the

association

find out...

all the latest news

from across assam

interview with...

the new assamese Indian

high commissioner

on the grapevine: all the latest from the assamese

community in the UK

forming the future? the first assam forum

25 years on: silver jubilee celebrations for

london bihu committee

assam at the olympics: sporting stars carry flame for assam at 2012 games

dikshu sarma’s

married to music

august 2012

2 the

association

WELCOME to the new look Assam Association newsletter.

For those of you who do not know me - I am a BBC journalist and one of the

second generation Assa-mese clan - born in London and brought up in Essex (though please do not hold that against me!)

Jan and Romen Goswami have the honour of being my parents and James Mellor my husband!

But enough about me. First and foremost, I would like to thank Ranjit Baruah - the previous editor.

For years, he would in-form us of what had been happening in Assam and keeping us abreast of all the gossip in the UK’s As-samese community.

I hope you will find that the new team of writers have kept to that same ethos.

In this edition, the Assamese Aunties will give you the inside track on what has been happening in the UK, my father tells you some of the big news from Assam and there is an interview with the new Assamese Indian High Commissioner - this year’s guest of honour.

You will also be able to find out what other UK-Assamese groups have been doing, read about this year’s artists and how Assam’ participated in the Olympics, held in London.

Finally, if you would like to contribute to the newsletter please get in touch - details are on the back page.

But for now, please enjoy!

the association

editor: Nina Goswami

the committee

president: Jitendralal Borkakoti

general secretary: Nripen Barkataki

vice president: Shyam Saikia

assistant secretary: Rishi Kakati

treasurer: Julie Bora

cultural secretary: Chinu Kishore

committee members: Bhupendra Dev Sarmah

Nina Mellor Ritu Kataky Rini Kakati

Gaurav Goswami Jayanta Biswa Sarma

Indira Sharma Adhita Saikia

webmaster: Jayanta Biswa Sarma

Roll up, roll up: read all about it in your new look newsletter

ta Nina Goswami

let’s create some memories to remember always...

AS PRESIDENT of the United Assam Association UK, it is my proud privilege to welcome you all to the twelfth annual Assam Day.

If you are coming for the first time, a very special welcome to you, and I hope you will become a member of the Assam Association.

The purpose of this annual gathering is to catch up with friends, to make new ones, and to come to know each other better.

We are inevitably becom-ing a larger family through this process of bonding.

The objective is to simply have a good time and an exciting experience.

These two days are full of fun, with cultural shows, discos, Assam Olympics, and quizzes.

I also take this opportunity to say that we in the UK- with economic security - should spare a moment to think of the millions of peo-ple in the rural areas of As-sam suffering now from flooding.

You can find out more about those floods later on in this newsletter.

But back to here and now, I hope you will help to make this Assam Day as successful as the last one.

I would like to say a mas-sive thank you to the last Executive Committee and previous President - Dr Ranjit Baruah - for all their hard work.

I look forward to seeing you all again next year.

ta Jitendralal Borkakoti

‘the objective

is simply to

have a

good time’

sanjoy flies flag for assamese music

3 the

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James Mellor finds out how Dikshu Sarma strummed his way to his first music deal

dikshu’s bollywood dreams

GROWING up, Dikshu Sarma was surrounded by music and the arts.

His father, Debeswar Sarma, is a music director with the Mobile Theatre in Assam and his mother, Charu Devi, was a dancer.

So art is in this Nalbari-born performer’s genes but singing was not something Dikshu was that interested in when he was younger.

“My mother wanted me to get in to singing,” explains Dikshu. “She wanted me to learn at a music school but I refused my mother at that time.”

Instead, Dikshu went to Guwahati University where he did a Masters of Commerce in Finance.

It was not until

after university in 2005 that Dikshu realised that music was the right career choice for him.

“But when I really wanted to get into the music world my parents did not support me,” the 30-year-old ex-plains. “I felt like leaving

this line but my girlfriend at the time Bijiyeta - who is now my wife - inspired me like anything.

“I am only in music be-cause of my wife and Pa-lash Gogoi who is like my brother and famous music director of Assam.

“So if I have to say my biggest inspiration, it is only Bijiyeta, my wife.”

Dikshu’s debut album was Champion and Tumi Jodi Kowa was the track that became a big hit.

For the Assamese singer, 2009 was what he calls ‘the turning point in his life’.

Debodaaru was his first solo album, which launched him as a solo artist and gave him the real start to his success so far.

Dhan Kuberar Dhan and Raamdhenu are just two of many Assamese films in which he has featured. He also sang for Bollywood in the film King Fisher and album Baahom Main Main.

And it is Bollywood that Dikshu dreams of.

He says: “I want to see myself as a Bollywood star in five years.”

‘my biggest

inspiration:

it is only

Bijiyeta,

my wife’

ASSAM DAY’S headline act last year was singer and all-round entertainer Sanjoy Dey.

The Kolkata-born artiste capti-vated the audience with his rep-ertoire - from Bollywood to Bengali to Assamese songs.

And a less than musical bunch had a great laugh with Sanjoy as he taught them to sing Jai Ho.

This year he is back after a busy twelve months in which he has been flying the flag for Assamese music.

At a recent Bengali event Sanjoy included Assamese songs in his performance.

