chickoo chick

by Dipankar Bhagavati

Is it all about destiny?

• by Anwesha De( My opinion)

Life never moves the way one would like it to. There is an unseen supreme power which guides our lives. The life of baby Chitralekha is no exception.

It was 20th Oct 2009 ,when Baby Chitralekha was born .But the new born was left by their parents on the veranda of Dr.Lakshmi Goswami’s Clinic near the Chitralekha Udyan of Tezpur for reasons unknown.

It is said that what happens always happens for the best. Destiny soon turned its wheel when this little one was adopted and named Chitralekha by the Nabhaprabath orphanage, run by Mr Biduth Saikia and his wife Mrs Trisnamoni Laskar. Baby Chitralekha now has a home, a family who cares for her. But the question which perhaps the baby will want to be answered “What is my fault?”

Humanity shows different shades in life. The baby at this tender age got the most serious punishment of being dumped by her parents for no fault. But then again questions arises when does parents sacrifice their children; what made parents to do so?

Whatever may be the circumstances; if we look around us we are sure to find many more Chitralekha. Some might be fortunate as like as baby Chitralekha who would expect to get a name and will definitely become someone under the guardianship of Mr Saikia.

Drug abuse in North East India

• by Priyanki Banerjee (My opinion)

The use of drugs is on a rampant increase in India, especially in the North Eastern region. This is evidently seen in many of the North Eastern states. It has taken a serious toll on many innocent lives of teenagers, children as well as youths of this region. These young people directly or indirectly fall a prey into this danger, sometimes consciously or sometimes unconsciously. Many a times , drugs are supplied to schools, colleges and sold in certain places . The drug suppliers or drug lords influence these people in such a way that it becomes impossible for the young people to get over this evil. It is said that there is a nexus ,a nexus of corruption and drug dealing. We too usually see that after a victim gets caught in this trap it becomes impossible for him to come out of this evil web. He is addicted and becomes so helpless into drugs that he never hesitates to resort to covert ways to get money and to procure drugs. Stealing money from his parents , borrowing the same in the pretext of need for school or college functions are usually seen as common practices .

This menace of drug abuse has spoiled many youths . There should be proper co-ordinated and conscious steps to curtail the menace of drug abuse. After all, it involves the question of the future of the society and "youth are the future".

Man creates while the Almighty disrupts

• by Jayanta Mout

Jamini Payeng of Upar Sonowal village lost her three bighas of farmland to erosion after two waves of flooding last year. She and members of her family now eke out a living as farm laborers. Back in 2000, the merciless Brahmaputra snatched away five bighas belonging to Muktinath Saikia of Salmara-Besamara village. Eight years on, his family survives on his petty job at the Char Area Development Authority office. Even two seasons ago, these women could augment the household income by making pottery items for sale. Now with the erosion becoming acute, even the particular clay required for pottery has become scarce.

Payeng and Saikia are mere examples. With the land shrinking and the number of landless increasing, people all across the Majuli Island seek out odd jobs for a paltry income. Their despair is compounded when farm activities cease during the season of floods. In the ten years since 2000, 9,027 families have lost their homes and croplands to erosion. Of these, 4,598 families eke out a living as agricultural laborers, daily wage earners and driftwood and fish sellers. And even these means of livelihood are limited these days.

Recently, I visited the campus of Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh. In the Fourth Grade Line, most of the employees of PWD had built small but comfortable cottages with their own effort. These families have been living in that place for more than twenty years. As part of their collective unity and harmony, even they established a ‘Namghar’. And in this way they lived with love and peace by shaping their small village. All the families were sympathetic to one another and interdependent.

But the gods are always jealous of too much contentment in any where. So there is now continuing sorrow and melancholy as these families have to leave each other for good. Message has come from medical authorities that these families must leave the village. It was heard that they will construct new buildings there.

In such a way, the cordial nexus of our social bindings are demolished either to serve our own requirement or to follow nature’s usual demand. But we as human beings are always optimistic for a better future. Is it for this reason that P B Shelly wants to sing, “If Winter comes can spring be far behind.”