Sahitya Academy Award 2014 to Noted Assamese writer Arupa Patangia Kalita

Mariam Astin Athaba Hira Barua, a short story collection by noted Assamese novelist and short story writer Arupa Patangia Kalita is selected for 2014 Sahitya Academy award for Assamese.  Her writings are famous for women issues and questions and it is really a moment of great pride to see her winning  the Sahitya Academy award 2014. She rightly deserves it. 

Dr Sanjib Baruah's Book India Against Itself: Assam and the Politics of Nationality

                       "India Against Itself" has been able to create a stir because it brought the causes of the
grievous Socio-political situation of Assam to the fore-front. It reflects what common and conscious people in Assam feel about this. Honestly there is nothing new for the people of Assam who have been witnessing the political situation of Assam closely in the recent  past years. Since the author of this book is an Assamese living in abroad so this book has been able to catch the fancy of readers immediately.

              People who has read this book have opined that this book is  really a great eye-opener to the world especially for those who are interested to know about the current and recent political happenings of Assam and North East. The Government of India, its policies regarding North East, and  their impact upon the people of region were not discussed thoroughly so far. But in India Against Itself Dr Sanjib Baruah has discussed all these from the period of British rule to the contemporary age. The topic of ethnic conflict is dealt with utmost care keeping in mind the ethnic diversity of this region.

                       The Author: The writer of India Against Itself Dr Sanjib Baruah is the Professor and  Chair of Political Studies at Bard College.  Academic Program Affiliation(s): Asian studies,  Environmental and Urban Studies, Global and International Studies, Political Studies. He has graduated from Cotton College Guwahati and achieved his Post Graduation from Gauhati University Assam.

North East Book Fair 2013 latest news and views

     Few days back I called upon an old friend who happens to be in constant touch with the grapevine and  coincidentally a freelance writer. She told me that she is busy at the press. So instead of speculating what she is doing at the press in the evening I waited till she cleared the air late in the eveing. She told me that she was busy with her book to be published in the upcoming North East Bookfair 2013-14.

'Assam 1864' by Oscar Flex: a refreshing study of Assam during the bygone era

So far, Assam and Assamese people during the British regime have been viewed through the eyes of British historians like Edward Gait and the records found in the accounts of several Assam Histories written by  Dr Surya Kumar Bhuyan's history books etc. The topic of today's blog Assam 1864, is on the other hand is an account of a German writer who could see what is going on on Assam during the British Raj through his unbiased viewpoint of a simple onlooker. He came to Assam to make a career in the Tea garden industry  in Assam which was hot business during that period.

River Dog: A Journey Down the Brahmaputra by Mark Shand the Assamese translation review

Let me admit this first that I have not read the original 'River Dog- A Journey Down the Brahmaputra' by Mark Shand. What I have read was an Assamese translation of the work by Bipul Deori. Mr Deori has achieved two huge objectives by translating River Dog, first to translate the work and enriching the canon of translation work in Assamese literature  and second

Arnab Goswami Interviewed in an Assamese news channel

Arnab Goswami picture from Wikipedia

It was a chance encounter will Arnab Goswami for me, when the heartthrob of newsland was interviewed by a regional News Channel last week. Yes, it was a much awaited interview, I would say.  Because many would wonder whether Arnab Goswami is an Assamese or guy from Assam as characteristically Assamese people are less outspoken and more soft-spoken. And this news reader who is dominating the news prime-time  for a few years now is famous for his fierce and passionate attitude towards those whom he choose to talk to in the News Hour.

Is it too difficult to learn Assamese?

      English is overpowering. Kids are learning Hindi like first language, courtesy Cartoon channels. So, does the space for Assamese is shrinking? Are your kids learning Assamese? Or are the speakers of other language like Hindi, Bengali, Manipuri are learning Assamese at their own wishes. Leave aside the question of accuracy and fluency of the Assamese language, are our kids learning Assamese willingly?

Assamese Theatre: plays, actors and actresses and survival

Assamese theatre is best known as Mobile theatre(Bhramyomaan Theatre=moving theatre parties). Theatre has been one of the most revered form of art and entertainment in Assam. In fact it has been a inspiration of many researches because of its mobile characteristics, reason of flourishing over the time, survival inspite of tough competition from cinema, video CDs, and cable TV channel which offer much more entertainment 24 hours.

