(In memory of a teacher)
It is hard to believe that he has gone so early. From now on it is not possible to sit together & no more we able to see a face with such delight.
May be it was one of the development base that was classroom of NiceSir for us. Here I have met some guys enough for our indulgence in crazy activities. We have started our sinful journey with sinister acts those posses in our mind. May we were all standing in different point but we were rotating around him.
Life and Nature
It is hard to believe that he has gone so early. From now on it is not possible to sit together & no more we able to see a face with such delight.
May be it was one of the development base that was classroom of NiceSir for us. Here I have met some guys enough for our indulgence in crazy activities. We have started our sinful journey with sinister acts those posses in our mind. May we were all standing in different point but we were rotating around him.
Life and Nature
(STARRY-NIGHT: Vincent Van Gogh)
Abandon God, one of our sinful act.
we had to deny God in the name of existence of life. If we accept God it is easier for us taking things granted. Might be we don’t want to, so we denied. Through a hard discussion and argument we came to point that no longer it important that God to be accepted.
I recalled there was time when we sit together with NiceSir, we able to take any things to our discussion & we peered in to any things, ready to dissect & deconstruct. Some remarkable respected people along with Sir help us developed an open mind such a way that we not allowed to accept things which is not logical or without a radical view or scientific perspective.
It is not like that we uprooted ourselves from soil. It is like more we absorbed. Here is a platform from where we look back or forward & we able to see soulful, hearty activities from every religion which developed by homo-sapiens, which exist on earth. We never find any problem to understand them and it is respected. The culture, society, art etc. evolved with it & it became a phenomenon that little bit complex but not mysterious. This is vast subject where historical dialectics is applicable for a good answer.
Science and Religion: No question of harmony and a God is out of the question
(Comet Tempel 1 Alive With LightThis spectacular image of comet Tempel 1 was taken 67 seconds after it obliterated Deep Impact's impactor spacecraft. The image reveals topographic features, including ridges, scalloped edges and possibly impact craters formed long ago.)
It is appear to be thousand years that how religion evolved and how it pierced through human life, attached so closely ever to be human society that it able to dictate every move or behavior of any single human. It is just one of a basic criteria that of nature of human to be recognized. At the same time it is ironic & painful. Once at a saturated point of religious activities, it simply make the practitioner a handicap and the mind no longer able to accept things when it shutting down all possible way of communication. For that practitioner things appear to very unreasonable and situation commanded & asked for nothing but submission to updated & evolved stature of religion. May be lot of question arise up here about self indulgence & right to practice a religion. But an opposite picture shows it end with nothing. It never capable of take someone to so called enlightenment. From history all greats and their greatest search for seeking that enlightenment end with very simple base i.e. they turn around to human being and its belongings. Religion on its own position yet to be evolved more & it is involved in very much own activities or internal matter of human, but God have nothing to do with human being. We need a clear picture about what is difference between God and Religion. It explained and already described that where there is a place for religion in thousand year long civilization of human being. It has modified to exploit & invade, it became cultural identity, turned to more solid form for a time frame, a loud cry for more recognition , more authority, basically for economic sustainability. So here a struggle for socio-economic justice & balance along with annihilation of religious activities through out the process. There are so many conflicts with every religion and its religious activities which never allow a religious community to pass through any important basic transformation of a society. A practitioner of religion neither able to faced a transitory situation nor fit for that transformation. Religion is self destructive by own self. Since long time it born and heading toward self destruction, but in this whole process it is giving us so beautiful things, a huge amount of human treasure which consist of great number of literature, art, architecture etc.
While religion is very internal matter for human society, God is alien to it. There is serious effort to construct a place for God which will be supreme to nature. If it come from any religion then it does not matter, but effort has came from in the name of science & using tool of science. Question of God is raised & there is a conscious effort to place it on nature. That’s turn out to be more ridiculous effort, because it is again submission, this time not by ancient ignorance & belief, but by intelligent mind which aware of scientific development. So result of effort is again trying for find a place for God in nature to rule a free mind. A scientific development, scientific view never reach any point, it always a path for more knowledge, more knowing of nature. But with all this effort that places God on nature only for push a mind of some one to a limit, after that just submission. With that limit, submission there will be no more eagerness, curiosity left behind for more simplicity of life, but it reduced the ability to seeing beauty in nature. May be human life has no significance in universe & its evolution & rule. Nature is careful up to now for us and has it own rule to obey, when human life itself part of nature. In whole universal phenomena & what is it to be for human, how it appear to human with its own characteristic, by placing God on it to control is very foolish, because neither it change any single position of human being nor does it has any relation to nature. So God is very alien to human nature. Life has its own significance of its own, that rightfully proved by living body of earth. It has already chosen the path of its own in universe with every moment trying to understand nature by absorbing with it and not denying it.
Sir had put his very profound, clear, straight forward view about religion in his one story. He was very clear on his attitude, able to put his view as philosophy in that story. In story “Brahmo” he put his view clearly on perfect timings when a society requires it. He was clever; wise enough that took his side through scientific viewpoint. (In story birds are shouting when a motorcycle ride also)
Once a talk session he told us how he thinks about God of Elbert Einstein, who believed in God of Spinoza. Than we argued that its no harmful that if we assume mystery of nature itself God, but the word “God” has became harmful itself. So why put God on nature, when there is a clash between God & nature. God never came up with fruitful result to human when nature is so much generous to human society.
Practicing Marxist Ideology, another sinful act
There was time when we got involved with all kind of criminal offence & it just matter of time Marxist ideology grasp us. Practicing an Marxist ideology which just a big crime for any youth. (We were fortunate to have some wonderful people for their honest, sincere guidance and we deeply acknowledged for all their kindness & teaching.)
Up to his last day NiceSir breath upon Marxist ideology and I recalled there was no slightest sign that there was hesitation, doubt on it. We talked & came out with all positive aspect. It is not like blind believe but like ordeal that examine us. With world scenario, it turmoil condition, specially after fallings of USSR, Marxist ideology become more ruthless & it asking more, exposed more, reveal more & came out just like phoenix. Now all in complete new era of globalization, new world order need of Marxist ideology, urge for Marxist ideology increases, it asking for more practice and it is going through practice. Necessity of ideology, why it increases, because for example if we talked about global warming, it no more any local activities or no more it is a technical activities, it is a problem, a big crisis came upon along with all question of globalization, imperialist aggression which need to be countered, so need of Marxist ideology.
Global Protest, a result of globalization
( Protesters from around the world One of the most significant factors in the march was its internationalism.
African Drop the Debt campaigners protested alongside British Asians from Islamic Relief.)
When a new phase is about to come it will come with wholesome suffering. So picture of struggle is different from past experiences, a new found strategy is emerged. With day to day activities Marxist ideology became more profound; practicing it throughout all layer of struggle it showed that world is more reasonable. While with globalization, values are becoming puzzled. As Marxist ideology involved in all aspect of human life, all “sacred value” of a ruling society is cracking. With globalization, corporate institutions are taking over control. It so demonic, span to a wide scale operation, which action revealed there is no such country, culture, language etc. & all these are matter of self hypnotic activities when still self-determination is basic problem of any society accordingly. It so cruel that some one find himself/herself is nobody to this earth. A new breed of identity is evolving without identity. A complex form of life is began which is not earthly, causing eruption here & there but no heal anymore, just like small pox, same virus but all body is infected & it spread.
The word “peace” became most notorious word ever. When there is a speaking on peace it just seems to be a big conspiracy is going on. Who talked about peace they look like most hypocrite devil. There is no such existence of peaceful society in thousand year long human history until now. “Peace” the word is mostly used for domination or control. Even it varied from core of a family to society. What “peace” means is obedience nothing more. So a peaceful life is very much illusion which is shuttered by everyday life. When a society, a system is trembling for a change as it happened through historically in between “peace” is opportunist manipulation for stability. “Peace” never reign in any society till now, all peaceful society chained it peoples with many way (e.g. through corporate media). For now on a wholesome peaceful life or life in peace is nothing but life in consumerism. So in any peaceful society an ideology which is engaged in breaking the “peace”, fighting for brings the justice is violence or violating a solid base. Violence also appeared with different mask & different name. Attitude and approach of violence is also different. But violence is not stoppable. Through violence all those suffering, there is worst of all hatred. When hatred spread it causes pain, create a hopeless atmosphere where difficult to take breath. So understanding of characteristic of violence and understanding real force of change is important.
Face of hatred, a major characteristic of human nature
(People attack Muslim houses at Sahapur in Ahmedabad in Gujarat state on February 28, 2002. AFP and A Nazi concentration camp)
As violence has its different faces, ideology come up with different looks & form. Here question is who benefited and who has suffered, so violence parted with different category. Every time as a result there is a direct face of reality & reality is tackling with it through an ideology. An approach to this application of ideology is material dialectics.
A long period of observation & participation, Sir has developed a experienced wisdom in him through material dialectics. Who had made a constant argument with different changes of political, economic, cultural atmosphere, he had gone through it flesh & blood. We can claims our self fortunate that he has able to transmit it, pass it some of his sight, fruit of collective experience to us expecting that also we can able see with that perspective or view. Never there was any authoritarian in his view or never he was authoritarian to us.
He never talks about himself & we never able to know about his past activities. (Right now I got to know about his personal history, including how he lost his mother when he was child, he was grown up by his grandmother etc.) Actually we were not bothering about our personal life of each other.
He was wise enough to not mention his past activities of his fight for people. It was just like that he was telling us “ now kiddo, you all grown up & started to shave, so now on explore yourself & tell me what you find” & smiled. We had to tell him what we find & he made us such way that we have to find. He was listening to us everything carefully, with patience. All those finding mean everything that walk upon, exist on earth. Some of my criminal colleague found themselves that they started to practicing literature, it was one of the finding.
On his strategy about his action he was very clear, place him right place & right way. When he thought about “Golaghat”(our home town) as a whole, he knew what to be done. On his mind he was clear about development of "Golaghat" on all basis. So he never mess up himself with narrow political activities, because his vision was board enough that not divert by any kind of narrow point of objection & controversy. Once he supported a congressman on municipality election that may evoked a controversy, but it his honest determination & he understand an urban town like "Golaghat", what a local development mean to him. He was never affected by any narrow politics, never allow himself to do the same.
