[Assam] All for Assam-Mridumoloy

[Buljit Buragohain]

One just cannot deny the fact that Assam has hogged national, nay international
limelight — yes, limelight — for all the wrong reasons during the past
couple of decades. And that is precisely why there has been a negative
perspective all over about the land and its people. Sadly, there has
not been any fruitful concerted move to negate this negativity and
project Assam in a positive way. The result is that for people outside
the state, Assam is a land of jungles infested with terrorists where
nothing other than terrorism can happen. Open any newspaper or watch
any news channel on television, Assam gets prominence only when
something bad or terrible like bomb blasts, killings, kidnappings, etc
take place.

However, amidst such negativity, here comes a whiff
of fresh air that surely puts Assam on a positive light. It’s a book,
to be precise a coffee-table book, titled Assam, that highlights the
positives of the land and its people and culture. While deliberately
skipping all the negatives — terrorism, in this case — the book in its
29 chapters covers the land and its people, its history, food habits,
tourism, wildlife, economy, tea and oil, sports, mobile theatre, etc,
resplendently with colourful photographs that speak volumes for
themselves. In fact, more than words, it is the photographs that serve
the purpose of this lavishly illustrated book, which according to its
promoter and publisher Nanda Talukdar Foundation is “introducing Assam”.

Laying
my hands on one of the first prints of Assam — the characteristic smell
of the glossy paper being still fresh — to have rolled out from
Hyderabad’s Pragati, one of the finest printing houses in Asia, I was
sweetly surprised that such a book has been published from this part of
the country, that too without any financial support from the government
agencies. From the well-meaning jacket to the diverse contents inside,
the book is a revelation in itself. Be it the aesthetic design, breezy
layout, smart word play, talking pictures, et al, the book depicts
Assam in all its glorious hues, and all these put Assam at par with any
global standard coffee-table book. 

In
fact, the state government itself could have long back painted a
picture of positive Assam through such an initiative, which luckily was
undertaken by eleven enterprising people, all coming from diverse
fields, who assembled under the banner of the Guwahati-based Nanda
Talukdar Foundation, a treasure trove of Assamese literature helping
many a researcher and an institution that specializes in social audit,
besides foraying into publication, and the outcome is there for all to
see.

Says Mrinal Talukdar, who represents United News of India
(UNI) in Northeast India and the brain behind this unique project: “It
was during my cricket World Cup assignment in West Indies in 2007 that
the idea was born. As I was strolling at Connaught Place in New Delhi,
two days prior to my departure to London en route to the Caribbean,
window shopping, I stopped at a bookstall and was amazed by the array
of the giant coffee-table books, ranging from turbans of Rajasthan to
houses of Goa to Chandni Chowk of Delhi, besides dozens on the Ganges
and India. I searched for books on Assam... As expected, there were
several — only on problems and prospects, but not on the happy Assam
and definitely, not a coffee-table book.”

Having earlier
experience of doing a coffee-table book for the state public works
department, billed Roads of Assam, where seasoned journalist and The
Tribune special correspondent in the Northeast, Bijay Sankar Bora, one
of the eleven people behind Assam, too was a partner, Mrinal conceived
the skeleton of the project in the Caribbean islands itself and found
the project cost to be well past Rs 10 lakh, which was an unthinkable
amount for himself alone. So he e-mailed his friends from the West
Indies detailing about the nascent ‘Assam’ project. While some did not
bother to respond to his mail, twelve actually got together — one,
however, departed midway — to give shape to the dream project. The
project also saw the birth of a new concept in the state’s publication
arena where the eleven raised the capital floating shares among
themselves, opening a completely new model of entrepreneurship. They
also worked on the write-ups, routing all the material through a system
of check and balance.

The others who joined the project were:
Abhijit Bhuyan, an entrepreneur, visionary and pioneer of medical
engineering in this region; Prasanta Borkakoti, an oilman by profession
but obsessed with rural Assam; Rahul Karmakar, the pointsman of The
Hindustan Times in the Northeast; Raj Chakrabarty, who builds road for
National Highway Authority of India, yet finds time to be involved with
literary projects; Ratan Saud, a journalist-turned-government official;
Sanjeeb Kakoty, a historian, a filmmaker and a writer who teaches
environmental history and sustainability at IIM, Shillong; Sanjoy
Barkataki, a former civil service officer who gave up a cushy job and
opted for journalism instead; Utpal Borpujari, who trained to be a
geologist at IIT-Roorkee, but chose to become a journalist and film
critic — he has won the Golden Lotus for best critic at India's
national film awards; and Krishna Talukdar, the administrator of the
NTF.

“We all assembled in August 2007 and took the solemn pledge
that even if not a single copy of the book is sold, we shall take pride
for the rest of our lives that we have achieved something for our
beloved land by pooling our meagre resources,” said Mrinal. But that
was not to be, as people, especially the Assamese expatriates across
the globe as also their friends have shown a keen interest in the book,
thanks to its sleek promotion. Perhaps this is the first book from
Assam to be promoted on the internet with a video. The nearly
two-minute video can be seen on www.youtube.com by searching ‘Assam
book’. The book is also available online in websites www.amazon.com and
www.ebay.com.

Sample some stuff from the 212-page book: “Assam
isn’t just a part of India’s enigmatic Orient; it is a microcosm of the
country. There isn’t a single sub-continental community — from a
village (Kampur) of localised Sikhs to Tamils in the vicinity of
Guwahati’s Balaji Temple and Afghans — that hasn’t settled down across
the 78,438 sq km area the state occupies. No wonder, Assam has four
official languages — Assamese, Bengali, Bodo and English — and
publishes school textbooks in 14, almost equal to the number of primary
tongues recognized by the Constitution of India.” Many such fascinating
facts about the land and its colourful people adore the book Assam —
all elaborated in crisp language.

The living archaeological
museum called Majuli, the customs, cultures and festivals of Assam, the
flourishing literature scene, the exotic wildlife having a diverse
flora and fauna, the vibrant agricultural and industrial scenario, led
by tea, oil and coal, the tourism potential, the legends and icons,...
all come alive in the book through words and pictures. Then, there are
chapters too focusing on Assam’s contribution in the freedom struggle
of India, as also its people’s responsible role with a timely agitation
against the illegal aliens that have now become a headache of the whole
country.

It’s really a laudable effort on the part of NTF and
the eleven associates to have brought out such a delightful volume in
just two years’ time, though with a little more extra effort and time,
the book would have had a comprehensive look.



Mridumoloy



(Horizon ,The Assam Tribune,12.12.2009)



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