Mitra Phukon's The Collector's Wife

The Collector's Wife the novel

The Collector's Wife by Mitra Phukon is a novel that revolves around the happenings in Assam in the 70s and 80's when the normalcy and spontaneity of life was marred by political insurgency. Rukmini the protagonist of The Collector's Wife  is a part time college lecturer who was very much an on-looker of the situation until she herself was compelled to walk the tight-rope and her own life was exposed to the insurgency. Rukmini being the wife of the DC of a remote state of Assam is on the first hand feels apologetic because  she somehow represent the administration and feels like she needs to justify the acts of administration. On the other hand she is also very much a loner who can neither relate to her husband nor to the commoners.

The story of Mitra Phukon's The Collector's Wife

Rukmini's own life is also tangled by her childlessness. She needs to undergo harrowing time with never-ending tests and physical examinations done by all male gynaecologists. She feels the lack of presence of a woman or a friend or confide in her life. At this stage of mere loneliness she gets a friend in Manoj Mahanta who is mere an acquaintance in her life but shares common background and easy accessibility unlike her dutibound and aloof husband. Proximity to Manoj Mahanta leads to the crux of the novel. She gets pregnant but she was sure that she does not have a physical kind of relationship with Manoj. This aspect is a completely new and modern aspect in the novel. Rukmini prepares herself to part with her husband and at this juncture Manoj mahanta gets kidnapped by ultras. Deeper medical examinations and reports shows her that the biological father of the unborn was Manoj not her husband Siddhartha. Siddartha's character was however build up quite differently and he though not much expressive shows unusual kind of marital camaraderie and also gets ready to parent his wife's child to whom he is not a father. A recluse, workaholic person but he tries to sort out whether he is able to father a child in a strange way by betraying the marital bond with Rukmini.

The quirky end of the Collector's Wife novel shows us the death of both Manoj ans Siddhartha in the same encounter with ultras. Rukmini's concern for the people of the reason, for the families of the dead people and her wish to be one among them thus meets an abrupt halt. The novel ends with this question.

This is not a critique of the Collector's Wife. This article only discuss a common reader's reaction after reading The Collector's Wife'. I find it quite uncanny that the  novel despite being a well-written one could not grab the critic's attention much. Perhaps it was published at a time when books were not discussed in the web world like they are done now. This novel gives you  an enthralling read, some chances to introspect and lots to discuss about Assam.

Mitra Phukon Indian English writer, novelist from Assam

 Mitra Phukon is the first English novelist from North East whose novel is published by an international publishing house. Her novel The Collector's Wife was published in 2005 by Penguin.

About Mitra Phukon's The Collector's Wife

Though the novel The Collector's Wife was with for almost a year, I just could not push myself enough to read it. Like what new I could get from this novel about Assam and the turbulent time it is going through for quite a long time. But chance came accidentally and my first encounter with this novel happen. And as I have started reading the novel, I felt quite arrested by the writing style, the easy thrill and suspense that the novel unveiled slowly, believe me that parting from the novel was almost impossible until I have finished reading it.

About Mitra Phukon

While going through the novel The Collector's wife the media was quite abuzz with the Jaipur Literary Festival. More than the festival itself media were more more concerned about Rushdie's joining the fest. This somehow inspired me to check for the writers in the Jaipur lit festival and the writers from North East and Assam who are going to participate. I was not disappointed at all. In fact was quite happy to see that  Mitra Phukon is joining the Literary festival.

Mitra Phukon is a writer and a trained classical vocalist. Mitra writes regularly at daily news papers like Sentinel and she is also a music critic. She has quite a good number of children's books to her credit, all published by renowned publishing houses of India. Her published books are

Mamoni's Adventure (1986) published by Children's Book Trust)

Terrorist Camp Adventure (2003) published by Scholastic)

A Monsoon of Music (2011) Published by Zubaan in association with Penguin )

Chumki Posts A letter(Children's literature)

North East Book Fair Assam 2011 kick-starts from today!

For all those lovers of 'books and fairs' out there, here is an extremely good piece of news. North-East Book Fair 2011 starts from today i.e., 14 December 2011. It is a forgone comclusion that Book fairs are not for book lovers only. Book fairs have become a place  to hang out during these beautiful winter days for students, office-goers and housewives and of course lovers as well! But that cannot dampen the spirit of real book lovers.

A tribute to Mamoni Raisom Baideo.

