[Assam] komal saul, doi and gur

Tue Mar 7 11:45:03 PST 2006

To:

Ms Alpana Sarangapani

Mr. Shantikam Hazarika

Mr. Dilip Deka

Dear Alpana, Shantikam and Dilip,

Many thanks for your encouragement. When Shantikam mentioned the name of Tarun Hazarika, an avalanche of memories came to my mind --- the stories of Major Tarun Hazarika (and some of the stories of his younger brother Bhaimon) will sparkle as jewels in our mind ---  they were so lively, vivacious , full of verve, full of positive humor in real life, at the same time complimentary to people without hurting anybody ---  a true representation of the cheerful life-force of the Assamese people ! I have second-hand information about a few episodes that I'll like to share, just for the fun. If I make any mistake, I ask forgiveness, and I request people to send the correction. 

Major Tarun Hazarika was senior to me by several years. We used to call him "dada" in private, and "Sir" in public. I met him only a few times. Before I left for the USA, I met him in a wedding party, and told him in a very low voice: "Sir, I have a few stories of yours that I'll like to get verified." With a typically "naughty" smile, he hushed to me, "Not here, not in front of so many people! Maybe some time later!" Unfortunately, I never met him again. 

Major Tarun Hazarika was very fond of dressing up in different costumes of our tribal brothers. Suddenly, he would arrive at a high-power meeting of the Governor and the Army Generals in a full-fledged Naga Gaonburha costume or an Apatani Chief costume. In addition to the fun and frolic, he drove the point that we are very fond of our tribal brothers, who must be respected beyond all protocols and regulations. He would also pose as a Punjabi Army officer, a South Indian bureaucrat, or a Sikh businessman --- there would be surprise after surprise! I have a feeling that he was trying to break all the barriers between people. 

His love for all kind of costumes was so unpredictable that some of his relatives and friends would ponder: Why should he come to an Assamese wedding party in a full military uniform?  

While driving to a wedding in an Assamese family in a village somewhere near Mangaldoi, he saw two Assamese villagers walking on the roadside, carrying a bhar (a horizontal bamboo shaft on the shoulder, stabilized by one hand) with two loads hanging at two ends, bouncing in a rhyme as the carriers were walking. Seeing that one of the load was a tekeli (earthen pitcher) and the other load was a pachi ( a basket), Major Hazarika stopped his jeep and came down to talk with the two Assamese villagers. 

Posing as a Punjabi Army Officer who did not understand Assamese, Major Hazarika asked the villagers in "broken" Assamese, "Ki achey? Iyate ei bilak ki achey??" (What do you have in that tekeli and pachi?)

"doi aru komal saul" (yogurt and soft rice), the villagers replied.

Hearing the word "komal saul", the eyes of Major Hazarika brightened. Coming down from the hills, where he must have missed "komal saul" for a long time, he was now having some ideas! 

Maintaining his ignorant look, he asked, "doi aru komal saul ? doi aru komal saul ?? seibilak ki??" (What do you mean by "doi aru komal saul"?) as if he did know what it was!

Typical to the inherent hospitability of simple folks all over the world, particularly our Assamese village people (on which Major Hazarika was now pushing his luck), two villagers put down their load on ground. 

"khai sabi neki alapman?" (Will you like to taste a little bit?) They asked the "Punjabi" Army Major. 

Mangaldoi is famous for excellent "doi" (yogurt) --- that's why the name Mangaldoi --- and you don't have to ask Major Hazarika about it! Keeping his posture as a Punjabi Military Officer, he tasted the combination of komal saul, doi and gur (brown sugar) on a kalpat (banana leaf) to his hearts content, praising the villagers whole heartedly "khub bhal ache, khub bhal ache, apunalokbhi khub bhal manuh ache" (very good, very good, you guys are great) etc.

Not knowing that their  "guest"  understood every bit of Assamese, one villager told the other villager, "gahoritok di deson aru alap, kiman khai khaok !" (Give a little more to the pig, let him eat as much he wants!)

Later, when he arrived at the wedding party, Major Hazarika burst out laughing when he told the story to everybody! For such komal saul, doi and gur, he would love to turn into a pig many more times, he said ! However, while he was carried away by his story-telling, he saw, to his great consternation, that those two villagers were coming to the same wedding, and they were responsible to bring a part of komal saul, doi and gur to the same wedding party!

According to one account of the story, Major Hazarika had already changed into traditional dhuti-kurta and the two villagers never recognized him. The other account says that the great Major Hazarika went to hide in a back room. But, according to a third report, he was caught red-handed when he was busy telling his story sixteenth time the same day, and was oblivious of the two villager friends who were watching him!

Well, you can make a movie out of Tarun Hazarika's escapades! They will excel over all the TV shows that are flooding Assam. 

With love to everybody,

Himendra

PS: For information of younger generation who may not know about "komal saul" , I must inform them it is a unique variety of rice that is available only in Assam in the entire world --- you don't have to cook it! You just soak it in water, and it is ready! There is another delicious rice called "maniki-madhuri joha" --- a very fragrant, aromatic basmati rice. I am told that these varieties of rice are not available any more. That's a tragedy. The Assam Agricultural University should conduct a thorough research and restore these priceless grains. In fact, mass production of "maniki-madhuri joha" in Assam will outsmart all other basmati rice in the market and spread the aroma of Assam all over the world. Young persons should take up these projects. We should try some "komal saul, doi and gur" in our next Bihu one month from now!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Dilip/Dil Deka 
To: Himendra Thakur 
Cc: assam at assamnet.org 
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 8:36 AM
Subject: Re: [Assam] Letter to the President of India - story completed

Yes, you should write more. What you write may not be acceptable to all but that shouldn't stop you. You will enrich the diversity in the community by writing on your favorite topics though some may not quite agree with you.
I am sure you talk about your experiences in life at Oxomiya parties. Talking in this net is nothing but an extension of that. You just need a topic to open so that others may chime in.
Dilip

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Shantikam Hazarika 
  To: Himendra Thakur 
  Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 3:37 AM
  Subject: Re: [Assam] Letter to the President of India - story completed

  Dear Mr. Thakur:
  You have a flair for writing and such stuffs are what life is about. You must continue writing. Did you meet Tarun Hazarika in Nagaland?
  Incidentally I did not know you have scripted a play in 1993, I thought Assamese drama lost you when you went to US.
  Regards
  Shantikam Hazarika
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Himendra Thakur 
To: Alpana B. Sarangapani 
Cc: Manoj Das ; J Kalita ; assam at assamnet.org 
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 1:31 AM
Subject: Re: Letter to the President of India - story completed

Dear Alpana,

I am very happy that you liked the story. Those four years  in Nagaland gave me a very rewarding time in of my life! Do you think I should write more?
With love to everybody,
Himendra

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Alpana B. Sarangapani 
  To: hthakur at comcast.net ; dasmk2k at gmail.com ; ankur_bora2000 at yahoo.com ; barua25 at hotmail.com ; cmahanta at charter.net 
  Cc: jugalkalita at yahoo.com ; assam at assamnet.org 
  Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2006 7:05 PM
  Subject: RE: Letter to the President of India - story completed

  what a beautiful (true) story, Himendra-da. It brightened my day. thanks to all the netters who asked Himenda to complete the story here. 

  Thank you. - Alpana.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.assamnet.org/pipermail/assam-assamnet.org/attachments/20060307/4c988db4/attachment.htm>