Mayur:
I was hoping that I did not have to open this chapter. I avoided
getting into it it in my first response. But since you are not
convinced, I am forced into it :-).
First off, congratulations on your perceptiveness in starting off
with all those nice qualities of the Assamese People, the STRENGTHS as
you characterize them.
Always a good idea to preface bad news with good, however
tenuous. Trouble is, if they are not very convincing, the whole show
falls apart:
Of the ten (good round number) "Strengths of the Assamese
People" below,
2,5,6,8 and 9 have nothing to do with the qualities of the
Assamese people at all. You are scoring 50% if it were to be an essay
writing exercise in grade school, that is a barely a second div., if
that high :-).
Now let us examine the 'weaknesses':
Of the 18 at least 7 have nothing to do with the qualities of the
Assamese people. But even if they did let us see what these mean, and
how you might use these to weigh the ethnic qualities of the people. I
will just take one or two as examples. Hopefully you will get the
idea.
>2. Emotions getting precedence over logic in the minds
>of the people
**** How would you place yourself in this characteristic that you
see as a predominant in the Assamese people? Do you consider yourself
more rational/logical than emotional? If not, then you are an
EXCEPTION, one who is above the rest. I have no problem believing
that. But I want to hear it from YOU.
And how would you rate all the Assamese people you know well
enough to judge them--family members, close friends, teachers,
relatives, servants etc. etc? You must not use examples of newspaper
accounts, or anecdotes, or hearsay etc. What percentage of them will
you consider emotionally driven as opposed to being rational/logical?
It is important here that you consider the person's entire record you
are aware of, not merely some incident or episode, however significant
that might be. Because we do not judge people on account of one or a
few incidents, but on the entirety of their personnae.
How would you rate the various people who have posted in Assam
Net since you joined it? Feel free to name them if you wish. That will
be helpful in judging your own evaluating skills :-).
Based upon the above, assuming these groups of people above
are a fair representation of the entirety of kharkhowadom, how does
your assessment stand?
>7. All pervasive feeling of tension and terror in
>different parts of the state
**** Do you consider this a characteristic of the Assamese
people? If you do why? Is it a genetic or hereditary condition? Or is
it a response to certain conditions prevailing in society?
And if it is the latter, if it is an EFFECT, not a CAUSE, as
Mukul Mahanta pointed out in the very similar item #6, what do you
think are the CAUSES? Are they genetic Assamese abnormalities that
caused it? Or are they caused by societal factors under their CONTROL?
Or are they caused by forces outside their control?
Whatever your assessment, will you please outline and explain
them as you see them?
And based on the above how would you assess your judgement
that it is a WEAKNESS of the Assamese people?
I hope by now you have caught my drift and further dissecting
would not be necessary :-).
Take care,
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
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