[asom] Mrs. Anima Chakravarty no more ...
It is a devastating news for all of us who knew Mrs. Chakraborty from her child hood days. In fact she was part of a chorus we sang in Shillong 1955 Childrens' Day composed by Rudra Baruah, called 'Dol Aami Akonir In fact the Binu Tunu duo was something remarkablly Assamese in music when we were young. As a singer she had no parallel, her distinct voice stood out as something unique that brought out the Assamese spirit no one else could portray. Her Bihusuria geets and bon geets were eternally etched in our minds. As a person she was ebullient and could mix with people so well. The way she struck rapport with the audience in Duliajan when she visited sometime in the 1970s when I was the Bihu secretary I still remember. We send our heartfelt condolences to Dr. Chakravarty and his only comfort is that his grief is shared by all of us. May God give her soul eternal salvation. Shantikam hazarika - Original Message - From: alpana barthkur To: assamonline@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 3:44 AM Subject: [asom] Mrs. Anima Chakravarty no more ... Re: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assamonline/message/2812
Re: [asom] Assamese Fears and Saviours
Let us discuss development instead of becoming emotional! dibya Re: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assamonline/message/2804 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assamonline/message/2807 --- following is moderator appended --- From: Rana medhi Date: Wed Nov 22, 2006 8:56 pm Subject: Re: [asom] Assamese Fears and Saviours Here is my two cents worth Jadav! Why Should I send money to ASSAM for development when all those throusand crores given by central govt lines up pockets corrupt politicians/officers and ULFA. What we try to achieve here is that by discussing the issues, create an awareness so that this waste does not happen. Then may be we will start thinking of sending money. santanoo Re: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assamonline/message/2796
Re: [asom] Mrs. Anima Chakravarty no more ...
We are very sorry to hear the sad news. It is a big loss for the Assamese community in North America. She was a wonderful singer with a great personality. At one of the yearly Assamese conventions, I remember requesting her to sing one of my favorite songs kuhi pat jen komal komal , o tor hahi before she went up to the stage. I didn't think she would sing the song. I thought she had her own favorite songs to sing. But she not only sang the song she also mentioned my name. I was thrilled and felt like dancing when she was singing. Last May, we saw her at Dittu Goswami's wedding in Toronto. She looked fine.She sang Bihu songs at the wedding. Everybody was dancing while she was singing. We are going to miss her. May her soul rest in peace. Dil Deka Houston, Texas If tears could build a stairway, And memories a lane, I'd walk right up to Heaven And bring you home again. ~Author Unknown alpana barthkur [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: With a heavy heart, we are breaking this sad news that Mrs. Anima Chakravarty is no more. She breathed her last at the Peterborough hospital, in Ontario, canada yesterday afternoon( Nov 25th) . She was one of those Xaboleel asomiya voice which gave even an assamese song a REAL assamese touch. She can sing Gosor Patot Bihu Ahil, Bihu Nahil Monot while in the kitchen, and make it sound like a studio version. Her voice is so different, original, and without any makeup that it touches listener's soul the moment it hits their ear drums. Anima Baideu (Bou) to many of us is like a cultural ambassador to north america from Assam, since her marrige to Dr. Iswar Chakravarty. In a TV interview she was once compared to a rare orchid that Dr. Chakravarty took with great care from assam's musical garden to be re-planted in North America. In Bihu or any Assamese get-together accross North America, Bou's presence could bring an unspoken gravity to the cultural programs on stage. Markin Kalpataru offers condolences to Mr. Iswar Chakravarty and family on this great loss of an assamese musical icon of yesteryears. May her soul finds a Nijora of eternal peace. Good bye Bou, we will remember you as an ever smiling Porie who gave us so much ! You will be forever in our heart as that Xil pai jopiuowa pahari nijora joni... - Check out the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster.
