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.
Security forces apprehended a hardcore ULFA militant during a joint operation in Darrang district on Wednesday. A Chinese grenade has also been seized from his possession. He was identified as Nabajit Baishya who was arrested during a joint operation in Sipajhar on Wednesday morning. Acting on a tip-off, security forces carried out a search operation at a bus in Sipajhar in the morning where Nabajit was arrested. The anti-talk ULFA cadre was on his way to Tezpur from Guwahati. he hails from Tihu in Nalbari district.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq Karim on Wednesday praised Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for efficiently tackling the insurgency menace within a brief spell of time.
Karim, who called on the Chief Minister at his residence in Guwahati in the morning, also praised him for ensuring rapid development of the state. He said that the state has improved on its law and order front. They discussed several issues and hoped that there would be improved ties between the two neighbours. They further held discussions on ways to increase cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors, trade and explore the commercial potential of jute industry, cement and power generation for...
IIT-Guwahati Director Gautam Barua draws flak from IITs’ faculties on Tuesday for supporting Kapil Sibal who has proposed 'one-nation one-test' for entry into them and other institutes.All India IIT Faculty Federation in a statement called the move a shocked and pained. But the federation has not named Baruah. The statement came a day after Barua talking to TV channel deplored the extreme step by the IIT-Kanpur Senate on a small issue. Federation Secretary A K Mittal called it an unfortunate that a professor of the IIT system thinks that the selection of the students and the academic autonomy of the IITs is small issue.
Mittal's remarks came days after the Federation attacked IIT-...
Meghalaya on Tuesday reiterated political consensus to settle the simmering interstater border row with Assam.Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said that the need was build a consensus among all political parties to solve the inter-state border dispute with Assam. He urged the agitating elected representatives and the individuals to re-strategise their approach as they put pressure on the government to solve the dispute. An MLA of the coalition partner in the Congress-led government Ardent Basaiawmoit and four other members to the Autonomous District Council, have called for a statewide sit-in protest against the government for its 'failure' to end the crisis at the border.
The Centre on Tuesday virtually ruled out immediate release of Ranjan Daimary to expedite the peace process with NDFB. The message surfaced when a delegation of the Bodo National Conference delegation met home ministry joint secretary Shambhu Sigh in New Delhi demanding release of the NDFB chairman to expedite peace process. But the Centre denied immediate release of the leader saying that efforts are to break the logjam. Talking to reporters, the BNC spokesman Khampa Borgoyari said that the meeting with the home ministry official was very comprehensive and productive and they were hopeful for release of Daimary.
The Assam government on Tuesday launched an ambitious scheme which targets to achieve 16 goals for women and child welfare by 2016, including reducing the infant and maternal mortality rates, improving sex ratio and improving enrolment of the girl child in the state.
Titled as 'Chief Minister's Vision for Women and Children: 2016, the document also seeks to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in all skill development programmes of the state government, besides curbing child labour and trafficking of women and children within next four years. Releasing the document at a function in Guwahati, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that the state marching on all fronts. He said that with this...
Sensational prevails in Nalbari following the death of a protestor when he was participating at a dharna in front of the municipality office here on Tuesday. The 47 year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and was rushed to the civil hospital where he died. The incident took place when over 300 demonstrators had gathered to protest against failure of the district administration to take any steps to prevent the problem of water-logging in the town.
A child died and eight others have been seriously injured when lightning struck two villages in Kamrup (Rural) district on Tuesday. The incident took in the evening when thunderstorms and lightning struck Western and Eastern Hatigaon villages. The 12 year-old child was identified and the injured were admitted to Guwahati Medical College Hospital where their condition was stated to be critical.
The Assam government is in a move to increase reservation for women in local bodies to 50 per cent of the total seats. If it so happens, it would mark a rise from the current 33 per cent. According to Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Rockybul Hussain, the government is seriously considering 50 per cent reservation in seats to women in the panchayat and local municipal bodies.
But he did not mention any timeframe for bringing a legislation to increase the number of reserved seats. Government data suggest that women candidates won 38.2 per cent seats in gram panchayats in Assam, 36.8 per cent in anchalik panchayats and 34.6 per cent in zilla parishads in the last polls held in...
The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and Asom Unnati Samaj activists staged a day-long dharna in front of Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited at Jagiroad on Tuesday demanding the repeal of the allotted lease of bamboo supply to a private individual.
The protesters further demand cancellation of transfer order of the paper mill's Chief Executive P K Bhuyan. AASU leaders alleged that Bhuyan, who was reportedly against the allotment of the bamboo supply to the private party, has been recently been transferred to Kerala. The agitators were also demanding the transfer of the HPCL headquarters from Kolkata to Assam. The two organisations have also sent a memorandum to Heavy Industries Minister...
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