“There are so many Bengali modern songs, which were influ-

enced by the Assamese ethnic tunes,” explains Sanjoy. “I sang Dola Hey Dola and Manuhe Manuhor Babe as I love to switchover from Bengali to Assamese and vice versa.”

Sanjoy’s interest in Assamese music began during his schools days when he had the opportu-nity to listen to Bihu songs, and decided to find out what else Assam had to offer.

And though Sanjoy’s first inspi-ration was the music of Rabin-dranath Tagore - the first Asian Nobel Laureate - he says his work is also influenced by He-mant Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Manna De and Assam’s very

own Bhupen Hazarika. He says: “Their emotional

and sensational individuality imbibed my childhood.”

Apart from Assam’s music, it is clear Sanjoy has a certain respect for Assamese people.

He says: “Wherever they stay in Britain or other parts of the world they are united and they have solidarity.” And now Sanjoy has been embraced into the UK’s community, he says “Now I am 'khar khoya oxomia'“

Sanjoy Dey tells Jan Goswami about the ‘solidarity of song’

4 the

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balloon antics mark london’s silver jubilee bihu celebrations

MORE THAN two dec-ades ago, a dozen children crowded on to a stage wav-ing red balloons as they sang as part of London's Rongali Bihu celebrations.

Almost 25 years later, some of those same chil-dren -now fully grown and some married - reprised that performance of 'Ronga Balloone' at the Silver Jubi-lee of the London Bihu Committee - the group that has been organising the UK capital's bihu gather-ings for all that time.

That performance on Sun-day 6 May at The Campion School in Hornchurch was the climax of a cultural pro-

gramme which had been crafted specifically to mark 25 years of unbroken cele-

brations in London for Rongali Bihu.

Dr Neera Borkakoti -whose son Jayanta and daughter Nandita were among the Ronga Balloone singers - said that the per-formance typified what celebrating bihu in London was about.

"It shows how important bihu is, as through it the second generation has bonded and are proud to say 'Ami Axomia'."

Rita Kakati Shah, who was also one of the Ronga Balloone ensemble, made a speech on behalf of the younger generation to pay tribute to those who have

ensured there has always been a yearly event.

She told the 150-strong audience. "Our experiences go beyond reading and writing Assamese and sing-

ing and dancing; we've grown up together because of it, developed lifelong friendships and can truly say we are an extended family."

Mrs Shah's tribute fol-lowed, what some bihu-goers dubbed "the centre piece of the Silver Jubilee

celebrations" - a 12-minute film edited by Alfred Ah-med, another original Ronga Balloone participant. The film included some of the highlights from the 24 bihus that came before this year's function.

The video encompassed memories from traditional performances such as Hu-sori to what has become known as the Bihu Olym-pics: both of which featured again this year.

Dr Khogeswar Lahon, who delivered this year’s bihu message, said the film captured the essence of the annual event: “The celebration of Rongali Bihu is unique, colourful and vi-brant with a feeling of joy, feasting, merriment and

ta Nina Goswami

‘the second

generation are

proud to say

‘Ami Axomia’’

the first assam forum strives for change

POVERTY, unemploy-ment, housing, healthcare and infrastructure are is-sues facing all countries.

These were the issues discussed in relation to Assam on 19 February at a new annual meeting –

organised by the United Assam Association of the UK – which has been enti-

tled the Assam Forum. The event was held at the

YMCA Indian Student Hos-tel in London, where there was a congregation of more than sixty from across the UK.

I was the Forum’s Chief

Convenor and addressed the group on the need for poverty reduction.

Poverty in Assam stands out in terms of real per cap-ita income relative, and Hu-man Development Index, relative to the rest of India.

Unemployment is a key cause of poverty, and I suggested that small-scale

industries - encouraged through Self Help Groups with adequate access to microfinance - could be a feasible solution.

Dr Jayanta Biswa Sarma and Dr Rituparna Bhat-tacharyya emphasised the importance of skill develop-ment and capacity building for the youth of Assam.

ta Jitendralal Borkakoti

5 the

association

balloon antics mark london’s silver jubilee bihu celebrations enthusiasm everywhere.”

And Dr Nilmoni Sikdar, who narrated the feature, said it showed why holding bihu in London is so impor-tant to those who are part of the first tranche of Assa-mese to come over to Brit-ain.

"After a quarter of a cen-tury in a distant land - far, far away from our land of birth, which is the same for some young people who have come in recent times - it means that we are ensur-ing togetherness," ex-plained Dr Sikdar. "Although most of us were not related by blood and marriage, we remained a close knit unit of friends.

"There have been chal-lenges but we stood - and

stand - united in words and deeds."

For newcomers to the London Bihu Committee, the Silver Jubilee video gave them a sense of what

the community they are part of has been doing to remain a "close knit unit".

Zaved Chowdhury, who joined the London Bihu Commitee this year, said: "The committee has not only managed to preserve our rich cultural heritage and our deep Assamese

Indian roots but also moti-vates us to pass it over to the next generation.

“The third generation is already much motivated to attend the next event thanks to the medals and certificates they received for taking part in the Bihu Olympics, and also through being entertained by a ma-gician who armed them with balloons as well as party bags.”

