Assam Diaries

TEA GARDENS......CAMOUFLAGE OF  SERENITY.     (PART 1)       It was a long-lasting dream to visit the tea gardens of Assam which was fulfilled today as I got an opportunity to go to the tea garden. We went to Mornai tea estate which is a1 hour drive approx. 20 k.m.  from the orgnisation. I was totally mesmerized by the lush green tea gardens all around   where ever I could see was green tea gardens. I could not assimilate the beauty of the garden. I was full with it and just went on admiring the beauty. I was totally dumb founded in the beauty of the garden and it was the scene of labour who brought me back to my senses. The laborer’s   mostly women were totally engrossed in their work. They were plucking the tea leaves As I stood their looking at them with amazement and curiosity which did not bother them but when I took some pictures a sense of fear and silence spread across the garden which made me realize that I am an alien trying to intrude in their privacy. They know t

FOLKLORE                  Folklore has been seen as a rich way of passing down the old narratives and stories through the forms like dance, songs, drama,etc. Every folklore brings out the richness in religion, rituals, customs, region, people,etc.  As by the dictionary meaning, 'Folklore is the expressive body of culture shared by a particular group of people. I t encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. These include oral traditions such as tales, proverbs and jokes.'  There are eleven kinds of Folklore such as Ballads, Fairy tales, Folk Art, Folk dance, Folk songs, Jokes, Legends, Myths, Riddles, Superstitions and Urban legends.      One such initiative has been taken by North East Research and Social Work Networking (NERSWN) in Kokrajhar district. It basically aims to reach out to every tribal village spreading awareness on social issues like education to every child, stopping early child marriage, health and hygiene, su

WORLD LEFT BEHIND: JOWARBIL       Jowarbil: A world away from the world, as earlier described to be place where people are unknown to the world. Yes, when asked to the other village people about it then no one really knows about it much. The Santhal were chased way to these far away places during the conflicts between Bodo community and Santhal community. And now, they survive in such a place which hardly anyone knows about it.  SANKARSH RIVER ON THE WAY OF JOWARBIL     When I visited this place, I reached there in much difficulty by walking for more than an hour and also crossing a river which was roughly running. By travelling through heavy forested area, I could also see the mountains which bordered India and Bhutan. I had thought in my mind that I have reached to such an far extent that I might be walking on the land of Bhutan.  COMMUNITY MEETING    On reaching Jowarbil, the people welcomed us warmly and invited us for the community meeting which was ini

Towards a change:  An inspiring story of Nirmali Murmu NIRMALI MURMU      Nirmali Murmu, a Santhali woman from Silpur village of Gossaigaon says that her life has taken a turn which inspires many other Santhal women in her village. She believes that it is possible because of NERSWN. Many case studies and documentary have been made on her life. NIRMALI MURMU'S HOUSE        In Assam, rice is meant to be the staple food and every house depends on it for livelihood. NERSWN came out with the plan to increase the productivity of rice so that farmers who cultivate rice sustain themself by utilising rice for their own and the rest to be sold in the market and this leads to an economic upgradation on the life of the farmers. They reached out to Nirmali Murmu with the idea of 'Line Sowing Cultivation', in which the production of rice is increased to a much higher level. She accepted it and tried on her field. And yes, it worked, the production of rice incr

living the life of a farmer for a day..... an life changing experience. I am coming from a city background where we get all the food items ready made on our table  so I personally had no experience of planting, sowing or cutting paddy. Through NERSWN I got an opportunity to experience the life of a farmer for day as we went to SUKHANBHAVNAI  to give a demo of "line sowing method'' to a farmer. We too started working in the field giving a demo of the planting with the help of a rope which had pointers at a specific distance of 8*10 so we started planting accordingly. It was my first time so I was hesitant when I started but as I started planting I got a hang of it and started doing it with a lot of joy and excitements. But after some time I started feeling the pinch as it was quite tired some job and I felt drained. I could not do it for more than an hour. But it made me aware of the hardship which a farmer goes through in his lifetime. I could not believe the hard wo

workshop on STUDY TIPS AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT FOR THE STUDENTS OF ST. ANTONY HIGH SCHOOL, GOSSAIGAO. We got a good opportunity to conduct a half day workshop for 10th std. students of St. Antony high school, Gossaigao. We had contacted the principal who readily agreed for the sessions. It was an amazing experience of motivating the students for better future. We  had some games, action songs and some videos which were apt for the occasion. We made it quite informative and lively session. I was happy to see such good response from the students who liked the sessions very much. They took an active part in the whole session and they learned a lot. I was very happy and content that I could give something to these students.  vivian lopes m2017dta027

Bhat Khabo Ne Ki ?   A case study of rice farming methodology  at Gosaigaon block.  When first time I was travelling Kolkata to Kokrajhar that time I saw lots of farms. I was very cures about new crop production. That time I asked to one farmer man abuts the name of that production of the farms. He laughs on my childish question. He asked me "Bhat Khabo Ne Ki ? (You eat rice ?)" I sade, 'yes'. He sades "I am a farmer. We are producing food. But nobody cares about our struggle. Your so-called big university is not providing technology for ground level farming."I was not able to answer to this argument.  I  was thinking on sophisticated model for agricultural development for growing production. When I joined my field work that time I gate information about a small act for improvement of farming system. There are some projects are working on the issue of development fo sustainable and benefiters farming model. In the medium of self-healp grou

Rivers Of Assam : A P erspective  From Within      River is not just a source of our living but also symbol of life. At Assam we have realised about the various aspects of water resources. After a visit of this area we are thinking on basic rights of human and role of government. There are no basic facilities for marginalized tribal people. They believe on natural resources but now because of mismanagement of resources they are in crisis.          Now it's time for change in the mismanagement. We should create a model for ground level application on availability of natural resources equally. And this means perspective from within. -Kunal Ramteke Email - ramtekekunal91@gmail.co.

