A Tribute to Anu Borah

Anu Borah, with characteristic sense of purpose, chose the time and day of her passing away, and took her leave on the very morning of Janmashtami (September 7, 2023) when her life’s greatest motivator, the flute playing God was born.

Her deep spiritual inclination never stood in the way of her engagement with the material world in which she lived; and one which she enhanced with a range of accomplishments, in the world of academics, business and entrepreneurship, with the sharpness of a surgeon’s scalpel. How she did this is a matter for speculation, but what she did is a matter of fact.

She was born in 1933, and spent her growing up years in a man’s world, where a woman was expected to raise a family and run a home. She far transcended that belief. Her primary education was in Mission School, Nagaon. She did her BSc. from Cotton College, Guwahati, after which, rising above her class, she won the gold medal from President Radhakrishna at the Benaras Hindu University for academic excellence in her MSc. Botany.

She launched forth into her career by taking up a day job with Assam Carbon Limited, began broadcasting on All India Radio, and to establish her creative and entrepreneurial ability, she set up and managed a fabric printing boutique-Pancharatna. Her marriage to Durga Prasad Borah, and the tug and pull of family life, during which she gave birth to three daughters, did not diminish her energy and her sense of self-worth. She had much more to contribute, and she did. She established a nursery school, ‘Sunrise,’ created a hostel of young girl students, and in addition, accepted the invitation to serve as an office bearer of the Eastern India Woman’s Association, initiating a number of charitable schemes. She authored three books with stories and poems. The remarkable by-product of her initiatives is that her business ventures had an underlying benefit for society, and the number of people who owe a debt of gratitude to her for enhancing the quality of their lives is countless.

Despite such a range of activities, her role, not just as a mentor, but as a benefactor for her immediate and extended family is, to say the least, exemplary. In her, the woman had become not just the equal of man, but a role model for both genders. It would not be outrageous to designate her as the first lady of her community.

Munmun, Runjun, Zinma

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