Dr Surjya Kanta Hazarika: The rise of anew sun in Asam Sahitya Sabha

He mingled the education and entertainment in the TV serials such as NirmalBhakat (1993) which ran for fiveepisodes in Hindi on Assam History Story by legendary novelist RajanikantaBordoloi . His direction in Dhanya Nara TanuBhal (2004) was so popular that he had to present eightepisodes in Hindi based on the legendary SrimantaSankardeva'slife and activities. It is interesting to note that he did deep research while preparing these serials and the fidelity to facts was amazing. The dazzling podium of Assam's literary globe was agog with excitement when results of the Asom Sahitya Sabha presidential election were declared on December24, 2022 and the 'Big Day of Victory'for AssameseLiterature came with the victory of famous litterateur, journalist, songwriter, poet, filmmaker, publisher, and educationist SurjyaKanta Hazarika as the new President of Asam Sahitya Sabha in a memorable contest with Padma Shri Yeshe ThongcheeDorjee of Arunachal Pradesh. Dr SurjyaKanta Hazarika is also a Padma Shri Awardee, receiving the honour for Literature and Education in 2008 from the thenIndian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil. He candidly confessed that this was his lifelong dream. There were 734 ballots in Asam Sahitya Sabha voting boxes and he had won a thumping victory. It may be mentioned that the election committee was convened on September 27 by former Assam State Election Commission Commissioner Harendra Nath Bora and Gauhati High Court lawyers Nilanjan Deka and JitanPayeng. SurjyaKantaHazarika was born in Dibrugarh on May 31, 1956. His father's name is Chandrakanta Hazarika, and he is the creator of the well-known 'Bani Mandir' in Dibrugarh. Chandrakanta Hazarika established the 'Bani Mandir' publishing firm in Dibrugarh in 1949. SurjyaKanta Hazarika and his wife Eva Hazarika,are parents to three boys, Sudipta, Aditya, and Udipta, all of whoare successful in their respective fields. Dr Hazarika has edited the Bahniman. a fortnightly newspaper, published from Dibrugarh since 1980. He was the Assistant Editor of Echo. a literary journal, published from Dibrugarh and Guwahati (1986-90). He published the New Daily, a newspaper, from Guwahati (1988-2002) He was immensely successful as the Editor of the New Dailynewspaper, Guwahati, in 1993-94, 1997-98 and 2000-2002 and of the Evening News published from Guwahati, 1990-2001 Chitra Sangbad, a cine weekly, published from Guwahati, 1990-2002 also Editor of Khel Samachar, a fortnightly sports paper published from Guwahati since 1998 and as Editor of Asom Sahitya Sabha Samacharpublished by Asam Sahitya Sabha, Jorhat, Guwahati, 1992and also edited Asom Sahitya Sabha Patrika, an Encyclopedia issue, published by Asam Sahitya Sabha, Jorhat, Guwahati in 2003. He also served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bani Mandir, a renowned publishing business in North-East India. He was the chairman and managing director of the New Daily newspaper organisation from 1988 to 2002.He is also the organizer and founder ofChandrakanta Press Private Limited. The Asam Sahitya Sabha that started functioning in 1917 hasin recent times lost its earlier glory. During the pandemic years the activities were at low ebb. Now all are hopeful of better days for the organisation. Dr Hazarika is taking great interest in creating a group of translators for taking Assamese literature to the global arena . He is worried about the negative aspects of the media and feels that we should take more care of the digitalised media rather than the temporary impact of Facebook or Twitter. He is also worried about the decrease in interest in book reading but at the same time he is hopeful of the power of the pen. Besides these great ideals, he is also sympathetic towards the salary payment of the employees of the Asam Sahitya Sabha, which gets delayed. He is trying to realise the proposal of the Nalbari conference for payment of the salary by transferring the funds.This reveals his realistic attitude. Regarding the politicisation of the Asam Sahitya Sabha he is careful as this organisation is not political though patronisation of the government is desirable as the government is also elected by the people. There is no contradiction, he said, in accepting support from the government if they give any such proposal. The name of Dr SurjyaKanta Hazarika brings to the mind of every Assamese an image of versatility in creative works and research in printed or visual media. The range of his multitudinous activities is so vast, that he has become unknowingly the icon of the Assamese cultural andmedia world. He still recalls his days as AssociateEditor of Pratidhani magazine in which he worked under the guidance of Dr Bhupen Hazarika.as the Editor.With his command over the print media, he gracefully shifted to the TV serials but not merely for providing entertainment tothesitcom audience . He felt the need for raising the quality of TV productions and committed himself to the mission of being a director of the TV serials. He mingled the education and entertainment in the TV serials such as NirmalBhakat (1993) which ran for fiveepisodes in Hindi on Assam History Story by legendary novelist RajanikantaBordoloi . His direction in Dhanya Nara TanuBhal (2004) was so popular that he had to presenteightepisodes in Hindi based on the legendary SrimantaSankardeva'slife and activities. It is interesting to note that he did deep research while preparing these serials and the fidelity to facts was amazing. Tore More AalokoreJatra (2004) directed by this living legend for the TV viewers had eight episodes in Assamese based on life and activities of cultural icon Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla.To work on Jyoti Prasad on TV screen where people wait for light entertainment as shown in the serials, was a mammoth task. But for the genius these are challengeshe faced and overcame. In 2005 he edited Maharathi which had eight episodes in Hindi based on Karna, a character of the Mahabharata. Sometimes this literary minded man focused on the genre of the cultural fiction and in NoiBoiJai, his story was based on the fiction of Dr Lila Gogoi. In this TV serial made in 2011, he won the hearts of the Assamese people.Even when he comes to the world of academic research he showed his excellence and intellectual calibre.The 523 page book, Dr. Bhupen Hazarikargeetsamagra edited by DrSurjyaKanta Hazarika ran its third edition. It was published from Guwahati by S.H.. Educational Trust, 2010.which is now available also in Tezpur University Archive for public reading. He completed his matriculation from Vivekananda School,Digboi.and graduated from Kanoi College, Dibrugarh. He grew up as a serious student of Assamese culture during his post-graduation from Dibrugarh University. As Magazine Secretary in Kanoi College, he proved his creative funda. He was so impressed by the multifaceted activities of SrimantaSankardevain bringing Renaissance to Assamese thinking, that he started musing on this great man. Assam was his focus and he did his PhD on Nineteenth Century Publication of Books Related to Assam andin 1976published his debut book. Dr Hazarika became alife member of Asam Sahitya Sabha in 1979.As early as 2008 while BarkhaDutt, Rajdeep DilipSardesai won Padma Shri awardfor Journalism,SurjyaKanta Hazarika won it for 'Literature and Education' along with Dr. VellayaniArjunan and Mohammad Yousuf Taing. Indian born astronaut Sunita Williams that year got Padma Bhusan for astronautics, "Palaces are for the little men not for the great men because great men is humble!" As a human being his politeness, suave elegance and passionate understanding may justify his magical charisma as a writer, editor and director as his main task was to mobilise highly intelligent human resources. He never regards any China Wall as invincible. In the hands of intellectuals and thinkers like Dr. Hazarika , the light of communal harmony will glow brighter and the state will be motivatedto preserve this melting pot of cultural diversity. Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee Former International Visiting Faculty USA , a senior Academician and Trilingual writer-cum-poet may be reached at profratanbhattacharjee@gmail.com Also Read: Women who Made Headlines in 2022 Also Watch: