Aren't We To Blame?
Let me begin by saying that I do not agree with the previous entry. At least, not completely. Why do we always end up blaming others for our troubles? Maybe the central government hasn’t done that much for Assam. But Satyakam, you notice that you yourself go on to talk about lack of FDI – which the central government cannot be blamed for.
Let me admit that I have no right to blame anyone. I have done nothing for Assam. But let me still say what I feel.
I agree with Satyakam – that the Assamese have been wasting their time and energy in unproductive causes. Agitating against foreigners, against central rule… what not. There are still bandhs every few weeks, I hear. While Gujaratis are setting up businesses, while Kannads are making it big in IT, our youths call for bandhs.
Forgive me for being cynical. I have lived in Guwahati for most of my life, so you may say I’m not acquainted with the ‘real’ Assam, with life in villages and small towns.
I lived for a couple of years in Diphu, though. I’m sure you’ve heard of it – it’s been in the news for the last few years – for ethnic clashes and terrorist violence. For Karbis and Dimasas killing each other.
But that’s not the Diphu I remember. The Diphu of my memories is a small sleepy town where I had some of the best times of my life. I remember a friend, a very pretty Karbi girl who used to live in a small house with her family. She had eight siblings. I do not remember what her father did, but I remember they were poor. Yet I never visited their house without being served a cup of tea – usually black. You might blame the government for her lack of advantages. Yet, due to quotas and the government’s support for female education, she was entitled to a good (and free) college education after her (free) school education. I blame her parents – for having so many children when they could not afford to take care of them, which was also why my friend had to spend much of the time she should have been studying on taking care of her young brothers and sisters.
Let me talk about something entirely different. You know the state of the roads in Assam – even Guwahati. Pune (where I live) isn’t that much better, and rains make it much worse. The Times of India (I don’t have any particular affection for the paper, but my newspaper wallah seems unable to deliver anything else) carried a series of articles on bad roads, along with contractors who got contracts for building/repairing those roads and officials who are responsible. I do not know if any action will be taken – but at least these things are being written about, challenged. I do not know if Assamese newspapers do this – they didn’t while I was there. But if Pune has roads to write about, Guwahati has (in addition to roads) a hundred other things.
I could go on and on. But you get the idea. I do not believe the central government can come in and develop Assam. I do not believe Assam will be developed until people stop sitting at home and blaming things, and go out and do something.
Given that, I believe things are changing. I left my hometown because there were not enough opportunities there, for the kind of thing I wanted to do. More than that, I left my hometown because I wanted to learn, to see. I wanted to stop drifting along and move ahead, do something. I do not regret it.
I went to Delhi (with an education loan in hand) to get a management diploma. I got what I wanted – learning, friends, a good job. But I also see that a couple of friends who did management courses in Guwahati now have jobs there. I hear of companies going for campus recruitment to Cotton College. (Okay, one company maybe, but it’s a start.)
And while I don’t think I’ll ever go back, it gives me hope. Hope that things will change, that people our generation, maybe younger, will change things. Axom-otu unnayan hobo.
59 years of Independence; 59 years of neglect
There have been innumerable occurances in which I have met people who had shown their resentment against the Indian Occupancy in Assam. Wierd as it is, most of us, the earlier generation, that of my father's, and also the current one in which we all become a part automatically, are not always ready to identify oneself as INDIAN. I am not trying to pass a wrong message here. But history says, Assam and the whole of North East have been most shabbily treated by the Government at the centre.
The other day, I was reading a report on the proposed and implemented FDI on Indian Soil. There were all the states in India in the list except Assam and the North East. We have been really deaf and dumb to all these. In the post Independence era, none of the leaders, that Assam, ever produced showed their interest in bringing in some mentionable investments in Assam. Keeping aside Swargiya Sarat Chandra Singha, there is no leader in Assam, that we can claim to be black mark free.
Why the centre's treatment has been so step-motherly towards Assam is something which evades my intelligence. Rich in natural resources, Assam is a state for which every citizen would be proud to be born in. But sadly there has been no attempts towards development, while all these times we have been fighting for things rather sensitive but not fruitful, the bhaxa andolan, Assam Agitation etc. All these uprisings have shown how passionate we are towards what we consider to be stricktly ours. But the passion starts and ends there only. These gave birth to some leaders who capitalised on the blind faith the innocent Assamese had on them, which catapulted them to leader-dom. These bunch of half-baked Leaders did practically nothing against their promises. Also these agitations and the easy money and political power which they gave into inexperienced hands, gave rise to many student organistions which sprung up from nowhere. Assam probably has the largest number of caste, creed, religion based student groups, the members of whom always aspire for some political gain sometime in the future.
