Thanks
On Tuesday, January 9, 2018, 4:27:50 PM CST, 'Wahid Saleh'
[email protected] [SupportAChild-Assam]
<[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Aiyushman,
Hope all is well at your end. Thanks for the clarification. It is a well
written article with background information of Ankur. Thanks for the same.
Greetings and best wishes
Wahid da
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: zondag 7 januari 2018 19:57
To: SupportAChild-Assam
Cc: Wahid Saleh - Indiawijzer; 'Wahid Saleh - Indiawijzer'
[email protected] [NorthEastIndia]; [email protected];
[email protected]; XOBDO groups; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; Axomiya Students
Subject: Re: [SupportAChild-Assam] RE: [NorthEastIndia] Love for the Homeland
(Melange, The Sentinel ,07.01.2018)
Hi everyone/ Dear Wahid da
Thanks Buljit for pasting the article on Ankur Bora. It was written by me
Regards
Aiyushman Dutta
Features Editor - melange
The Sentinel
9957193228
On Sun, Jan 7, 2018 at 4:06 PM, Buljit Buragohain [email protected]
[SupportAChild-Assam] <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Wahid da,
I want to clarify that I have not written the aricle on Ankur da. It is
written by the reporter of the Sentinel news paper.
Thanks.
Buljit
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
Dear Buljit,
My thanks for circulating the news clipping of your article on Ankur in today's
Sentinel newspaper. Much appreciated.
Ankur is providing information from his base outside India and you are
providing information from Assam. Without which many of us would not be aware
of many interesting as well as important development in our home front.
A few years back you started this service with the motto "সমাজৰ কাৰণে ভাল কাম
কৰাজনৰ পৰিচয় ৰাইজৰ আগত দাঙি ধৰিব লাগে আৰু ভাল খবৰবোৰ যিমান পাৰি ৰাইজৰ মাজত
বিলাব লাগে। ---- বুলজিৎ বুঢ়াগোহাঁই
What you preach you are also using it in practice.
Please keep it up!
Thanks again!
Wahid da
Wahid Saleh
Chrysantenhof 33
2651 XJ Lansingerland
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 105114400
The Dutch site for India related information
Coming together is a beginning | Keeping together is progress | Working
together is success
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Buljit Buragohain [email protected] [NorthEastIndia]
Sent: zondag 7 januari 2018 1:34
To: [email protected]; XOBDO groups;
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; Axomiya Students
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: [NorthEastIndia] Love for the Homeland (Melange, The Sentinel
,07..01.2018)
Love for the Homeland
Our Bureau
The call of roots is something very hard to define. Indeed, just what is it
that makes a person come back to his or her roots, even after having gone far
away to a distant land, to embrace new people and newer cultures, to a place
where there is no trace of his traditions or ancestry? While we often tend to
forget about our origins in the humdrum of day-to-day existence and in our
quest to move ahead in life, the fact remains that a person is incomplete
without his cultural heritage and roots.
Such is its power that it can make one go out of the way to preserve his or her
heritage, even in foreign and unknown shores, against the set and conventional
patterns of life of the land where he or she now resides. It is an age-old
saying that a man may travel and settle down in the other end of the world but
he will always carry a slice of his native in him.. Same runs true for a number
of Assamese people settled in different parts of the world who are doing, in
their own little way, things to preserve and promote their traditional culture.
In this context, one cannot but look with admiration and gratitude at Ankur
Bora - a senior software engineer who has been working in the USA for a long
time now. Born and brought up in Assam, Ankur Bora shifted to the US in the
nineties where he has spent a considerable period of his professional life
working at Microsoft under the leadership of none other than Bill Gates..
Despite staying abroad, he has been continuously striving to promote the
singular achievements of Assamese people across the entire world.
Ankur Bora is the founder vice-president of Friends of Assam and the Seven
Sisters (FASS) and served as the general secretary of Assam Foundation of North
America.. He publishes an annual magazine, Friends, which recognises the
exceptional work being made by Assamese people living in the State as well as
different parts of the globe. Through numerous philanthropic and highly dynamic
initiatives, he has been able to act as a catalyst to help bring recognition to
the exceptional efforts being made by the people of the State. It was due to
his efforts that the efforts of four individuals working in the State managed
to get global recognition and acclaim.
