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A sliver of the Sisters
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The NEW! Katha Utsav, a three-day festival on writings from the North-East is set to change old perceptions this April. SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY gives a curtain raiser.
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Geeta Dharmarajan, Director, Katha, at her New Delhi office with sketches from North East school children. Photo: Anu Pushkarna.
FOR A change, let's think of the country's North-East. Why, is there anything left to think about? Let's match what we know: Beautiful, outgoing girls in smart Western dresses, boys in funky outfits and tattoos with guitars in their hands, all ready to break into a dance at the drop of a hat. The rest must be either drug addicts or insurgents. And in case, you want to recall a well-known name from the North-East, it doesn't take much - Bhupen Hazarika!
Well, well, it's time for the `mainstream' to join with the `real' North-East. Away from the glare of the national media, the region (comprising eight States with different cultures and customs but sadly clubbed as one unit) has been, through its literature, silently celebrating its small joys, and fighting all the while, the onslaught of many a modern effect on its culture and daily life across a period of time. And isn't this removed from the usual song-and-dance idea of the North-East for a middle-of-the-road Indian?
To add a bit of backgrounder for the uninitiated, book reading is a thriving hobby in the North-East across age groups. No wonder the writers seem to be growing by the dozen, in the thickets of the North-East forest, but unheard of outside the region for lack of, you know, live telecast.
But thanks to Katha, a Delhi-based non-profit organisation working for literacy, literature and education, the region will get to open a window for Delhi denizens this April-end. Named NEW! Katha Utsav, the festival focuses on writings from the North East, offering a platform to no less than 120 writers, critics, scholars, filmmakers and students through workshops, seminars, film festivals, book releases, theatre, a fashion show, a food court, etc., from April 27 to 29.
A decade-old idea
Says Geeta Dharmarajan, Director, Katha, "The idea has been there for over a decade. We started by getting translations into English done by members of the North-East Writers' Forum. We wanted the voices of the North-East writers to be heard here. They have such amazing stories to tell."
Assisted by eminent Assamese writer and Jnanpith awardee Indira Goswami, who lives in Delhi, Katha "got an idea about which book from the region to pick up for translation." Katha has just come out with two translated works - "The Heart of the Matter" and "Asomiya".
Adds Geeta, "Soon, we are coming out with three more volumes of translated works from the region." All are expected to be a part of the Utsav.
Geeta counts off well-known names from the region's literary field like Hiren Bhattacharyya, Nilamani Phukan, Homen Borgohain, Nirupama Borgohain, Kula Saikia, Margaret Zama, Mamang Dai, James Dokhuma, Easterine Iralu, among many others as participants.
"As a pre-Utsav event, we have a pack of six award-winning films from the region. They would be screened between April 11 and 16 at Alliance Francaise," says Geeta. Also, the Utsav would see a festival of NE films and documentaries at the India International Centre auditorium.
Flagging off the festival will be theatre stalwart Ratan Thiyam at the IIC. Interestingly, among other things, the Utsav would also feature a conference of teachers from Kathashalas, the schools run by Katha across the country, on innovative methods to bring the North-East into the classroom. A shadow parliament is also planned, where children would discuss the region.
Though Geeta adds sadly that Bhupen Hazarika won't be able to attend the event due to paucity of time, you express a sigh of relief. Because here at last is expected perhaps the biggest assembly of accomplished north easterners so far outside the region, without piggybacking on one individual's success to attract `mainstream' attention. Thank you, Bhupenda for doing the needful!
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