Regionalism is about being conscious, responsible and taking ownership.

If I exclaim, "I love Assam", it may sound jingoistic, but it is actually about being conscious, responsible and taking ownership of Assam in my personal and social capacity.

In one of my FB post which said, "Oil India Limited is a Navratna PSU with its operational headquarters in Duliajan, Assam. It pumps out crude oil of Assam. In 2013-14, it paid Rs. 1786 crs to Assam state exchequer whereas it paid more than double, Rs 4154 crs to the Central Govt. Is that acceptable?", I had received two comments which prompted me to write this blog piece.

One comment read, "Yes it is. Did the state govt. provide any logistical or administrative support to the organization when required? apart from staging protests and halting the functionality of the organization for week thereby contributing to the loss of the company and nation at large, what is the role of the state? the company is only sought when the state requires money for any event or institution. what about all other CSR activities? Resources are always a property of the nation, not state. This regional approach is never justified. I have a single question, what is the state contribution for upliftment of the company till date?"

The other comment read, "Lets put it in a different region. Mumbai pays more income tax than any other region in India. Does it make sense that it has dirtiest streets, narrowest roads?"

Let me take this discussion in points to create a context for the debate and for easy understanding of what I would like to convey. 

1st Point

History is written; and policies are made or influenced by the powerful and the rich. To be powerful and rich, there are external and internal factors. Let me define external factors as location, resources, climate etc and luck. Let internal factors be the people, its culture, its traditions and traits. 

It is pure luck that Gujarat, West Bengal, Maharashtra etc had external factors like ports (sea face) which led to intense social and business interactions that normally leads to development. It is pure luck for Bengal that British decided to make Calcutta the Capital of India for 150 years and developed a small fishing village into a bustling city. In a letter to the Earl of Crewe, Secretary of State for India, Hardinge pointed out that it has "long been recognized to be a serious anomaly that the British governed India from Calcutta, located on the eastern extremity of its Indian possessions." Similarly, it was fate that they shifted the capital to Delhi and which made North India the political power centre after the Independence of India. 

In contrast, it was bad luck that Burmese army plundered, looted, killed and raped Assamese women at a time when the 600 year old Ahom Kingdom was at its weakest point. According to Hindu mythology, 12 years is a 'Yug'. Assam had the most tragic and destructive yug between 1814-1826. It was a period of complete mayhem and destruction of not only properties but the confidence of the Assamese people. Assam had become a land of corpse - a massive funeral ground. The population in 1826 was less than one-third of the population in 1766. The confidence was further shattered by the Britishers bringing in large population of Bengali officers. The official language of Assam became Bengali for around 4 to 5 decades. To make matters worse, Assam and the NE became part of Indian Union after independence, and it effectively made Assam a remote part of India in one far corner next to China. Geographically it became challenged in terms of the power centre being in Delhi. The confidence that broke during the dark 'yug' was further trampled during the British rule. It never got the chance to rebuild in the Independent India.

Lot of us blame the internal factors like lack of leaders, lazy character, 'kekura mentality' etc. for the current state of Assam, and we don't bother to look at the external factors and history. 

To cut it short, Assam has gone through tremendous tough times, and it will take at least a few more decades to come back to track. Effectively and obviously therefore, history and policies are not written in favour of the people of Assam. There are umpteen instances of exploitative decisions and non-decisions that have continuously pushed Assam backwards. Be it the tea industry which had the auction centre in Calcutta, the Oil industry which supplied sweet crude to Barauni refinery, the non-existing petrochemical industry inspite of being the first region to discover crude oil, the education sector which could establish only 25 institutes when Andhra Pradesh could establish over 800 institutes, the fisheries industry which imports fish when we are ourselves rich in water bodies and the agriculture sector which has failed to leverage the tropical climate of Assam that produces joha rice, different citrus fruits and many other export friendly crops.

