Pearls of wisdom for Manipur kids

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Mary Kom at the cultural meet in Imphal on Saturday. Telegraph picture Imphal, Aug. 10: Manipur sports icons Mary Kom and Ng. Shantikumar Meitei today urged the children of the state to struggle hard to excel in their chosen fields. “If I can, you can also excel. You may find hurdles but take them as a challenge. Hard work, discipline, determination and dedication are the keys to success,” Mary Kom told children who had come from all the nine districts of Manipur to attend the fourth annual children’s cultural meet here today. Mary Kom, Olympic bronze medallist and Shantikumar, Mr World 2013, attended the daylong annual children’s cultural meet organised here by Manipur Alliance for Child Rights with the support of Child Rights and You, Calcutta. Mary Kom said she won the Olympic bronze even after having two children. “I became world champion after bearing three children. You are still very young. You all can win if you try hard despite the odds,” the boxer, now a mother of three, said. Mary Kom is taking time off from active sports to take care of her third son. “I was born to a very poor family. I am the last of 10 siblings. I struggled hard and the result is here. You can win if you want,” Shantikumar said. Shantikumar is a Manipuri-Taiwanese, who won the Mr World title in the age group of 40-49 in the world championship organised by International Natural Body Building Association at Zakynthos in Greece last month. An English teacher, Shantikumar has now settled down in Taiwan with his Taiwanese wife and four children. He is currently in Imphal visiting his family. The organisers brought the two icons before the children to inspire them. The presence of these towering personalities inspired the children, who chanted, “We want to become famous like them,” in response to a question by state social welfare minister Mirabai Devi, who addressed the opening programme as chief guest. Children belonging to different communities presented cultural programmes. This year’s theme is Today’s Secure Childhood Ensures a Magnificent Tomorrow. K. Pradipkumar, the convener of Manipur Alliance for Child Rights, said the objective of the programme was to send a strong message on the need for a normal childhood. “Because of the conflict situation, HIV/AIDS and child trafficking, many children are robbed of their normal childhood. No society can progress if the children do not have a secure childhood,” Pradipkumar said.

Strict measures taken up to prevent child trafficking: Mirabai

The government is taking up strict measures to prevent child trafficking cases which are being carried out by some NGOs to earn hefty amounts, said Social Welfare Minister Ak Mirabai.

She was speaking as Chief Guest at the 4th Annual Children’s Meet 2013 organised by Manipur Alliance for Child Rights (MACR) under the sponsorship of Children’s Rights and You (CRY), Kolkata at the auditorium of Tribal Research Institute, Chingmeirong, Khongnang Karak.

The meet was held under the theme “Today’s Ensured Child’s Childhood Ensures Magnificent Tomorrow. MLA Thongam Bishwajit presided over the function. Associate General Manager of CRY, Ashim Kumar Ghosh; Mr World Dr Ngangbam Shantikumar and Olympic Medallist MC Mary Kom were also present as Guests of Honour.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Mirabai said that the government is taking up strict measures to prevent human trafficking cases by establishing Juvenile Justice Board and deploying concerned officials in all the nine districts of the state.

There are reports and incidents of some NGOs with vested interest trafficking children from poor family and orphan to earn some hefty amounts. The government is closely observing such cases and investigations are going on against suspicious NGOs.

Organising such meets for the children and providing a common platform to the children of different communities is a great way to bring unity among the different communities residing in the state.

MLA Th Bishwajit said that it is important for the parents to identify the talents of their children and provide them further education in the field they are suited for. He also said that he will take up plans to provide financial assistance to sexually abused children and child victims of violence from his Local Area Development Fund.

Convener of Manipur Alliance for Child Rights, K Pradipkumar said that there are cases of children from the state being trafficked to other states and sexually abused and become victims of violence. He appealed to the government to make a State Child Policy.

Children from different districts showcased cultural programmes as part of the annual meet.

Such meets bring peace, love amongst the people living in hill and valley of the state: A K Mirabai

IMPHAL, August 10: Along with two youth icons of the state, the 4th Annual Children’s Cultural meet was celebrated under the theme “Today’s secured childhood ensures a magnificent tomorrow” at Tribal Research Institute, Auditorium Hall, Chingmeirong today.

The cultural meet was organized by Manipur Alliance for Child Rights(MACR) with the support from Child Right and You (CRY), Kolkata.

Around 500 children along with teachers, parents attended the meet.

The function was attended by Social Welfare Minister A K Mirabai Devi, Thongju MLA Th Bishwajit Singh, Olympic medalist M C Mary Kom, Mr World Dr Ng Shantikumar Meetei, MACR convenor K Pradipkumar and CRY associate general manager Ashim Kumar Ghosh as presidium members of the function.

Speaking at the function, A K Mirabai said that such meets brings peace, love amongst the people living in hill and valley of the state. She further said that since 1975 till today, 42 projects for the benefit of children specially for girls were already set up by social welfare department and still 43 projects are in under process, she said.

While giving keynote address, K Pradipkumar said that the reason for choosing such theme is that to get basic needs of children as well as getting their fundamental right.

He also suggested that to make child policy as a state policy. He further said that Juvenile justice fund should set up immediately.

Speaking at the function, Ashim kumar said that organizing such cultural meet for integrated culture, social of the children and also make a platform for gathering as well as sharing their feeling, thoughts.

Speaking at function, Dr Ng Shantikumar said that as he was grown up in the poor family, he is the last among 10 sibling of Kanglatombi. He further said that his father was farmer who does not have their own land. Hard work, positive thinking and determination should get his present status, he said.

Speaking at the function, M C Mary Kom said that when she started playing boxing, she did not get any support from family, friends. Instead of supporting, they discouraged her, she said.

She also said that before marriage she got silver medal. After marriage she got world Champion title twice and after having kids also she got world champion title twice.

She further advised the young girls not to lose hope as you are girls. “If I can do it, why not you”, she said.

Sociology of dropping names

By: Jhilam RoyChowdhury

When I decided to give it a try, barely did I know that it was going to be a revealing experience. Although I must admit that I wanted everybody to relive those moments which we cherished for about three years, three eventful, youthful years in college, which we left behind around 17 years back!

My long time friend was visiting India during this Puja after many years with family from USA. She called me up few months back to share her visit plan and also asked if I am in touch with any of our college friends whom she can catch up with. I thought, why not? What could be a better gift to her? I started dropping few names with whom I occasionally speak to and few others who remain dormant in my ‘friend list’- thanks to social network sites. There my journey began to reunite as many members possible from my batch of the under graduate department of sociology, Asutosh college, Calcutta. My challenges were many, time to sit in computer and find contact and informing them about plans, collecting phone numbers, setting up a date, all along with managing my office and tours and shopping for Puja for family. And last but not the least was the execution of the plan of reunion. This means finalising venue and other logistics.

In the first phase, I found some of them are quick to response if not quick but at least consistent in responding in the FB. That was a good sign which encouraged me to go ahead. Next came the task of coordinating with friends living in other parts of the country, if they are visiting the city during Puja. Getting a date was the toughest of all. But I must say that most of the friends I contacted showed eagerness to the idea. My strategy was to let the idea flow and not push them. At the end I proposed a date with assertiveness, and it worked. I managed to confirm 6 of them and it was not bad number considering the size of the class and the class room, infamous room no. 27 in Asutosh college.

Just before the day of meeting I started calling up and get confirmation. To my surprise, it seemed that nothing really changed in all these years! Same kind of apprehension about each other, same curiosity and similar equation we used to have years back! I was really looking forward to this get together. I was sure its going to be so different than rest of the parties where you already know who drinks what and who sings well and who would be the bartender and so on and so forth. I am going to enjoy it.

Bringing to an end to my apprehension, the crowd started flowing in accompanying with kids. My sister, the all time gate crusher, played perfect hostess. This one time I am glad she chipped in. She played role of nanny by taking care of the kids who never bothered us, perfect friend who went out and bought drinks for us. She took care that everybody gets adequate heated food and also cleaned the whole house after the party was over.

Coming to the actual party! I found everybody to be really glad to meet each other after many years. They thanked me profusely for taking the pain of organizing it, congratulate me on my apartment and the décor of it, credit for which actually go to my sister again. They helped me in serving, they helped themselves. In nutshell, they felt at home. I was more interested to hear what they have to say about themselves. What we call ‘catching up’. It is really interesting to find that they are drawing many references of their lives and related events which may not be logically connected. How you take forward a comment made by other and use it as window to give a sneak pick of your life. This can be taken to the level of art. Who is the greatest artist of all.  Say for example, referring to the name of celebrity who carries your number or visited your home when your father was not well. How you are connected with the most respected universities of U S, what kind of loans you hold currently. I and few others learnt the art of dropping names…..which….how….when.