[asom] Matak Kingdom to Tinsukia College
Guwahati, Friday, November 24, 2006 EDITORIAL Tinsukia College marches ahead Dr Achyut Kumar Borthakur The historic Bengmora (now Tinsukia) was the capital of Matak Kingdom. The Matak Kingdom occupied a distinct place in the history of Asom. The first king of the Matak Kingdom was Sarbananda Singha, who was never power hungry and despotic. Sarbananda Singha maintained a sense of equality among his subjects and always gave importance to democratic values. Taxes in Matak Kingdom were hardly imposed and people were so free that many people from Ahom kingdom migrated to Matak territory to evade taxation. Even the British praised the Mataks as hard working race and king Sarbananda Singha as an efficient administrator. The Mataks preserved their independence since the later part of the nineteenth century until its annexation by the British in 1842. Once considered a granary of the North East Tinsukia became a commercial hub with the discovery of tea and subsequent extraction of crude oil and coal. Fortune-seekers from different parts of India were thronging into Tinsukia. It became necessary for British interest to construct Railways as the modern means of transport. In 1884 the first railway line passed through this town from Dibrugarh to Ledo and a new railway station was built near a tank. The tank having three corners was dug by Godha Borbaruah, a Minister of King Sarbananda Singha and in course of time the new railway station got its name as Tinisukia or Tinsukia from this tank. The old name of the town `Bengmora' had fallen into disuse. The first seed of an institution of higher education was sown by a man of prodigious industry and of vast and varied learning and devoted social reformer, Braja Kishore Saraswat. Formerly a teacher of Birla Education Trust, Jaipur, Saraswat came to Tinsukia in 1950 to take up the responsibility of Headmastership of the Hindi English High School, Tinsukia. He promoted the idea of establishing a college at Tinsukia through the Tinsukia Social Welfare Board a society formed under his patronage to work for the spread of education in Tinsukia. The `Tinsukia Social Welfare Board' moved into action and andhoc Body was formed with Baleswar Prasad Gupta as Chairman to give a concrete shape to the idea. The first meeting of the Adhoc Committee was held on May 9, 1956 under the president ship of Baleswar Prasad Gupta in which Nagendra Nath Gogoi, Radha Krishna Khemka, Suresh Ch. Hom Chowdhury, JK Bhattacharjee and Braja Kishore Saraswat were present. For acceleration of this idea of establishing a college, the `enthusiasts' decided to organise a public meeting on May 20 at Tinsukia to educate the real masters the public. The `enthusiasts' circulated handbills through the school children of various local schools to make awareness campaign in support of a college and urging the people to attend the public meeting. The deputy commissioner of the then Lakhimpur District Md. Sultan was cordially invited to preside over the meeting. The all important public meeting was held on May, 20 1956 under the president-ship of Md. Sultan. It was attended by almost all the leading citizens of Tinsukia with an estimated attendance of 500 people. It was unanimously resolved to start an intermediate arts college at Tinsukia from the academic session of August. A strong organizing committee was formed with Jadunath Bhuyan as president and Braja Kishore Saraswat as secretary. The meeting formed a sub-committee with Suresh Chandra Hom Choudhury, Braja Kishore Saraswat and Saifuddin Ahmed as members to draft a scheme for the college which should be placed before the organising committee on or before 27.5.56. The meeting also asked president Jadu Nath Bhuyan and member Baleswar Prasad Gupta along with one of the secretaries to approach Gauhati University authority to seek permission to start college from 1956. The first meeting of the organising committee was held on under the presidentship May 26, 1956 of Jadunath Bhuyan, the architect modern Tinsukia. This meeting had accepted the scheme of the college prepared by the sub-committee and they also resolved to approach Senairam High School authority to temporarily accommodate the classes till the permanent building was constructed. The bank of historic Na-pukhuri was selected as the permanent site of the college and the permission was also obtained from the Tinsukia Municipal Board for the same. Later, it was found that Na-pukhuri site was too inadequate to accommodate a large institute and a fresh site was searched. A sub committee was formed to collect fund for the proposed college with president Jadunath Bhuyan, Anath Bandhu Bose, Baleswar Prasad Gupta, Radha Krishna Khemka and Manmoth Nath Raha as members. Jadunath Bhuyan, a noted philanthropist donated a substantial amount to meet the initial expenses.
Re: [asom] abut NRA criticism on Assam
I am very impressed by the message of Mrs. Deka. Extremely well thought out and written. Lets do what we can, each one of us and I have no doubt things will change. I have seen the result of honest hard work in my father's life Late Sarada Charan Sarma and mine. He lived what he preached which was the oft repeated statement from him--There is no short cut to knowledge accept through assiduous toil-- All his life he worked hard. From scratch he built up the Department of Statistics after he returned from the US in 1949 following grad studies at Columbia and work experience in DC at the Bureau of Census, Labor Dept and Agricultural Statistics.(Gave up teaching physics in Cotton College out of frustration due to lack of opportunity for research) Second point made Ms. Deka is 'charity begins at home'. So true. Help the less fortunate in the family and then the larger community. I have followed that principle all through. I have offered my services to GOA in my area of expertise-water resources engg., planning and development specialist. I am somewhat frustrated with the decision making process in the bureaucracy in Assam. I strongly belief that our work culture and thinking have to change drastically. For that we need a strong political party that can look long term. Only such a political party will be able to make the tough decisions for changes. We were betrayed by the AGP when Mahanta and Co did not take advantage of the great mandate that the Assamese people gave them with great hope and aspiration. If Mahanta took a long term view to growth and development of the state and its people like Jyoti Basu did when he came to power in Bengal, we would not be iin the shape we are now. Basu and his cohorts have changed the looks of drought-stricken Bengal villages and now they have started to bring big change to Kolkata. I also believe, brooding over past misdeeds and subsequent failures are no solution for the future. Let us look ahead and work hard, each one of us, to contribute to change in our thinking and establish a culture of hard work, transparency and accountability in