Durga Puja 2008

Again it was the time of festivity and again I went to Lumding to feel the charm and warmth of Durga Puja. I reached one week before the Puja thinking that I will enjoy more as the Puja arrives. But the joy was not that much what I expected as rain did the spoil sport. Every now and then it was raining and this continued till Ashtami. Anyway it does not matter whether it rains or not, specially for me who goes home only once in a year. During Nabami and Dashami(with heavy heart) I enjoyed a lot and came back after two days. Please visit the link for all the photographs taken during my stay at Lumding : http://picasaweb.google.com/abhijitdas.das/DurgaPuja2008?authkey=yMO_-zuOQQI#

Its Puja time again

Yet another year went away so fast. Another Puja is knocking at the door, Durga Puja 2008. Again it is time to go home. I am leaving for Lumding on the 27th of September, 08. I am excited, and hope the excitement will be same during my stay at Lumding.

Colleges and IIT in Assam

Today I would like to give few URLs of good Colleges and IIT in Assam:

1. IIT Guwahati : http://www.iitg.ernet.in/
2. N.I.T. Silchar : http://www.nits.ac.in/
3. Cotton College : http://www.cottoncollege.org/
4. Arya Vidyapith : http://www.aryavidyapeethcollege.org/
5. Karimganj College : http://www.karimganjcollege.org/
6. Cachar College : http://www.cacharcollege.com/
7. Pandu College : http://www.panducollege.org/
8. Lumding College : http://lumdingcollege.org/
9. Handique Girl's College : http://www.hgcollege.org/
10. K.C.Das Commerce College : http://www.kcdccollege.com/

Happy browsing :)

URLs related to Assam. Part - I

Though Assam and the entire North-East is quite unknown to the world wide web, still we can find some useful URLs to know about the North-East. Below are the few of them:

1. http://www.assamtribune.com/
2. http://www.assamnet.org/
3. http://www.karimganj.com/
4. http://www.silchar.com/
5. http://www.sylheti.com/
6. http://www.assam.org/
7. http://planassam.org/
8. http://assamgovt.nic.in/
9. http://guwahatitoday.com/
10. http://nagaon.nic.in/

These are 10 URLs I found useful. I will come up with more URLs related to schools and colleges in Assam

100s decibel sound and chirping bird at Lumding

Many memories are there with Lumding, infact my life is all about Lumding. Though I would always like to forget some of the unpleasant memories. Today I will go back to 1976, why; as I was born during that year. I was born at Lumding Railway hospital, the bed no I dont know. The hospital is still there, I visited many time to the hospital but never felt like to see the bed where I was kept after the birth. Now when I am thousands of miles I am feeling like going back and see that very bed. This is the fact of our life we often forget to give importance when something is near to us and very easily available.

Being at Lumding I could never see the beauty of Lumding but when I left Lumding everything started coming fresh in front of my eyes. Now I am missing all those divine treasure what Lumding has. I would request all my friends at Lumding, please enjoy the nature; you are lucky to be there in the midst of the greens, the clouds and the chirping birds. I can't get these treasures here. I am in the middle of concrete heated at 40 degree C, dark smokes of buses and 100s of decibels of sounds.

Football at Lumding

Sports and games used to be very popular at Lumding. Super division football league of Calcutta was being followed by many of Lumding residents. Aaajkal, Ananda Bazar, Dainik Basumati used to come one day late and still we used to read through entire sports page to catch the detail of the Calcutta Football league. During the Mohanbagan and East-Bengal match Lumding also used to get divided into two camps of euphoric supporters and throng around the All India Radio, Calcutta B to catch the live commentary. Those were the days of glory and achievement for the players of Lumding who boasts of providing players for Assam Santosh Trophy team. The level of Football at Lumding was very good and the existence of some very good clubs speaks for that. Mitali Sangha and Student’s Club were the prime football club. Many youths got jobs with the N.F. Railway by playing football and they are still in job.
I don’t want to comment on the present condition of sports at Lumding as I am out of Lumding from 2001. But I have seen the decline of love for football during the late eighties when after the 1987 Cricket World Cup the Cricket euphoria started hijacking the nation.
I remember one match between Students’s Club and the Play Boys club played during the summer of 1987 or 1988 (I forgot the exact year). The entire field was full with spectator. Lot of drama happened in the match ---- Playboy’s goal-keeper was injured and was hospitalized. This was the last time I saw the full-house at Lumding Stadium for local football match.