'Dhanu' Is Not Just A Tradition Santhal Mukhiya With His 'Dhanu'         For a meeting of self help group we went to Burachara, Block Gosaigaon, District Kokrajhar. In this area there are no facilities of road as well as vehicle. Now we are working with Santhali women of the village. All some coming from various small villages. In all villages there are only five or eight houses and 20 to 25 people living together. All women coming from deferent villages. Our meeting time was 10 o'clock. But our field coordinator informs on us about the real timing schedule of this agrarian society. All Santhali people come after finished there dally work and then they come for the meeting that was the condition. So that's why we were go for little bit let for mobilising the women member. When we reached there some women come for meeting. But all women were not present. That's why we just did transact walk and some interview with local people of the village. In t

VISIT TO SHILPUR,GOSHAIGAO LINE SWING METHOD OF PLANTING...  PADDY FIELDS OF SHILPUR    We went another Santhal village called silpur which is situated at the north of Gosaigoan. We went to see the livelihood project run in the village Swing line  paddy cultivation It is a sophisticated method of cultivation. NERSWN gave training to local farmers to cultivate their paddy in SWING LINE method in which paddy has to be cultivated with a measurement and you suppose to maintain a distance of 10 inch between two crops. The above pic is clear illustration of the cultivation. A rope is used while planting the crop.It has to be done in a particular way. Once done well it will also give good results. Some benefits of this method are; - The swing line method helps to plant the crop in an organized way, rather than cluster and crowded It looks organized and easy to weed The yield is also more than the other method of cultivating. The plant has enough space to

Journey : From the forests of Chhotanagpur to the tea gardens of  Assam                   The title "Journey: From the forests of Chhotanagpur to the tea gardens of Assam" in itself reveals a history of the forceful migration of  Aadivasis from Chhotanagpur region to the tea garden of Assam. The forceful migration of Aadivasis was done by the Britishers of East India Company for the labor work in the setting of tea gardens in Assam and north of West Bengal. It showed the destruction of environment, culture, language, livelihood, etc. of the Aadivasis, in short it happened to be destruction of knowledge.  Looking at the tea gardens while travelling from Kokrajhar to Gossaigaon I remembered a real story narrated by my aunt about the migration of our people to Assam. It went on in this way: The Britishers arrived at the village to take away the Aadivasis to work in the tea gardens, and it was because the Aadivsis in Chhotanagpur were hard working and could sur

Walking for freedom A field work experience of independence day with Santhal tribe at Assam            As a student of social work, I have come for my block placement at Assam. I was very excited for my journey. Assam is not only just a state but also a dreamland since my childhood. For the holistic understanding of our society, we must travel and learn from ground level experiences. As a student when I come for this field work I am realising about real problems of community as well as it's solutions from them. For the academic field work I have come at Gossaigaon, District Kokrajhar, Assam. There are some indigenous tribes living from historical period. We the students of social work , learn just from books about the community and about tribe but here tribe are living and giving a knowledge about holistic social perspective through them. In the duration of my fieldwork, we celebrated our 72nd independence day at Dhalkata L. P. Sc

Celebrating Independence  On Independence Day        As taken initiative by NERSWN to educate the marginalised section of Assam- "Santhal". We had organised Independence Day celebration with the Santhali school children in Dolkata (Gossaigaon).  This school was established by NERSWN. - Daisy Monica Kujur Student, Tata Institute Of Social Science, Mumbai. 

Unlearning the learning.... . Assam has always been a world of fascination for me. Right from my from my childhood days I have been a admirer of this secenic beauty. Finally on 13 Aug 18 my dream to visit this enchanting beauty became a reality. As I was going through rural Assam I was awestruck looking at the green lush fields ponds, rivers ,tea garden and oboiusly people. I saw Assam as any other traveler would see but it was NERSWN the NGO who started unravelling the reality of Assam to me. Suddenly the beauty came across as a camouflage and the stark reality has started hitting me hard and has made me think where is development? Where is humanity? Some unlearning which happened so far... All that is green is not always good...  We are placed at NERSWN It works in Kokrajhar district of Assam. We are place at  at Gosssaigoan, a neighbouring town of Kokrajhar. As we arrived we have started the journey of unlearning of what we specially,what I had learnt about Assam and what I

'Assam Diaries'  A  Beginning To Explore                  Diary is a wealth of our memories. It is not only a bunch of documentation but also it is a very important for self reflection. As a student of social work we are placed at Assam for our fieldwork. It is a great opportunity for learning and understand about the society and it's reality. In the medium of this field work we are starting our new journey of social consciousness. But in this process self reflection is very essential for us. In the medium of the blog called 'Assam Diaries' we are opening our experiences as well as our reflections for the society. This blog diary is not only for the universalisation of our thoughts but also its a platform for our  readers to ponder to get a taste of our work.  - Kunal Ramteke Email - ramtekekunal91@gmail.com - Vivian Lopes  Email - lopezvvn@gmail.com - Diasy Monika Kujur  Email - diasykujur@gmail.com