2nd Point

Depression is a vicious cycle, as we have seen in the Great Depression of 1930s. Lack of growth leads to lack of opportunities which leads to lack of growth. Lack of opportunities lead to a lot of socio-political and economic evils. Extremism and 'chanda' culture are two of those evils. If Assam had a petro-chemical economy, or an industry in every small town, we wont have had those two evils. 

Even popular media acts as a stimulant to depression. It thrives on negative news. Instead of analyzing the reason behind the closure of the BigBazaar store in Tinsukia, it will declare that the reason is excessive ransom and 'chanda'. I wonder if Assam knows that Big Bazaar stores were shut at Bangalore, Kharghar, Sangli, Ujjain, Pune, Kolkata, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Indore and Ludhiana, along with the Tinsukia store in the same year. Kolkata is a small high volume trading hub and everything under the sun is already available in near whole-sale prices in walkable distances. It is like one mega Big Bazaar. Big Bazaar therefore couldn't offer any solid reason - USP for its existence.

Corruption is another bi-product of depression. Any region with signs of depression has debilitating corruption. There are lot of factors in a depressed economy which leads to corrupt ways to benefit for livelihood. 

So, it is crucial that we understand that Assam is going through depressionary forces and we all have lot of responsibility while loving Assam.

3rd Point

The development and livelihood of a village or a set of villages with common traits (or Assam) depends on the natural resources in the region, the skills required to utilize the same natural resources. Trading of those goods and services with other regions and villages comes later. Secondly, the environmental and social impact of utilizing natural resources directly falls on the community around the natural resource. Therefore, it has been debated and agreed in various forums that the ownership of natural resources is with the community and the people living in the region where the natural resource is present, and not with the state. 

Although there is no comprehensive legislation in the Indian constitution defining natural resources and its protection, the Supreme Court on its 2G spectrum case said, "Natural resources belong to the people but the state legally owns them on behalf of its people".

Legality is nothing but some rules made by the people with decision making powers and hence can be changed. Across the globe, a similar stand is maintained that natural resources belong to the community, and decision making should be decentralized. So the first right of use and of benefit of natural resources should lie with the community. The taxes and revenues should primarily go to the state government. We may in fact think about community level administrative units and budgeting conditions where the primary benefit goes back to the bank accounts of the communities which have natural resources.

Let me give an exploitative instance to prove how important it is to have ownership and knowledge about our own natural resources. In 1948, the centre sold a metric tonne of Assam's crude oil at Rs. 1382/-, of which Assam received Rs. 61/- only as royalty. As taxes, the central government received Rs. 532 and gave Assam Rs. 131 out of it !!

4th Point

Oil India Ltd. is a Navratna PSU and the Government of India owns 68% of the shared capital. Owning it constitutionally is the only contribution of the central Government. It is a Navratna because of its employees and the location of its operations. Nano plant could not survive in West Bengal, but Oil India has flourished in Duliajan, Assam. The state Government has no role to play, or to contribute apart from giving land and have a favored policy environment. Both these functions are being done by the state without hassle. OIL is not a charity organization for whom Assam state government should have a budget allocation. Also, there is no logic in saying that the state stages protests! The protests, if any are staged by various labour unions and other socio-political organizations which the state machinery helps control and mitigate. It is not a unique phenomenon in Assam, as is evident from the Nano example.

In terms of community work, every company has a budget for community work. Even private companies like TATA and Mahindra have a budget for CSR work. So OIL providing for its community is a mandated budgetary provision applicable to all companies. It is irrespective of where the company is located. So the standard of living in and around Duliajan, Bongaigaon, Numaligarh etc. are better than the other parts in Assam. Imagine if Assam had more such industries... if Assam had at least, enough refineries to refine its own crude oil production?

5th Point

I am too tiny to really worry about Mumbai whether it has development spends commensurate with its tax contributions to the central government. The small fact is that the Bombay Municipality budget is around 28000 crores and perhaps the highest in the country for any municipality.