After a packed schedule of entertainment, the Silver Jubilee ended in what has become tradition at London bihus: with a general bihu dance and Bhoj - catered by Shirin's Tandoori.

Geeta Borooah, the presi-dent of the London Bihu Committee, summed up the

general feeling of bihu-goers: "This year is a big year for the UK as the Olympics are being held here and it's the Queen's jubilee - which is why it feels apt we're celebrating 25 years of our committee.

Mrs Borooah added: "The London Bihu Committee started with just a few fami-lies and our numbers have been growing each year which we hope will con-tinue so the essence of why we started this annual event can continue.

"That essence is ensuring future generations do not forget - and learn about - their roots and that in a united community we can all be there to support each other."

‘ensuring

that future

generations

do not forget’

Cren Sandys-Lumsdaine from McLeod Russel moved on from employ-ment to his industry – namely tea.

He expressed the impor-tance of obtaining the inter-national GI for orthodox Assam tea – one of the in-ternationally favoured types of tea - to boost trade.

Where poverty is high, good healthcare is crucial.

Dr Mitam Barooah advocates official statistics being compiled on hospital patient numbers, opera-tions and deaths, as he feels it will help ascertain an efficient health service.

Dr Barooah also called for better Primary Health

Centres in rural areas in terms of manpower and infrastructure.

On infrastructure, Dr Tarun Chowdhury said Assam should seek help from the World Bank to sur-vey what action would put an end to Guwahati’s woes ranging from flash floods to poor water supply.

An executive summary has been submitted to the Chief Minister of Assam.

The future aim is to hold the Assam Forum on an annual basis to discuss the various economic and so-cial problems of Assam – and perhaps come up with ideas that will help our Mother Land.

and improvements to the mother land

MANIPUR’S Mary Kom has faced challenges.

Kom, pictured on the left, has been a pioneering woman in a sport that, until the London Games, was the exclusive Olympic pre-serve of men.

She persuaded her father that women could box and proved wrong those in her hometown who said she'd have to stop boxing after she married.

And she even overcame the murder of her father-in-law, who was reportedly shot by suspected insur-gents six years ago.

Mary Kom was close to him as he was very suppor-tive of her desire to box.

"If he's watching now," she looked up to the heav-ens. "He’ll be very happy."

It is because this 29-year-old from the Seven Sisters overcame these challenges that she – the only Indian woman boxer – was able to

take bronze at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

After she won that medal at the ExCel Centre in Lon-don, there was only one thing the media wanted to know from the five-time world champion - her message to millions of women back in India.

"Women can do every-thing, you know?" she re-plied. "Just challenge. Keep challenging."

There was only one chal-lenge Kom could not over-

come at these Olympics - Great Britain’s Nicola Ad-ams in the 51kg semi-finals. Adams, picture right middle, went on to win gold in the first women’s finals at an Olympic Games.

Mary Kom will be 33-years-old when the Rio de Janeiro Olympics open in 2016. Is she tempted to try again?

“Let's see," she said. Mo-ments later, with a growl, she added: "I will be the champion!"

6 the

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ON 28 JULY, Great Britain was hoping Mark Cavendish would get Team GB its first gold of the Olympic Games in the men’s cycling road race. That was not meant to be.

But just a few miles away in the London suburb of Brookwood, sports enthusi-asts were limbering up for their own chance at win-

ning medals – not at the Olympics but at Assam Sports Day. The annual event, organ-

ised by Assam Sports & Culture UK, saw a daylong event start with a barbeque breakfast to keep up the competitors’ strength.

Fully fuelled, the day be-gan with games tradition-ally associated with British Sports Days – namely mu-sical chairs and the egg and spoon race.

The children had their own share of fun, rolling on a bouncy castle throughout the day and participating in races, which included the 50m run for under sixes.

Away from the “athletics”, cricket was played by both the men and women. The participants wore spon-sored jerseys. Once all the competitive events were over, the day culminated in an Indian buffet dinner but before that there was the

prize-giving ceremony. Certificates and medals

were awarded to all the participating children and trophies for the best adult competitors.

Dr Jayanta Barua told how the participants felt the event went: “It was a lovely family out-door day for members of the expatriate Assamese community. My whole family and I very much look forward to re-turning next year.”

ta Rohan Choudhury

going for gold: uk assamese hold their own london 2012

ta Nina Goswami

a sister from the seven sisters

fights her way to olympic bronze

7 the

association

HE WAS the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics but Shiva Thapa was more interested in athletics and football before eh caught the phenomenal Mike Tyson on television, which tempted him into taking up boxing.

All of 18, Shiva (56kg) got his London ticket in style by fetching a gold medal at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in April this year.

The sprightly Assamese teen, who is a silver-medallist from the World Youth Championships and the Youth Olympic Games, graduated to the senior level only last year and has gone from strength to strength ever since.

In his debut senior inter-national event, Shiva de-feated a reigning world champion to notch up a gold, displaying the kind of talent which even surprised his coaches.

Before heading to the Olympics, Shiva recalls: "I

took up boxing when I saw Mike Tyson. I was just awe-struck by his charisma and the way he made boxing look so stylish.

"That decision has worked well for me. Now I just need to keep working hard and the results will follow.

