Namphake Monastery a treasure trove of wisdom

Abdul Gani

Naharkatia (Dibrugarh): History has a long tale to tell and this Buddhist monastery at Namphake village near Naharkatia in Dibrugarh district has been an integral part of the proceedings over the centuries. It has been providing the muchneeded stuff for human being – wisdom and peace.

The inside view of the monastery. Pic: Abdul Gani 

The Namphake Buddhist Monastery was set up in 1850 on the bank of the beautiful Buridihing, one of the major tributaries of the might Brahmaputra, as Tai Phakes migrated to this part of the country from the Howkong valley of Myanmar in the late eighteenth century.

From the manuscripts written on gold and silver plates dating back to the 16th century to one of the oldest Budha statues of the state, it is no less a museum.

Besides, it plays a major role in the society as head monk Gyanlal Mahathera is obeyed and respected by the people of the area. That’s why the job of the police is much easier in the area.

“We don’t remember police coming in our village. The villagers are peace-loving and do not do anything which can be a threat in the path of peace,” Ngikya Weingken, a villager, told Seven Sisters Post.

There are 69 households in the Namphake village which is the largest hamlet of the Namphake community in the state.

Saru Bhante displaying his umbrella. Pic: Abdul Gani

If any conflict arises, the head monk settles the issue and the verdict is accepted by all.

Besides, several examples of the creative side of the monks can be seen as one of the senior monks displayed the craft of martial arts for self-defense with an umbrella. “It is an umbrella when it rains, otherwise it can help you in self-defense. It was made of bamboo and cloth several centuries ago,” said one of the monks, who is popularly known as Saru Bhante. Bhante means religious leader in Tai language.

The monastery is home to more than 230 statues of Budha from Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. “Initially there were two statues when the monastery was established in 1850. Later, monks from different part of the world who had visited the place placed more statues,” Bhante said.

Moreover, sitting with the monks on the floor of the monastery with breeze blowing across from the Burhidihing to know one or two things about the culture, tradition and many more may be a priceless moment.

“For me this is the best place to visit to refresh myself. The cool and calm environment is simply awesome,” said Nandan, a tourist from New Delhi said. (Seven Sisters Post)

Read More

Soccer coach bends tradition but fails to reach goal

Abdul Gani

Guwahati: If life were a Bollywood film, Hem Das would have been a Shah Rukh Khan with the halo of a Chak De! But a grand dream of Das – the soccer version of the hit Bollywood film revolving around hockey — is dying a slow death due to paucity of funds and the government’s refusal to help.

In a mission to spread soccer skills among village youngsters, Hem Das has single-handedly trained around 40 young girls at Rani, a sleepy township about 40 kms from Guwahati.

It all started in 2010 when Das, a soccer player-turned coach, set out on a mission to fullfil one of his life-long ambitions — find uncut gems in the rural belts and polish them into sparkling soccer players.

The girls at the centre. Pic by Abdul Gani

“I always feel that in physical sports like football, the village youths are more suitable. And they have the fire in them to excel. The only thing they lack is proper training,” he told Seven Sisters Post. But to his surprise, there were hardly any boys interested in taking up soccer. Instead, he found a rag-tag bunch of girls who were not only keen to know the game, but were also very quicklearners.

Most significantly, many of these girls had never even seen a football match. Starting from scratch, the former Assam and Santosh Trophy player groomed the 40-odd girls, taking them through the paces and building a team capable of beating the best in the state.

The girls even took part in several exhibition matches in Guwahati and Barpeta. Das, who is in his late 50s, provided the girls with all the equipment, from boots to balls, all at his own expenses. “It cost me around Rs 80,000 per year to run the camp. This is just for the love of the game. And over the last two years we have developed an attachment like a family. But it has become tough for me to continue this,” a very dejected Das said.

Hem Das giving tips. Pic by Abdul Gani

All these girls who study at Rani High School come from nearby villages like Moirapur, Jayantipur, Maskuchi, Natun Rani, Rani, Natun Batabari, Koroibari, Pitbari, Bahupara, Goimari, Rangapara, and Lalmati every day to attend the camp at the playground of the school.