My major worry is the polarized development centered around Mumbai and the metros creating a devastating brain drain from the other states of the country. The present day brain drain from Assam to these metros is perhaps more devastating the Burmese plunder and British rule. The Brits created industries, jobs and an economy in Assam that brought in migrant labours to Assam, primarily the Bengali and the Maruwari population. For sure, the qualified local Assamese also got benefitted then. Today, the trend is reversed. There is no job creation that is happening in Assam anymore. Many public sector undertakings have closed down, and private enterprises are too few and far between.

6th Point

If British rulers could see opportunities in Assam, why can't we? They created a cash crop (tea) and two mineral industries (coal and oil). It is been almost 7 decades that we have not created another cash crop, another industry, another trade opportunity. For instance, Assam is considered the home of citrus fruits and especially robab tenga (pomello) and can easily become an export hub. Assam can be a bamboo hub, a rice hub, a food processing hub, a tourism hub and many more such hubs. But we are a far away state in one remote corner invisible to the central government for development. So it is obvious that we are being exploited of whatever industries British had shown the potential for. Over two-thirds of the Assam's oil production was refined outside of the state, depriving the state of crores of rupees as revenues and taxes. Natural gas is one of the bi-product of oil exploration and Britishers had not developed any industry to use this natural gas. Quite obviously the central government has also not cared to develop any use of the same. As per 1992-93 data, 56% of the natural gas was flared off. We wasted over Rs. 30 lakhs worth of natural gas everyday.

Conclusion

Enough has been written about exploitation of inconsequential states like Assam by the Central Govt. and there is no guarantee that exploitation wont continue in the Modi regime. There is a huge task for every Assamese and for everyone who love Assam. The first responsibility is to read Assam's history and Assam's wealth to understand the current state of affairs without really referring to popular media. The second responsibility is to share the knowledge and help Assam know the real problems. The third responsibility is to try to find solutions in our individual capacities.

Regionalism is not about secessionist agenda. Regionalism is about being aware of our region, its people, its natural resources, its skills, its culture and is about a passion and dedication to help develop the region.

Let us all love Assam and bring back its glory days in the world map. One day, Assam will be a developed state known in the world politics and economy.

Nido's Death is a collateral damage. I feel sad.

We tend to respond emotionally to emotions. I know that death does not become easy even if we lose so many young lives accidentally, or suddenly, everyday. I too feel saddened. However, I want to go beyond feeling sad in this case, and try to understand the real cause of such an outburst.

Nido's death is beyond racial discrimination. It is about a social, economic and a political problem.

Human beings like any other animal are territorial by nature. A sense of ownership of a territory happens by virtue of ethnicity, language, place of birth, religion and other such parameters of belongingness. Civilization, education, laws and policing have made us better than animals, and human beings are therefore have become far more tolerant and understanding of territorial concerns.

We have to now understand if there are triggers that can make human beings less tolerant and angry about their perceived territorial rights. In 1998, when I was in Satya Niketan (New Delhi), NE students like me were in almost every 10th house. Today, I am told, we are in every 5th house. Isn't that a little bit of an imbalance?

If you see the number of lonely old parents in the different cities and towns of Assam and the other Northeastern states, you will understand the problem definition that I am expounding here. In my hometown of Duliajan, there are hardly any students studying in local colleges. A rough estimate would be that over 50% students after their 12th standard goes out to Delhi, Bangalore or Pune. Duliajan, being a richer town has these phenomenal proportions, and the proportions are not so high in other towns. But it is quite sizeable and significant.

If this is the level of exodus to supposedly better places outside northeast, and Delhi being the preferred destination for most Northeast students and parents, we may find some triggers that may create instances like Nido, and other similar attacks.

Migration is natural but this level of crazy migration is un-natural and is bound to have collateral damages. The tolerance of the local citizens will be severely tested with such high levels of migration. If the same level of migration had happened towards Assam (or Arunachal Pradesh), armed revolt would have happened killing hundreds. It is common knowledge how Assam had revolutions against outsiders. Even today the climate is tense in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur etc. Manipur does not allow Hindi cinema exhibition for instance. So I may tend to think that Delhi and Mumbai are far more tolerant places as compared to so many other places of India.

We have to understand why are we sending our youths outside the state in such large proportions. There are social reasons and there are political reasons.

The Government has failed to create the confidence in the available local infrastructure. Although Northeast has education infrastructure which can support a lot more students, the Government has failed to maintain the available infrastructure in the highest standards. Primary education has mushroomed all over the region, but secondary education is where the Government had to put a lot more focus.

Secondly, the Government has not encouraged or facilitated the growth of private sector in terms of small scale, medium scale and large scale industries. This has led to the lack of jobs in the region. Government is the only job-giver in the region. Students therefore flock to Delhi and other places to study with the hope that they will get a job as well after their studies.

There is a social pressure as well to send kids outside the region. It is the talk of pride for parents to tell the neighbors about where their kids are studying, or staying. I had migrated to Delhi after graduation, studied post graduation in Ahmedabad and then worked in Mumbai for 16 years. Today I am back to my hometown where I should have been there in the first place. I don't see a reason why we should encourage kids to go outside, live in a new culture and become something that they are not. There are enough and more ways to create value in our hometowns. The problem here is the negative perception about business and entrepreneurship. It is the salary that we seek, and not the uncertainty of business.

We have to understand however that it is entrepreneurship spirt that builds a nation, a state. Gujarat is developed not because of Modi, but because of the relentless entrepreneurship spirit of the Gujaratis. All the communities in India who have a developed entrepreneurship spirit are the communities that are known across the world and are richer than other communities.

Lot many Nidos will happen if we don't reverse the migration trend, which I also call Brain Drain. The government and the people of the region have to get conscious of this problem of brain drain and try to reduce the same. Nido's death in the capital city of India is a collateral damage, like the death of many 'outsiders' in the Northeast. The reason lies elsewhere, and not on racial discrimination like the media has put forth.

Assamese Cinema - Missing the Art behind Commerce.

Assamese cinema is in doldrums. To my knowledge, none of the Assamese films in the last few years have made profits. It has become critical that we understand the reasons and do the needful to try to revive Assamese cinema.

In order for Art to survive, it needs patrons.

This is more so when it comes to commercial cinema. Commercial cinema needs much more than cinema lovers. It needs patrons at various stages of the film from making, distribution to exhibition. In other words, commercial cinema needs an eco-system to survive and flourish. The eco-system that is tightly bound by commercial and other interests. The eco-system of commercial cinema comprises the Financiers, Producers, Production, Creative, Distributors, Actors, Exhibitors (cinema halls) and Audience (Patrons).

Each of these elements of the eco-system has to profit from the act of making, distributing and exhibiting the film. The motivation comes from the commerce of the trade of making films. We have to understand each of these elements in detail, to analyze and find a solution for the future of Assamese cinema.

I don't have extensive experience in the Assamese film industry to opine on each of the elements of the eco-system. This article is primarily from my experience of producing, distributing and promoting India's first martial arts comedy - an Assamese feature film - Local Kung Fu.

Poor Dated Content

Bordoloi Trophy was extremely popular and Gauhati stadium used to be packed until television came and increased the expectation from a football match. This is the same psychology affecting Assamese Cinema. The quality of Bollywood, Hollywood and South Indian Film has improved with time. They have become accessible to Assamese audience like any Assamese film. Perhaps more accessible than Assamese cinema. So it is obvious that Assamese film has to compete with all kinds of content easily available and accessible today. It is a pure economics of demand and supply, where Assamese cinema is failing to create demand because of poor quality of content – both creatively and technically. .

