Make no mistake, its culture of Assam
- In step with tradition OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT An
artiste from Assam performs Sattriya at the festival in New Delhi on Monday.
Picture by Ramakant Kushwaha New Delhi, Feb. 26: Assam has gone into
overdrive to portray its culture, but with a footnote: the state wants it
termed the culture of Assam, not Assamese culture.
It was for the well-heeled of the national capital that a well-rehearsed
series of programmes was held here, to send out the message loud and clear
regarding Assams diversity.
Inaugurated on Saturday, the Brahmaputra Beat Festival encompassed a variety
of folk dances and Sattriya dance recitals by troupes from Assam. The venue was
the India International Centre.
The series of performances culminated at the big show today at the Balayogi
auditorium in Parliament. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee inaugurated the
function.
Sattriya dance performances delighted audiences today, while the first ever
composite show of Mising, Deori, Bodo, Rabha, Karbi, Hajong, Tiwa and tea tribe
dances was held on Saturday.
Said guru Jatin Goswami, under whose tutelage the artistes trained: That we
have presented all these dance forms goes to show we are here to showcase the
culture of Assam and not Assamese culture. There is a difference.
The 74-year-old guru today directed Sattriya dance recitals for the MPs from
all over the country. People from the audience, apparently some designers,
came backstage and asked us about the costumes, said Goswami.
Typical percussion, blended with wind instruments and strings, comprise the
high point of the Sattriya dance form. The performances are in true satra
tradition, as handed down through the centuries from Srimanta Sankardev.
His legacy still lives in the 30-odd satras or gurukuls in Assam, all with
their distinct forms of devotional dances and songs.
The organiser of the first-ever such performance at Parliament, Asom Gana
Parishad MP Arun Sarma, said it was imperative that the culture of Assam be
showcased. It is a national classical dance and people should know there is
more than just militancy in the state, he said.
Sarma felt that on a hot political day, when temperatures soared after the
railway budget was presented, it would be nice for MPs to cool off at a
cultural evening.
On Saturday, Delhiites watched entranced for an-hour-and-a-half the dance
form from the Kamalabari satra, one of the oldest satras on Brahmaputras
Majuli island.
One of the largest river islands in the world, it is known to be the window
to not only Assamese culture, as seen in the satras, but also to the culture of
Assam with its huge population of Mising tribals living in their stilt houses.
Sarma, aided by a New Delhi-based NGO, organised the series of shows in the
national capital. It was a unique experience. We felt as if we were the
ambassadors of the culture of our state, said dancer Arunima Gogoi.
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