To me the most interesting and satisfactory part is when someone correctly remember the full names of all members of the class, try to find out what they are doing now and where. It was wonderful when we try to recall some of the embarrassing moments, popular events and quotes of yesteryears. Some members come out with flying colours, fresh, jovial and more participative than ever.

What I felt at the end that it is not necessary to be equal, we were never equal when we met 20 years back. We almost remain same as were that many years back. I firmly now believe that by the time you are 18+ your personality and individuality is already formed. You are shaped up as young adult. What we learn and absorb for first 18 years of our lives is what we become later on. We hardly change and barely mould. Yes, what we experience in our lives weather us, mature us, develop us. 

Mary, mother, pray tell why?

September 8, 2012

 

  

  

Mary Kom, tough as nails boxing champ, is an image most can't accept. So we make her conform to more conventional notions of the feminine, says Payoshni Mitra.

While MC Mary Kom's achievements are unparalleled in the history of Indian boxing, and perhaps in Indian sport in general, it is a fact that no other boxer has ever received the amount of attention that she is currently enjoying after winning a bronze medal in London 2012. And while she certainly deserves every bit of that praise for being a true champion - and inspiring a whole nation to finally pay attention to the sport - it is, however, interesting to note that there are two other things about her that have been highlighted again and again in all the buzz. One is Mary's identity as a national icon from Manipur, a deprived Northeastern state with a growing list of grievances against the central government and the Indian army. The other, interestingly, is her identity as a mother of two five-year-old twin sons. 

And it's not as if boxing has quite made it to the mainstream yet. To have their daughter take part in boxing, a combat sport, is still seen as being too risk-filled and socially unacceptable to many parents. Indeed, India's female boxers long endured opposition and ridicule from people around them and yet still refused to quit the ring. They ploughed on and did this even when women's boxing did not feature in the Olympics and therefore received little financial and infrastructural support. 

We know social attitudes towards women decisively influence the production of images of female bodies in advertising, films and other media. Which is why unconventional images of strong women (a female boxer in this case) are markedly underrepresented in order to suppress the potential threat to patriarchal power. Forget boxers for a moment, think of P T Usha, whose 'unfeminine' built caused some ruction in the Indian media in her early days as a top athlete. That was tackled by emphasising Usha's image as an obedient and submissive student of her coach, a dominant father-like figure, Nambiar. 

Evidently, when it comes to female athletes and media representation, it is all about what sells. Controversies sell (ask Sania Mirza), beauty sells (ask Mirza again), sweethearts sell (ask Britain's Rebecca Adlington), supermoms sell (ask Mary Kom or Kim Clijsters), skirts sell (ask Saina Nehwal), and crying certainly sells (ask Jordyn Weiber of USA). Peddling stereotypes is not just ideal marketing practice, it's good business. Afemale athlete, therefore, has to perform as well as conform - to conventional ideas of womanhood. And the media loves showing afemale athlete embodying aspects of conventional roles: of a daughter, wife or mother. 

Intelligent Life, a magazine published by The Economist, also featured the Mary Kom story recently. The cover read: 'Give her a medal: Five times World Champion. Mother of two. Carrying the hopes of a billion people. One shot at gold. The remarkable Mary Kom'. 

In almost all reports about her - regional, national and international - the emphasis has been on how she is a fighter in the ring and a perfect mother-figure outside. A report on the BBC's website said, 'It is amazing to see the transformation when Kom steps into the ring. She stops being the gentle, mother-like figure and becomes a tiger'. Indian publications too have used the same emphasis: 'Mary Kom: the tough and the tender rolled into one', 'Twins but only one bronze: Mother Mary's in a dilemma' and so on. And if not in the title, almost all articles would invariably begin by describing her as a champion boxer and a mother of twins. Facebook and twitter messages were full of similar examples: 'Supermom Mary kom', 'Magnificent mom Mary Kom', 'Beauty and biceps together'. In MC Mary Kom: Boxer, Mother, Icon, published earlier this year, it is written, 'Her greatest achievement though, has been the fact that much of her success has come after the caesarean birth of her twins'. 