As recent as last week, an Assamese film was released with mono sound. Can you believe it? Cinematography, Choreography, Editing, VFX, Sound Design, Art Design, Make-up & Styling - all these departments have to open to current trends, technology and young talent. We have educated and experienced Assamese talent in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai who have to be given the responsibility to create cinema at par with Bollywood.

Cinema is Business. Distributors are Wholesalers. Cinema Halls are Retailers.

Only perhaps Art cinema without profit considerations, supported by Government and the super-rich, will survive without a proper business strategy. Commercial cinema cannot survive without making profits. One can make profits with a sub-standard product if sales and distribution are good.

Assam does not have a single distributor whose primary business interest is regional Assamese cinema – a distributor who distributes Bollywood and other films, but has either emotional or sentimental interest towards Assamese cinema. A cinema hall is dependent on the distributors for films. A distributor has the upper hand in deciding for the cinema halls. But Assam does not have a distributor (patron), who feels strongly for Assamese cinema.

As a result of which, Assamese films today just get one show, that too in a non profitable time-slot. In a city like Dibrugarh or Jorhat, where there are multiple cinema halls, Assamese cinema is lucky to get one show and one theatre. Distributors would openly suggest to the producer to release in one cinema hall in one city / town. There are 69 cinema halls considering the defense halls in Assam, and it is unfortunate that it is a great achievement to get 17-18 halls for an Assamese cinema.

A recent release only got 7 cinema halls. 7 cinema halls multiplied by 7 shows in a week is 49 shows. If 200 people come in all the shows, we will have an audience of 9800. If we take an average of Rs. 25 as the share of the producer in a ticket, the net collection for the film would be 2,45,000. This makes the business of films a loss making proposition from the start.

Assamese cinema lovers and patrons need to invest in an exclusive distribution channel hiring the best talents, which would have the power to dictate terms with the exhibitors. The channel should get all the Bollywood mega hits to distribute in Assam. A box office hit benefits all the cinema halls, more than the distributor himself. Once the exhibitors make money out of these releases, the channel would get the upper hand to release an Assamese cinema asking for the best shows on the best dates.

I am planning to start a distribution business in Assam with the next horror film of the famous Ramsay Entertainment - Neighbours. Check the trailer here. I am in touch with producers to buy the rights for 'Jackpot', 'Dedh Ishqiya', 'Gulab Gang'. I am looking forward for investments. There is risk, but there are handsome gains as well.

Cinema halls too have a critical role to play. Most of the cinema hall owners are not Assamese by language and by community. It is not that they should not own cinema halls. But the fact is that they will naturally have a lesser interest or passion for Assamese cinema. Without Assamese people coming out to open cinema halls with all modern projection and sound equipments, Assamese cinema will have a tough time getting screened in the first place.

The cinema hall business is a profitable business if the business is done like it should be done keeping the consumers in mind. 

For instance, Assam is hot, humid and poor. Assam does not have variety in terms of cinema options. Assam does not have entertainment options. Low cost cinema halls with AC and dolby 5.1 sound with 2 or more screens with less than 80 seats may be a profitable option. It is not necessary that these halls only run Assamese cinema. Bollywood releases a new movie almost every week. Bollywood has many hit cinemas that consumers would like to watch on big screens. These halls can also be used for music functions, plays and quiz/debate competitions.

Missing Stardom. Missing Aspirations. 

Assamese cinema does not the essential STAR attraction. The actors and actresses are not bigger than life. People do not aspire to be like them, or to follow them. Most of the actors and actresses work for a living like any normal Assamese. Assamese cinema has failed to give them the pedestal of respect, fame and money, that any actor or actress gets in other cinema industry.

One of our famous actresses is a lawyer, which means she is accessible and available in the high court every other day for the common people. This undeniably takes away the exclusivity and star attraction for her, in the minds of the cinema audience.

