[Assam] luitor pani jabigoi boi

[Himendra Thakur]

Dear Manoj,



Seen from Guwahati, the Sunset on the river Brahmaputra --- our own beloved luit river --- is an imagery unique in the world. 



With the Nilachal & Pandu hills on the left and the distant Agiathuti hill on the right (the perspective sense of distance vanishes by the rim lighting and solar glare at sunset time), the mighty river Brahmaputra flows to the west between the hills in this imagery. Normally, when you see a river, you see the other bank. But, here --- there is no “other bank”.  Here, the river turns into an ocean, an elemental craving of landlocked Assam.

 

At the end of a day, the Sun, the daily messenger of Time, sets right there, and the mighty Brahmaputra flows into the Sunset. This view is much more unique than any other sunset scene over any ocean, or any sea or any large lake, because there is no “movement” there. In the view of the Sunset on the river Brahmaputra, as seen from the metropolis of Guwahati, there is an eternal “Movement” --- the river “flows” into the Sunset, and reminds us the flow of Time.

 

To commemorate the time of Queen Jaimati, my uncle Indreswar Barthakur painted an imaginary picture of Jaimati which became famous. Lakshminath Bezbaruah followed it with a drama. Jyotiprasad turned the drama into a “movie” --- he captured the “movement” in his song “luitor pani jabigoi boi” --- the imagery stands right there --- the Sunset on the river Brahmaputra, as seen from Guwahati. Bhupenda wrote his famous song "asta akash ..." 

 

When the Railways built the Saraighat Bridge in 1960 at that location, my protests about ruining the view were brushed aside because I was then a “young engineer”. As an “old engineer” now, I am still being brushed aside when I oppose the second bridge at the same location. 

 

Maybe someone in the future will retrieve the view of the Sunset on the river Brahmaputra by replacing the bridges with a tunnel. By the way, compared to a bridge, a tunnel is much more stable against earthquake forces due to less oscillation.

 

I leave it to someone who loves environment to retrieve this unique imagery of the world.

 

With love to everyone,

Himendra



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Manoj Das 
  To: Himendra Thakur 
  Cc: assam at assamnet.org ; bobbeeta sharma 
  Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 11:41 PM
  Subject: Re: luitor pani jabigoi boi


  Dear Himendrada

  I think it will be possible to get a 'CD' copy of movie. I am forwarding a copy of this mail to Srimati Bobbeeta Sarma, Chairperson of Assam Film Finance and Development Corporation Ltd. for a direct response.

  Yes, it's very nostalgic to think about the Sunset on the river Brahmaputra. I am not a poet to describe it!! Hope someone with the right kind of creativite genius will do the needful for the benefit of the world citizens. When the tired Sun slowly dips into the crimson red expanses of the river and the whole west horizon gets the liberal sprinkling of the "hengol" colour, the treatise is a secne to behold forever. May be we should coin some term to describe the eventful meoment. I have seen such a term for Taj- "A resplendent drop of tear on the cheeks of time." 

  Thanks and regards,

  Manoj



   
  On 11/5/06, Himendra Thakur <hthakur at comcast.net > wrote: 
    To
    Shri Manoj K Das
    General Secretary,
    Assam Association, Delhi
    Srimanta Sankaradeva Bhawan
    A 14 B Qutub Institutional Area
    New Delhi 110067

    Dear Manoj, 

    Is it possible to get a CD Rom of the movie "Joymoti" as reported below? I think every Assamese of current generation should see this movie. Its finale song "luitor pani jabigoi boi" verily depicts the  "originality of the story and the way it is told, which testifies the large and rich culture of Assam."  

    In our childhood, we did go to the Sukreswar ghat of Guwahati to watch the sunset over the mighty Brahmaputra and watch the eternity of Luitor Pani flowing right into the Sunset. These are unforgettable imageries.  Bhupenda immortalized this imagery in his famous song "asta akash" .... 

    With love to everybody, 
    Himendra


    Joymoti to be screened in Rome
    By A Staff Reporter
     GUWASHATI, Nov 3 – The organizers of the 7th Asiaticfilmmediale (Encounters with Asian Cinema) Festival, Rome have selected the reconstructed historic Joymoti of Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwalla for its screening in the festival. In a letter to Altaf Mazid, who prepared the video version of the film from the available seven reels, the organizers of the festival have said that the film has been selected for "its extraordinary historical value and for the originality of the story and the way it is told, which testifies the large and rich culture of Assam." 

    They also said that it would be a unique occasion for the Italian audience to discover the diversity at the roots of the kaleidoscope of India cinema. The screening of the film is scheduled on November 25 in the Cinema Farnese. It needs mention here that the film made by the Rupkonwar and released in 1935 used to take more than two hours for completion of its screening. In1972, Hridayandanda Agarwalla, the youngest brother of the Rukonwar, discovered the seven reels from which the present version is made. The recreated film takes one hour for completion of its screening. 

    The festival has proposed to screen films from China, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, The Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand and Uzbekistan. 

    The inauguration of the festival will took place at the Auditorium Parco della Musica. Popular Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed Aria will read some of the poems of Forough Farrokhzad, the greatest woman poet in modern Persian language and maker of the documentary The House Is Black, which will also be screened on the occasion. The concert of famous flutist Hariprasad Chaurasia will follow it. 




  -- 
  Manoj Kumar Das
  C 172 Gr Floor
  Sarvodaya Enclave
  New Delhi 110017
  Tel: 91 11 26533824
  Telefax: 91 11 26533829
  Hand Phone: 91 9312650558 



  Be so unselfish that when God writes your destiny; he can be free to ask: What do you want? 
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