It is indeed a great achievement to have overcome poverty, nutritional deficiency, ethnic discrimination, post-pregnancy physical exhaustion and become achampion boxer. Mary is indeed magnificent. But why this repeated emphasis on Mary, the mother? Media reports on her London 2012 bouts, tweets about her, and messages supporting her on Facebook and other social media recurrently eulogised her for being a mother of two. 

For the media and for her supporters, it is probably important to create that image of a mother. This is because the female boxer is in many ways a threatening notion, an unacceptable image that blurs the line between masculinity and femininity and fuels our anxiety about a possible lesbian presence in sports. To make a female boxer acceptable in a largely homophobic society, one needs a mother of two in whom one sees raw aggression coupled with the virtues of motherhood and nurturing. That's the image of the new Indian woman - at least that's the image of Mary Kom that the media and the sponsors will want her to understand in exchange for their financial support. As the writer of the Intelligent Life article on Mary, put it, 'a boxer who enjoys doing her nails and visiting the beauty parlour, loves raising her children, and yes, she will fight with a skirt on'. The line has been drawn. With Mary Kom, we feel safe. 

This article is not about Mary Kom but about how we want to perceive her. Her emphasis on being an Indian first is what we want to listen to again and again. Her ability to juggle raw aggression and mothering is important to us because we cannot accept a female boxer solely based on her fighting ability and her sporting achievements. It is we who feel the need to connect the image of a female boxer with the notion of a family, with childbirth and nurturing. It is we who want to see a female boxer in a conventional role. Because somehow, the female boxer, most of us inherently believe, is intimidating. Besides, we are, after all, the market. 

Play Like a Girl, Woman!

http://feministsindia.com/play-like-a-girl-woman/

August 29, 2012 Debates

The International Olympic Committee policy on female athletes with hyperandrogenism could result in a witch-hunt forcing an athlete to undergo invasive medical investigation based mostly on her appearance

By Payoshni Mitra

In his column named Serve and Volley in The Telegraph, Naresh Kumar, former Indian tennis player wrote on January 14, 2006:

“The saddest part about women’s tennis is the destruction of femininity. Most of the top notchers are six feet and over in height, and with the shoulders of a lumberjack and muscular bodies, they have an intimidating presence. Nature is distorted and pushed beyond limits by exercise regimes and diet supplements. Where, in nature, will you find bulging biceps coupled with ample breasts?”

These few lines sum up how most of the Indian sporting ‘fraternity’ looks at women’s sports. It is an aberration to have muscular bodies if you are a woman: six feet tall girls are intimidating and therefore, unacceptable; bulging biceps next to ample breasts are unnatural. With such a mindset, when our sport administrators come across athletes with intersex conditions, they not only struggle to tackle their issues but treat these athletes as anomalies, outcast them and then pretend they never existed.

We noticed this attitude when Santhi Soundarajan came back after the Doha Asian Games in 2006. In my documentary Y cant I run? Santhi talks about how she was suddenly looked at as ‘a cheater’. Footballer Bandana Pal was abandoned, not only by the concerned sport administrators but also disowned by her own family when the controversy about her sex was reported in Bengali newspapers about a decade back.

When Pinki Pramanik was arrested by the police in June this year, sport federations, officials, coaches and doctors were reluctant to comment initially. However, there was a noticeable shift in the way a section of the media (including vernacular press and TV channels) reported the cases – changing public perception and forcing sport governing body members and other concerned people to speak out and offer support to these athletes.

This was possible when some of us openly spoke in favour of Pinki Pramanik and Santhi Soundarajan and turned the focus on the ill-treatment of people considered different. However, the damage made was enormous. The utter failure of the state machinery, the audacity of the police in the way they violated Pinki’s rights again and again, the failure of the judiciary in comprehending the case, and the inefficiency and lack of knowledge about intersex conditions among medical practitioners were indicative of the lack of sensitivity and inadequacy within our society.

Pinki Pramanik’s case points to the fact that we still need to do a lot to be able to combat this maltreatment of athletes and non-athletes born different. When the debate about Pinki Pramanik’s ‘sex’ was getting unparalleled media attention in India, I was often asked about the so-called policy of ‘gender-verification’ in international sport.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had banned routine sex-testing for more than a decade. However, female athletes did not escape scrutiny so easily. Competing nations, participants and even medical officials at international and other tournaments continued to raise questions and force female athletes to go through sex-determining medical test.

