Volume 31, Issue No 2, November 2003 ASA Newsletter _ ____ _ / \ / ___| / \ / _ \ \___ \ / _ \ / ___ \ ___) | / ___ \ /_/ \_\ |____/ /_/ \_\ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ |n| |e| |w| |s| |l| |e| |t| |t| |e| |r| +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ News & events of the Assamese people living around the world In this issue:  Guest Editorial: Development of Assam and Globalization  ASA President Requests Texas to Hold Assam Day along with Assam Convention in 2004  Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi visits New Jersey  Chief Minister in the Bay Area  Sankar Deva's Tithi Observed in New Jersey  Community News - Visitors from Assam  Assam Forum formed in the UK  Discovering Assam Tea!  From Oz-land, with love ||| ||| ||| ||| Guest Editorial : Development of Assam and Globalization The process of globalization is a result of the interacting dynamics of capitalism and the revolution in information technology (IT). Globalization and localization must go hand in hand for sustained development of any economy. Integration into the global economy has benefited India somewhat, especially in the IT sector. It has also resulted in intense competition for resources among the states, the business sectors and the rural population since the relevant resources have been managed in favor of urban activities. Rural folks are increasingly more isolated from political participation in decision-making and have lost the control of their lives. Assam as a whole cannot benefit much from the process of globalization. 88.9% of its 26.6 million people live in rural areas. Without attaining economic sufficiency for this segment of the population, the development of the state will remain a far-fetched dream. Embracing localization by adopting small and affordable technologies suitable to our needs, we have had some successes: Self-help groups of women in different districts for micro lending, the boost in agricultural production due to minor irrigation through shallow tube wells, commercial farming by unemployed youths, handicrafts, metal works to name a few. Concurrently, it is high time to capitalize on globalization in the tourism sector and marketing of rural crafts across the globe. Non-resident Assamese can be of help in directing revolution in IT towards micro economic sectors in the state with lead from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh where mobile phones and the Internet are being used to provide information to borrowers regarding the market so that they can obtain higher prices for their goods and products. Along with the development of the infrastructure, mainly communication and transportation, the rural masses must have strong political representation in various seats of governance so that their problem can be understood in real and practical sense by the policy makers comprised of urban elites. (Contributed by Ganesh Bora, Manhattan, Kansas) ||| ||| ||| ||| ASA President Requests Texas to Hold Assam Day along with Assam Convention in 2004 ASA President Mantu Baishya of Omaha, Nebraska, requested Barada Sarma of Austin, Texas to hold Assam Day 2004 along with Assam Convention 2004. Baishya also requested Barada Sarma and Texas Assamese residents to call the 2004 get-together Assam 2004 in the tradition of the neutral names used during the last three years: Assam 2001 in Toronto, Canada; Assam 2002 in Denver, Colorado; and Assam 2003 in St. Louis, Missouri. Here is a copy of the letter sent by Mantu Baishya on October 5, 2003. ----- Barada Sarma President, Steering Committee Dear Sarma da, Thank you for inviting us to the Assamese get-together via your email dated 30th September 2003. We like to be a part of this get-together as much as you like us to be, however after carefully reading this letter I noticed that you have kept the name of the get-together as Assam Convention 2004. My understanding is that it has been AANA's tradition to name its annual meeting Assam Convention for the past 20+ years and hold it around the country. The name Assam Convention is more or less synonymous with AANA as far as the Assamese people in North America are concerned. ASA also has been successfully holding its annual meeting along with cultural festivities around North America under the name Assam Day for the past many years. The name Assam Day is more or less synonymous with ASA. Now, I need a clarification from your end that whether you are holding an AANA convention and ASA is invited as a guest, a common practice of AANA from 1992 through 1998, or it is a real joint event as has been the new and commendable tradition from 1999. If it is a real joint get-together, I like to request the Texas Assamese community and you as the President of the Steering Committee to select a non partisan name. If you think, you do not have intention to change the name to a non partisan name, at least please allow us to hold Assam Day 2004 also at the same venue you have selected for Assam Convention 2004. This will continue the wonderful tradition of having joint get-togethers creating goodwill among all Assamese people in North America. As you are aware, starting 1999, ASA and AANA have held joint annual meetings with a name that is associated neither with ASA nor with AANA. The names used have been "Assam Convention/Assam