[Assam] maniki-madhuri-joha etc.
Chan Mahanta
cmahanta at charter.net
Wed Mar 8 05:17:22 PST 2006
My own experiences likewise. Joha saul, if you
can find it, has hardly any flavor. Gwl-nemu is
rare, even though the Kaji variety is widely
available in upper Assam. I have done my own
share of conservation in far off Missouri--have
two almost 14/ 15 years old gwl-nemu ( 12' tall)
in our greenhouse, where we get ALMOST year round
gwl-nemu. Quite by accident I have also found out
that I can trick the plants to flower twice a
year, thus almost a year-round supply of fresh
fruits. And when the fresh is not available, I
can freeze the juice, in small plastic bottles
that keep a fair amount of its unique flavor,
even though not entirely.
On the kaji nemu front I have not only grown them
here but also gave cuttings to friends in several
states. Hope my friends are taking good care of
them. My own plants are not doing all that well,
after producing abundantly for over a decade.
A gin and tonic is nothing without fresh gwl-nemu or kaji nemu juice :-).
At 12:58 PM +0800 3/8/06, Rajiv Baruah wrote:
>Maniki - Madhuri Joha is available but is no
>longer the real thing. The abundance of
>artificial fertilizers, especially urea, does
>make the crop grow lush, but the depleting trace
>elements in our soil ( which is hidden by the
>abundant application of the same nitrogenous
>based fertilizer) means that the flavour, the
>aroma and the taste is completely absent. But
>more surprising is the absence of the indigenous
>lemons - I did not find the juicy "kazi" nemu
>and or the aromatic "gol" nemu in the Guwahati
>market this winter. Just that poor imitation of
>a "nemu" from north India - "gol" to look at but
>with neighter aroma nor juice.
>
>Having said that, this time round, I found
>neighter a bullock cart nor a "nongola" [ those
>barriers across a property which comprises of
>three or four banboo poles slung across two
>posts] this time around in our ancesteral
>village near Titabor.
>
>Welcome to the 21st century where the whole
>world is being homogenised to the lowest common
>denominator.
>
>rgds
>
>Rajiv
>
>
>------ Original Message ------
>Received: Wed, 08 Mar 2006 05:45:42 AM SGT
>From: "Himendra Thakur" <hthakur at comcast.net>
>To: "Ankur Bora" <ankur_bora2000 at yahoo.com>
>Cc: assam at assamnet.org, Ginima Barua <shivadoul at yahoo.com>
>Subject: [Assam] maniki-madhuri-joha
>
>My dear Ankur,
>
>Thank you very much! So, komal saul is still
>available in Assam! That's a very comforting
>news! Now, can we have it here in the USA in our
>next Bihu?
>
>What about "maniki-madhuri-joha"? Please find
>out about it. I am sure your friends in the
>Assam Agricultural University will be able to
>help, if not, they ought to! I am sure they can
>find some seeds, and multiply them, and make a
>huge field of maniki-madhuri-joha, .. and you
>will have the aroma from miles away!
>
>With love to everybody,
>Himendra
>
>----- Original Message -----
>
>From: <mailto:ankur_bora2000 at yahoo.com>Ankur Bora
>To: <mailto:hthakur at comcast.net>Himendra Thakur
>; <mailto:shntikamhaz at gmail.com>Shantikam
>Hazarika ; <mailto:dilipdeka at yahoo.com>Dilip/Dil
>Deka ; <mailto:absarangapani at hotmail.com>Alpana
>B. Sarangapani
>Cc:
><mailto:hthakur at comcast.net>hthakur at comcast.net
>; <mailto:assam at assamnet.org>assam at assamnet.org
>Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 4:10 PM
>Subject: Re: [Assam] komal saul, doi and gur
>
>And to add few lines to your story.
>
>I heard komal saul was the staple food of
>Indian soldiers fighting in Siachen , located in
>the peak of Himalaya ,the highest battle field
>of the world.
>
>In the bitter cold night , surrounded by frosty
>ice and snow , they could not use fire to cook
>food. They were survivng on Komal saul so
>convenient to use because they just needed to
>soak in water.
>
>This may be an "icing" to the story.
>
>Ankur
>Dalls , Texas
>
>Himendra Thakur <<mailto:hthakur at comcast.net>hthakur at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>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 Ill 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 Ill
>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)
>--- thats why the name Mangaldoi --- and you
>dont 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
>Hazarikas 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 dont 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. Thats 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: <mailto:dilipdeka at yahoo.com>Dilip/Dil Deka
>To: <mailto:hthakur at comcast.net>Himendra Thakur
>Cc: <mailto:assam at assamnet.org>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: <mailto:shntikamhaz at gmail.com>Shantikam Hazarika
>To: <mailto:hthakur at comcast.net>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: <mailto:hthakur at comcast.net>Himendra Thakur
>To: <mailto:absarangapani at hotmail.com>Alpana B. Sarangapani
>Cc: <mailto:dasmk2k at gmail.com>Manoj Das ;
><mailto:jugalkalita at yahoo.com>J Kalita ;
><mailto:assam at assamnet.org>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: <mailto:absarangapani at hotmail.com>Alpana B. Sarangapani
>To:
><mailto:hthakur at comcast.net>hthakur at comcast.net
>; <mailto:dasmk2k at gmail.com>dasmk2k at gmail.com ;
><mailto:ankur_bora2000 at yahoo.com>ankur_bora2000 at yahoo.com
>;
><mailto:barua25 at hotmail.com>barua25 at hotmail.com
>;
><mailto:cmahanta at charter.net>cmahanta at charter.net
>Cc:
><mailto:jugalkalita at yahoo.com>jugalkalita at yahoo.com
>; <mailto:assam at assamnet.org>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.
>
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>
>
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>
>
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