“Getting to Olympics is a dream realised but the real fun is in getting a medal,” he adds. “People remem-ber medallists not the ones who qualified.”

Unfortunately for the Gu-wahati-born boxer a medal was not in his grasp as his first Olympic experience turned out to be short-lived.

Mexico`s Oscar Valdez Fierro outpunched him at the boxing event at the ExCel Arena, carving out a 14-9 victory in the men`s bantam weight (56 kg) category. "It is a

little disappointing to start in this way, we were ex-pecting that Shiva would go further but the competition at this level is very tough," said Brig P K Muralidharan Raja, the secretary of the Boxing Federation of India.

Shiva is the son of former karate player Padam Thapa, who said he knew his youngest son would be an Olympian even before he was born.

Shiva ended his schooling last year and put his plans

for higher studies on hold until after the London 2012 Olympic Games.

"He will decide what he wants to do in higher stud-ies after London,” ex-plained his father before Shiva competed in the Olympics.

“Right now his focus is on boxing, nothing else."

In fact, the youngster is also a part-time singer who would have performed on a stage not in a ring if his boxing career had not taken off.

tyson made thapa fall in glove Assam played its part in London 2012 and Manju Barkataki followed the progress of Guwahati-born boxer Shiva Thapa

carrying the torch from dibrugarh to nottinghamshire

PINKY Karmakar’s passion to get her village in Dibrugarh involved in sport had not gone unnoticed by Indian officials.

Her efforts saw Pinky, 17, representing India in the Olympic Torch Relay on 28 June as the flame went through Nottinghamshire.

"Coming from a little- known tea garden from a remote part of Assam, it was a great honour to

represent the country in the Olympics torch relay,” said Pinky. “It was an unforget-table experience to partici-pate in the event, along with representatives from 19 other nations.”

She added: “My priority now will be to do something for the society in the field of education and sports."

Pinky secured her spot as a torchbearer by imple-menting a sports program created by United National

Children's Fund. She teaches a group of

about 50 women, including her mother, in a school in the tea garden. Pinky is also working on programmes to raise awareness around issues on child marriage, adult literacy and alcoholism under the Unicef banner.

8 the

association

AS one of India’s most senior diplomats, Dr Jaimini Bhagwati has travelled the world – a realisation of the wanderlust that began when he was only three years old.

Eager to see what lay out-side the family home in Tezpur, the young explorer began to walk, and walk, finally arriving at a grocery store five miles away.

“The shop owner realised

that I was lost and made me sit next to him,” ex-plains Dr Bhagwati. “In the meantime, my parents were very alarmed and alerted every police station, bus stop, railway station in and around Tezpur to try and locate me.

“After that several con-

temporaries of my parents, when they visited us in Delhi many years after this incident, would invariably ask my parents if I was the boy who was lost!”

Dr Bhagwati, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, still loves travelling the world and uses the drive and focus instilled in him by his parents Bijoy Chandra and Bimal Bhagwati.

“My parents have been the most important influ-ence in my professional and personal life,” says the former ambassador to the European Union. “I remem-ber my father's quiet de-meanour and I cannot re-call a single occasion when he raised his voice with us or anyone else.

“I am sorry to say that I do not have that level of self-control but it is an ideal I would like to achieve even if it is for a week!”

His mother’s aptitude for languages and work ethic was also a key influence for

this former World Bank cor-porate finance chief.

Dr Bhagwati explains: “My mother was a recipient of the Sahitya Academy

Award and wrote short sto-ries and poems in Assa-mese language.

“She also translated sev-eral books, for example, ‘Spirit's Pilgrimage’ by Meera Behn as ‘Ashimoya Yatri’ and Khandekar's Gy-anpeeth award-winning Marathi novel ‘Yayati’ into Assamese.”

He adds: “She would get up regularly at 4am or ear-lier to do her writing since she had a lot of household work to attend to once the family was up.”

In his current role and throughout his diplomatic

career, Dr Bhagwati at-tends countless events and appointments while con-tending with mountains of paperwork, and although he would be too diplomatic to say it himself, the occa-sionally awkward person.

So, his ability to utilise the skills he learnt from his par-ents - his mother’s tenacity and diligence, his father’s ability to deal with difficult situations using calmness and civility – have clearly been vital assets.

The High Commissioner's academic achievements, including standing First in his St Columba's High School leaving examination and second in Delhi Univer-sity Physics Bachelor's and Master's degree examina-tions, helped lay the foun-dations for his career.

Dr Bhagwati attended Tezpur Mahila Samiti School for pre-kindergarten children but his time in the Assamese education sys-tem was short.

the lost boy who

From a grocery shop in Tezpur to India House in London, Nina Goswami learns about the remarkable journey of the new Indian High Commissioner

“my wife and I

have funny

memories of

our travels”

“my parents

are my most

important

influence’’

In 1957, his father was elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha – India’s equivalent of Britain’s House of Commons - and the family moved to Delhi.

Despite his father’s politi-cal career, Dr Bhagwati’s initial intention lay in acade-mia rather than parliament.

“It was my intention to do a PhD in Physics or in Nu-clear Engineering,” says Dr Bhagwati, a former Joint Secretary to India’s Fi-nance ministry. “I decided to appear in the Civil Ser-vices Examination to stay

rooted in India. “It is ironic that after want-

ing to remain in India that I have spent so many years abroad.”