The love for his roots, his people and culture runs so deep in the veins that
despite staying overseas, he has spent a considerable amount of his time and
money for the greater cause of promotion of Assamese and developing a network
among Assamese citizens across the globe, recognising the achievements being
made at the grassroots levels. His series of write-ups on Assamese people doing
exceptional work in different parts of the globe has helped acquaint them and
their work with the people of Assam, as well as Assamese people spread all over
the world.
Ankur Bora is presently in the State to be part of the release of AFNA's annual
calendar and also to release his new book, In Pursuit of Excellence, at the
Jeevan Kite Festival. The melange team caught up with the dynamic personality
to know more about his life. Following are excerpts.
Q. You are in the city for the release of the annual calendar of Assam
Foundation of North America (AFNA). Please tell us more about AFNA and the
calendar.
Ans: The Assam Foundation of North America (AFNA) was set up in 1982 as a
non-profit charitable organization by US based Assamese non-residents to
support socio-economic development in Assam and to foster social, cultural,
technical exchange between Assam and North America. AFNA's volunteers, working
closely with people back home, have contributed in a vast number of fields
including primary and higher education, supporting women's group, providing
scholarship to meritorious college going engineering and medical students from
economically poor background, supporting disabled adults and artisans. Every
New Year AFNA publishes an annual Calendar, the proceeds of which goes towards
supporting these organizations. The AFNA calendar does not merely represent a
catalogue of pictures. Instead, the stunning photographs and resonating words
reconnects the non- residents to their roots and continues to enrich their
bonds with motherland. In the words of PallavSakia, President of AFNA "While
celebrating and ushering in the New Year, AFNA calendar will certainly help in
making a difference with a message of community involvement, global cooperation
and collaboration".
Q.. You recently released your book, In Pursuit of Excellence. Please tell us
about it.
Ans:In the last few years a number of non-residents Assamese have been working
closely with people back home and have contributed in a number of fields,
including supporting financially a number of schools for underprivileged
children, supporting women and women's groups, providing scholarship to
meritorious college going engineering and medical students from economically
poor background, student interactions and meetings with Non-resident experts in
diverse fields spreading across the globe. A number of organizations of Assam
went on to win International awards including founder of Rickshaw bank (The
Tech Awards) as well as innovator UddabhBharali (Create the Future Design
Contest 2012 , Nasa Tech Briefs) , Founder of Swabalambi and the founder of
Fertile Ground winning women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF) Prize for women's
creativity in rural life. Some of the non-residents are also involved in
environmental projects including controlling the erosion of Brahmaputra,
promoting individuals like JadavPayeng, organizing cultural troupes abroad,
supporting inclusion of Assamese scripts in Unicode and others. The book,
Pursuit of excellence, is a treasure house of the unique stories, knowledge,
work experiences and expertise of these individuals.
Q. You were born and brought up in Assam. Please share with us your memories of
your growing up days.
Ans: I was born in Nagaon to Rabindra Chandra Bora and Malati Bora. My father
retired as the Head of the Department of English, Nagaon EDP College while my
mother also retired as a Head of Department in Nagaon Girls College. There was
a strong environment for learning in our family. My father, being a professor
of English, used to buy a lot of books and we grew up in that environment. My
mother too was very strict about creating a conducive environment for learning
in the house. I remember vividly the first book she presented me, which was the
Diary of Anne Frank. The book had such a deep impact on me that during a recent
visit to Amsterdam, I went across the entire place searching for Anne Frank's
house..
My uncles - both in my paternal and maternal side - were well-respected and
recognised personalities on the State.They were a huge source of inspiration
for me. Herein, I remember how my uncle Rajen Bora had once won an
international-level essay competition and travelled all the way to the United
States to be felicitated by the US president. He was probably around 15 years
old then. The very fact that a 15 year-old boy from Assam can travel to the US
and have breakfast with the most powerful man of the world of that time, was a
big source of inspiration for me. His achievement inspired me a lot and gave me
the confidence to aim big in life.