Day1999", "Y2K Assam Conference", "Assam 2001", "Assam 2002" and "Assam 2003". Kindly let me know by October 31st, 2003, if the Texas Steering Committee is ready, willing and be able to organize Assam Day 2004 along with Assam Convention 2004 in Austin. If you decide to facilitate the holding of Assam Day 2004 with Assam Convention 2004, I would request that it be named in a non-partisan manner. My personal preference would be "Assam 2004" although a name like "Assam Convention/Assam Day2004" will be acceptable. Thanks. Mantu Baishya President, ASA ||| ||| ||| ||| Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi visits New Jersey Assam Chief Minister Sri Tarun Gogoi and his wife met with about thirty Assamese residents of New Jersey and New York at Akbar, an Indian restaurant in Edison, NJ on Monday, the 13th of October 2003. The meeting started at about 8:30 PM and lasted about two hours. Sri Gogoi was in the US on a personal visit to meet with his daughter's family in California. Sanjoy Krishna, IAS and the head of Indian Tea Board in the US hosted him in New York and accompanied him to the meeting. The Chief Minister gave a short speech after he was introduced. It was followed by a cordial question and answer session in which the attendees queried the Minister on issues and problems facing Assam. Finally, there was dinner during which the discussions continued. In his speech, Sri Gogoi dwelled on the need to develop Assam through tourism, infrastructure development and growth of industries. He lamented at the fact that though Assam had one of the highest per capita incomes in the nation in the 1950s, it now ranks close to the bottom. He sought help of the NRAs in developing Assam. He also mentioned that he held meetings with several high-powered Indian and US officials in New York which were facilitated by Sri Krishna and that the Taj Group has expressed an interest in opening a five star hotel in the state. Though it was friendly session, the Chief Minister was defensive on most questions about illegal immigration, poor roads and infrastructure and the industrial development of the state. For example, when several attendees asked him about immigration, he rhetorically replied, "Even in the US there is illegal immigration, but this country is so developed". He did not mention the fact that the US is a country of immigrants and within a generation or so the immigrants integrate with the rest of the population and become English-speaking. He added that Census data now show that the pace of immigration to Assam is slowing. When asked about violence in the state, he conveniently said, "Which nation in the world is not afflicted with the curse of terrorism these days? Even in the US, I see so much of violence." He added that violence has declined in Assam over the last couple of years and foreign institutions including WB and ADB are now expressing confidence in investing in the state. On the issue of infrastructure, he added that the roads in many other Indian states such as UP, Bihar, Orissa and MP are in equally bad conditions. He also talked about privatizing ASEB, attempts to promote the Beach Festival in Guwahati and river-based tourism. The defensive posture adopted by the CM is quite understandable for the Assam government lacks any serious source of funding except for the doles it gets from Delhi. These problems of immigration, poor roads and terrorism have been festering in Assam for several decades and would need time to heal or be solved satisfactorily. Despite all these shortcomings, the Chief Minister seemed very knowledgeable about the problems facing the state and about international affairs. He mentioned that he knew Rajiv and Indira Gandhi, and have always tried to highlight the achievements of Assam. Indeed, he has had an illustrious and long career as a politician in Delhi and Dispur. Three nicely done color booklets on Assam were distributed at the meeting. Arup Das and Anjan Saikia organized the meeting on behalf of the Assamese community in NJ. (Contributed by Jukti Kalita, NJ) ||| ||| ||| ||| Chief Minister in the Bay Area The Bay Area Assamese community held a get-together on October 04, 2003 in honor of Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of Assam. After the introduction, Sujal Das & Satyajit Nath made a very nice and thoughtful presentation on behalf of the community called "CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENTS IN ASSAM". The presentation focussed on the growth of niche industries by utilizing the existing environment and enhancing it where necessary. They also explained how the NRA can help Assam a) by working with local and external experts in improving the business environment, and b) by "Selling Assam, Inc." by garnering investments from US-based entrepreneurs. The audience also had the opportunity to discuss with the CM such topics as fishery development, cottage and tea industries. Other topics discussed were the state of Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, and the future status of the LGB International Airport, Guwahati, with reference to the discontinuation of the only International flight from Assam. The Chief Minister showed keen interest in the topics discussed and told the assembled that what he would be able to do. After the vote of thanks, snacks