Nice to see Mayur listing. As they say " State the Problem and you have half solved it" LET 's comment on his Negatives: 1 Caste: POINTLESS IN 2005 PLUS 2 Emotions ;Logic/rationality first. 3 Short public memory: Each netter should lay bare the archieves of our errors as of last 60 years. 4 Hobo diok/Chalta Hai: " Change or Die" that souuld our net's motto. 5FLood Havoc -: Fools created it . We'll solve it. 6 Law & order/Insurgency : These are effects -not causes. 7Tension all around - Ditto. 8 Lack of business acumen: We need comlpete overhaul of economy to a guided one.Big problem. 9 Aversion to manual labour : Recent phenomenon. Can be corrected fast. 10 Disturbed Demography: Bangladeshis are not disturbing you . You will guide them -always. 11 Divisive VOlte Bank POlicy: Westminster -inspired election has to be scrapped forever. 12 GOvt APathy:" You deserve the GOvt you elect" 13 Aversion to moneymaking games-'But that is not creating of hapiness'. Other mechanisms worked elsewhere. 14 POOR Connectivity: We do not want too much of it. 15. Infrastructure bottlenecks: Ditto. 16 SOku Soroha : Idle Brain is devil's workshop. KEEP them Busy always. TV Has never enriched minds. 17 . Lack of Industries : What kind is needed, -where,what,how,why, how big--net purpose? 18 Overdependence on traditional methods: Science / technology is all about it." Change or die" mm
>From: Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: mayur bora <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >[EMAIL PROTECTED],[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >CC: [email protected] >Subject: Re: [Assam] ASSAMESE - STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES >Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 21:50:48 -0500 > >Hello Mayur: > >Welcome to assamnet. > >I am delighted to see a newcomer starting out not only participating, >but taking a lead on a discussion. That is very commendable. I hope >you will continue to be a contributing member. I also invite all the >others to participate as well. The net, after all, is what WE make of >it. > >Our good friend, and often my adversary in many a debate,Ram >Sarangapani told you "---I am sure you are going to get a earful, >specially regarding the negatives,". Obviously he was alluding to my >positions :-). He may be right, under certain circumstances. But he >is wrong in its essence. > >Be all that as may be, while I appreciate your efforts at cataloging >our ethnic attitudinal traits, I will be remiss if I did not point >out one fundamental fact about such attempts at attributing qualities >to a group of people, be it positive, be it negative or be it >neutral: There rarely is any scientific or rational basis to such >labeling. Why I say that is this: > >Almost all of the positive and most all of the negatives too, could >be attributed to any other group of people in the south Asian >sub-continent with about the same degree of accuracy. > >Furthermore, some of the attributes that you might present as >positive, could very well be negative, depending on who is doing the >grading. There are no RIGHT/WRONG, GOOD/BAD measuring standards for >them. Any qualifying is entirely subjective. > > >Allow me to give some examples: > >Among the pluses you put forth: > >Strength of Assamese People / Assam > >1. Diverse and rich literary and cultural traditions > >2. Favourable climatic condition > >3. Healthy and relatively spice less cuisine > >4. Great hospitality and relative simplicity of people > >5. Fertile land > >6. Rich flora and fauna > >8. Major producer of tea and oil > >9. Tremendous tourism potential > >10. Absence of dowry > > >**** Items 1 thru 4 could apply to any other group depending on who >is doing the grading. Item 5 may or may not be applicable to all. But >there might be other >equally useful attributes to make up any land fertility deficiency, >such as rich in minerals. 