By Dr Jintu Borah.

I had a creative bent of mind from my childhood. When
I first saw the idol of Ma Sarawati at our village LP school I used to
make it by imitating the idol. Such idols I saw at the time of Durga
Puja also. My father involved in such pujas wholeheartedly. So at home
I used to make the idols of Lord Ganesha, Ma Swaraswati etc. with clay
and dried them in front of our sun baked bamboo-clay barn. I even used
some colours of flowers, herbs, ink, hairs of water lettuce (pistia
stratiotes) etc. to look beautiful and real like.

I had three bordeutas (father's elder brother). My
father was the youngest of all the four brothers and one sister. But
unfortunately I did not have the luck to see them all. Two of them had
died before my birth. I had the opportunity to spend time only with
one of my bordeutas as only he lived till I came to Guwahati. Some of
my bordeuta's sons got married before my birth. I came to know that
one of my bordeutas was a 'muktijyodha' means freedom fighter. His
name was Late Tilak Borah. He spent in jail for several months. I came
to know about him when I grew up.

One of our bordeutas' sons stayed in our local town Kohpur. When he
came I showed him my idols in front of my father. He praised me a lot.

When I was reading in an H.S. school in my native place
named Karangabari, and then I used to write poems by imitating other
poets which were not published anywhere. Even in class V or VI I
requested one senior student to write a poem for me to publish in the
magazine. The magazine did not publish for some reason .However I
remember the nice line the poet artist wrote -''Tumar tulika dal tuli
luwa bandhu

Aki juwa sundar sabi''

(Pick up your brush and draw nice picture)

The magazine when published in six or seven years
later then I could write a poem for myself without the help of others.
Before that also many of my writings were published in two news papers
published from Tezpur at that time, means in 1990s. I wrote story,
poems, articles etc. where I expressed my feelings.

My sister also wrote poems. My brother also tried to
write poems. At that time my eldest teenage brother left home without
telling anyone to take adventure by seeing the outside world. My
second brother did not show much interest in reading. However he too
had interest in reading story books or detective novels of Ranju
Hazarika. When my eldest brother left us for one and half years we
felt very miserable. My mother cried daily demanding my father to
bring him back by searching him. My father searched him in many
places. He sold land for that. At last my father was successful. He
could bring his lost child back. Some of his contemporary boys have
not turned up till today. However my eldest brother had much
experience in the outside world and there after he devoted himself to
study. He was able to Second Division in the H. S. L. C. exam. In
those days Second Division was also a respectable class or division.

I got Second Division in H. S. L. C. exam. I was a
mediocre student and the best among the students there as only I got
'A' grade in class eleven exam and first division in the final exam.
Then I was suddenly invited to attend one literary meeting. I felt
happy. I prepared an article on Nalinibala Devi, as the day was her
death anniversary. I quote her poems in the biographical article as
the following-

Natghar

-Nalinibala Devi

Biphalata loiei rasilu jibon geet

Sari pare dusakur neer,

Bisal bisat aji nayanor lure mur upsil sagarar teer.''

(Theatre

-Nalinibala Devi

I compose my life song

By taking my misfortune,

In the vast world

With the tears of my eyes

Filled the ocean shore.''

Many educated, literature loving persons, poets,
essayists, authors were present there. They praised my article. I got
encouragement. Manik Nath, my classmate and poet was also invited
there. Thereafter we became the members of the 'five jewels' poet
association of our locality. We went to every meeting and recited our
own composed poems. We were called Joi- Bijoy, the two gate keepers of
Lord Bishnu, as mentioned in the scriptures. I did not preserve any
poem of that time. However, I formed my habit of writing and reading
of poems.

Habits formed in the formative period remained with me
forever. But I postponed and postponed of writing or more writing as I
pursed higher education. I had enthusiasm of obtaining higher degree.
I thought I could write. What I need is money and rank or position. So
I thought a lot about what my career would be. I determined one thing
first i.e I will be a writer. I will write in Assamese, my mother
tongue and I will write in English which I have been learning for
decades.

My father was not a rich cultivator. We had experienced
the pang of poverty. My father worked hard but to run the family he
had to depend on other rich men. He borrowed from others. When he
borrowed from others rice or money then he had to return the borrowed
money or rice in the harvesting time. He had to return with high
interest. So again he had to borrow after a few months.

I asked my father -''Why don't we open a shop? ''

''I don't want it because you all will give up study and will start
doing business. I want you all should be highly educated.''

''Why don't you do cultivation twice in the same land? Why don't you
do ahu kheti ? '' (Ahu is a kind of rice red in colour which is
harvested in the month of May or June)

'' It will weaken the main cultivation i.e. the sali kheti. (sali is a
kind of rice white in colour which is harvested in the month of
December or Januwari)

So we could not get rid of the perpetual poverty.
For that father had to mortgage the land and after some years he had
to sell his plot of land one piece after another. However he struggled
a lot. He went to sapari (sandy land near the Brahmaputra River) for
potato, tomato, onion or other spices cultivation. He also collected
straw for our home there. He did not know how to ride a bicycle. I
just learned. Being a child of twelve or thirteen year I could not
reach the seat of the bi-cycle. So I rode it by holding the handle and
by entering my one leg between the forks of the bi-cycle and thus I
could manage to ride it by running the paddle.

Although I love my own place, my birth place, my village, yet Guwahati
lured me. Guwahati is the only place where I can express my talent
-this was my idea. An idea does not come from nowhere. An idea has
some basis; some substantial ground. My idea had also some basis.
People who write from Guwahati or Guwahati based magazine or newspaper
are regarded as extra genius. Those who write from outside the city,
they get less opportunity and they were not famous. When I see someone
write poems, story and they publish their books I could not appreciate
them much. I do not adore them as much as I adored some Guwahati based
authors although I did not meet them then.

When I see the people who are well established in my
own place to me they lacked many things. They are not equal to the
people who live in Guwahti. It was my wrong conception. For that wrong
conception I came to Guwahati. Still I repent for it. People who live
in village they are happier than the city dweller. I come to know it
latter. But it is also true that to get something we have to lose
something. At that time I wrote one sentence in my diary -'Moi
Guwahatiloi Jamei' (I'll go to Guwahti). After that I preferred only
one place in my dream i.e Guwahati. No place, in my eyes glittered as
future working place. Of course I love my birth place my native
village which I carry in my heart but the feeling that I had in my
mind was only for Guwahati, where I can write poems, stories, novels
or even edit one magazine. I met many people, who also encouraged me
to come to Guwahati. I also expressed my view to one of my respected
university professors, Dr D K Nath sir; he also supported my opinion
to come to Guwahati. Our conversation was like this--''Why do you want
to go to Guwahati ?''-''I want to go to Guwahati to unfold my talent
of writing.''

© All Rights Reserved