Barely a fortnight has passed after the Sangeet Surjyo Dr Bhupenda secured his place in his heavenly abode; we have lost another star of the literary world, that is Dr Indira Raisom Goswami whom we called  Mamoni Raisom fondly. She has achieved a highly esteemed place in the hearts of literary critics and readers equally. For the timeless novels like Mamore Dhora Tarowal, Tej Aru Dhulire Duxorita Pristha, 'Dotal Hatir Ooinye Khowa Howda' which got translated into English  and almost all Indian Languages, Aadhalekha Dastaabej, her autobiography and the incredible story of her real life crises,

New Assamese Book releases in 2011

I am very very happy that some people who have landed in this blog has also did that by searching about new Assamese books that are released in 2011. The books about which I have written already were some classic Assamese literature about about which all readers of Assamese literature know. They just want to know about what is written about those books. This is my little effort to bring those new Assamese book releases on the fore for those who want to keep abreast with whatever new is happening in Assam.

Retrospective of Dr Bhabendra Nath Saikia, a treasure for film-buffs

Films of Dr Saikia
That Dr Bhabendra Nath Saikia sir's films like Agnisnan, Abartan and Sandhyarag etc were some of the  box office smashers of their time. people acorss the state were thronged around the famous cinemas in Assam to watch those unforgettable movies of Dr Saikia Sir. But his later movies due to some reasons could not create the magic.

Anuradhar Dex by Phanindra Kumar Dev Choudhury, the most romantic Assamese novel.

Anuradhar Dex(অনুৰাধাৰ দেশ) A Novel dear to my heart
Anuradhar Dex is one of my favourite novel and there will be hardly any novel reader in Assamese who is not basked in reflected glory of the success of this novel. And perhaps it is one modeern romantic novel that becomes a classic. Anuradhar Dex is written by an Engineer on the basis of his experience while working in an Oil Company of India. It is really watchable to see how he has turned this experience into the corner-stone to build up the story of  a romantic novel.

Mereng latest Assamese novel by Anuradha Sharma Pujari

Assamese novel Mereng cover page image

          Anuradha Sharma Pujari's latest contribution to Assamese lietrature is Mereng, a novel based on
a life of Assamese woman who lead a successful career despite many ups and downs in life. Mereng is in fact the life of  Indira Miri, one of the torch bearer of education in the North Eastern states during British era. It is about that time when education was something far away from the the lives of people who lived

Anuradha Sharma Pujari : Jounalist, popular Novelist, Essayist and Editor of Weekly Assamese Sadin

Anuradha Sharma Pujari is one of those Assamese writers who can walk an extra mile to make her experience authentic because she is going to share her experience with her readers. She is one among those who makes in-depth reseaech before writing on any topic. Her first novel Hridoy Ek Bigyapon was the result of her experience of as a journalist in the glossy corporate world. And this novel was literally a novel subject matter in Assamese literature. Her later novels are Sahebpurar Barashujak, Ejan Iswarar Sandhanat,  Raag Anuraag, Naharar Niribili Shanh, Kanchan, Boragi Nadir Ghat, , etc. She is also an avid short story writer and each of her short stories oozes honest involvement with life and she seems to follow her heart.

Online News papers and publications from assam

Gone are the days when you had to subscribe your favourite Assamese news paper while staying outside Assam. And at times you just cribbed for not getting the Assamese news paper regularly. But now with many Assamese News paper and other publications in Assam switching to an online version it is easier for everyone have their daily dose of news and views from Assam. There is hardly any doubt that this makes life lot easier when we can keep in touch with what is going on in Assam. Most of the epapers or online news papers offer a free version without log in and some send it to your mail box daily if you submit your email ID. By the way, do you what are the Assamese news paper that offers online daily issues?

Dr Kabin Phukon, a life dedicated to literature and teaching(updated)

Dr Kabin Phukon sir was a dedicated teacher, and it is a blessing of God that I am one  those who were lucky to have Phukon sir as their teacher. When the news of Phukon sir flashed in the news channels it was 9 pm. There was nothing to confirm because sir was fighting with the deadly disease already and he seems to be hearing the footsteps of the god of death. And this was quite obvious from his last creations ('Mukhya Sachib Teun Mrityur Devatar' published in Prantik).

Monsoon Thoughts in Assam, Kharisa and some sad news(demise of Dr Kabin Phukon sir)

The most awaited Assam visit came to an end at last when me and my family members ended up in the school auditorium-like Jorhat airport lounge on 15th of June. The flight was late and we could experience the heat of outside in the passenger lounge itself, because sadly there was no air-conditioner in the Jorhat Airport passenger lounge. The passenger of one flight was enough to pack the auditorium!

Anyways, the stay at Assam was more than pleasant.