On account of regional matter he understand fully core crisis of a nationality. On state level he was active on this issue & he placed himself actively on it. “Jatiya Bidyalaya” education movement & his first-hand involvement with it shows his understanding of core crisis of Assamease language, culture, art, literature etc.
He was fully aware of unique ethnic characteristic of north-eastern region of India. Although there was a contradiction about caste issue, but he accepted the concept of ethnicity & right to self determination. At the same time he was aware of class conflict. Through a famous story by him that is Bheti (the base) we can understand where he stood & his perspective about class.
On account of country he fiercely voiced against communalism. He cleared his position about it. Strongly voiced against all cultural, economic discrimination toward North-East of India.
On global strategy he believed in “another world is possible”, the motto of world social forum. He involved himself to worldwide struggles against the globalization, imperialism with solidarity. That was his global spirit with local root.
Above all he was a humanitarian by his heart & soul.
So it is important to keep in mind to understand this man “Nicesir” in this global context along with his local activities & his creation. Some one can understand him more this way, if one miss any point of these context than there will be failure of not only understanding “Nicesir” but also miss the legend he left behind & the punch line of his life what he accumulated through his life & ideology.
It was interesting to see his death bring all political parties together, someone may be confused enough to where to put him & it is very difficult to ignore him, but by his death also he tells us a different story. It is just pathetic if someone judges him one dimensional way. It is not enough to remember him as a good man but through his life & death he put a question on all socio-economic, cultural fronts & shows a path that answered so many questions. After his death talking of his ideological view is luxury, if someone not able to understand how he practiced it. It is important to remember not only the man but the path also that he cultivated.
Committing sin by got introduced with a 100 year old medium
Among medium of expression, cinema is only approximately 100 year old medium, but it able put huge impact on human society. In our classroom there were some criminals, who got involved with criminal activities like writing poetry, painting, drama, literature etc. its just like a very bad time period when we cursed to get introduced with cinema. It was downfall of our character that we discover cinema. And there was no looking back again. Once we put our feet in this swamp of sin, we began to drown deeper.
Sir had developed his conscience to cinema. He understand cinema. He had very good understanding of cinema. Above all he chased cinema.
Chasing cinema is very important to anybody who want to understand cinema. Here may be confusion that how to chase & what to chase. Cinema is one of the all audio-visual medium. There is a significant technical development in cinema and it has a beautiful history of 100 year evolution. It is almost necessary to understand & knowing of this 100 year of evolution. Chasing of those important movies of 100 year is like more exploration of life itself.
In India, world’s largest film producing country, cinema is part of everyday life. All of a sudden emerging of cinema & very instant it took up grip of pulse of the people. There was socio- economic & cultural cause for what it began to take control of authority over people. Overall its reflection is as an entertainment tool, but it not. It had became more than entertainment tool & able to command culturally, politically over mind of people. Now it established itself as a very important tool for state, capitalist & imperialist power. It presence is so powerful and it very loyal to its master so when there was a development of cinema which is called art cinema or alternative cinema then it able to sidelined it from people. This is like a kick on ass that this development became bastard form of cinema. Irony is that when cinema has born there was lot probability & promises with it, but now it polluted lot of way. Actually at initial stage there was no such separate category like this. But major part of it merged with market economy, became consumer products and it is very cleverly controlled by market, industries. Very little, minor part of it still involve with own exploration of cinema.
It is very difficult task to find out that actual path of cinema. For example, what is cinema for average people of India and how they consider a movie. Within this 100 year people developed such a mindset toward those stereotype, formula oriented cinema that grownup with all socio-economic backdrop which reflect how they merged with cinema or how they influenced by cinema. So it already solid in their mind what is cinema to them and they enjoyed it, cry for it, laugh for it. This whole vision became an illusion. So for people of India cinema became an utopian paradise where everything is of the reality.
(People takes cinema more than entertainment and less than kind of art form. Passionately devoted to it just like as their devotion in religion.)
One day he visited my home. He came on 8 pm. He stayed with us up to late night. We watched cinema & we talked, discussed. He was so full of life with some school going student like us & he never let us feel that he was not one of us. Why he came to my home although that was not a social visit? Actually he wanted to meet some guys (Bunual, Godard, Godfrey Reggio etc.) & want to go through an experience that would be elevated him. He walked hardly ten minutes road to my home but for him it is an exploration or adventure of chasing. So that was, he not came to watch a cinema, actually he chased cinema where it was screened. We have seen movies many times together at different home sitting. That day we had watched a movie called “Koyaanisqatsi” by Godfrey Reggio. Watching this movie is kind of pilgrimage to moviegoer. It was the first film / movie of its type. Stunning visual images of the US, served in a way to deliver a unique message. The inventor of the visual-art film / movie style is Godfrey Reggio. There is hardly four/five movie of this genre is exist.. According to critic these kind movies are indescribable. Some one have to go through watching to experienced it. Latter Sir told me how he very much likes of this movie & its prominent influence on him. Another creator of this kind of movie is Ron Fricke. After the fantastic response to of his movie "Baraka", Fricke is confident that audiences are ready for films with a life affirming message. To him, filmmaking has always been more than a technical exercise. "When I create films, I look at the theatre as a temple. The audience sits in the dark with their senses alert and their defenses down. It is a perfect opportunity to bypass the viewer's personality and address their inner being". So for him theatre is a temple & he respect audience, want to address their inner being. For that also audience need a respectful mind toward any good movie opposite way.
we had to deny God in the name of existence of life. If we accept God it is easier for us taking things granted. Might be we don’t want to, so we denied. Through a hard discussion and argument we came to point that no longer it important that God to be accepted.
I recalled there was time when we sit together with NiceSir, we able to take any things to our discussion & we peered in to any things, ready to dissect & deconstruct. Some remarkable respected people along with Sir help us developed an open mind such a way that we not allowed to accept things which is not logical or without a radical view or scientific perspective.
It is not like that we uprooted ourselves from soil. It is like more we absorbed. Here is a platform from where we look back or forward & we able to see soulful, hearty activities from every religion which developed by homo-sapiens, which exist on earth. We never find any problem to understand them and it is respected. The culture, society, art etc. evolved with it & it became a phenomenon that little bit complex but not mysterious. This is vast subject where historical dialectics is applicable for a good answer.
Science and Religion: No question of harmony and a God is out of the question
(Comet Tempel 1 Alive With LightThis spectacular image of comet Tempel 1 was taken 67 seconds after it obliterated Deep Impact's impactor spacecraft. The image reveals topographic features, including ridges, scalloped edges and possibly impact craters formed long ago.)It is appear to be thousand years that how religion evolved and how it pierced through human life, attached so closely ever to be human society that it able to dictate every move or behavior of any single human. It is just one of a basic criteria that of nature of human to be recognized. At the same time it is ironic & painful. Once at a saturated point of religious activities, it simply make the practitioner a handicap and the mind no longer able to accept things when it shutting down all possible way of communication. For that practitioner things appear to very unreasonable and situation commanded & asked for nothing but submission to updated & evolved stature of religion. May be lot of question arise up here about self indulgence & right to practice a religion. But an opposite picture shows it end with nothing. It never capable of take someone to so called enlightenment. From history all greats and their greatest search for seeking that enlightenment end with very simple base i.e. they turn around to human being and its belongings. Religion on its own position yet to be evolved more & it is involved in very much own activities or internal matter of human, but God have nothing to do with human being. We need a clear picture about what is difference between God and Religion. It explained and already described that where there is a place for religion in thousand year long civilization of human being. It has modified to exploit & invade, it became cultural identity, turned to more solid form for a time frame, a loud cry for more recognition , more authority, basically for economic sustainability. So here a struggle for socio-economic justice & balance along with annihilation of religious activities through out the process. There are so many conflicts with every religion and its religious activities which never allow a religious community to pass through any important basic transformation of a society. A practitioner of religion neither able to faced a transitory situation nor fit for that transformation. Religion is self destructive by own self. Since long time it born and heading toward self destruction, but in this whole process it is giving us so beautiful things, a huge amount of human treasure which consist of great number of literature, art, architecture etc.
While religion is very internal matter for human society, God is alien to it. There is serious effort to construct a place for God which will be supreme to nature. If it come from any religion then it does not matter, but effort has came from in the name of science & using tool of science. Question of God is raised & there is a conscious effort to place it on nature. That’s turn out to be more ridiculous effort, because it is again submission, this time not by ancient ignorance & belief, but by intelligent mind which aware of scientific development. So result of effort is again trying for find a place for God in nature to rule a free mind. A scientific development, scientific view never reach any point, it always a path for more knowledge, more knowing of nature. But with all this effort that places God on nature only for push a mind of some one to a limit, after that just submission. With that limit, submission there will be no more eagerness, curiosity left behind for more simplicity of life, but it reduced the ability to seeing beauty in nature. May be human life has no significance in universe & its evolution & rule. Nature is careful up to now for us and has it own rule to obey, when human life itself part of nature. In whole universal phenomena & what is it to be for human, how it appear to human with its own characteristic, by placing God on it to control is very foolish, because neither it change any single position of human being nor does it has any relation to nature. So God is very alien to human nature. Life has its own significance of its own, that rightfully proved by living body of earth. It has already chosen the path of its own in universe with every moment trying to understand nature by absorbing with it and not denying it.
Sir had put his very profound, clear, straight forward view about religion in his one story. He was very clear on his attitude, able to put his view as philosophy in that story. In story “Brahmo” he put his view clearly on perfect timings when a society requires it. He was clever; wise enough that took his side through scientific viewpoint. (In story birds are shouting when a motorcycle ride also)
Once a talk session he told us how he thinks about God of Elbert Einstein, who believed in God of Spinoza. Than we argued that its no harmful that if we assume mystery of nature itself God, but the word “God” has became harmful itself. So why put God on nature, when there is a clash between God & nature. God never came up with fruitful result to human when nature is so much generous to human society.
Practicing Marxist Ideology, another sinful act
There was time when we got involved with all kind of criminal offence & it just matter of time Marxist ideology grasp us. Practicing an Marxist ideology which just a big crime for any youth. (We were fortunate to have some wonderful people for their honest, sincere guidance and we deeply acknowledged for all their kindness & teaching.)
Up to his last day NiceSir breath upon Marxist ideology and I recalled there was no slightest sign that there was hesitation, doubt on it. We talked & came out with all positive aspect. It is not like blind believe but like ordeal that examine us. With world scenario, it turmoil condition, specially after fallings of USSR, Marxist ideology become more ruthless & it asking more, exposed more, reveal more & came out just like phoenix. Now all in complete new era of globalization, new world order need of Marxist ideology, urge for Marxist ideology increases, it asking for more practice and it is going through practice. Necessity of ideology, why it increases, because for example if we talked about global warming, it no more any local activities or no more it is a technical activities, it is a problem, a big crisis came upon along with all question of globalization, imperialist aggression which need to be countered, so need of Marxist ideology.
Global Protest, a result of globalization
( Protesters from around the world One of the most significant factors in the march was its internationalism.African Drop the Debt campaigners protested alongside British Asians from Islamic Relief.)
When a new phase is about to come it will come with wholesome suffering. So picture of struggle is different from past experiences, a new found strategy is emerged. With day to day activities Marxist ideology became more profound; practicing it throughout all layer of struggle it showed that world is more reasonable. While with globalization, values are becoming puzzled. As Marxist ideology involved in all aspect of human life, all “sacred value” of a ruling society is cracking. With globalization, corporate institutions are taking over control. It so demonic, span to a wide scale operation, which action revealed there is no such country, culture, language etc. & all these are matter of self hypnotic activities when still self-determination is basic problem of any society accordingly. It so cruel that some one find himself/herself is nobody to this earth. A new breed of identity is evolving without identity. A complex form of life is began which is not earthly, causing eruption here & there but no heal anymore, just like small pox, same virus but all body is infected & it spread.
The word “peace” became most notorious word ever. When there is a speaking on peace it just seems to be a big conspiracy is going on. Who talked about peace they look like most hypocrite devil. There is no such existence of peaceful society in thousand year long human history until now. “Peace” the word is mostly used for domination or control. Even it varied from core of a family to society. What “peace” means is obedience nothing more. So a peaceful life is very much illusion which is shuttered by everyday life. When a society, a system is trembling for a change as it happened through historically in between “peace” is opportunist manipulation for stability. “Peace” never reign in any society till now, all peaceful society chained it peoples with many way (e.g. through corporate media). For now on a wholesome peaceful life or life in peace is nothing but life in consumerism. So in any peaceful society an ideology which is engaged in breaking the “peace”, fighting for brings the justice is violence or violating a solid base. Violence also appeared with different mask & different name. Attitude and approach of violence is also different. But violence is not stoppable. Through violence all those suffering, there is worst of all hatred. When hatred spread it causes pain, create a hopeless atmosphere where difficult to take breath. So understanding of characteristic of violence and understanding real force of change is important.
Face of hatred, a major characteristic of human nature
(People attack Muslim houses at Sahapur in Ahmedabad in Gujarat state on February 28, 2002. AFP and A Nazi concentration camp)As violence has its different faces, ideology come up with different looks & form. Here question is who benefited and who has suffered, so violence parted with different category. Every time as a result there is a direct face of reality & reality is tackling with it through an ideology. An approach to this application of ideology is material dialectics.
A long period of observation & participation, Sir has developed a experienced wisdom in him through material dialectics. Who had made a constant argument with different changes of political, economic, cultural atmosphere, he had gone through it flesh & blood. We can claims our self fortunate that he has able to transmit it, pass it some of his sight, fruit of collective experience to us expecting that also we can able see with that perspective or view. Never there was any authoritarian in his view or never he was authoritarian to us.
He never talks about himself & we never able to know about his past activities. (Right now I got to know about his personal history, including how he lost his mother when he was child, he was grown up by his grandmother etc.) Actually we were not bothering about our personal life of each other.
He was wise enough to not mention his past activities of his fight for people. It was just like that he was telling us “ now kiddo, you all grown up & started to shave, so now on explore yourself & tell me what you find” & smiled. We had to tell him what we find & he made us such way that we have to find. He was listening to us everything carefully, with patience. All those finding mean everything that walk upon, exist on earth. Some of my criminal colleague found themselves that they started to practicing literature, it was one of the finding.
On his strategy about his action he was very clear, place him right place & right way. When he thought about “Golaghat”(our home town) as a whole, he knew what to be done. On his mind he was clear about development of "Golaghat" on all basis. So he never mess up himself with narrow political activities, because his vision was board enough that not divert by any kind of narrow point of objection & controversy. Once he supported a congressman on municipality election that may evoked a controversy, but it his honest determination & he understand an urban town like "Golaghat", what a local development mean to him. He was never affected by any narrow politics, never allow himself to do the same.
On account of regional matter he understand fully core crisis of a nationality. On state level he was active on this issue & he placed himself actively on it. “Jatiya Bidyalaya” education movement & his first-hand involvement with it shows his understanding of core crisis of Assamease language, culture, art, literature etc.
He was fully aware of unique ethnic characteristic of north-eastern region of India. Although there was a contradiction about caste issue, but he accepted the concept of ethnicity & right to self determination. At the same time he was aware of class conflict. Through a famous story by him that is Bheti (the base) we can understand where he stood & his perspective about class.
On account of country he fiercely voiced against communalism. He cleared his position about it. Strongly voiced against all cultural, economic discrimination toward North-East of India.
On global strategy he believed in “another world is possible”, the motto of world social forum. He involved himself to worldwide struggles against the globalization, imperialism with solidarity. That was his global spirit with local root.
Above all he was a humanitarian by his heart & soul.
So it is important to keep in mind to understand this man “Nicesir” in this global context along with his local activities & his creation. Some one can understand him more this way, if one miss any point of these context than there will be failure of not only understanding “Nicesir” but also miss the legend he left behind & the punch line of his life what he accumulated through his life & ideology.
It was interesting to see his death bring all political parties together, someone may be confused enough to where to put him & it is very difficult to ignore him, but by his death also he tells us a different story. It is just pathetic if someone judges him one dimensional way. It is not enough to remember him as a good man but through his life & death he put a question on all socio-economic, cultural fronts & shows a path that answered so many questions. After his death talking of his ideological view is luxury, if someone not able to understand how he practiced it. It is important to remember not only the man but the path also that he cultivated.
Committing sin by got introduced with a 100 year old medium
Among medium of expression, cinema is only approximately 100 year old medium, but it able put huge impact on human society. In our classroom there were some criminals, who got involved with criminal activities like writing poetry, painting, drama, literature etc. its just like a very bad time period when we cursed to get introduced with cinema. It was downfall of our character that we discover cinema. And there was no looking back again. Once we put our feet in this swamp of sin, we began to drown deeper.
Sir had developed his conscience to cinema. He understand cinema. He had very good understanding of cinema. Above all he chased cinema.
Chasing cinema is very important to anybody who want to understand cinema. Here may be confusion that how to chase & what to chase. Cinema is one of the all audio-visual medium. There is a significant technical development in cinema and it has a beautiful history of 100 year evolution. It is almost necessary to understand & knowing of this 100 year of evolution. Chasing of those important movies of 100 year is like more exploration of life itself.
In India, world’s largest film producing country, cinema is part of everyday life. All of a sudden emerging of cinema & very instant it took up grip of pulse of the people. There was socio- economic & cultural cause for what it began to take control of authority over people. Overall its reflection is as an entertainment tool, but it not. It had became more than entertainment tool & able to command culturally, politically over mind of people. Now it established itself as a very important tool for state, capitalist & imperialist power. It presence is so powerful and it very loyal to its master so when there was a development of cinema which is called art cinema or alternative cinema then it able to sidelined it from people. This is like a kick on ass that this development became bastard form of cinema. Irony is that when cinema has born there was lot probability & promises with it, but now it polluted lot of way. Actually at initial stage there was no such separate category like this. But major part of it merged with market economy, became consumer products and it is very cleverly controlled by market, industries. Very little, minor part of it still involve with own exploration of cinema.
It is very difficult task to find out that actual path of cinema. For example, what is cinema for average people of India and how they consider a movie. Within this 100 year people developed such a mindset toward those stereotype, formula oriented cinema that grownup with all socio-economic backdrop which reflect how they merged with cinema or how they influenced by cinema. So it already solid in their mind what is cinema to them and they enjoyed it, cry for it, laugh for it. This whole vision became an illusion. So for people of India cinema became an utopian paradise where everything is of the reality.
(People takes cinema more than entertainment and less than kind of art form. Passionately devoted to it just like as their devotion in religion.)One day he visited my home. He came on 8 pm. He stayed with us up to late night. We watched cinema & we talked, discussed. He was so full of life with some school going student like us & he never let us feel that he was not one of us. Why he came to my home although that was not a social visit? Actually he wanted to meet some guys (Bunual, Godard, Godfrey Reggio etc.) & want to go through an experience that would be elevated him. He walked hardly ten minutes road to my home but for him it is an exploration or adventure of chasing. So that was, he not came to watch a cinema, actually he chased cinema where it was screened. We have seen movies many times together at different home sitting. That day we had watched a movie called “Koyaanisqatsi” by Godfrey Reggio. Watching this movie is kind of pilgrimage to moviegoer. It was the first film / movie of its type. Stunning visual images of the US, served in a way to deliver a unique message. The inventor of the visual-art film / movie style is Godfrey Reggio. There is hardly four/five movie of this genre is exist.. According to critic these kind movies are indescribable. Some one have to go through watching to experienced it. Latter Sir told me how he very much likes of this movie & its prominent influence on him. Another creator of this kind of movie is Ron Fricke. After the fantastic response to of his movie "Baraka", Fricke is confident that audiences are ready for films with a life affirming message. To him, filmmaking has always been more than a technical exercise. "When I create films, I look at the theatre as a temple. The audience sits in the dark with their senses alert and their defenses down. It is a perfect opportunity to bypass the viewer's personality and address their inner being". So for him theatre is a temple & he respect audience, want to address their inner being. For that also audience need a respectful mind toward any good movie opposite way.
(Yasujiro Ozu and Godfrey Reggio)Not only respect, watching a movie by Ozu or Bresso required a meditative state of mind. Movies of Ozu no longer some one able to experienced it if they never take watching as a meditation. If someone goes thousand times through Ozu’s movie it will never reveal anything. Through an honest approach toward movie, hard exploration of movie, art, music etc. above all an honest approach toward life than someone can reach & touch or feel inner spirit of Ozu’s movies. As a result of chasing, Sir showing more thrust for cinema. One day he asked me “can you show me movie of Tarokovsky?” I just replied “Sir, I will try.” (unfortunately we were not able to show him Tarokovsky”s movie. In the mean time Ruku had given him test of Parazanov, Bresso, Felini etc.) With that appetite for cinema Sir elevated himself to different level or class, discovered a new way to looking life & a new world of art or new language of art & life. He got his full command & control over audiovisual medium (like TV) or movie.
So when there is so many movies overflowed everywhere, presence of audio visual different kind of program in eavry moment, it is little bit difficult to find out what to chase. There are over access of movies every where, but someone can’t find easily what he/she looking for, more like water, water everywhere, but not a single drop to drink. Feeding and digest just what infront of us in a traped situation.
So when there is so many movies overflowed everywhere, presence of audio visual different kind of program in eavry moment, it is little bit difficult to find out what to chase. There are over access of movies every where, but someone can’t find easily what he/she looking for, more like water, water everywhere, but not a single drop to drink. Feeding and digest just what infront of us in a traped situation.
So there is no shortcut, but a hard path to follow & Sir had chosen this hard path of exploration.
There is huge impact of cinema on his writings. After long gap he again started to write stories. There was transition period of his stories. Within short period he developed his style & method. At first very sharp analysis of class & ideological influence dominated his stories. He inherited a tradition close to Maxim Gorky & Lou Chun, but with time he able to put his mark of his own. He had fed with latest development of literature. So he kept finding, updating his process of writing. We can see there is a vast difference between his stories of later period with early period. Those changes in his later period are very few, but he charged with new vision, that very energetic, honest with approach. He about to pick up but he falls to death on this unique creative part of time. There is villainous character, manipulating dialogue, imposed optimism etc. present in his stories of early period. Than gradually he was very critical to himself & created thing that timeless. “Saru dhemali, bar dhemali”( small game, big game), his creation of later period, we never find his personal presence, but an universal feeling in universal timeframe, he able to captured & cultivated. He paints the story with picture of a wholesome terror flow underneath it. Along with that terror there is spark of life as a core reflection. Some how this story very much cinematic, like it is reader not heard or read a story, but they feel the story & part of the story. It is not like they watching a story, but they present there.
Cinema came to him as a new world along with its universal appeal.
There is huge impact of cinema on his writings. After long gap he again started to write stories. There was transition period of his stories. Within short period he developed his style & method. At first very sharp analysis of class & ideological influence dominated his stories. He inherited a tradition close to Maxim Gorky & Lou Chun, but with time he able to put his mark of his own. He had fed with latest development of literature. So he kept finding, updating his process of writing. We can see there is a vast difference between his stories of later period with early period. Those changes in his later period are very few, but he charged with new vision, that very energetic, honest with approach. He about to pick up but he falls to death on this unique creative part of time. There is villainous character, manipulating dialogue, imposed optimism etc. present in his stories of early period. Than gradually he was very critical to himself & created thing that timeless. “Saru dhemali, bar dhemali”( small game, big game), his creation of later period, we never find his personal presence, but an universal feeling in universal timeframe, he able to captured & cultivated. He paints the story with picture of a wholesome terror flow underneath it. Along with that terror there is spark of life as a core reflection. Some how this story very much cinematic, like it is reader not heard or read a story, but they feel the story & part of the story. It is not like they watching a story, but they present there.
Cinema came to him as a new world along with its universal appeal.
Storytelling: Brings it all together
Apart from his identity as a story writer, Sir what mean to a student. Teaching, this was the field, he worked for whole life. This was the very glorious part of his life.
Once my cousin sister, she told me how Sir asked them to look at sky, how it can make mind broad. After death of Sir, she looked at starry night & assuming Sir be there, just said “bless me Sir, I have passed the exam.” It looks like not logical, but no harm with it, because it is very human.
When we usually visit him, we have seen lot of bicycles parked in front of his home. There were lively voices of student from his classroom. Apart from teaching he cared them on every aspect. Some one can see his face is delighted with joy & all students, appeared lovely with their raw presence & activities. Atmosphere is like no evil touch them right now; Sir was protective about their innocence & served a role what is very historic to human kind. History of human evolution from its early era to till now all races of human guided & guarded by general wisdom of experience. From Julu tribe of Africa to Eskimo of Alaska, Indian, Arab, Chinese and European in all civilization we have found role of story teller. From pre-historic time they heavily guided & guarded spirit of any society & its value. Not only guided & guarded it but transmit it to coming generation as a duty. It is a job not for everyone but only for them, who gifted for it. A silent role played as core pulse of life in every civilization from beginning of human history. Exist as a supreme guard of values & moral of any existing society till today. And lack of this role within any existing society than that society falls to paranoia. It can’t guard its history & value, worst is it may lose it identity from history.
Storytelling and education go hand-in-hand. For millennia, storytelling has been an invaluable tool for passing information, values and wisdom from one generation to the next.
From in every society, almost every generation up to now around the world we know how Grandmother tells us stories under the starry night. Now role is played by different way in various methods. But spirit & objective is same from pre historic era to present.
Present generation storyteller Doug Elliott’s stories derive from his unique lifestyle as well as his deep interest in plants, animals and people. Since humanity's beginnings our connections with the natural world have defined us and made us who we are. Elliott's stories explore and celebrate the rich diversity of that special human connection to nature. His programs are textured by his use of traditional lore, regional dialects and accents, and enhanced by his soulful harmonica playing.
Doug's storytelling performances are infused with educational material, and his educational programs are packed with stories, anecdotes and lore. These presentations can be tailored for young, mixed-age or adult audiences.
Story teller : guard of moral & value of society
(Doug Eillitt and A PaleoIndian camp scene)In everybody life definitely there are respectful teacher who influenced personal life of someone.
He had served & born to serve a role along with other colleague around the world that best rewarded by student themselves. It was just ancestral duty of human civilization, who ever assign to it, for them prime requirement is honesty & wisdom.
A generation, who were blessed by him and we know very well about flow of life & it is progressive in nature, no scope of being nostalgic (Sir himself never a nostalgic person) & coming generation will find their own path with every possibilities which fit with time, but somehow we miss him here.
Raj Da
News of death of Sir is more sadden by hearing about Rajda & way he died. I was personally very close to him & we shared a very good relationship. I usually visited him & we spent lot of time talking & discussing. He has been able to open my eye in various topics. I personally never feel that any discussion someone can make so funny, when he made me laugh through out whole session. We enjoyed any topic so gleefully that all things appear to us so beautiful. Apart from international & national topic we mostly talked about “Golaghat” & its peoples, art, culture etc. He was himself a library of information & he had shared it with me very kind way. We started to dissect every character of “Golaghat”. Not a single character able to escape from our ruthless dissection & all came out very lively, so earthly & warm. Very special way what he made “Golaghat” to me is very much like “Dublin” to James Joyce or “Malgudy” to R.K. Narayan or “Madhupur” to Shilabhadra. I don’t want to compare it with those three greats but somehow I feel it & Rajda was prime catalyst for made “Golaghat” a special town for me & for him also because he loved “Golaghat & its people” from bottom of his heart. May be with time everything will change but it is painted in my mind with specific timeframe. Personally I had liked his companionship, a down to earth person & not a hypocrite. When almost everybody is living in self-made fortress, someone have to knock before enter, Rajda was living in under open sky, open air. He can look himself in mirror & recognize himself but I don’t think so that everybody can do it. I have seen & (including in my personal close circle) still some thought exist as superior culture, superior being, and superior race etc. to other. Never feel comfortable when there is a talking about drinking “laopani”, “apong” etc. with special tribes so romantic way. It is luxury & it is usually come from who called themselves artist, poet, actor, playwright etc. His perspective about human, culture, human behavior was very up-to-date modern. So it was very comfortable to talk to him when a majority lived in fortress with orthodox view about life but using up-to-date tool of imposed development. It is very dangerous outlook that when tribes are seen as cultural museum. Seen as a living cultural museum to whom? They have to dance, sing for showing unity (?), diversity (?) or amusement to a superior nationality (?) in all occasion or festivities. That outlook is greatest weakness of being modern to any nationality. I had seen pain in his eye, when he had seen that hatred applied to human by human. From his whole life he showed a valuable perspective, which is very rare in everybody that is being a modern mean how to behave, look a fellow human irrespective of color of skin, race, religion, language etc. This is prime accountability for anybody irrespective any achievement. When sub-conscious mind of a person plays a trick which is sometime difficult to track down then the person acts different way in different condition. So we can see society is flooded with many pseudo intellectual, socialite, so-called artist.
I have benefited by him in cultural front also. Working with him any project is so fun & I think it was rare side of him as an artist & there was misunderstanding about him.
Ruku has some wild imagination that one day at his home he transformed their room to spaceship in night, fireflies outside of windows as stars. There was a time when I talked with Rajda for long & I said “Rajda I am going to visit Sir now.’ He simply said ‘well, go.” Then I just crossed the classroom & heard warm voice of students. Sir was giving lesson to them. I had entered the drawing room & wait. Others also started to come & wait for Sir. The room filled with peoples but still enough places for more who were coming continuously. There were children inside, they were plying, shouting. Then I applied imagination of Ruku to this atmosphere so wall of the room began to disappear, the room was filled with warm talk…..we had tea, snacks that prepared by warm hand…..& here we start a timeless journey…..
Note
When I have mentioned as “we”, I mean its me & some of my friends. We were all going through student part of life when we were closed to Sir & we spoiled as a group. Here I don’t want to disclose name of all, but as it is a plural presentation to reader, two name flashed in mind, they are Ruku & Diganta, they deserved to disclose.
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