were served. Some photos of the get-together can be seen: http://home.comcast.net/~r.natarajan/Assam_CM_Visit (Contributed by Mahesh Baishya, Dublin, California) ||| ||| ||| ||| Sankar Deva's Tithi Observed in New Jersey Srimanta Sankar Deva's Janmotshov was observed at Dayton Center, New Jersey, on October 4th, 2003. About 50-55 community members from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware participated in the event. The event was jointly organized by the North East chapter of Assam Society of America (ASA) and Assam Association of North America (ANNA). The rainy and grey weather failed to dampen the spirit of the community members celebrating this important event honoring the Gurujana. Brojen Bordoloi and Bimal Rajbanshi conducted the Naam-Proxongo. Prafulla Chowdhury played the nagra. The highlights of the day were very active participation by the young Assamese Americans in various events. It was very encouraging to see Borgeet performance by Ponkhi Sarmah (age 6 years), Rick Bhuyan and Nick Bhuyan (age 13 years). The other members who presented Borgeets are Umesh Tahbildar, Madhusmita Bora, Nilakshi Thakuria, Gayatree Sarma, Prafulla Chowdhury, and Malabika Brahma. The food coordinators were Surabhi Kalita and Kalpana Bordoloi. To encourage the future generation for active participation, each and every children present at the tithi were awarded with gifts. (Contributed by Utpal Brahma, Burlington, New Jersey) ||| ||| ||| ||| Assam Forum formed in the UK The Assamese people living in the UK have formed the Assam Forum recently with the objective of addressing the social and economic conditions in Assam. The Forum would like to work with Assamese community of the UK in case of big crises in Assam. They want to set up a phone tree to be able to do teleconferences. One of their objectives is to maintain neutrality and transparency in the discussion of all issues regarding Assam. The Forum's activities will be based on a democratic process and the Forum membership is open to the entire Assamese community and individuals who have interest in Assam. (Contributed by Babul Gogoi, Guwahati) ||| ||| ||| Community News - Visitors from Assam Dr. Mrinal & Monica Barooah from Guwahati are in San Jose, California. They are visiting their son Manas, daughter-in-law Seema Nayak & granddaughter Lisa Varsha. Dr. Premananda Goswami and his wife Dr. Jayashree Goswami along with their high school going daughters Neeha and Pooja visited the USA during the month of July, 2003. They are originally from Nagaon in Assam but they came from Saudi Arabia. They were in the USA for about two weeks and visited many places in the Midwest and in the East Coast. Their eldest son Koustuv Goswami currently lives in USA. Several years ago after completing high school in India, Koustuv came to USA to undergo pilot training at Emery Riddle University in Colorado and then Arizona. Koustuv has already completed pilot training and he currently works as a pilot in a commuter airline. Perhaps he is the only Assamese pilot in America. Premananda Goswami and wife Jayashree Goswami are now debating whether to send Neeha to India or to USA for college education. Their eldest daughter Neeha likes America and she wants to study in the USA when she graduates from high school in about a year and half. Neeha was born in Saudi Arabia and has lived all her life in Saudi Arabia. Still she does not have any Saudi rights and won't get Saudi social benefits. All Saudi citizens get regular monthly checks from the government. She does not have any birthright. She will never get Saudi citizenship. Seema Dutta, daughter of late Bikash Dutta and Mrs. Indira Dutta of North Carolina was married to Joseph Lohr in late August 2003. The wedding was attended by many Assamese families and individuals from all across the USA. About a half dozen of Seema's relatives came from Assam to bless the occasion. After the honeymoon the married couple now happily lives in Raleigh, NC. Mr. Buddindra Nath Gogoi and Mrs. Ahalya Gogoi have recently visited the USA. Buddhindra Gogoi is a retired Commissioner of Assam Public Works Department and Ahalya Gogoi is an author and has published several books. They are parents of Samar Gogoi, Treasurer of Assam Society of America. Samar Gogoi lives in Omaha, Nebraska. Initially, his parents came to Paris, France, where Samar, Archana (Samar's wife) and Maya had gone to receive them. They stayed in Paris for one week before coming to the USA. Incidentally, the Gogoi family visited the Eiffel Tower in Paris the day before there was an electric fire on the top floor of that famous tower. Mr. Ratneswar Das and Mrs Bina Das, parents of Mridul Das are visiting Omaha, Nebraska. Ratnewar Das, a retired Block Development Officer, is from Nowgong. Bina Das is an active social worker in Nowgong. The main reason for their visit to Omaha is to see their brand new grandson. Mridul and Anjana Das are the successful parents of a little boy, born on September 10, 2003. The little boy's name is Luit. Mridul and Anjana want to make the little boy a great computer scientist to follow the footsteps of his dad. However, the others in the Omaha Assamese community, most of them civil engineers, want to make the baby a great civil engineer. Let see who wins. Mrs. Amiya Bezbaruah, mother of Achintya