After my schooling in Nagaon, I studied in Cotton College and then passed out
from the Computer Science Department of Jorhat Engineering College. After
passing out from JEC, I got a job with the government in NIC. But I soon left
the job because I wanted more out of life. I worked with a private company in
Delhi for two years before I finally got the job with Microsoft in USA.
Q. How do you remember your days in Delhi?
Ans: Working in Delhi was tough. It was humid and the work was exhausting. I
used to stay near the airport and every evening after coming back from work, I
used to watch different aeroplanes leaving for foreign shores - to Los Angeles,
New York, Miami, etc. Those were difficult days but I did not stop dreaming. I
continued to work towards my goal with the hope that one day, I too will be on
one of those flights..
In 1998, I got the job with Microsoft. I was so happy because it was as if I
was living one of my dreams. During the entire flight to the US, I was so
excited that I did not let my co-passenger sleep for the entire duration! After
all, that was the moment I had been waiting for my entire life.
Q. Please tell us about your work for Assam…
Ans: If you look at it, all my work is actually the fruition of the experiences
I gained in America. I learnt and understood the finer nuances of compassion,
empathy and donation in America. I had a lot of ideas and I needed a channel to
implement them. Assam became my channel and thankfully, the people also
reciprocated my efforts.
Herein, I have to make mention of two people who influenced me to come out. One
is UttamTeron of Parijat Academy and the other is JugalBhuyan of Pragyalay.
UttamTeron's sincerity towards the cause of education for the underprivileged
moved me. On the other hand, JugalKalita, when I first got to know him, was
almost on the verge of giving up Pragyalay. But I spoke to him and maybe my
call gave him renewed interest to work. Those were significant moments for me.
Initially, I did my homework and created the websites for these two
organizations - Parijat Academy and Pragyalay. I shot a video on their
activities. And then AFNA came into the picture and started supporting their
cause.
Q. You also published an annual magazine, Friends…
Ans: When I actually started working for these organizations, I came in touch
with a lot of new people whose work and stories amazed me. My network grew and
I knew I had to put all those amazing stories in some form of writing. That was
the genesis of Friends.
The first issue of 'Friends' was published in January 2010 with an objective to
connect the non-resident Indians hailing from the north-eastern States with the
students and youths residing there. Friends had facilitated in building a
bridge for exchanging ideas and information, thereby assisting a worldwide
medium for active and continuous participation.
Q. You have also been highlighting the amazing stories of a few Assamese
achievers through your writing…
Ans:I believe that the biggest achievement for me is the fact that through my
writing, I could nominate four individuals working in Assam for prestigious
awards. That's a tremendous achievement for me. The first person was
Dr.PradipSarmah who got the Tech Awards 2011 in San Francisco for Rickshaw
Bank. The second was innovator UddhabBharali who was included in the NASA Tech
Awards. Then there was SushmitaMazumdar of Swabhalambi Foundation and Peggy
Carlswell, who both won the World Women Summit Awards. While we all know of
Sushmita, Peggy Carlswell is a Canadian who has dedicated the last 25 years of
her life towards the cause of organic farming in a village in Upper Assam.
(Melange, The Sentinel ,07.01.2018)
http://www.sentinelassam.com/sunday/pages/cover-story/0/love-for-the-homeland/2018-01-07/2/3948
----------------------------------------------------------
সমাজৰ কাৰণে ভাল কাম কৰাজনৰ পৰিচয় ৰাইজৰ আগত দাঙি ধৰিব লাগে আৰু ভাল খবৰবোৰ যিমান
পাৰি ৰাইজৰ মাজত বিলাব লাগে। ---- বুলজিৎ বুঢ়াগোহাঁই
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Aiyushman Dutta
Curator - Guwahati International Music Festival
Independent Documentation Consultant and Journalist
-----
Tel: +91-361-2336757 (Office)/ +91-9957193228 (Cell)
Blog: http://www.aiyushmandutta.wordpress.com/
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