my soliloquy

The Brahmaputra river has a east to west stretch of approximately 728 kilometres in Assam. During its early stages and as a young river, it brings with it a lot of eroded materials. The speed of the river somewhat slows down after it enters Assam through Arunachal Pradesh. The sandbars or the small sandy islands along the river's stretch  account for about 5 per cent of the total area of the state. They are locally called char/sor. Suspended particles and the bed load often combine during floods to create these char formations. Their rich alluvial soil is ideal for crops such as mustard, sugarcane, jute, potatoes and other vegetables.  But these chars are at a perpetual risk of destruction during the next flood. I had an opportunity to visit the char areas of North Salmara in connection with polling station inspection of Assembly Elections, 2020. The pictures were taken during those visits.

Sutal/Sotal - Assamese for front porch. Strange how the term is almost non-existent in construction planning these days. I spent a good time of my childhood in my granny's place. Although many households in Guwahati at that time had elaborate front porches with gardens or just vacant space to sit and pass the time, the sutal of my grandparents was rather limited in area. Despite that, I have had wonderful memories associated with it. There were many a games and folk tales I learnt from my aunts sitting on that sutal. My grandfather would park his black Ambassador in the adjoining garage. Sitting on the stairs, my grandmother would often point out to the distant mountain and help me identify a familiar landscape.   Times changed. Road expansion and the trend of compact housing have eaten into the 'sutal' concept in Guwahati. I was glad to see some elaborate and neatly maintained sutals in North Salmara, especially in the hinterlands.   

Assam's economy is agri-based.  70% of the work force is engaged in agriculture and allied activities. After rice, maize is the second crop of importance. Apart from direct consumption, it has it's utility as  second cycle produce in piggery and poultry farming.  The crop is now in a status of emerging crop in the state and constant increase in acreage is being observed in recent years.  The pictures were mainly taken during my field trips to the sandbar areas (often called 'char/sor' area) of North Salmara, where maize cultivation is said to be prevalent because of appropriate topography as well as willing workforce. 

Abhayapuri carries the quintessential characteristics of a town - by no means a small one, but protected from the hustle-bustle of an urban metropolis.  I t still retains the rustic cultural elements of the Assamese milieu, yet there is an air of modernity that is unmistakable.  As the sun goes down, one can see office-goers returning homeward in private vehicles and autos (often called 'pilpillees' in the local lingo). Roadside vendors occupy their usual spots and the evening connoisseurs  of street food begin to gather around.     The town has a countable number of Naamghars (prayer houses  for congregational worship associated with the Assamese community), both big and small . The evening air  brims with the melody of Borgeet (prayer songs associated with Eksarana Dharma) from the loudspeakers that can't be spotted.  Like end credits to a movie.

On 15th February, 2021,  I arrived in North Salmara, a sub-division of Bongaigaon district in Assam. This was in connection with my first posting as  Assistant Commissioner in the Assam Civil Services.  I was born and brought up in Guwahati, did most of my studies there. Even my last five years were spent as working in the capacity of an assistant in Income Tax Department, during which I remained mostly in the headquarters.  Many of my friends and family members were cynical as to how I would react to the new place given my ‘sort of urban lifestyle’. But soon their doubts turned out baseless.  I stayed in the sub-divisonal Circuit House in Abhayapuri during the initial few days. If first impression is the best impression, then this new place had got me at the outset. I went out for long walks and occasional runs  in the   morning . It was blissful. The clear air and untouched nature in the vicinity was almost medicinal. With an area of around 16.06 squ...

A comet is on its way to hit the earth and wipe off the entire life or civilization, or whatever we call it. Now think of this – that precisely is the broad theme of a 2 hour long comedy, of all things.  The expected collision is to occur in 6 months and a few days. Considering it's Hollywood, that is a tight timeline. It is supposed to get heads rolling, or so as Leonardo Dicaprio and Jenifer Lawrence opine. But what actually ensues is a far cry from the expectations of these two ‘science people'. The world is obsessed about two pop stars breaking up, the Government is busy with 'other important matter' at hand and in the officialise of some higher ups and powers-that-are, "Let's not get too dramatic about it" and "Let's sit tight and assess." And Lawrence's boyfriend thinks it's her excuse to avoid meeting his mother (which I somehow felt legit).   “Don't Look Up” is a well told story of the frustrations of the ominous voices le...

It was the summer of 2010 when I first met Balram Halwai. I reached hostel three days before the classes were to start. It was the penultimate year of a tepid four year long education, and I had got a room for myself on the top floor. When I entered the room, I found that it was barren. It's previous inhabitant - a fat guy who was known to carry out fermentation experiments in that room - had left nothing except for the bed and a broken table. I dropped my hold-all on the ground and pressed all the switches on the switchboard...nothing. Electricity had always been a problem during summer. I felt tired for no reason and longed for a nap. But the thought of unfolding my hold-all and taking out the mattress seemed laborious enough to kill me. I walked across to the decrepit table and wondered if it would be of any use. I pulled open the drawer in hope of finding nothing at all, but did expect to see some loose change. And that’s when I saw the tiger. The White Tiger. I was told that t...

  At first, the shoulder-length hair made more news than his unorthodox cricketing shots. But with captaincy, the long locks were gone (he did mention in an interview that he would soon revert to the previous hairdo on the request of his female fans – but it never happened, ladies). He almost went bald the next morning of the World Cup 2011 win. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has had his share of good and bad hair days. Soon his hair began to grey, so did his beard. And people started saying things - this and that - more ‘that’ than ‘this’ – that he has lost his spark, that he is not the strength he once was. I was often around these armchair experts (they are everywhere), but I never weighed in with my opinions – MSD would have reacted the same way, I would tell myself. For me, MSD has been more than a cricketer. And I cannot explain that.  The day when he scored 183 against I don’t remember whom, I had missed that match. But after that, his meteoric rise has been unmissable.  ...

First the movie. Then his speech. Both remarkable in their own ways. The one thing that was clear from Joaquin Phoenix's Oscar acceptance speech was that he is a man of compassion. And why not? The odds he went through in life, the death of his brother River Phoenix, his fight with alcoholism and anxiety, the point when he had almost given up acting. His idea of 'fight against injustice' was the most impressive takeaway from his speech. Phoenix's example of forceful artificial insemination of cows and then using her milk and calf for selfish human needs is one of the most insightful things someone has spoken on a big stage in a very long time. The same notion of 'fight against injustice' alluding to environmental degradation and man's exploitation of resources brings to mind Leonardo DiCaprio's ‘not taking the planet for granted' speech during his Oscar acceptance a few years back. Phoenix completed his speech on an emotional note as he read out a li...

Today is just another day I am watching a movie. The same movie. Again. The thing about a Christopher Nolan movie is that everytime you watch it, it has something new to offer. It makes you ask questions you usually don’t, and enables you to find joy you usually didn’t notice was around. Nolan’s movies are more than what meets the eye, or the intellect. Interstellar was not just about time travel. A Father-Daughter relation which transcends both time and space (“I love you forever, and I am coming back”), dust and blight which does not cow down the human spirit, survival instinct...you name it. The world has been telling us about the power of dreams. Inception puts dreams on the dissecting table and awes us with the nitty-gritty’s. Therein again lies a man’s longing desire to unite with his children, a loving wife who was long gone from his life but not from his dreams,  the value of team work and improvisation, a dying father’s love for his over-ambitious son (“I am disappointed t...