Bezbaruah and mother-in-law of Nandita Bezbaruah, is visiting Omaha. Rit, the grandson of Amiya Bezbaruah is very happy to see his grandmother after four years. As a result of her trip to USA, the best thing that happened to Rit is that he can now speak fluent Assamese. The best quality of this lady is that she can adjust to any situation and is also a wonderful cook. The Omaha Assamese community is beneficiary of her beautiful Assamese cakes (pitha). The Assamese community is trying to impress upon her to make her stay in Omaha little longer. Mr. Santosh Kumar Chakrabarti and Mrs. Bhabani Chakrabarti recently visited their son Deepak and daughter-in-law Mondakini in Denver. Santosh Kumar Chakrabarti, MA, LLB (both Calcutta University) served in the Assam cadre IPS since 1956, and worked for CBI, BSF, Indian Railways and retired in the rank of Inspector General of Police, Guwahati in 1985. Right now, the Chakrabartis are settled in Silchar, Assam. Bhabani Chakrabarti has BA from Guwahati University. She has written two cook books, a few books of poems and one book on traveling US. She has received several cooking awards including ones from Femina, Bajaj, Sananda, and other Assamese associations in Guwahati and Silchar. She has won many prizes for vegetable and flower gardening. She has been associated with local ladies congregation in Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Guwahati and now in Silchar that made periodic donations to the for the flood relief, and helped poor children for education. The Chakrabartis visited for three months to see their baby grandson Avinav. They returned to India on September 26. (Contributed by Mahesh Baishya, Dublin, California; Kedar Bhuyan, Atlantic City, New Jersey; Mantu C Baishya, Omaha, Nebraska; and Jugal Kalita, Colorado Springs, Colorado) ||| ||| ||| ||| Discovering Assam Tea! One of the shared passions my wife and I have is tea. We have had the pleasure of sipping mint tea while buying rugs in Morocco, of participating in an African Tea Ceremony in Cote d'Ivoire, and of course partaking of High Tea in England. One of our favorite social gatherings is to host a tea-tasting party at our home. Over the course of our marriage, our knowledge about tea has grown and our palate for tea has become if not refined, at least opinionated. We like our tea black and sniff our noses at mere tisanes! Even green teas are eschewed in favor of a bold quality black tea. And of all the black teas, our favorite comes from the region of Assam. A few years ago, our local source for quality Assam tea changed ownership and the new owners stopped ca rrying tea. The situation was desperate! The battle to keep the Internet from becoming commercial had been lost so I turned to it hoping that somewhere, some entrepreneurs had started selling tea through a web site. At first, my searches were disheartening. Most tea sites were Only selling what I call "new age" teas. Suddenly the proverbial light clicked on and I realized that if I searched for Assam followed by Tea, I would be guiding the search engines towards what I really wanted. The results from that search were encouraging: the summary for a particular site, www.specialteas.com seemed particularly hopeful. My dearest hopes were far exceeded when I clicked on the link to find not only that they sold Assam tea, but that I could get one of over a dozen different single-estate Assam teas!! There, listed by rating (e.g. FTGFOP-1) were teas from estates like Harmutty and Hajua and Mangalaam. Each tea was described in prose that would make even a wine snob envious. We have been a devoted customers ever since. Now all we have to do is add "sipping Assam tea in beautiful Assam itself" to our list of travel stories. (Contributed by Tracy Petrie, Colorado Springs, Colorado) ||| ||| ||| ||| >From Oz-land, with love An illustration from "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" A little girl Dorothy with her dog Toto crouching in a small house. Scared. Their round, big eyes staring through a cracked window pane to the vastness wilderness and beyond. The house itself is being uprooted and carried away by a fierce tornado. This tornado carries these two scared souls, from the homely security of Kansas, to the wonderful Land of Oz ruled by the great wizard. From there to the Emerald City, where the old wizard rules, a yellow brick road leads they way. My own story is somewhat Dorothy's story narrated in reverse and also, being stripped of its fantastic and magical elements, pretty sedate. Born and brought up in Assam-land (which is somewhat like the land of Oz for reasons which will soon be clear), I was condemned to exile in Kansas for some years and am still busy carrying out that sentence. On her way to the Emerald City, Dorothy finds herself a bunch of quaint pals: a Scarecrow with no brains, a Tin Woodman with no heart and a Lion with no courage. And I am not very sure I have not befriended or at least came to contact with these amazing characters a few times in my own Assam. A few days ago I got into trouble when, in a group of Indian friends, mentioned that Indian people are more apt to act by their instincts rather than by reason: yet I still maintain I was nearer the truth. Now zooming back to Assam, the same malady of limited vision, the desire to react to