When we were kids and Assamese cinema was doing well, Nipon Goswami, Biju Phukan, Brajen Borah, Purabi Sarma etc. were larger than life. People used to flock to have a look at them. We used to wait for a film with our favourite actors and actresses. That is no longer the case. We now instead have Bollywood stars that we follow. The media and the film fraternity has to understand this essential ingredient for a successful cinema industry. We have to lift our actors and actress to a pedestal where they become stars. Exclusivity has to be created. The remuneration has to increase many folds so that they don't have to have alternate careers. They should not get into mobile theatres, but for special appearances.

Actors and Actresses also have a role to play. They have to maintain their glamour quotient by being fit and slim, and by being good social citizens.

Alternate Distribution Channels

The world of cinema is not limited to theatres alone. With Internet and technology, films can be distributed in multiple ways. The audience is also scattered across the globe. Assamese cinema can be made available to the Assamese population staying outside Assam and India through the use of technology.

We have options like BigFlix and Netflix for online streaming of movies. We have online stores like Flipkart and Amazon for selling of DVDs. We have the DTH channels where movies can be distributed with a fee (Airtel Movies, Tatasky Showcase etc). We have upcoming technologies like Lukup, which can distribute content to any device like a television, mobile or the computer. We have the option of social media and YouTube to create awareness of the films. We can even put the whole movie on YouTube and earn revenues through advertising.

I should also mention that all the local clubs and auditoriums in various parts of the state of Assam could be instrumental in bringing Assamese cinema to those towns and villages where there are no cinema halls. All we really need is a DVD player, a projector, a good sound system and curtains to make the auditorium dark enough for viewing cinema. The producer and the auditorium authorities can share the revenue equally, helping both the parties to earn handsome revenues.

Cinema is an integral part of a culture. If cinema is not aspirational and in demand, the culture tends to get stagnated and diluted. It is of immense importance all of us - proud Assamese - should come forward and help the cause of Assamese cinema with a vengeance.

Commerce, Economic Development and Naamghars. #Assam

Economic activity is an essential activity for any active society or community. It is more so in the current times of liberalization and globalization.

Economic activity can be defined as an act of creating or adding transaction value to any commodity or service. Creating or adding value will lead to exchange of money between the seller of value and the buyer of value. According to well-established economic theories, more the exchange of money, the better becomes the standard of living for the whole society. This is one of the postulates of Keynesian Economics as well.

Economy of Assam is steadily taking a turn to the worst.  The private sector in terms of creating value through manufacturing, service industry, outsourcing industry, rural industry, etc. is almost non-existent. The ‘Government investments’ (and the black money it generates) alone cannot augur hope to a state or community. Also, it is not the Government that can be solely blamed for our economic condition. It is the citizens of the society, and not the elected body that is primarily responsible.

Assamese citizens have no inherent biological or genetic problem that is stopping them from progressing like the rest of the world. There are no geological or climatic reasons that are significant to stagnate a civilization. There are no annual catastrophes apart from the floods that trouble our economic production. We are a sharp. We place emphasis on knowledge. We are perhaps not known to be traders, but the citizens of lower Assam proves it otherwise. We perhaps just became complacent due to abundance for a long time, and it became our behavior and attitude.

It is time we realize and get back on track. It is necessary that each one of us engage ourselves in some sort of economic activity. We all have to add value to live a good life, and for Assam to prosper. The common question is ‘what is that economic activity?’ In my various trips to Assam, I have seen the youth of Assam desperately in search of the answer to this question, almost to the point of extreme frustration. It is a state of helplessness. We have to understand that it is obvious in the scenario of any state or country facing economic depression or stagnancy, and lack of honesty in political leadership. The youth is always the most effected.

The possible economic activities get hidden in the dark clouds of depression, ignorance and exploitation. It becomes a ripe environment for the powerful to exploit, giving rise to the perception that exploitation is the only way to lead a good life. The intent of exploiting gives rise to the act of corruption. It is an obvious analogy therefore that corruption has a relation to the perception of the lack of economic opportunities. As we have seen in Africa and East European countries, corruption is always a greater evil in under-developed economies. Without proper economic activity to create wealth, corruption through contacts, muscle power, and political power becomes a norm.

