchar: Ever since the lockdown has been imposed, this question has been constantly doing the rounds in the minds of the parents that, what can you do during a lockdown?
To ensure that these...
2 Jul 2013 - 9:29am | AT News
The overall flood situation worsened with more and more villages getting submerged. Floodwaters entered the Kaziranga National Park where an antelope was killed.Over 65,000 people of 170 villages in...
10 Aug 2017 - 8:10pm | AT News
A disturbing news indeed suggesting the decade long to check erosion in Majuli. The largest river island on this planet has reduced it size over 28 per cent in 2013from 733.79 sq km in 1940.This was...
29 Jun 2011 - 7:36am | Peter Alex Todd
Assam’s hatric Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, at a press conference on Tuesday said that Akhil Gogoi's protest on 22nd June, against eviction drive resembles to maoist tactics and this was...
Assam Governor J B Patnaik and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday conveyed heartiest greetings to the people on the occasion of Durga Puja.
In a statement the governor appealed to the people to maintain peace and spread the message of amity and unity in keeping with the true spirit of such festivals and tenets of every religious faith and order.
The chief minister also appealed to the people to maintain peace and calm and hoped the festival would promote a bond of brotherhood among all sections of society.
The Gauhati High Court on Friday asked the Centre and the Assam governments to explain the system for identification, declaration and deportation of Bangladeshi immigrants from Assam.
Taking up a writ petition filed by one Mohammad Ataur alias Ataur Rahman, who has been on detention for being a suspected illegal immigrant, Justice B K Sharma observed that the petitioner was in a detention camp for last two years but the respondent (government) had been unable to take any action to deport him to Bangladesh.
The Kaziranga National Park would open from Nov 1 for the tourists. According to KNP authorities, maintenance of roads and other infrastructure are going on inside the park. He said that the tourist would have to wait for a few days to visit the whole park as some low-lying areas are still under water.The UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in Assam for domestic and foreign tourists, mainly due to the one-horned rhinos.According to government data, the park has been recording an increasing number of tourists every year.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has called upon the civil society to support the government in eliminating crime against women.
Inauguration the ceremony of the new office of Assam State Commission for Women in Guwahati, he said that along with the government, the NGOs and other social organisation will have to take initiative to struggle for eradicating crimes committed against women.
He said that steps were taken to increase reservation for women in panchayats of Assam to 50 per cent, from the current 33 per cent.
As a part of adolescent education programme and enhancement of life skills city based Hindustani Kendriya Vidyalaya had organised a day-long programme for its students on Friday at its conference hall. The session on life skills was moderated by Neeru Basumatary who has been working on life skills training. Ratna Singh, Principal of HKV moderated the other session who is also a trained person on life skills and conducted many training programmes in different parts of the country. Life skills have been one of the important skills which is focused by Central Board of Secondary Education for its students. Life skills help a teenager in coping with many things which help in their growth....
Amway India and Guwahati Traffic Police have joined hands together to announce a ‘Road safety awareness campaign’ for the festive season in Guwahati city on October 18, 2012. The objective of the initiative is to sensitize the denizens of the city about the importance of adherence to a slew of road safety rules and traffic signals in order to avoid accidents and secure long life. The awareness drive specially focuses on the students across schools and colleges of Guwahati with an objective of educating the youth on traffic rules for a better future.
At a formal function at Guwahati Press Club, the Superintendent of Police, Traffic Guwahati, Bibekananda Das and Amway India...
Police recovered a decomposed body of a child in Tezpur on Thursday. The body suspected to be of a kidnapped boy, was recovered from a gunny bag near a pond at Chitralekha Nagar. A man who claimed to be the father said that his son was missing from Tezpur town since October 8. But the persons arrested in connection with the kidnapped case have claimed that the child is alive. The body would be sent for DNA test to confirm the identity of the child.
Kamrup district (metro) administration has chalked out a two-layer traffic arrangement for the ensuing Durga Puja in Guwahati.Police (Traffic) has imposed certain restrictions on the movement of vehicles from October 21 to October 24.The goods-carrying vehicles have been restricted from 1 pm to 4 am from Jalukbari, Garchuk, Lokhara, Beltola, Khanapara, Hatigaon and Chandmari side.Trucks will be allowed to enter the city from 4 am onwards up to 10 in the morning. The RP Road will be one way only from the Ganesh Mandir side. There will not be entry for vehicles coming from the Zoo Road side to Ganesh Mandir. Vehicles will move via Service Road, GS Road and Supermarket Point.
One more rhino was found dead in Kaziranga on Thursday. KNP officials called it a case of natural death. Its horn was recovered by the park authorities in Bagori range. In yet another incident, a tusker was found dead after it was trapped inside the dense jungle at Burhapahar range on Thursday.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Thursday flagged off the BJYM’s rally organized to honour the Indo-Chino war heroes.In his address at the flag off function at Machkhowa, Gadkari said that the rally would be a source of inspiration for the youths. The rally left for Arunachal Pradesh and on Saturday the concluding function would take place at Bomla in Arunachal Pradesh.
Comments
Pages
Add new comment