Unnayan : A dream to be made true

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.

posted by Unmana @ 5:26 AM