In Assam, as well, we can see this phenomena taking concrete shape. Earning money through corruption, bribes and other morally incorrect ways has entered so deep into us that it is becoming an accepted evil. Bridegrooms are judged basis his ability or Government job position to take bribes or ‘bahira poisa’.

The private sector has hardly developed in Assam. Agriculture except for Tea is primarily done for personal consumption. Private manufacturing sector is almost non-existent. Assam produces 60% of the Bamboo production and has a significant Water Hyacinth production, but it has not become mass business opportunities. Trading of goods and services is a size-able economic activity, but the Marowari immigrant community is predominantly managing it. Apart from its natural wealth, Assam can be a hub for various outsourcing businesses like technology, BPO and KPOs.

So, it is a irrefutable truth that there are a lot of opportunities for creation or addition of value in Assam that can have demand both inside and outside the state of Assam. With the world becoming a smaller place through Internet and other infrastructural progress, and knowledge becoming the key to economic growth, the opportunities are over-whelming.

The actual question therefore is to answer ‘how to create awareness of these opportunities for all of us?’

This is where I would like to take the name of our great saint and social reformer - Srimanta Sankaradeva. He instituted the concept of 'Naamghar' ahead of its times as a place of congregation. Naamghars were instituted as a place of purity where communities irrespective of caste, creed and religion, can get together and form the basis of living in peace, prosperity and unity.

Srimanta Sankaradeva always maintained the philosophy that 'To err is human'. He believed that we are mere mortals and it is impossible to conquer all negative thoughts. He believed in controlling the negative thoughts, rather than in expecting a miracle that all of us will become saint-like, truthful and honest. He believed that if we as a community get together in a holy place everyday or frequently, we can control our negative / evil thoughts. This was perhaps the reason why he thought of the concept of Naamghar to be built as extensively as possible. He built naamghars wherever he went through out his living life.

Naamghar is an active institution even today for over 560 years. We see a Naamghar in almost every nook and corner of the state of Assam. It is a place where the community offers prayer (Naam / Kirtaana) as a group. There is an atmosphere of holiness, which can breed positive thinking. 

These naamghars can become our bed of economic activities in Assam, for all of us, for all Assamese people.

Naamghars can bring together people of all ages (wisdom), all professions (knowledge), and all faiths (culture) to create a productive forum of people collaborating and cooperating for the overall progress and development of the village or locality.

Every village and town has its unique strengths, natural resources, skills and opportunities. Secondly, every village and town today has people staying outside of Assam and India. If we give ourselves one hour for compulsory economic discussions and debates in the naamghars, we will automatically come out with ideas and the ways to execute them. We will find out help and support through social network in terms of finances, knowledge, labour etc. and economic activity through collaboration can be started.

I know it is easier said than done. We have various problems today in the way the various naamghars operate in a very non-inclusive way. It has become the place for retired Assamese and the elderlies. Over the years, it has become more of a religious centre for neo-vaishnavite traditions. We have to first list down these problems facing the institution of naamghars, address them and create overall awareness about the great contribution that naamghars can generate for the upliftment of the Assamese society, in a egalitarian and class-less way.

There are examples of Naamghars where participation of youth in its administration process has created wonders for the society. The youth brings in a new perspective in line with the times, and above all brings in enthusiasm in everything a Naamghar stands for.

Assam has one of the largest socio-religious organizations in the world called the Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha. It has over 6000 primary units with a cultural and literary wing. It has recently started bank operations to facilitate micro-credit. It is great news and a step towards economic progress. All the Naamghars of the Sangha are well connected, and can take the lead in the transformation of Assam towards economic progress.

I shall soon start discussing this thought with the Sangha naamghar in Duliajan, Assam. I request all of you who support this thought process to come forward and take this forward in their own villages and towns. You can contact me at durlov@hotmail.com for a discussion of how to make this a mass movement.