We seriously need to salvage the pride hitherto lost.
Axom Unnayan, A dream, all of us nurture..
Our eyes never stop dreaming. Dreams about oneself, dreams about one's close ones, dreams of a better world, dreams of a better Axom. Many of us who dream big do not get an opportunity to realise them. I am also one of them. But is it really the time to mourn our inability when we have build up some capability of doing something. Axom lies in a dilapidated condition even now. After 59 years of celebrated independence, plenty of thousands of villages in Axom never ever benifited from central/state government policies. They remained as abandoned as they were before independence, even worse. Many forlorn villages produced gems, who brought significant changes to them, but most of them were not that lucky. Still, a lot remains to be done to mitigate their sufferrings. But who's going to do that? How can we expect somebody else to wipe the tears of innumerable people suffering, when we sons of the soil possess the capacity and the motivation to help somebody out. I am not going to show a path to all of you how to move ahead. I am just trying to do my bit in making everybody with similar feelings, look forward in the same direction.
Axom was one of the richest states in India long back. And even at the time of indepence, Axom's GDP was much more than that of whole India's average. But now, due to ineffective governance, apathetic treatment by the central government, or whatsoever, Axom is lagging behind much, in the timeline of development. With internal problems cropping up from all quarters, the retarding in development can be well justified, but this retardation has to end somewhere, and Axom should be on the paths of development again. With most of the banned outfits committing to dialogue, we can hope for a new era of development in Axom. That's where good and bright selfless minds will be needed. And precisely there, people like us come into picture.
Brain drain has been one of the most devastating reasons for Axom's backwardness. With most of the intelligent people moving away in search of better living and good career options, Axom becomes devoid of exceptional souls who can lead her to unprecedented successes. This will continue even in the future untill this cycle is stopped completely which can happen only with the establishment of good colleges, industry and infrastructure. That seems a remote possibility. But, among those 'draining' out will always be some people who care for her motherland much more than anything else, who always remember his primary school teacher who taught him the basics of geometry and who now lay in bed waiting for proper medical facilities; who remembers the rickshawalla who always used to take him to school and pick him back, much did he enjoy giving a glass of cold water to him; who remembers the small time shopkeeper, who used to give him a lozen or two freely out of sheer love; who remembers his village populace who thronged at his house after he passed HSLC/HS with flying colours; who remembers his very own village whose gullis were his playground; who remembers his innocent childhood friends who never crossed the barriers of 6th standard; who remembers his Axom whose air he breathe, water he drank, ways he trotted, food he ate, nights he slept, days he lived. This is an attempt to unite such souls, motivate them to come forward and realise their dreams for their motherland.
Well, reading this you might be thinking, one more 'deshpremi' add himself to the list of blowhorns. You are free to do so. Still, here goes about myself. I am Satyakam, from Dhemaji, Axom. Being from of the most backward regions of Assam, I know how technology can do wonders to the people living there. I am currently working as a software engineer in Gurgaon, India and I know that it is not possible for me to leave all these and move to Axom and join an NGO. I only wish to keep this fire alive within me and within all of you, untill some time comes when we all are well set for a journey back home. There are thousands of Assamese who feel so. Its only a matter of time that the fire ignites again, for those whose have extinguished. I will be keeping on posting here again and again, and also would invite people to contribute to this blog, because this is our blog, and not mine only.
I have mentioned the name of this group as 'Unnayan' because I feel its what we all want in Axom. We can decide on any other name as well. I/We am/are also keen on making it an NGO some months/years down the line, with all your support.
Lastly, I would like to end with some lines written by Prasoon Joshi for 'Rang de Basanti'
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kuchh kar guzarne ko khoon chala khoon chala
aankhon ke sheeshe mein utarne ko khoon chala
badan se tapak kar, zameen se lipatkar
galiyon se raston se ubharkar, umadkar
naye rang bhar ne ko khoon chala khoon chala
khuli-si chhoT lekar, baRi-si tich lekar ahista ahista
sawaalon ki ungli, jawaabon ki mutthi
sang lekar Khoon chala
kuchh kar guzarne ko khoon chala khoon chala
kuchh kar guzarne ko khoon chala khoon chala
aankhon ke sheeshe mein utarne ko khoon chala
badan se tapak kar, zameen se lipatkar
galiyon se raston se ubharkar, umadkar
naye rang bhar ne ko khoon chala khoon chala
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Sorry couldnot remember complete lyrics of 'Aakou Natun Probhaat hobo', or of any other similar song. :-(