Dr Bhagwati’s education

then took him to the United States where he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“When I was in Boston doing my MBA, I was si-multaneously working to-wards a PhD from Tufts University - I took nine courses at MIT in one se-mester and was able to get through all of them,” ex-plains Dr Bhagwati. “I would rank getting through that as one of my proudest achievements.”

Despite his academic and professional successes, Dr Bhagwati is most proud of his family – his daughter Jahnavi and his wife Rita.

“I met my wife at a mutual friend's house and after a few years of friendship, we decided to get married,” says Dr Bhagwati, who ex-plained how he utilised a deft diplomatic touch in matters of the heart as well as matters of state.

“Initially, there was some opposition from my mother

because Rita is from Pun-jab but fairly quickly she was warmly accepted in

our family. “Since then we have built

many funny and poignant memories through our trav-els together around the world.”

The couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniver-sary cruising the Caribbean and have taken the US road trip on Route One in California from San Diego to San Francisco.

They have also walked the hills around Kasauli and Dhanaulti, driven through southern Spain and along the Costa del Sol.

They often return to Tez-pur and Sootea (Chariali) – Dr Bhagwati’s father’s an-

cestral home – in Assam. “My fondest memories go

back to being in Sootea,” says Dr Bhagwati. “Our an-cestral home had beetle nut, coconut, star fruit, gooseberry and other fruit trees. We also had a pond where we would go fishing.

“But Tezpur is my favour-ite town in Assam – after all I was born there. I have happy memories of walking along the Brahmaputra River and running up to the top of the hill on which the Deputy Commissioner's bungalow is located. The view of the Brahmaputra River at sunset from that hill top is breathtaking.”

Views of the Brahmaputra have now given way to views of the River Thames as Dr Bhagwati, appointed to his current post in Febru-ary, works in London to fos-ter strong relations be-tween Britain and India.

It is an important and in-fluential role – not at all bad for “the boy who was lost”.

9 the

association

From a grocery shop in Tezpur to India House in London, Nina Goswami learns about the remarkable journey of the new Indian High Commissioner

“my fondest

memories go

back to being

in Sootea”

“view of

Brahmaputra

at sunset is

breathtaking”

found success

10 the

association

ASSAM FLOODS and landslides have claimed more than 100 lives in the state and several people are reported to be missing.

This year’s floods in As-sam are said to have been the most devastating in re-cent memory.

At least 2,165 villages and 2 million people have been affected, with around

half a million people taking shelter at 768 relief camps.

Nearly 12,000 homes and around 450,000 hectares of crops were destroyed.

There had been 42 breaches in the banks of River Brahmaputra and 14 other tributaries in 14 dis-tricts at the time of writing.

The National Disaster Re-sponse Force - consisting of 548 personnel and 60 fully-equipped boats - were deployed and air drops of food parcels were being made to areas cut off by

the floodwaters. There are reports that 70

per cent of Kaziranga Na-tional Park was under wa-ter, forcing animals to move to higher ground, causing concern that en-dangered species will be attacked by poachers.

monetary relief

India’s Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, accom-panied by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, assessed the damage across several districts from Majuli to Jorhat.

Singh announced aid of Rs 1 Lakh (£1,400) for the families of the victims. He also pledged to help rebuild the infrastructure damaged by flood, committing an ad-hoc Central support of Rs 500 Crores to the Assam’s Government.

assam riots

In July, the Kokrajar and Chirang districts were hit by riots that claimed 50 lives and left almost 400,000 people homeless.

The fighting was between Bodos and “illegal Bangla-deshi infiltrators” - mainly of Muslim origin.

There was a delay in de-ploying the army in the

area, which resulted in the worsening of the situation.

The large-scale violence in Western Assam was pre-ceded by smaller incidents.

In the third week of July, four Bodo boys were killed, two Muslim boys were shot at and a few weeks earlier there was another incident.

At the heart of Assam’s troubles is a debate over

so-called “infiltration by out-siders”, which led to ethnic tension between the state’s indigenous Bodos and Bangladeshi migrants.

Relief camps for the dis-placed have been set up for the victims – both Mus-lims and Bodos.

There are reports that the camps lack enough food and medicine and have limited access to clean drinking water.

Prime Minister Singh has called the violence was “a blot to the nation”.

floods and violence kills hundreds and leaves millions homeless

WHEN ASSAM’S Bhut Jolokia was certified by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s hottest chilli in 2007, it was a source of intense pride in the deprived state.

Five years on, its title may have been challenged, but the subcontinent’s super chilli is offering thousands of farmers a possible route out of poverty.

Apart from making hot curries, another use see the chilli mixed in water or gas and used as a way of controlling crowds and quelling riots.

The Assam Government is offering subsidies to farmers to cultivate the chillies. Trinity, a non-governmental organisation, selected 2,000 Assamese farmers to grow the crops and they will be making some serious money.

A kilo of dried Bhut jolokia sells for about Rs1,800 (£21) - a fortune for the av-erage farmer who generally survives on a subsistence level with a take home sal-ary of Rs150 (£1.72) a day.

