A tribute to Pankaj Thakur

Pankaj Thakur whose unalloyed friendship I was fortunate to enjoy for six decades and more, took his last bow on February 16, when he quietly walked into the sunset. I lost a friend; and Assam a dedicated literary and cultural activist.

Pankaj was born in Dergaon and spent most of his childhood under the watchful guidance of his maternal grandparents in Janji. He was a sensitive soul, but was also gifted with a sense of candid humour. Growing up in the slow and idyllic rural environs, he saw life in its different dimensions. This perhaps deepened his innate craving for creativity and sharpened his quest for a canvas to portray life's multiple facets. In the later years, his literary efforts in many genres left a mark in the literary and cultural arena of Assam. The times were different and difficult in the sixties and seventies for those of us who were just stepping out of the comfort zones of our universities. Access to information was not easy and opportunities were limited. But Pankaj was an energetic soul and was always relentlessly in search of his own road. He initially opted for a career in teaching and joined Mount Tiyi College, Wokha, in Nagaland as a lecturer. But later, he changed course and entered the corporate world and served in several corporate giants with distinction. He retired as Branch Head of Tata Motors at Guwahati in 2008.

Pankaj steered his boat skilfully to maintain a fine balance between his core interest in cultural and literary pursuits and the demands and pressures of the corporate culture, thus creating his own space and identity. He covered a wide canvas. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for translation for Bidirno Baghjai a translation of Viswas Patil's much acclaimed Marathi novel Jhadajhadati. A popular collection of anecdotal narratives of some of his experiences and events of a personal nature, Jibon Juktir Bahirot has been translated into five Indian languages, Hindi, Oriya, Bengali, Bodo and English.

He edited the biannual Assamese magazine Amar Xomoy, published by the Times Group and won many accolades for creating contents of contemporary interest. He was the Consulting Editor of the weekly Assamese magazine Ajir Oxom published by the Sentinel Group. He dabbled in films as well, with his story / script of the award winning Assamese film Ahir Bhairav. The film has been preserved in the archive of the British Film Institute (BFI), London, for "the unusual freshness of the story".

He belonged to a rare breed with an amazing ability for mobility and multi-tasking. For those of us who knew him It was therefore sad to see Pankaj within the confines of his home in his last days most unlike his usual self. This is a tribute to celebrate the life of Pankaj Thakur, a man of many hues, rather than to mourn his passing. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

– KN Hazarika

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