every aspect of our government and public and private institutions. Then, and only then will we make a positive impact for our future. This is what I believe and am trying to make my little contribution. Barada Sarma Austin Bijan Jyoti Borah [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dear Concerned Friends, It is indeed a pleasure to be connected to home through this listserv and have a reality check on the development of the region. It is also good to hear the perspectives of various individuals on a variety of topics. Like any other forum there are constructive and not so constructive discussions and comments, there are times when the issue is handled in a way that it loses its prior relevance. Nevertheless, it is the first time we have connected this way to discuss about our region and that is a great step ahead. Finding the solutions to the mammoth problems of the state is not an easy task, mere rhetoric of grassroots empowerment and capacity building or skill building is not enough. I have spent formidable and important years of my life contributing to that cause. I was trained in the field of social development from one of the top class institutes in the world and yet I know the solutions are not easy. We have to keep trying and keep working one person at a time, one community, a village and region at a time. This will take longer than all of us like to assume. But eventually things will change, as they have been. All of us bear collective responsibility in the affairs of the state, and not one individual or agency can be singled out. Rampant political corruption, non-functioning government and civic agencies, power hungry politicians and individuals have all contributed to the despair. In this, off course historical marginalization of the region has played a big part. But its about time we moved on, to me the fact that most of us are openly talking about it is a big promise. Growing up, I have experienced the utter frustration in the decay of the system, my father who was a high ranking government official paid dearly for his honesty. While my father's colleagues owned everything money could buy, we had to struggle to meet our ends. My dad was an exemplary who did not use forums or words to pursue his convictions, he proved it through deeds. He helped build a school in his village, contributed to the establishment of a college, helped needy students and also encouraged people with entrepreneurial tendencies. In his lifetime he has deeply touched the lives of many people. To me the seeds of hope were sown at home, by an extraordinary father who led an ordinary life to convey his message. Some of us have immigrated to the United States not because we are escapists. In spite of outstanding academic results it was difficult to find a job, and a fellowship from a foreign university seemed like a
Re: [asom] Mrs. Anima Chakravarty no more ...
SHOCKED FOR THE UNEXPECTED NEWS..I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT OUR ANIMA IS NO MORE... I USED TO TEACH ANIMA SONGS WHILE SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL IN LABAN GIRLS SCHOOL... 1955/56... I LEFT SHILLONG FOR UK. 1957 MET HER FEW TIMES IN CANADA, US,, AND LAST YEAR IN GUWAHATI.. IT IS A GREAT LOSS TO ASSAM..OUR HEARTIEST CONDOLENCE AND SYMPATHY TO HER FAMILY.. MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE... kamal hazarika, london.
Re: [asom] ULFA recruiting Bangladeshi youth to spread terror
They probably already have Mullahs in their ranks working out logistics. Very soon they will have foot soldiers also. Rgds, Sandip - Original Message From: Vavani Sarmah [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: assamonline@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 9:01:33 AM Subject: [asom] ULFA recruiting Bangladeshi youth to spread terror http://www.rediff. com/news/ 2006/nov/ 23assam.htm ULFA recruiting Bangladeshi youth to spread terror November 23, 2006 11:18 IST Unable to recruit young people from Assam for its operations, the banned United Liberation Front of Asom was now recruiting poor Bangladeshi youths into its ranks for acts of terrorism in the country, according to intelligence sources. These days, ULFA is finding it difficult to recruit Assamese youth in its ranks. It is now learnt to be recruiting young people from poor families of Bangladesh, the sources told PTI. Stating that the chief of ULFA's army wing, Paresh Barua, is known to have visited Pakistan to seek its assistance in the outfit's activities, the sources said Pakistani youths were also likely to 'very soon' join in the outfit's activities. In times to come, militancy in Assam will be hijacked by these elements and ULFA will only be a facade and a nominal force tagging along, the sources said, but declined to disclose how soon they expected this to happen. Pointing out that the people of Guwahati quickly restored normalcy after the November 5 twin blasts that left 13 people dead and over 50 injured, the sources expressed apprehension that the ULFA would now seek soft targets like school children and patients. There is a nagging anxiety that the ULFA may become even more desperate and attack school children and hospitals, the most vulnerable of the lot. Anything dastardly and cowardly as this can now be expected and people should be prepared, they said, claiming that the ULFA's influence on the people of Assam was now on the wane. According to the sources, the November 5 blasts at Guwahati and Noonmati were directed at non-Assamese residents. The aim of these attacks is to create an atmosphere of insecurity, cause community-centric divide and precipitate an exodus of non-Assamese out of the state. The Brahmaputra Mail, which left Guwahati on November 6 after the blasts, was overcrowded with migrant passengers, mostly women and children from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, they said. Claiming that the ULFA had used the ceasefire to regroup and re-arm itself to take on the armed forces, the sources said that the security forces and the police were aware of the 'ruse' and had warned the state administration in advance. Pointing out that the explosion at Guwahati was known to have been triggered by a timed and programmable device, they said that the design and technology had probably been provided by militant outfits of Pakistan or Bangladesh. The recent spate of firing along the Indo-Bangladesh border was probably designed to aid intrusions of militants into Assam with a view to create a Jammu and Kashmir-like situation there, they said. According to the sources, signs of division have appeared in the ULFA's rank and file with moderates openly coming out against violence and the notion of soverignty. For the ULFA hardliners soverignty now means Assam's integration within a greater Islamic state comprising Bangladesh and Pakistan as a loose confederation, the sources said. Yahoo! Music Unlimited Access over 1 million songs. http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited
