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 -----
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 <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >
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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