It is the time of the youth. It is the time of new ideas. It is not long that Assam will again become a developed state with a comfortable standard of living for all its population.

'Assamese' in transition and the increasing significance of Naamghars

Assamese society is going through a phase of transition. We are moving from the times of abundance to the times of scarcity. We are moving from a phase of harmony to a phase of competition. We are moving away from collective identity to individual identity.

Like any phase of transition, it is a phase of chaos and instability. It is also true that transition or change is the only constant. We have to adapt to the new times and keep on striving ahead as a community, and as a culture.

We cannot get lost in the winds of change. The communities and cultures who did not adapt to the change have all perished. For instance, I had read that the original population of a lot of South East Asian countries have perished, and these countries are now inhabited by people of Chinese origin.

Assamese culture, Assamese language, Assamese people have to survive the wind of change. We can and will survive, if we are prepared, ready, willing and understand the universal truth of continuous evolution. The only way to adapt and evolve is by working as a team, as a community, together inclusively towards the overall good of the community, culture and language. There will be a lot of reasons that will play a divisive role, but we have to get together with a purpose and with a resolve for the greater good. We have to get together in smaller and bigger units, and talk, share and make action plans for the unit. A unit can be a village, a Panchayat, a club or even a Naamghar.

The unit or place of get-together is very critical to this process of inclusive growth. A particular place has to drive this inclusive growth process. That place should have the credibility of being the symbol of progress, unity and together-ness. However much I think on this, the most egalitarian, equalitarian and a place of purity is our revered Naamghar. Naamghar is one of the most representative institutions of the Assamese community for ages, present in almost every village of Assam.

The genesis of naamghar is very significant in this regard. It was Srimanta Sankaradev's immense wisdom and vision to create unity in diversity, and to create a sense of community and belonging-ness. He had built this institution for the same purpose. It was for people to get together, offer community prayers, perform various group cultural activities and to participate in socio-economic discussions. Anybody from any background could come to a naamghar.


It was the ‘Facebook’ of those times. There were groups having their own naamghars, like we have FB groups today. Group members at each naamghar used to get together every evening after their daily jobs to sing the Kirtanas and other scriptures in the praise of the Lord, and then discuss about the problems of the group among themselves.

Naamghar was built as an institution of purity and immense wisdom. Srimanta Sankaradeva believed that regular or periodic visits to any institution of purity and wisdom would help the people of the community in purifying their thought processes from all thoughts and acts of evil, short-sightedness and maleficence (bad intention). He believed in the phrase, 'To err is human'. He said that it is impossible to become completely free of the all vices and evil thoughts, and regular visits to Naamghars would help us in keeping the evils of the mind away to an extent humanly possible. He designed various art forms such as the Ankia Nat and Sankari Dance, to be practiced and performed in and around the naamghars so that the village folks can spend as much time as possible in the naamghars and keep themselves occupied to lead a very inclusive and positive community life.

Also, naamghars are an inclusive institution. Any progress which is not inclusive, is bound to generate divisive sentiments. If a particular age group, sub-community or gender is not coming ahead to participate, we have to do the necessary to include them. Naamghars were designed for everyone, but with time that essense is getting lost and divisive mentality has entered the corridors of naamghars as well. Many naamghars do not allow Muslim people. The young today hardly visit our Naamghars. Absence of youth simply means absence of new ideas. Since the genesis of naamghar had the essense of inclusivity, I believe we can again make naamghars appeal to everybody. The elder folks have to invite the youth and give them responsibilities to make them feel part of the initiative.

The logic of the naamghar system still applies. It will help in the process of continuous evolution. We should collectively start a revolution in our naamghars to help the Assamese society in these times of chaos, to build a new wave of progress and development, unity and peace.

To conclude, I would just say, "Aha ami adda maru goi naamgharat..." and take Assam into the next millenium.