[Assam] Lt Col Sivram Bora

Chan Mahanta cmahanta at charter.net
Sat Jul 7 08:08:58 PDT 2007


I know the street named after Col Sivaram Borah 
at the foot of the Nobogroh hill at Guahati. Did 
not know who he was. So it was an informative and 
interesting  story of an illustrious Oxomiya. 
Thanks  for sharing.

The last sentence caught my eye too : "I feel 
that this was only possible because of the blood 
of great people like Lt Col Sivaram Borah and 
others in my veins."

If we look at the antecedents of many of Assam's 
'successful' or luminaries or pillars of society 
today, I would  bet a rupee, that there is or are 
other such illustrious individuals in their 
familial past. Not always, but I  think it is 
largely so.

So  I  put forth the statement  of a proud 
great-grandson, steeped in humility, "I feel that 
this was only possible because of the blood of 
great people like Lt Col Sivaram Borah and others 
in my veins"  for further examination.

Is it because of the 'blood', of the genes in 
Roy's veins that his success is rooted in?

Or could there be other reasons? And if there are 
other reasons, what might they be?













At 2:40 PM +0100 7/7/07, utpal borpujari wrote:
>from assam tribune of 07/07/07
>
>Move to resurrect Lt Col Bora’s memories
>By Ajit Patowary
>  GUWAHATI, July 6 – Lt Col Sivram Bora was 
>recognized as a medical genius during his 
>lifetime. He has left behind a rich legacy. But, 
>the people of his native place are oblivious of 
>all these. However, one of his great grandsons 
>has come forward to resurrect his memories by 
>sponsoring a research project.
>
>Bora, the first Assamese MB from Glasgow 
>University, who qualified for the Imperial 
>Medical Service (IMS) in 1874, is argued to be 
>the first Indian to qualify for this service.
>
>The recent move to resurrect his memories 
>started with an article by noted writer 
>Kumudeswar Hazarika. It was published in The 
>Assam Tribune on March 27 last. It so moved his 
>great grandson Rahul Roy, a former president of 
>the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, 
>that he rushed to the city to meet Hazarika. 
>Hazarika also has an Assamese article on Lt 
>Colonel Bora in one of his books — Chaiydha 
>Goraki Bisistha Asomiya: Smritir Surabhi.
>
>Rahul Roy wrote to Hazarika later, “
 I have 
>grown up hearing stories about Lt Col Sivaram 
>Borah from one of his most beloved daughters, my 
>grandmother 
 Your research has opened the door 
>to Alibaba’s cave for me and I am intrigued with 
>the unfathomed treasures within it
”
>
>According to Hazarika, Bora was born on 
>September 19, 1847 in North Guwahati. His uncle 
>Bolram Bora brought him up. He was admitted to 
>Gauhati English School – today’s Cotton 
>Collegiate H S School. His classmates there 
>included first Assamese civilian Anundoram Barua 
>and the first Assamese MD from London Col Jalnur 
>Ali Ahmed. The latter was the father of Late 
>Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.
>
>After passing the Entrance Examination in 1865, 
>Bora proceeded to Calcutta along with Anundoram 
>Barua and Jalnur Ali Ahmed for higher studies 
>and enrolled himself in Calcutta Medical College.
>
>Later, he was rewarded for his services to the 
>Indian tea labourers on a sea voyage to 
>Mauritius as an attending doctor and was sent to 
>London for higher studies by the British 
>authorities.
>
>According to Rahul Roy, Lt Col Bora married 
>Ursula Ujjawala Banerjee, one of the 15 
>daughters of Mathilda Martha Griffiths, an 
>Irish-Welsh lady and Rev Taracharan Banerjee who 
>was the uncle of WC Banerjee, the first 
>president of the Indian National Congress.
>
>Bora, who later became a Lieutenant Colonel, had 
>a son—Dr Surendranath Bora. He was a famous 
>physician. Sushil Bora, Dr Surendranath Bora and 
>Kunjalata Bordoloi’s son, is now living at 
>Dibrugarh as a retired Superintendent of Assam 
>Police, Roy wrote to Hazarika.
>
>Hazarika said, Lt Col Bora served in Andaman and 
>Nicobar Islands, Madras Province, and as Civil 
>Surgeon in the Naga Hills, at Guwahati, Tezpur 
>and Silchar. At Silchar he was in dual charge of 
>the Civil Surgeon and Jail Superintendent. After 
>his retirement he moved to Calcutta for his 
>children’s education. Hazarika said that Bora 
>had married a Christian girl while in Naga Hills 
>(now Nagaland).
>
>Bora had a bungalow in Calcutta (now Kolkata) 
>known as Borah villa. It has fallen to the hands 
>of the vagrants, said Rahul Roy.
>
>Hazarika said, Lt Col Bora had donated a plot of 
>his land for the establishment of the city’s 
>Navagraha crematorium. He also owned a tea 
>estate at Raraiya near Jorhat.
>
>Rahul Roy is willing to finance a research 
>project on Bora. He has written to Hazarika, “ 
>Lt Col Bora rose from nowhere to conquer his 
>destiny. In my humble way, I have also in life 
>risen from nowhere to become the youngest ever 
>president of a major professional institute in 
>the world. I am reputed within my community 
 I 
>feel that this was only possible because of the 
>blood of great people like Lt Col Sivaram Borah 
>and others in my veins. I will love to resurrect 
>his memory at least in the mind of the Assamese 
>people whom he loved so much
”
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Answers - Get better answers from someone 
>who knows. 
><http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTEydmViNG02BF9TAzIxMTQ3MTcxOTAEc2VjA21haWwEc2xrA3RhZ2xpbmU>Try 
>it now.
>
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