situations in a manner rooted and expounded in the hundreds of years of tradition of Assam is still persists. The average Assamese, like any average Indian, is used to live by his instincts: his reactions to different situations are already pre-defined by his caste, his religion and his class. A person in Assam is not, above all, an individual with individual views and reactions to situations like in the West. He is primarily a part of a clan before he is an individual and his actions reflect the views, the traditions and the taboos of the clan. But we have to remember that things can never be expected to change overnight. For hundreds of years Assam was under foreign rulers. Even now one cannot say that the solutions provided by the present government are tuned to the Assamese needs and sensibilities. Liberty itself is a very sharp instrument to be used with care, especially by people who are new to it. When an oppressed race is given the gift of liberty, his first identity, to quote Naipaul, is always a small one. The religious and clan boundaries are the support system of the people. They are not only here to stay for quite some time, but they are also necessary. The good thing is that people are beginning to express their individuality within these new boundaries. I prefer to term this largely prevalent phenomenon of acting inside preset boundaries as the Scarecrow-effect. Now finding the Tin Woodman in a land where largeness of heart is often prioritized over needs of survival is of course a difficult task. I still remember reading a story where a rich family, losing everything in a flood, is rendered homeless. Things take a turn for the worse and a day comes when they have to refuse alms to a hag who goes begging around. At this point, the lady of the house sits down and wails. Her sorrow does not stem from the fact that she is poor; she could have borne the poverty with grace and strength so uniquely Assamese. She had to refuse alms to a beggar: something she would have never done if she had even a morsel left and she weeps for that fact. But even among such traditions barbaric acts are seen every once in a while. I don't want to turn this essay into one of enumerating the social evils afflicting the society. Almost everyone memorized a list of them from high-school text books; the evils afflicting the region are neither more nor less than those affecting the rest of the country. But there is a difference in point of view. The rest of the country does not take any interest in the slow development of the people; what raises their eyebrows and what graces their coffee-tables are the individual cases of cruelty emanating from the state. This builds a psychology that the north-easterners are a bunch of barbarian hill-people, which in turn color their subsequent deductions and opinions. Lions without courage, I have to admit, are something we have in liberal quantity. If you have ever read an Assamese newspaper, I am sure you will understand what I mean: everywhere there is talk of the "silent majority". Silent majority! The concept of democracy itself, prevalent in India in general, is based on the very fact that the populace, by its overwhelming numbers, can throw down any errant leader, drag him onto the street and chop his head off. A silent Democracy is a farce: it is the Statue of Liberty clad in burqua! A Democracy, when the people are silent, degrades into a dictatorship or what is worse: a plutocracy instantly. One ought not to be prodded and elbowed to exercise this right: it should come naturally to them. Most things in life do not work as they are supposed to. Talking about metaphorical lamps, James Joyce says, "I need them only for my own use and guidance until I have done something for myself by their light. If the lamp smokes or smells I shall try to trim it. If it does not give light enough I shall sell it and buy another." Assam has a sizeable number of well-educated guys; the only problem is with application of their education. Most of them are laid back and take only an armchair interest in what goes on around him. And the views of most that do dare to speak up lack vision. In the same context I remember a quaint incident. A fellow of a northern merchant caste who had done some advanced course in computers in USA came to contact with a famous Indian writer. He claimed that he was "too-educated" for India as no one was ready to appreciate his effort to lay down computers in rural areas. The writer compares him to a plumber from the slums. A plumber from the slums is a simple soul called upon to exercise a skill which he exercises blindly. Tap water to him is a luxury; his wife stands for hours in the morning to get water from the municipal tap. So he does not understand why the tap has to be placed straight at the center of the tile. To apply new technology in places like Assam, so vastly rooted in tradition and comparative poverty, requires vision. That vision is never elusive but is yet to be actively pursued. Let's speed our story up to the part where Dorothy with her merry company finally meets the Wizard. The Wizard of Oz is not actually a wizard. He is a pseudo-wizard: just another cunning fellow who, by a matter of deceit creates for himself an image of being omnipotent and omniscient; he makes everyone in the city wear green