The chilli has already seen action, with reports last year that the Central Reserve Police Force - In-dia’s largest armed force, specialising in counter-insurgency – had started using chilli grenades.

Recent floods have devastated large areas of Assam

People left homeless face a long fight to rebuild their lives

assamese chilli is hot property

the news from assam with Romen Goswami

DR BHUPEN HAZARIKA, affectionately known as Bhu-penda, had a gutsy, anti-establishment persona.

Born on 8 September 1926 in Assam’s Sadiya, he died in Mumbai on 5 November 2011 after a prolonged illness.

He was a multi-faceted artist who put Assam on the world’s cultural map.

For instance, Bhupenda is acknowledged widely in the film industry for introducing folk music to Hindi films.

As a singer, he was known for his crisp voice and flawless diction.

Bhupenda used his songs to awaken society against injus-tice.

A child prodigy, he wrote and sang his first song at the age of 10 and acted in one of the first talkie films - Indra-malati - in 1939.

After his Masters in 1946 at the Banaras Hindu University, he left for New York where he lived for five years and did his PhD in Mass Communication from Columbia University.

But for Bhupenda music was his first love. He met Ol’ Man River singer Paul Robeson and their association led to Bhupenda doing a stint in jail for participating in civil rights protests.

It was in New York where he fell in love with Priyambada M Patel. They got married in 1950 and their son Tez was born in 1952.

The couple did not stay to-gether long. In 1953, they re-turned to Assam, where Bhu-penda earned money as a

function singer until he got a job as a lecturer at Gauhati University.

But he resigned in protest after being deducted three days' pay for returning late from a peace conference in Helsinki.

That was the last straw for Priyambada who said she could not live in fear of ‘perpetual poverty’.

The separation was devas-tating for Bhupenda but it ush-ered in a new phase in his work, as the pain led to an explosion of creativity within him.

He was a prolific artist; pro-ducing, directing and compos-ing music as well as singing - from Assamese films like Era Batar Xur to award winning Hindi films including Ruddaali to Bengali movies such as Jiban Trishna.

Bhupenda even produced the television series Dawn for Star TV.

Throughout his career, Bhu-

penda received dozens of ac-colades including the Indian Oscar, The Dadasaheb Phalke in 1993.

In 1999, he was appointed chairman of the Sangeet Na-tak Akademi. Two years later Sattriya dance received na-tional status as a major form of Indian classical dance – something campaigners had tried to do for 50 years.

The dancing fraternity - and, in fact, all art circles - will be ex t rem e l y g ra te f u l t o Bhupenda forever.

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Cultural heavy-weights passed away last November Both excelled in their fields enriching Assam

They will be sorely missed

Songs were used to awaken society against injustice

AN EMINENT author, Dr Mamoni (Indira) Raisom Goswami was popularly known as Mamoni Baideo.

Born in Guwahati on 14 No-vember 1942, Mamoni Baideo died on 29 November 2011.

During her days at Gauhati University, she met a young engineer from Mysore, Med-hevan Raisom Iyenger, who came to Assam to work on the construction of the Saraighat Bridge on the Brahmaputra.

They fell in love and married in 1963 then travelled around

India where-ever Raisom’s job would take them.

While in Kashmir, Madhevan had a fatal accident in 1965.

Mamoni went into a depres-sion and even tried to end her life. But she recovered and devoted herself to writing.

She conveyed her suffering in a book called An Unfinished Autobiography - now a pre-scribed textbook by the Uni-versities in Maharashtra.

After a PhD, she joined the Modern Indian language de-partment of Delhi University

and penned most of her works during this period. The Profes-sor’s books were later trans-lated into English.

She received numerous awards for her literary contri-butions and was the first In-dian to receive the Nether-lands’ Principal Prince Claus Laureate in 2008.

Apart from being a great writer, Mamoni was a humane and an affectionate person. She was devoted to social reform and was instrumental in initiating peace talks be-

tween the militant group ULFA and the Indian Government.

Mamoni’s dream was for a united Assam and her passion helped to put the region on that road to peace.

mamoni: the people’s poet

Devoted to writing after agony of husband’s untimely death

bhupenda: the people’s artist

I MUST also make mention of Hiren Bhattacharyya who

died in 4 July 2012. The Johat-born writer was

one of the best known poets working in the Assamese

language. Known as Hiruda among his

fans, he had innumerable works published in Assa-mese and achieved many

prizes and accolades for his poetry.

Dr Rama Bhartia hosted and organised a midsummer evening dinner at Barnsley’s Brooklands hotel on 23 June which was attended by about 70 guests.

We were especially impressed by the solo performance of Gayatri Gogoi (pictured right) the granddaughter of Bhubon Baruah, and daughter of Juri and Bhaiti.

She is a trained vocalist and is following in the footsteps of her older sister Brishti.

Gayatri will be attending Oxford University from this year.

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assamese aunties Indira Sharma and Gitika Saikia reveal all

Ranjit Gogoi is a house-hold name in Assam. He is the chief workshop director in Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalashetra in Guwahati.

The popular artist and his troupe were part of 2012’s Cultural Olympiad and held a series of events across London including being part of the ‘Flavours of India’ held at the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank on 1st and 2nd August.

What a brilliant achievement to have Assam’s culture represented as part of this year’s Olympic celebrations!

When the editor of the association asked us to put

together the news from the UK Assamese community, we weren’t

sure how to take it - does she think of us as gossips or that we’re just

well connected? ‘It is the latter,’ she assured us. And that’s

when we agreed to be...

the Assamese Aunties. We’ll be telling you about people’s

achievements, births and mariages. Apologies if your news hasn’t

been included, but there’s simply not enough space for everything. If

you do have anything you want in next edition please get in touch

and we’ll happily include it. But for now, we hope we give

you some titbits you may not have heard as yet!

When we opened up 6 June 2012 issue of the Asian Voice, and turned to page 2, lo and behold there was a familiar face peering up at us.

It was our very own Dr Nagendra Sarmah, who was interviewed by Keith Vaz - Labour MP and chair of the Common’s Home Affairs Select Committee.

Mr Vaz quizzed the promi-nent member of the UK As-samese community about his work as a GP and about his life in general.

Nagendra was asked what one thing he would change if he was Prime Minister. He replied: “I would make sure the

bureaucratic element from the NHS is removed and the Government works in consultation with doctors working in Hospitals and in Primary Care.”

It is a change we’re sure many would agree with!

But what did Nagendra answer when Mr Vaz asked him which historical figure he would spend time with if marooned on a desert is-land? It was Mahatma Gan-dhi. A fine and admirable choice, but we aunties think that if we are marooned on an island we may prefer... Casanova!?!

As you would expect from a community which has a plethora of ambitious members, there have been many career and academic achievement over the last year or so.

To start, Adhita Saikia and his wife Gitika - yes, one of the Assamese Aunties - is proud to say that their daughter Monica Saikia, pictured above, is now a fully fledged solicitor

and is ready to solve all our legal problems.

Meanwhile in the medical world, the UK’s Assamese have also been extremely busy achieving success.

Dr Shariff Hazarika started his new Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon post at Glasgow Royal Alexandra Hospital on 1 August 2012.

Dr Michael Azad, son of Kadam and Mira, passed his MRCP (Membership of the Royal College of Physi-cians) examination.

Dr Papari Deka, who is the daughter of Dr Chadma and Manorama Deka, also passed her FRCA (Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists) examination.

Elsewhere, the UAAUK president’s daughter Nandita Borkakoti joined RBS so is back in London after a stint in Birmingham - much to the delight of her parents!

Ready for a fight: Monica Saikia qualifies as practising solicitor

the babes’ gallery Do you have news you want to shout about?

email us on jollyindira@yahoo.com or saikiaan@hotmail.com

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assamese aunties Indira Sharma and Gitika Saikia reveal all

Over the last couple of years the UK Assamese community has been expanding and thanks to our very own baby boom! Below are just few of the new additions to our family.

Dr Jagadish and Jul Sharma have added two to their brood. Baby Harry, pictured first left with his 4-year-old brother Toby, was born to Jagadhish and Jul’s son Ricky and daughter-in-lawSarah on 9 February 2012. Their younger son Nilam and his wife Samantha are the proud parents of baby Beth, who was born on 21 September 2011.

Dr Naren and Mrs Rita Saikia's first grandson was born to Pinak and Hersha Saikia. Aaron (pictured second base left) arrived on

17 October 2011. The baby in a bag is Aranya,

daughter of Bornali Baruah and San-deep Singh Bahia, and was born on 19 September 2011. She is the first granddaughter of Dr Apurba and Mrs Manu Baruah.

Little Elise Hazarika (pictured top middle) was born on 19 January 2012 to Shariff and Susie Hazarika, and the happy grandparents are Nilu and Putul Hazarika.

Dr Deepak and Mrs Linda Dutta have become grandparents for the first time after their daughter Joanna and son-in-law Michael blessed them with a baby daughter on

7 August 2012 called Maya Olivia Collins.

The baby on her high chair, grin-ning away with her bib on is the first grandchild of Jan and Romen Goswami. Naima was born on 26 April 2011 to doting parents Rippon and Claire.

And the birth of Megan on 23 Feb-ruary 2012 led to her grandparents - Dr Utpal and Birina Barua - treating those who went to the UAAUK Annual General on 17 March to some delicious mithai to celebrate. Pictured right, with her sister Isabelle, Megan was born to Dr & Mrs Barua’s son Neil and his wife Amanda.

Like father, like daughter: Dr Nagandra Sarmah is not the only family member making ‘papers’. His daughter Anita Sarmah (pictured left), an Assistant Professor of Anaesthesia, was selected by the University of Toronto, to present her research papers at the World Congress of Anaesthesiology in Argentina. The event, which, like the Olympics, takes place every four years, saw her present her re-search on developing online educational tools in Buenos Aeries to some of the conferences 7,000 delegates. 7,000 delegates! The aunties wonder just how much good gossip there must have been there!

ON 26 JUNE 2012, a portrait of the late Dr Bhupen Hazarika was unveiled at the Nehru Centre in London, as a tribute to his contributions to Indian culture. The High Commissioner Dr Jaimini Bhagwati gave an extempore speech at the unveiling. He says: “What stands out in my mind about Bhupen Hazarika was that in all his songs, writings and his life, there is a pervasive sense of concern about those who are economically and socially weaker and how he wanted to change things for the better. “Bhupen Hazarika gave voice to those who cannot speak for themselves and articulated their inner-most feelings.”