6 thru 9 also could have parallel other >attributes to make up for. > >While absence of dowry in Assam USED to be an unique characteristic >to the region, from what I hear that it changing rapidly now. Is that >true? Even if it is not so, still out of ten, only one attribute >could be solidly presented as an unique positive quality of the >people of Assam. > >Similarly on the negatives. I could examine those too. But in order >not to scare you off with an earful hat Ram warned you of :-). I >would let you and others think that thru. > >Ultimately it all boils down to individuals in a certain group acting >to preserve and promote one's own unique needs, with the resources >available, within their various constraints and under the >circumstances they are in. In that the qualities could not be >attributable to everyone else in that group as a group >characteristic, is how I see it. > >But it is an enjoyable exercise. Certainly no harm in tossing them >around, unless they are used for promoting a particular political >agenda in the guise of a cultural study, like some of our friends >sometimes tend to do. I have no reason to think that you would >attempt any such devious tactic to peddle something instead of >presenting them in a forthright manner, should such a need arise. > >Best to you. > >cm > > > > > > > > > >At 10:17 AM -0700 9/13/05, mayur bora wrote: > >Dear Friends, > > > >I am new to the mailing list of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Some of the debates among the netizens on issues > >concerning Assam are really interesting. I am sure we > >would be able to provide a new perspective on some > >issues in respect of Assam with the help of our > >collective wisdom. One of the most important issues > >crossing my mind is to find out the relative strengths > >and weaknesses of Assamese people in relation to other > >people of India. I am trying to list below the > >strengths and weaknesses of Assamese people and > >solicit your opinion on that. I am using the word > >Assanese in a broad sense encompassing all those > >people whose mother tongue may not be Assamese, but > >they have some concern for the state. Moreover the > >traits indicated below are general in nature and > >exceptions are not ruled out. The objective of this > >exercise is to find out whether our weaknesses > >outweigh the strengths resulting in the current > >condition of the state vis a vis other states of the > >country. > > > >Strength of Assamese People / Assam > > > >1. Diverse and rich literary and cultural traditions > > > >2. Favourable climatic condition > > > >3. Healthy and relatively spice less cuisine > > > >4. Great hospitality and relative simplicity of people > > > >5. Fertile land > > > >6. Rich flora and fauna > > > >8. Major producer of tea and oil > > > >9. Tremendous tourism potential > > > >10. Absence of dowry > > > >Weaknesses > > > >1. Alienation of tribal people from the mainstream due > >to the cavalier attitude shown by caste Hindu > >Assamese. This has resulted in disunity and a sense of > >mutual mistrust among different tribes. (I am a caste > >Hindu myself) > > > >2. Emotions getting precedence over logic in the minds > >of the people > > > >3. Public memory is always short-lived. It seems > >shorter in case of Assamese. > > > >4. Inclination to take things lying down. Chalta hai / > >hobo diok attitude. > > > >5. Havoc caused by the annual floods > > > >6. Poor law and order condition due to activities of > >different insurgent groups. > > > >7. All pervasive feeling of tension and terror in > >different parts of the state > > > >8. Lack of business sense and entrepreneurial skills > > > >9. Aversion for many forms of manual labour and over > >dependence on others > > > >10. Indifference to explore different legal ways of > >making money like trade in equities, derivatives etc. > > > >11. Disturbed demographic composition due to unabated > >immigration of Bangladeshis > > > >12. Divisive vote bank politics of all political > >parties > > > >13. Govt apathy and indifferent bureaucracy (This is > >more or less common for all the states of India) > > > >14. Peculiar tendency among Assamese people to > >denigrate or denounce any other Assamese who has > >achieved something. Soku saraha sabhab > > > >15. Poor connectivity > > > >16. Infrastructural bottlenecks > > > >17. Lack of industries. > > > >18. Overdependence on the traditional methods of > >agriculture and lack of mechanisation. > > > >The list is only indicative not exhaustive. You are > >most welcome to add, modify or delete any trait as you > >deem fit. Moreover, it has been listed out randomly > >and not as per increasing or decreasing order of > >importance/priority. > > > >Looking forward to your valuable opinion on the issue. > > > >Mayur Bora > >Chandigarh > >13 Sept 2005 > > > > > > > > > >__________________________________ > >Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 > >http://mail.yahoo.com > >_______________________________________________ >assam mailing list >[email protected] >http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