glasses so that everything will look fair and green to them: even petty stones and bricks look like emerald though the sparkling green glasses. And everyone around, thus, is very happy. He lives in and rules from Oz. In my case the Wizard lives somewhere else. He, along with his troupe of wizard-lings and wizard-wannabes, lives in the ancient Mughal city of Delhi. Yes Delhi. You know; Jantar Mantar, new Ferraris, creaky DTC buses, heat-melted 'Picnic' chocolates: Delhi. Sitting on a swiveling leather chair, he hands out pretty glasses to Assamese politicians with the word "PROGRESS" written on either panel. They look at their own state through them and are happy. Verily impressed, they bring back with them whole carton-loads of these glasses and try their best make the people in Assam wear them and thus be happy and satisfied like them. And the people, na‹ve as they are, for the most part, oblige. I lost my pair in the confusion of the tornado that brought me to Kansas; my friends have been calling me a stoic or what is infinitely Worse - a stoic and a skeptic ever since. The brick paths in Assam are still golden All we have to do is to discard our sparkling glasses of false vision and come back to reality. The present state of affairs is knotty and labyrinthine no doubt but in no way unsalvageable. Every Assamese worth his shirt is proud of the lavish natural gifts of his state; and so he ought to be. Why, even after being one of the potentially richest states in the nations, is it still falling behind mainstream India? The hills and the rivers and the obvious problems arising out of them cannot be made scapegoats: parts of Europe are almost inhabitable due to the Alps and have many fast rivers and neither are they so much endowed with natural resources. Is it due to the intelligent exploitation of the resource? Or is it mismanagement and failure to achieve maximum efficiency of the resources? I think it is something of both; further confounded by the Scarecrows, the Tin Woodmen and the Lions without courage of Assam-land. Next time I plan drag my pals to a good Fairy. The Scarecrow needs to fill his cranium up with handfuls of bran and some pins and needles so that he can have a bran-new intellect and also a sharp, pin-pointed judgment. The Tin Woodman needs a pretty silk heart filled with sawdust and the lion needs a dose of the green courage-potion. And everyone, I hope, lives happily ever after. L' Allegro Arguably, "Satanic Verses" is one of the most controversial books of the last few decades and Salman Rushdie one of the most errant word-smiths. A passage in the said book runs: "After that there had been nothing to stay for. The aeroplane lifted and banked over the city. Somewhere below him, his father was dressing up a servant as his dead wife. The new traffic scheme had jammed the city centre solid. Politicians were trying to build careers by going on padyatras, pilgrimages on foot across the country. There was graffiti that read: Advice to politicos. Only step to take: padyatra to hell. Or, sometimes: to Assam" This book was written during one of Assam's more trying moments: the stormy eighties. We have certainly progressed a great deal from the time when we used to be compared to hell. Such unfortunate parallels are not just due to the fault of the Assamese people; it is more or less the ignorance about the ailments of the region among the population of India. Joined to India by a small strip of land, the north-east is often viewed by the rest of India as a mere decorative artifact. The lean physical link to continental India seems to have bottle-necked even the intellectual interest of the Indians for this region. I don't blame Rushdie for what he wrote; he is a writer: his job is to put to paper whatever he sees in real life and to his credit, he does it very well most of the time, objectively. May be it is an offshoot of his fancy that he is an intellectually uprooted South-Asian writer, much like V.S. Naipaul and Nirad C. Chaudhury and that he can observe the world around very objectively. But for every objective Rushdie, there are ten analytical pseudo-intellectuals who look at Assam once every two decades, in a manner as if they are investigating the ruins of Giza or some petty tribe tucked away in the depths of Amazon, with their fat magnifying lenses and try to deliver instant fix-it-yourself solutions for the problems of the region. One such Utopian idea is the idea to join the Brahmaputra and all its tributaries to the Ganges and other rivers. I often come across such vibrant speculations in various magazines and articles. Back in my Oz-land, at such times, I grab a bowl of popcorn and say,"Hobo Diok." (Contributed by Syamanta Saikia, Wichita, Kansas) ||| ||| ||| ||| ASA Newsletter is a monthly email newsletter, posted on the 1st day of every month. This issue of ASA newsletter has been published by Mantu Baishya of Omaha, NE, on behalf of Assam Society of America. This newsletter can also be read online at www.assam.org/newsletter. If you want a printed copy of this newsletter, please contact us at the email address given above. ASA Newsletter invites contributions from individuals from around the world. Please send letters to the editor, news reports, short commentaries and other contributions to asanewsletter at assam.org.