Aishwarya Kakati & Bhabesh Baruah conferred with Natasurya Award

A CORRESPONDENT

TEZPUR: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday presented the Natasurya Phani Sarma Memorial Award 2020 to renowned director and playwright Aishwarya Kakati and veteran actor and director Bhabesh Baruah at a programme organized by the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Assam, in association with Sonitpur district administration at Tezpur Baan Theatre

Aishwarya Kakati is a renowned name in the field of drama in Assam. He has numerous plays and performances to his credit. Noted actor Bhabesh Baruah performed in two of the dramas, Bhogjora and Brikhyor Khoj, while he was working at the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Assam. He has also acted in Assamese films. He has performed and directed in almost all the theatre groups of Assam.

The award carries Rs 2 lakh, a citation, xarai and angabastra. Speaking at the award ceremony, the Chief Minister said that Tezpur was a place where personalities like Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala, Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Dr Bhupen Hazarika and Natasurya Phani Sarma grew and brought laurels. Natasurya Phani Sarma had made tremendous contribution to the cultural field of Assam and through his work he unified the greater Assamese society cutting across linguistic, religious and all other divides. His plays depicted the ills affecting the society and they also provided a message to overcome all those challenges. Love, brotherhood, peace and harmony were strong traits of all his creations and he worked tirelessly to bring in societal change, he said.

Asserting that people of the State must join hands with the State Government to bring development and prosperity with hard work and dedication, Sonowal said that human values should not be sacrificed for achieving development. Referring to Dr. Bhupen Hazarika's timeless songs which spoke about inherent strengths of the Assamese society and which also acted like a mirror, the Chief Minister urged all parents to inculcate strong moral values and humane sensibilities amongst the younger generation of the State so that they could contribute meaningfully to the nation building process.

Saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been striving hard to transform India into a developed and prosperous nation, Sonowal said that the people of the State must work towards removing superstitious beliefs and wrong practices from the society to fulfil the Prime Minister's vision of a new India. The Chief Minister also said the land of Assam had been graced by great personalities and real tribute would only be paid to them if the Assamese society followed their ideals in true spirit, he opined.

The two awardees felt overjoyed. "We are really happy that our contributions have been recognised by way of such prestigious awards," the awardees said.

Minister for Cultural Affairs Naba Kumar Doley, Tezpur MP Pallab Lochon Das, Director of Cultural Affairs, Bishnu Kamal Borah, MLAs of Tezpur, Barchala, Sootea, Dhekiajuli, Biswanath Chariali and Nagaon LACs, and Deputy Commissioner of Sonitpur, Manvendra Pratap Singh were also present in the programme, among others.

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