Window
Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 16.6.19
Marginalisation
Recently I attended a seminar on ‘Media Representation of Northeast India’ organized
by Department of Mass Communication, Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh
at Guwahati as a Resource Person. Many scholars, who presented papers there,
seem to have this opinion that North East States (which comprises of Assam,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim)
do not feature prominently in mainstream media. North East states are
strategically very important as they share international boundaries, even then they
do not feature prominently in media probably because of its remote location or
sparse population or political weight or for all the reasons in some measures.
As I listened through many paper presentations I could feel that this
perception of marginalization is deeply ingrained in the collective psyche of
people of NE.
There are two
major conceptual frameworks of marginalisation: Societal marginalisation and
spatial marginalisation.
Societal
marginalisation deals with the social exclusion of the individuals on the basis
of social stratification, class, caste, culture, gender, age. Social
marginalisation does not derive its power from any social or divine law, but
the powerful social agencies including the ethnic groups, governments,
religious fundamentalists force a certain group of individuals to get pushed to
the margins on the basis of above-mentioned criteria. This turns out to be a
power play between the powerful and the powerless groups within a society.
Spatial
marginalisation depends on the geographic locations of the groups of
individuals irrespective of its class, caste, culture, gender, etc. The areas
which are away from the power centre are normally ignored and the people living
in those areas are forced to be isolated. The political or economic power
centres often ignore the remote locations and do not allow the population from
these areas to be an active participant in the economic or political
activities. Therefore the fruits of development often do not reach these
locations.
But an analysis of all indicators of development (economic
growth, education, health, etc.) shows that the NE states are not lagging
behind. In fact in several indicators they are far ahead of other states. The
Union government has been taking special interest in the development of the NE
states for years. I felt the perception of ‘being marginalised’ probably stems from
a ‘victim syndrome’ that many suffer from. And different political and
socio-cultural groups add to this syndrome for their vested interest.
The problem is:
when a community or group feels marginalized - gradually it is alienated from
the mainstream. There is then a growing tendency of looking at everything from
the viewpoint of a victim. This triggers a paranoiac response to every small
incident. That again snowballs into larger issue reinforcing this sense of
being marginalized.
At the seminar, I presented my point of view: if you think
you are marginalized, you will perpetually suffer from victim syndrome. Fight
that mindset. In a federal country like India, no area, no community can remain
marginalized. Wrest your place by sheer hard work.
Beauty
At Guwahati I
stayed at Don Bosco Institute at Kharghuli Hills, on the banks of the mighty
Bramhaputra river. It offered a majestic view. In the early morning the water
looked crimson, gradually the colour changed to gold and then to silver.
 |
| Bramhaputra at dawn. Photo: Mrinal Chatterjee |
Just across the
window of my room stood a Sonajhuri (Sunari in Odia, Hunari in Assamese. Acacia auriculiformis) tree,
resplendent with gold coloured flowers. Up on the hills, away from the gaze of
people. As I looked at it and took couple of photographs to capture the image,
(you can capture image, but can you transmit that sense of beauty, I don't
know) this tree probably became happy. Some body at last appreciated. Or
probably annoyed. Why are you intruding into my privacy? Or probably both.
Simultaneously. You never know.
 |
| Sonajhuri Tree laden with flowers. Photo: Mrinal Chatterjee |
Beauty always
comes with enigma. And that adds to its mystique.
Namghar
As I wondered
in downtown Guwahati I came across many identical looking places of worship- called
Namghar (literally meaning a house for chanting the name of the Lord), mostly frequented by the Vaishnavas.
Though Assam is known for Shakti worship, thanks to the presence of Kamakhya
Temple, it has had a strong Vaishnava tradition, initiated by Sankardeva
(1449–1568). A saint-scholar, poet, playwright, social-religious
reformer Sankardev inspired the Bhakti movement in Assam just as Guru Nanak, Ramananda, Namdev, Kabir,
Basave, Shri Chaitanya and Mahima Swami inspired it elsewhere in the India.
Among many other initiative, Sankardev started Namghar- a place for community
worship, religious discourse, cultural practices like dance and drama and also
social interaction including conflict resolution.
 |
| A Namghar at Kharghuli Hills, Guwahati. Photo: Mrinal Chatterjee |
The Nāmghar is a living institution and for over 500 years, its impact on Assamese society and
culture has been tremendous. I am told that the
Nāmghar is a common feature of every Assamese village. In the villages, in
addition to serving as the common prayer hall, it also serves as the village
stage and the meeting place of the village panchāyat. It has continued to be
the centre of social and religious activities.
Furthermore, both the Satras and the Namghars led
to the creation and development of drama, music and the stage. These three have
been the most powerful instruments for popularising culture in Assam.
Blue Liquid
As I was wondering, I saw a bottle with some
blue - violet liquid tied to the front gate of a house. I saw this in several
other houses in that area. I enquired and was told that it's purpose was to
ward off evil eyes of a particularly naughty spirit. I could not understand
what was there in that liquid that had the power to scare off evil spirit's
eyes.
 |
| A Blue Liquid Bottle hanging on the gate. Photo: Mrinal Chatterjee |
Days later my student Ripunjay told me that
“the liquid is plain water mixed with blue; and the purpose is to keep away
evil dogs from shitting near the gate”.
I liked the evil spirit story.
Kamakhya Temple
Assam,
particularly Kamakhya Temple is said to be associated with tantric and occult
practices. The most important event at Kamakhya Temple is Ambubachi Mela. The Ambubachi is a ritual of asceses
observed with “Tantrik means”. It is believed that the presiding goddess of the
temple, Devi Kamakhya, the Mother Shakti, goes through her annual cycle of
menstruation during this time stretch. The
doors of the Kamakhya Temple remain closed for three days. It is believed that
the Mother Earth becomes unclean for three days. During this time any kind of
farming work is not taken on. Daily worships and other religious performances
are also stopped during these days. After the completion of three days, the
doors of the Kamakhya Temple are reopened after Devi Kamakhya is bathed and the
other rituals are executed. It is then believed that the Mother Earth has
retrieved her purity.
Thousands
of pilgrims and tantric babas and swamis from all over the country throng
to the Ambubachi Mela. This year the mela is from 22 to 26 June.
As
such there are many babas and swamis with long beards and
hair at the vicinity of Kamakhya Temple. They look quite menacing with long
tilaks and colours pasted on their foreheads and beads hanging from their necks
and wrists. Many of them wear multiple number of rings on their fingers. Most
of them are more than willing to get photographed.
Food
Food is an
important part of the culture of a country or state or community. North East
States have over 200 tribal community.
Every community has its own food habit and cuisine. The sheer variety is mind
boggling.
It is a good
development that in Guwahati different tribal communities are opening
restaurants offering their own cuisine.
A restaurant called
Rabha Kitchen serves cuisine of Rabha tribe as well as other food. Mising
Kitchen serves cuisine of Mising trinbe. Mainly traditional thali. A restaurant
called Nagameez- it serving mainly Naga food. These kind of restaurants, I am
told, are becoming very popular now.
Tailpiece: Sorround Sound System
Define Surround Sound System?
Award winning answer- Wife in the front seat of
the car, her mother and sister in the back seat!!
***
The
author, a journalist turned media academician lives in Central Odisha town of
Dhenkanal. An anthology of his weekly column Window Seat, published in 2018 has been published as a book. Write
to him to get a free e-copy. mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
This column is published every Sunday in Sikkim Express and www.orissadiary.com
No comments:
Post a Comment