In this edition, Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture put forward a book reviewed on Traditional Systems of the Nocte.

Regular Samparka of Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture in Deori villages of Assam are still underway. A seminar review baithak was held on 27th November 2022 which was due reporting to our esteemed readers. The venue of the seminar was fixed to Bordeori Gaon, Narayanpur, Lakhimpur district. 16 papers will be received. The review committee of Deori Sahitya Sabha will meet in Dibrugarh or Lakhimpur for review of papers.

The three-day mela commenced from 19th of January, 2023 where different communities like Khasi and Jaintia from Meghalaya, Tiwas from Karbi Anglong come down and gather in the bank of the Jon Beel to participate in the historic barter system and strengthen the economic relationship.  The term Jonbeel is an Assamese term, ‘Jon’ means ‘moon’ and ‘Beel’ means ‘wetland’ which means the large natural water body is shaped like a crescent moon.

Tagin is one of the members of the larger destination of Tani tribes. Known for their warm hospitality and friendly nature, the community mostly inhabits in the Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. The study on Tagin community is undertaken by VKIC Research Associate (RA) Ku. Barnali Chakraborty. She visited Arunachal Pradesh for research purpose on the Tagin Community.

The field visits during December 2022 and January 2023 relating to VKIC’s ongoing project to know and learn about the vibrancy of the Namghar as a Case Study were as follows –

Traditional Systems of North–East India: Change and Continuity (Arunachal Pradesh) is a compilation of seminar research papers of first-hand information of the Galo community. They revealed many new facts hitherto unknown to the people in general. The boo

“The Traditional Systems of the Dimasa” is a monograph on the Dimasa community in the Dima Hasao district of Assam compiled out of the papers presented in the seminar held at Maibang, Dima Hasao erstwhile North Cachar Hills on the theme ‘Traditional Systems: Change and Continuity’. This book can be considered as an exquisite exploration into the history and life of the Dimasa. The book provides valuable insight into various aspects of the community viz. their village organization, origin and history, domestic and social life, religious life, folklores, traditional healing systems, marriage systems, festivals etc.

The short stay at Diphu, Karbi Anglong gave a whole new shape to the maiden purpose of collecting the reviewed papers presented in Karbi Seminar. It came to be such an inexplicable learning experience to be in the company of complete strangers who gave the feel of a lovely family in the few days of stay with them.

In order to understand the ‘strengthening factor’ of Karbi families, one needs to understand the structure of their families. Luckily, I happened to be a part of such wonderful families whose structure may look complex, but the bonding unbridled!

India, the largest democracy in the world had seen a very long history of freedom struggle before its independence from the British in 1947. Millions of natives who came out to fight the British rule gave their lives to break the shackles of oppression. The freedom of India is due to the sacrifice of thousands of freedom-fighters all over the country. Many people have played significant roles in raising the national movement. Freedom fighters like Rani Lakshmibai, Mangal Pandey, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Nana Sahib, Tantia Tope, Surendranath Banerjee, Subhash Chandra Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dadabhai Naoroji, Chittaranjan Das and Jawaharlal Nehru etc., played a great role in getting independence for the country. 

Srimanta Sankaradeva very well realized that the land where he was born is indeed a sacred place. In his monumental work ‘Bhakti Ratnakar’ as also in his ‘Srimad Bhagawat’ [10th skandha], he has devoted verses in praise of Bharata.