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assamese aunties

continue to spill the gossip

wedding bells Do you have news you want to shout about?

email us on jollyindira@yahoo.com or saikiaan@hotmail.com

Congratulations to Baby Lahon and her husband of 15 months Mr Jeremy Cox (picture below left) and to Dr Ranjit and Jahnabi Kakati’s daughter Dr Sushmita Kakati who married Dharma Sivarajasingham.

Also, it has been only four months since Dr Probhat and Mrs Susan Ba-ruah's son Dr Timothy & Mrs Sally Baruah tied the knot in May 2012.

There seems to be trend setting in for the UK Assamese

second generation, with TWO trilo-gies within months of each other.

James and Nina Mellor (pictured below centre), may look as if they are in Assam, but in fact, they are at Lon-don Zoo in the Gorilla enclosure!

This was the third part of their trilogy on 10 September 2011 - after a Hindu ceremony in Guwahati on 26 Feburary 2011 and a Christian wedding on 9 June 2011 in Kent.

As for Jay and Rimli Borkakoti, they are pictured (below right) at the first

of their three events – the couple’s wedding in Guwahati was held over three days at numerous glamorous venues across the city. Their second wedding was in Edinburgh and the last part saw the Manor of Groves Hotel in Hertfordshire become party central for their UK reception.

We wish all the happy couples the best in their new married lives.

Every year Down Town Hospitals in Guwahati recognises people from across North East India who have been high achievers throughout their careers at their annual clinical excellence awards. This year, our own Dr Bhupen Dev Sarmah was honoured for his work in urological cancers, which has been to beneficial to the profession.

It so happened that Dr Nripen Barkataki, Dr Chadma Deka and Piyush(son) were all in Guwahati at the time and so could attend the ceremony to see Bhupen receive his award.

To our minds, such a prestigious award has gone to an extremely well deserving doctor. Massive congratulations on a fantastic accolade Bhupen!

This year was the London Bihu Committee’s 25th anni-versary and saw the return of Ronga Balloone!

The event was extremely well attended and among the guests were Dr Helen Walker and Dr Pauline Taylor, pic-ture below with Dr Nilmoni Sikdar.

Dr Sikdar dubbed the duo as ‘unsung heroes’ for their work as missionary doctors during the 50s and 60s. Assam at the time was caught in the cross-fire of fighting between China and India but the pair served on regard-less and for that we will always be thankful.

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SINCE the last Assam Day gathering, we have sadly lost several members of our community in the United Kingdom.

Our condolences to their families. They will be missed but not forgotten.

Mr Rajshankar Tony Sarma passed away in Au-gust 2012. He leaves be-hind his mother Tima and brother Sean.

Mr Jiten Baruah, known affectionately as Bassada, died last autumn.

A key figure in our com-munity, Bassade leaves behind his son Robin.

Mr Alvi Ahmed passed away in May this year, leaving behind his father and mother and younger brother Alfred.

On the 21 July a memo-rial service was held to celebrate his life at the Woodford Parish Church Memorial Hall, where fami ly, f r iends and

members of the Assamese Community shared their memories of Alvi.

Alivi’s family want to say a huge thanks to all those who have supported them through this difficult time - from Alivi’s friends to all who are close to the family.

Dr Jodumoni Bora died on 30 December 2011.

He is survived by wife Bani and two sons Robin and Arun.

Mr Ikbal Rasul passed away in August 2011.

He was regularly involved in the annual Assam Sports Day, where, this year, on 28 July, the trophy for the ‘Outstanding Player of the Tournament’ was dedicated to his memory.

Ikbal’s wife Taskeen ex-pressed her appreciation to the organisers of the event.

She said: “My heartfelt appreciation to the organis-ers and the participants for their thoughtful gesture in endeavouring to keep Ikbal in their midst and in their memory”

farewell to those from the uk

our thoughts are with you

missed but never forgotten

time to put an end to assam’s floods

AS EXPLAINED earlier in this newsletter, this year’s Assam floods have been particularly devastating.

A few of the Assamese in Britain, moved by the vic-tims plight, submitted a memorandum to the Indian Prime Minister via the UK’s Indian High Commissioner.

On 24 July 2012, Jitendralal Borkakoti led a small delegation to meet Dr Jaimini Bhagwati and give him the memorandum.

In it we called for the Cen-tral Government to see the floods as a national issue and take charge to find a permanent solution.

We also want to see a feasible15-year plan with a holistic approach to the flood and erosion problems to execute agreed long-term solutions based on serious scientific studies.

Finally, many embank-ment breaches were due to inadequate maintenance.

It is claimed that the main reason is the egregious leakage of funds, some-thing that has been noted by the Assam Human Rights Commission.

We call on the Bureau of Investigation to launch an inquiry to establish what is the truth.

want to contribute?

If you would like to write for the next edition please email Nina Goswami:

nina_goswami@hotmail.com

feedback:

The executive committee of the United Assam Association of the UK is keen to hear your thoughts about this year’s event.

Please visit our website:

assamassociation.org.uk

and click on ‘contact’ to email us your thoughts and advice.

The committee looking forward to hearing from you.