“Their passion and dedication towards the sport have provided me the energy to continue it. Their parents, who have to toil hard to make both ends meet, have also been extremely supportive,” the coach said.

But Das said no sports organiser or government body has shown any interest at his initiative. “The girls were almost ready to take part in the last inter-district competition, but it did not happen due to some problems. Hopefully, this year they can make it. I’m also thinking of sending them to represent other districts,” he added.

However, he is not sure if he can continue the camp any more. “I don’t know how far I can go with these girls. They have picked up the game well and showed promise. But the main obstacle I’m facing at present is funds which I need to maintain the camp,” Das said. The young football players, on the other hand, were effusive in their praise for “Das sir”, who has turned into a beacon of light in their humdrum life. “We are grateful to Das sir for his efforts to fulfil our dreams.

We could have never done it if he was not here to help us out. We are hopeful that by playing soccer, we would be able to take the name of our village to the national soccer scene. Though initially my mother refused to this, now she too have understood the importance,” said Purnima Rabha, a player of the camp who lost her father several years ago.

Young players like Purnima can now bend it like Beckham but Das is not too sure if he will achieve the goal he had set out to reach. (Seven Sisters Post)

Read More

Politico to reveal his ‘code of secrecy’ in Bollywood

Abdul Gani

Guwahati: Politician-turned-filmmaker Mohibul Hoque is all set for his Bollywood debut with 18.11, a code of secrecy which features several big names of the industry. The former Gauripur MLA who made an Assamese film titled Juman Suman in 2003, said that his film would highlight the positives of the region especially Assam at the national level.

“I always wanted to make Hindi movies and now I’m heading that way. I hope this film would open new doors for the state and the region as far as our beautiful locations are concerned. My film would highlight the scenic beauties of Assam and Meghalaya,” Hoque said during a press conference in Guwahati on Friday.

The shooting of the film in Kashmir

The first schedule of shooting for the film was completed in Kashmir on April 24. And the second schedule will start at various parts of Bangkok and at several places in Malaysia and finally wrap up in Mumbai.

The film stars several big Bollywood names including Raj Babbar, Gulshan Grover, Prem Chopra, Mukesh Tiwari and Asrani. The lead role will be played by Assam boy Rehal Khan who was seen in Juman Suman. The leading lady of the film will be Assamese girl Suhana Irani, who will make her debut.

“I’m hopeful and proud to have all these artistes in my film. Our young actors would also get to learn a lot of things from them,” he said.

Hoque, who is also the producer and writer besides being the director, said that the film would be released in September this year. The film which costs an estimated Rs 5 crore is made under the banner of Ultimate Pictures. Several renowned singers including Sunidhi Chauhan, Udit Narayan and Kunal Ganjawala would lend their voices for the film which is a suspense thriller. (Seven Sisters Post)

Read More

GMCH surgeon to help reduce birth rate in African countries

Abdul Gani

Guwahati: Well-known surgeon Dr Ilias Ali, who became a household name for his success in popularizing vasectomy in Assam, has been invited by a Florida-based international organisation to spread the message of population control in African countries.

Ali would be a part of No Scalpel Vasectomy International’s (NSVI) mission in African countries to check population.

“It’s an honour for me to spread the message of population control for a better world in African countries. I hope my initiative would help reduce birth rate,” Ali told Seven Sisters Post, before leaving for Nairobi via Mumbai on Tuesday.

Ali, who is a professor of surgery and head of the department of Emergency Medicine and Trauma Centre of Gauhati Medical College Hospital, has been working as a state expert and nodal officer of No Scalpel Vasectomy (NSV) since January 2009. Ali would participate in various programmes in Kenya and its neighbouring countries during his stay in Africa from May 9 to 17. “Being an accomplished, committed and experienced NSV surgeon in Assam, I am confident that NSVI and the people of Kenya would benefit from your participation”, Dr Ramon U Suarez, the president of NSVI stated in the invitation letter to Ali.

