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.
Dibrugarh andTinsukia are all set to get CNG fuel for automobile. The proposal is awaiting clearance of Public Investment Board. Assam Gas Company Limited ( AGCL) preparing a blueprint to launch the CNG project in all the Upper Assam districts within a short spell of time. But the state is yet to have CNG connection. AGCL sources said that there are lot of scope for CNG fuel in Dibrugarh town where the commercial vehicle would be benefitted as the town is near to Duliajan. The project is expected to come up within a year.
Police have arrested four youths so far in connection with the molestation case of a girl in Guwahati on Monday night. Identified as Dhanraj Basfor, the youth was arrested on Wednesday evening on the basis of the footage beamed by the satellite TV news channels. Police further have also identified another three - Dhruba Jyoti Kalita, Sikandar Basfor and Dipak Dey.
Dhruba Jyoti Kalita, an employee of state government's IT development agency Amtron, was sacked on Tuesday and he is still absconding. Dhanraj and Sikandar reside in Horizon colony of the Indrapur area here and working at Gauhati Medical College Hospital. The other youth, Dipak Dey, is said to be an auto rickshaw driver who...
Lawyers across the state joined their colleagues in other parts of the country by responding to the Bar Council of India's call to protest against the government's Higher Education and Research (HER) Bill on Wednesday.It will continue on Thursday also. Hundreds of lawyers gathered at the premises of the Gauhati High Court, which is currently on summer vacation, and burned copies of the bill. Similar protests were also reported from other parts of the state. The BCI had given the two-days' protest call, beginning, against the HER Bill, accusing the government of trying to usurp the power of advocates' apex statutory body to regulate the legal education and profession in the country.
Security forces recovered two Chinese hand grenades and ammunition from an encounter spot in Karbi Anglong district on Wednesday. According to information, acting on a tip-off, a joint team of army and police had launched a search operation at Rongmongwe area under Dalamara police station in the hill district on Wednesday morning, where a militant group of KPLT was hiding. The militants managed to flee from the encounter spot, but security forces recovered two hand grenades, two magazines and 30 rounds of live ammunition.
The Centre on Wednesday extended its bilateral ceasefire with the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) in North Cachar Hill districts to further extend suspension of operations for a period of six months upto September 30, 2012.According to an official release, an agreement of SoO between the security forces and DHD has been in operation with effect from January 1, 2003 and has been extended periodically and will now be valid upto September 30.Tripartite talks on the demands of DHD are continuing. A Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) headed by Joint Secretary (North-East), Ministry of Home Affairs has been constituted to review the implementation of agreed ground rules. Meetings of JMG have been held...
Assam agriculture minister said that the flash floods affected 2,54,000 hectares of cropland across 23 district affecting over 10 lakh families. Talking to reporters in Guwahati on Wednesday, he said that the state had lost a total crop worth over Rs. 992 crore.
According to him, the government has distributed 57,000 quintals of seeds had among the flood affected farmers and the process is on to procure more seeds from various sources to be distributed among the affected farmers.He said that the state government has sanctioned Rs.109 crore to help the flood affected farmers.
The Assam government is contemplating double cropping pattern in around 5 lakh hectares from next season to help the people get out of the flood aftermath. Addressing a press conference in Wednesday, agriculture minister Nilamoni Sen Deka said that the government has a slew of steps to boost the agricultural production. He said that the department has fixed the production target for autumn rice as 3,60,000 tonnes this year while the target for winter rice production stands at 48,00,000 tonnes. The department also seeks to produce 14,73,090 tonnes of jute, 14,68,800 tonnes of vegetables and 16,02,660 tonnes of sugarcane this year.
The overall flood situation in Assam marginally improved on Wednesday. The water levels of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries continue its receding trend. According to information, the water level in some of the rivers in the 27 affected districts was receding and maintaining a steady trend in some others. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and two central teams today reviewed the prevailing flood situation. Gogoi reviewed the situation with Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka, Revenue Minister Prithibi Majhi, Additional Chief Secretary P P Verma and senior officials of the health, irrigation, revenue, finance and forest departments. Two central teams have also arrived in the state to assess...
Lawyers in Golaghat have joined the two-day nation-wide strike beginning from today, called by Bar Council of India (BCI) against the government's Higher Education and Research (HER) Bill aimed at usurping its control over the legal education. Members of Golaghat Bar Association staged a sit in demonstration in Bar premise against the draft of Higher Education and Research Bill 2011 which excludes legal education from the purview of the Bar Council of India. The Bar Council of India (BCI), the apex body representing 1.7 million lawyers in India is opposing certain provisions of the Draft Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011 and other connected bills which may have an adverse effect on...
In a huge achievement, the Sivasagar police captured a dreaded criminal on Tuesday who is allegedly involved in a number of heinous crimes. Identified as Ananta Khanikar, the notorious car lifted was apprehended by Amguri police in Nagaland on Tuesday. A number of cases are pending against him in several police stations. He was also allegedly involve in the sensational Hemanta Baruah murder case three years ago in Amguri. After marathon police interrogation, he would be produced before the court on Wednesday.
Comments
Pages
Add new comment