8. Shades of light! 

An unassuming persona. A man who smiles on rare occasions but is known amongst his peers as a man who would outrun a stand-up comedian of today. A man who had excelled as an advocate and a man feared for his on-the-face-thoughts! 

Dr. Haren Das, a man who has his political genes embedded in all probability by his mother Smt. Satyaboti Das, a freedom fighter for the country, has long been wishing to write, in spite of a schedule that hardly lets him do so. Knowing the ins and outs of media definitely made him a famous scion at the Press Council of India and he still has love for the cultural scenario intact.

It was in the early 80's when Dr. Das started writing his articles for the papers. This was a time when Assam was going through a major political upheaval with closures, riots and what not. Dr. Das thought this would be a good time to write and so he did...in numerous papers and magazines, which the readers took up with a lot of enthusiasm. Later, they wished he would compile these articles into a book. And hence, this book today; Bastobor Sa-Puhor*, with 41 articles, written over a couple of decades right up to the present year. Interesting read as Dr. Haren Das elucidates graphically the lives of most of the people who he had touched. 

*Light and Shadow of Reality

Book: Bastobor Sa-Puhor

Author: Dr. Haren Das

Released on: 29th Decemeber, 2013

Event: Northeast Book Fair 2013

Venue: Assam Engineering Institute Field, Guwahati

The author, Dr. Haren Das

Famous writer, Shri Ratna Ojha

Former Principal of B.Barooah College, Shri. Pramod Bhattacharjee

7. THE WIZARD OF OZ

L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) might have written the fairy story Wizard of Oz keeping young people in mind but somehow this tale doesn’t hold much relevance in the present context. Why I say this is because at a time when Baum wrote it, that is in 1900, the world definitely must have been covered with a lot of greenery. There must have been countless trees all around.

Having said that, I realised that more than being happy, I was horrified at the way trees were rampantly cut down by the Tin-man, with his shiny axe. This is not the first time I have read this story, but maybe I never really understood the horrid implications of trees being cut down. Maybe, I was too young to understand this the first time I read it as a little girl. And now years later, when the dwindling number of trees across the Earth is not being able to keep pace with the burgeoning population, we all need to sit up and take note and eventually do something about it lest we self-destruct!

The Wizard of Oz is a simple fairy-tale of a little girl called Dorothy, who by sheer magic is whirled by a storm into the desert, far far away from Kansas, where she lived with her aunt and uncle on a ranch. She searches for a way to get back home and in the meantime, by fluke, kills a wicked witch and wears her silver shoes, completely unaware of its magic powers.

On her journey to find the Wizard of Oz, who she believes will get her back to Kansas, she meets three other queer companions, who later on were to become her dear friends; the Tin –man, the Scare-crow and a Lion. They all accompany Dorothy to the Emerald City, the home of the wizard as they each had something to request from the magician. The Tin-man wanted a heart as he didn’t have one, the Scarecrow wanted some brains so that he could think properly and the Lion wanted courage as he thought he was a coward.

The story unravels nuances of human life as the four along with Dorothy’s dog Toto walk through the yellow brick road. What was really interesting though was the way these friends stayed together even when the worst situations befell them. They rescue each other from the troubles they faced and finally succeed in their mission.

A story of integrity, love, understanding, compassion, unity and much more.

Except for the obvious and nonchalant way the author allowed the Tin-man to chop off trees, the book is fast-paced with a more than comfortable-to-the-eye font to make the discerning reader say, “Now, that’s a good book.”  

6. The two-minute babble!

When Maggi-the two minute (actually it took more than 5 minutes to cook it) noodles hit the market, I was not a busy-bee as yet. But Mom was! So when she had to attend one of her endlessly 'gossipy' social-service meetings, she made sure she made the announcement, which had by then become more usual than the word usual, "Cook the packet of Maggi if you get hungry and don't forget to turn off the gas," before she sailed out of the door and hopped into one of her friends' car, who would be indignantly waiting for her, feigning pleasant surprise at how refreshing Mom looked in her not-so-new pure silk saree. 

I would definitely not wait for my hunger pangs to get the better of me, so much was my craze for this ready-to-eat-stuff. As soon as I was sure Mom was too far off to return, I would rush into the kitchen, get the water boiling and then make myself a large bowl of Maggi, the five and a half minute ready-to-eat noodle. And then get myself nice and comfortable in front of the television, while I surfed the channels to my heart's content. I had all the time in the world to enjoy my life.

But these days, it looks like we have become too busy to enjoy even a second of our lives. Everyone seems to want things on a platter even faster than the Maggi-two minute noodles. Ok, I can understand that we are moving at a pace faster than we can decipher, but what about the most important factor we all can't do without or at least some of us can't. Reading? Have we forgotten this most beautiful romantic affair we had or are we just pretending to be in love with something not so beautiful? I don't understand how we can even forget the smell of books? The new, the old, all have their distinctive aroma, a heady concoction to steer us into a mystic realm. An aphrodisiac, I may say! I cannot stay without touching a book. Throughout the day, I have to feel either the hard-cover or a paper-back to get me started through life. I have books in the living room, the veranda, the washroom, in the bedroom, study room and not to forget my car and my handbag. I am intensely in love with the books all around me!

The last book fair at the AEI grounds at Chandmari, Guwahati, Assam had a dismal foot fall; far less than any of the years. It is sad that people are reading less every year. I just hope that they don't stop reading at all! It is for the parents and elders to show the young people the romance of reading! This beautiful past-time can be made into a habit for the people who have just started reading. If reading is a habit with the rest of the people at home, then the children will invariably follow.

The hedonistic culture most of our young minds are now getting moulded into is not a very positive sign if we go by what social-networking sites like Facebook is showing us day in and day out. I have noticed to my dismay that there are very few readers of something interesting and important, which might be of relevance, socially or otherwise. Recently, there was an excellent write-up on how the sun will transform to into a red nebula and then to a white dwarf. I observed that there were merely a few readers for this article, whereas when a picture is put up, the 'likes' would go from anywhere between a 100 to over a 1000. 

Have we become lazy waiting for a 2-minute platter to satiate us or is it just a plain non-thinking, lackadaisical attitude. 

"No, we don't want to read and waste time, " a young girl in her late teens replied grumpily to my statement of how books can be one's best friend. "I have my best friend and I would rather go shopping and hang around with her at the cafe." 

And talk about what? The latest mobile, the fashion runway, bags, shoes, boys, jarring comments about someone not present with them? What else and for how long? All this is great! We all need to chill out with our best buddies once in a while but let it not become a habit. It would be so much more nicer if young minds get together and discuss things less ordinary. Books can be a good topic.

I just hope it won't be too late before they realise that the two-minute platter they had opted for is no longer healthy for the body and mind. Fingers crossed but at the end of all this, we have to make ourselves responsible as it is we who have to lead them and show them the way!