Santhi Soundarajan and Caster Semenya are victims of such scrutiny. Even though, not much action was taken after Santhi Soundarajan’s medal was taken away, the IAAF was internationally criticised for the mismanagement of Caster Semenya’s case.  This forced the IAAF to rethink their policy on female athletes with hyperandrogenism. Eventually, before the London 2012 Olympics, both IAAF and IOC published new policies on female athletes with hyperandrogenism.

The current policies proclaim that atypically high levels of endogenous testosterone in women create an unfair advantage and therefore needs to be regulated. What is interesting is – on what basis would they conduct a test on hyperandrogenism? If it is not the athlete herself, or her national federation, who approach the IAAF Medical Manager for investigation, the Medical Manager’s reasonable grounds for belief in a case may be derived from any reliable source including a Doping Control Officer or information received by the IAAF Medical Delegate or other responsible medical official at a competition.

Such information is most likely to be dependent on an athlete’s appearance or performance. IAAF’s publication on regulations governing eligibility of females with hyperandrogenism to compete in women’s competition clearly states that:

“The difference in athletic performance between males and females is known to be predominantly due to higher levels of androgenic hormones in males resulting in increased strength and muscle development.

It is also known from experience that there are rare cases of young females competing in Athletics today who are affected by hyperandrogenism which, if the condition remains undiagnosed or neglected, can pose a risk to health. Despite the rarity of such cases, their emergence from time to time at the highest level of women’s competition in Athletics has proved to be controversial since the individuals concerned display masculine traits and have an uncommon athletic capacity in relation to their fellow female competitors.”

This above section should ring an alarm. It is clear that female athletes with powerful physiques will be subjected to unprecedented scrutiny as a result of such policies. The detailed list of medical guidelines, mentioned in the IAAF regulations, only reinstates stereotypes about how a woman should look. This is particularly disturbing because elite female athletes are fitter, muscular and more powerful than most female non-athletes and therefore, such policies will force female athletes to try and conform to a stereotype in order to avoid severe scrutiny and humiliation (as have been noticed in Semenya’s case).

Also, the IAAF policy makes an assumption that those who display what they term as ‘masculine traits’ will have an uncommon athletic capacity in relation to their fellow female competitors. If this was true, Santhi Soundarajan would have won the gold in Doha Asian Games beating Maryam Yusuf Jamal by a margin and Caster Semenya would have held the world record for women’s 800m by now. This makes it clear that these policy-makers are making an assumption on the basis of appearance of these athletes. Besides, the over-emphasis on hyperandrogenism and considering one’s naturally produced androgen as giving one an unfair advantage are debatable too.

Why are they so obsessed with this notion of ‘unfair advantage’ in women’s sports?

The sport governing bodies like the IOC and the IAAF are made of people (mainly men) who are no superior in intellect, sensibility or sensitivity, to our own Mr. Naresh Kumar quoted in the very beginning of this article. They are mostly absolutely incompetent men trying their best to make sure that the gap between the physical potential of men and women are never bridged. Their most recent attempt at achieving this is through their policy on female athletes with hyperandrogenism.

What concerns one the most, is the way the Indian sport administrators look at these IOC/IAAF policies as supreme and indisputable. Given that the IOC policy clearly bestows the duty to the national governing bodies to make sure that athletes with hyperandrogenism are treated and taken care of before they are sent to represent their respective countries in international tournaments, female athletes in India are likely to go through inspection as never before at a national level too.

There is also a common tendency to uncritically follow recommendations made by medical scientists. Scientists have critiqued medical science’s bias on women over the years. Research on intersex conditions is still insufficient. There is no adequate scientific evidence to support the notion that endogenous testosterone levels confer athletic advantage in any certain way.

Internationally, Professor Rebecca Jordan-Young, a socio-medical scientist from Barnard College and Dr. Katrina Karkazis, an anthropologist and bioethicist from Stanford University are campaigning against this policy and are demanding that it should be withdrawn. We in India must work towards protecting the rights of female athletes who are at the risk of undergoing increased scrutiny, exploitation and forceful medical treatment that may include hormone therapy and in some cases gonadectomy.

Featured Photo Courtesy: Mirror UK

Payoshni Mitra is an independent sports research consultant living in UK. As an activist-cum-researcher, Payoshni is closely working with some intersex athletes in India in their fight for justice.