Durga Puja 2007

Durga Puja of Lumding is always special for me. I get nostalgic during these four days of festival and can feel every moment of what is happening at Lumding. 2001 was the last Puja for me at Lumding as I had to leave for a better future.
During 2007 I was lucky to be at Lumding during Puja. Every moment I enjoyed there with friends and with my old memories. But I was surprised to find that the pendals are not those conventional ones which I saw 7 years back. Every pendal is a message to the society. The club members, some of them are my classmates, my juniors, did the decoration with sublime effort. As I look back and try to compare the Puja of 2001 with that 2007, every time I get surprised --- such a difference of thought, engineering and execution, how is it possible and that too it has happened only in these 6 years. Yes the world is moving faster than we think and unknowingly we are adapting ourselves to this change. In the midst of all these changes and modernization, Lumding Kalibari could maintain its heritage and I found the same face of Pratima and the same decoration what I have seen 6 years back. In Kalibari I found my old and traditional Durga Puja of Lumding.
Apart from Kalibari I liked the concept of Beltala Puja Committee. Their concept of live Baul Sangeet was something first time (at least for me) at Lumding. I visited almost all the pendals with feeling of satisfaction and veneration.
With time we have to accept every change. But some changes are hard to accept and I also came across some changes during the 2007 Puja at Lumding. I cannot think of Puja pendals without Dhak-Dhol, instead somebody is playing keyboard and band. This is unacceptable for me. I am surprised to see the people of Lumding are feeling proud to accept the band and keyboard and dumping the tradition of Dhak-Dhol.
My appeal to everybody please adapt to changes but not at the cost something which has its own tradition and value.

Lumding

The first and foremost identity of Lumding is the N.F.Railway. Its the largest junction of the N.F.Railway. Though very few people know about Lumding even who are staying in Assam. I was lucky to spend the first 21 years of my life in that tiny hilly railway town. My parents are still there and every year I visit Lumding.

Its a beautiful gift of nature and we should strive to preserve the natural beauty of Lumding. I did my schooling from the scenic Railway Higher Secondary School. The school is surrounded by hillock on one side and railway station on the other side. I still remember the days of school when we used to see the steam engines plying on the railway tracks. Now steam engines are considered as antiques. I feel myself lucky to be the witness of something which is now considered as antique.

Wherever you go in Lumding N.F.Railway will follow you in every step. The railway colonies spread across the entire town its a wonder in itself. The blue hills surrounding the township is just a soothing experience to the eyes.

People of Lumding are an example of the integrity in diversity. You can find people from every part of the country staying there, though its not a industrial hub or a metropoly. Lumding College boasts to have someone from Kerala as the HOD in English, Mathematics faculty has someone related to Bihar among the much uniqueness.

Lumding celebrates Durga Puja when all the Bengalies celebrate all across the world. Also Bihu, the festival of Assam, is celebrated along with the rest of the Assam with great joy and togetherness. Apart from these festivals Lumding has its own unique festival, the Shitala puja. Though many Shitala temples are there, the one at Nadir par is the biggest of all. Throughout the year some or the other festival can be found at Lumding. Following are the few of them according to Bengali calender:

1. Baisakh : Nababarsha, Bihu


2. Jayishtha : Shitala puja throughout Lumding


3. Ashar : Ratha Yatra


4. Sravan : Throughout the month there will be Manasa puthi path and at the culmination of the month there will be Manasa puja


5. Bhadra : Bishwakarma Puja


6. Ashwin : Durga Puja, the biggest festival of Lumding


7. Kartik : Kartik puja, kali puja.


8. Agrahayan : Jagadhatri puja


9. Paus : at the end of Paus month Paus sankranti is celebrated.


10. Magh : Saraswati puja


11. Falgul : This is the only month where I am not finding any puja.


12. Chaitra : Basanti puja, Charak puja. Most of the time Nadir par Shitala puja falls on this month.

So much of festivity is always there at Lumding. But the outer world knows very little about Lumding. Its my attempt to take Lumding to the world through this wonderful medium.