The Kenyan representative of NSVI, Dr Charles Ochieng, in his invitation letter, said: “NSVI has taken notice of your work in popularizing vasectomy uptake in Assam (India) and we feel we could borrow your expertise and experience.” “It’s also a responsibility for me as they have shown faith in me. I would try to motivate the people with the best of my abilities to adopt the birth control measures,” said Ali, who has so far performed NSV on around 35,000 men in the state. He was also lauded by Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi a few weeks ago for his efforts in reducing birth rate. (Seven Sisters Post)

Read More

NE still an area of darkness: Study

Abdul Gani

Guwahati: Around 52% of people in the so-called mainland India have a negative perception towards the Northeast, while 87% professionals are ignorant of the states in the region. Both of these and many more of their ilk can be considered as omens for the wellbeing of the region that has been paying the price in m any ways.

Such factors have much to do with matters like the hostile treatment that the people from the region, mostly students, are meted out at New Delhi and other metropolitan cities in the country.

A survey conducted by a New Delhi-based organisation — North East India Image Managers (NEIim) — has revealed that 52% of people have a negative perception towards the Northeast, while 87% professionals even do not know of the states in the region.

(Seven Sisters Post)

“Their immediate recall of NE India is that of a region riddled with insurgency, and most unsafe place in the country or most underdeveloped region with hardly any modern infrastructure and poor connectivity with the rest of the country or people with Mongoloid features and weird food habit and an alien culture,” Trideep Lahkar, a core-committee member of NEIim, said.

Even though peace talks between the insurgent groups and the Centre are hot topics in the media, as many as 76% of the respondents have no idea about any peace talks. “The findings of the survey indicate that due to the negative imagery that people have about the region even if they are given the best of job offer and it suits their career interests best 30% of them will never work in the Northeast, while 52 per cent are not sure if it’s a good idea t o go and work there,” Trideep said quoting the survey report.

Even if 71% of the respondents agree that the place is full of natural beauty, as many as 30% of them may not go on a vacation to the Northeast. “This testifies the fact that the picture has not really changed over the years. The stories of progress and peace from the Northeast have not reached the people in the rest of the country as yet,” he added.

While 70% of the respondents can’t believe the fact that three Northeast states have per capita income more than India’s national per capita income, 91% don’t not know of the Centre’s Northeast Industrial Policy that gives special incentives for investments made in the region. What is even more surprising is that 75% respondents don’t know whether the current UPA government at the Centre has any minister representing any constituency of the Northeast India, while 56% of the respondents don’t even know that there is an IIT, an IIM and Central universities in the Northeast.

“This speaks about the failu re of the governments — both at the Centre as well as in the states to actually create awareness in the country. There is definite need to create communication programmes which break the myths about the region create a positive mindset among the common people,” said another member of the organisation.

The study, interim findings of which were released by NEIiM on Thursday, goes on to probe as to how such a hiatus of knowledge was created and how to undo it, 56.3% respondents said that the government should run special awareness campaigns using various media tools at national level to educate people about North East India.

A sizeable 42.7% also advocate for changes in school and college curricula so that the children may know more about the Northeast India. When the study further probed as to why they failed to have much information on Northeast India, a startling 61% said that they do not see much of the Northeast India on national media.

The perceived notion that people from the Northeast India don’t mingle with others stand challenged as 51.6% of the respondents said that they have started knowing whatever little about the culture and people of the Northeast from their interaction with colleagues or friends from Northeast India.

Almost 61% also believe that Northeast India provides a good platform for multinational and national corporations to invest. A whopping 89% confirmed that the Union government should give special attention to the Northeast India. Around 56% feel that the government should launch special awareness campaigns using various media vehicles at the national level to educate people about the Northeast, while 43% suggest that school/college curricula should include more information pertaining to history, geography, culture and economy of Northeast India. The NEIim is working on the final draft of its report. (Seven Sisters Post)

Read More