Last journey of the people's Hero

Jhilam RoyChowdhury
10/11/11

I was walking though a busy street in Guwahati looking for a particular shop, when I overheard a by passer, talking in his cell phone. Two words out of the Assamese conversation attracted my attention, ‘Bhupen da expired’. Bhupen Hazarika is the undisputed torchbearer of Assamese culture and the very identity of its people. He has been entertaining and enlightening the people of eastern India with his poetry and music for over 50 years.

Bhupen Hazarika was born in 1926 in Sadiya, Assam. He was academically brilliant and went on to do his Masters in Political Science from Banaras University in the year before India’s independence. He then pursued his PhD in Mass Communication from Columbia University, USA. Later on he received prestigious Lisle fellowship from Chicago University. He has also been blessed to his music with legend like Paul Robson.

Apart from being academically brilliant this child prodigy started his career as a child actor in the very second talkie of India and wrote and composed his very first song at the age of 10. In his long career in cinema and documentary he not only placed Assamese cinema in world map but also propagated better cinema movement in India for more than 40 years.

Bhupen Hazarika was a lyricist and composer in his own right. I grew up listening to his songs in the record player my mother proudly possessed. Even today his song instantly takes me away to my childhood memories. At that tender age I perceived the words as description of a beautiful land of river, water, rainfall and people. Never knowing at that age what Assam is and how it looks like, I imagined a beautiful landscape with greenery and moisture-full air and overflowing rivers. Surprisingly, when I actually get to see this land after 30 years, I find it exactly the way I imagined it years back in my tender mind. Such is the power of his lyrics and music. It took many more years for me to actually internalise the meaning of his words, his endless optimism to awaken humane values, search for his destiny, appeal for humanity and equality, his thirst for world culture and travel. But all the while, he deeply remained true to his land, culture and people.

He remained truly a people’s voice through his works in cinema, literature and music. He is recipient of many awards but all recognition fell short when it comes to acknowledge his contribution as a true intellectual to Indian society in last 5 decades. So, it comes as no surprise that innumerable fans and followers flocked in the Judges Field in Guwahati on 7th and 8th of November to pay their homage to their last living hero. But even then what I experienced in Guwahati those two days is completely unprecedented and overwhelming. His body was supposed to reach his home at 2 o’clock from airport but all through the road so many followers wanted to pay their homage that the cart could not move and they only could reach at 11.30 at night completely shuffling state governments further plans. In fact, the cremation ceremony had to be postponed by another 24 hours to let everybody be able to pay their homage to Bhupen Hazarika.

I saw long queue at the Judges Field on the night of 6th when his body didn’t even arrive. Visitors flowed in throughout the night, next day and next whole night. The state government had to notify 12 hours prior to the public before closing of public viewing. Such is the respect and love he commanded from his own people. I could not really fathom why a 19 year old boy or girl or a mother with 2 month old baby in lap or a 85 year-old feeble lady would not mind to stand in a queue as long as 6 and 6 and ½ hours to pay homage to a man who died at the age of 86 after long ailment. I am truly taken over by the passion of people and the love for their Hero. It is right that we Indian’s are fond of hero worship and is always willing to look up to a hero who we can follow and respect. What I witnessed is epitome of hero worship witnessed in recent past in the country. Mostly in white wear, with flowers, garlands, white pigeon and Assamese Gamcha in their hands and tears in their eyes, the crowd moved very systematically and slowly towards the large tent build in the middle of the field even at wary hours. Their faces were sad and thoughtful but never showed any tiredness. They came here with very high spirit with a vigour to not to let their hero down and continue to follow his path and take his movement forward. For three days we only got to hear his voice, his songs when walking in the street, while turning on the television and radio.

The state government called for a 3-day state mourning where all offices, schools, colleges remained closed, exams were postponed. I found not a single shop was opened including pharmacies on my way to airport on 8th. Not a single soul remain their, who did not remember this man on those mourning days. While sitting in the airport to catch a evening flight back to Kolkata, we found that the local channel are condemning the few offices who chose to work on those days saying that they deprived their employees from their right to pay homage to the state’s all time hero. It has been decided that his ashes will be taken to all district and dissolved in various rivers.

His songs which I memorise from childhood ‘Bistirno du pare, ashonkkho manusher’, ‘Dola, he dola he dola’, ‘Shagor sangame’, ‘Ganga amar ma’, ‘Manush manusher jonne’ are still echoing in my head. I believe, his works have been able to transcend time. These would always be remain relevant and will be the medium of transmitting values, culture, and patriotism to coming generations.