Echoes from the Beyond

Chess is a world famous game of sheer intelligence that is played by the most brilliant minds of our planet. It is no news to anyone that the game of Chess originated from our nation, India itself. However, the game of chess is not that popular among the students of Barak Valley; this changes now. Assam University recently issued a notification, informing that the university, for the first time in history, has constituted a Chess Club. The Assam University Chess Club is the first such club in the history of this university. This development has the potential to increase the interest of more people of this university and the valley in the magnificent game of chess. Arghadeep Das, a student of the Department of Library Science, is the coordinator of this club. He is also the Assistant General Secretary of Cachar District Chess Association. The other members of the club are; Bedanta Pratim Medhi of the Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Anuradha Chakraborty, a Ph.D. Scholar...

For writing an Editorial Piece, a case has been filed against the founder of Barak Bulletin, Mr. Anirban Roy Choudhury. The case is under Sedition Charges; Section 124-A of the Indian Panel Code along with Sections 153-A, 501 & 505. The editorial in question is about the recent events that occurred in Barak Valley following Mr. Pradip Dutta Roy’s arrest. The title of the Editorial is “Welcome to the Paradise of the Spineless – We are Assamese, ‘Bhasha Shaheeds’ Are Dead and so are their Descendants.”  Mr. Pradip Dutta Roy is the chief convenor of Barak Democratic Front, a veteran advocate and a former student leader who was arrested over a protest against a poster in Assamese texts at a petrol station in Meherpur Area and demanded the poster to be replaced with one having Bengali texts instead, stating that as per the Assam Official Language (Amendment) Act 1961, Bengali is the official language of Barak Valley. The FIR against the founder of Barak Bulletin was lodg...

Nina Davuluri the first Indian American who won the Title of Miss America Our Skin colour has nothing to do with beauty. Nina Davuluri an Indian American and the First Indian American who won the title of Miss America had proved it back in 2014. She didn't applied any sort of make up to make her look light skinned, she embraced her skin colour, that is her identity and she decided not to hide it. On the other hand, in our country we are obsessed with having fair skin, as much as so that we have a wide range of fairness related beauty products for Men and Women. The lighter the skin tone, the better looking you are, that is what the masses believe and the products also wants us to believe the same. Their ads are highly stereotypical where one person having dark is shown as a loser only to use their products and get fair. The second they turned fair their life turned around, they are getting job offers, marriage proposals, people started to take them seriously and what n...

I recently came to know about a new kind of Animal and apparently it's also a symbol of culture to our very own Assam! Yes you read it correct. Gamocha happens to be a cultural symbol in Assam. No, am not joking, it actually is. But, there is a catch. It is not an animal instead it's actually a beautiful piece of cloth. Gamocha is actually pronounced as Gamusa and it is a symbol of Assam's pride and identity. Gamocha is a Symbol of Assam's Rich Heritage. Recently Goverment of Assam tweeted and shared some knowledge to people about what Gamocha is. They wrote it is an iconic product of Assam's handloom industry, 'Gamusa' is synonymous with the diverse culture of the land. Although its primary identity is that of an angavastra, there are different types of Gamosa based on its size and usage. Pani, Posaki, Mukhosa, Tiyoni, Nuwoni, Anakata are some types of Gamosa.  They shared an image on their Twitter handle giving a brief description a...

Rakhsha Bandhan is world's biggest Sibling Festival . It is observed on the last day of Shraavana a month recognised in the Hindu lunar Calendar, which typically falls in August .  This festival is celebrated between Brothers and Sisters. The sister would tie a thread of protection around the wrist of her brother which is called as Rakhi. This Rakhi is suppose to protect her brother from all sorts of dangers. In return she gets gifts and a promise that her brother will protect her as well. Cadbury Celebrations this year is trying to make Raksha Bandhan a little more special for differently abled children who do not have upper limbs. How does it feel like? A thread around our wrists? There are some children out there who are missing this experience. Cadbury Celebrations wants them to feel and experience the festival of Rakhsha Bandhan with their Prosthetic Arms. Cadbury Celebrations on their latest campaign titled #MyFirstRakhi  have collaborated with experts to d...

Unemployment was a big issue in a country like India even before this pandemic but now due to lockdown it was worsen. Due to lockdown people who’s employment was based on their daily wage labour had suddenly found themselves in the centre of an epic crisis. In 2019 a new virus was detected in Wuhan Province of China which started an epidemic and in no time it became a Pandemic. A world wide pandemic is a big threat so in March 2020 the government of India decided to implement nation wide lockdown to protect Indian citizens from the virus. That took a toll on everyone, especially on the migrant labours. These migrant labours had No work, no money, no food. It made living hard for them so they decided to go back to their own villages. Transportation was not available so these people had started their journey on foot. It is no news to any of us that many of them died on their journey.  It also affected people working in Private Sectors, as some of them wer...

We celebrate "Rathayatra" to mark Lord Jagannath's Journey to his Maternal Aunt's house and his return is celebrated as "Phira Rath". Rathayatra is celebrated in many corners of India including Assam. Today we are going to talk about my Village "Jarailtola" and how we celebrated it. Yes 'celebrated' as we do not celebrate it anymore or may be I should say we are not able to celebrate it anymore due to COVID19. Empty Road The roads are empty this year just like the previous year. Both sides of the road used to be filled with temporary stalls. People would open temporary stalls during both "Rathayatra" and "Phira Rath" there would be some stalls of food, some potters would open stalls displaying toys and little idols made of clay and ofcourse there used to be a special stall for Ice Cream man.  Potter's Stall Displaying Toys and Idols made of Clay A plate of Momos and a Glass of Chus...