Assam: ‘Dahal-Thungri’ of Gitali Baruah Released in Kokrajhar

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: “Dahal-Thungri” the sward and the shield book translated in Bodo language written by Gitali Baruah of Bilasipara, was released in a function held at Gaurang Valley in Kokrajhar on Sunday.

Translated from Assamese into Bodo by Sahitta Akademy Awardee Janil Kr. Brahma was released by Prof. (Dr.) Indira Boro, Head of the Department of Bodo of the Bodoland University.

In her speech, Dr. Indira Boro said the translation work was a hard task to express one’s inner thought. She said without proper exposition of the meaning of the content, the translation work could make the meaning indifferent. The book “Dahal-Thungri,” written by Gitali Baruah and translated by Janil Kr. Brahma, reflected the impact of the Bodoland movement. The story touched on the practical experience of an Assamese domestic worker in a Bodo family and her subsequent adjustment with the family and her experience with the Bodos’ Dahal-Thungri culture and tradition, she said, adding that the translation of books from one language to another was very important to exchange literature, which also works like a bridge of the literary world.

Boro said there had been easy translation by using AI, but it is not possible to get phrase words and words of insight from an AI application, and thus word-to-word translation becomes the last option to express real terms and meaning. She wanted that writer Gitali Baruah write a book on Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma in Assamese. She also said the creativity of a person never dies but will last forever. 

Translator Janil Kr. Brahma said the book “Dahal-Thungri” was not a simple book, but it is a historical book of the Bodo movement. He said after Promod Chandra Bhattacharjya’s book on Bodo history, this book of Gitali Baruah would be another book on Bodo movement history. He also said Baruah clearly exposed the Bodo movement, excesses of security forces on common people, rape and molestation, suppression of the government, and pain of the common masses in Bodo villages. He further said writer Gitali Baruah wrote the story based on facts as she visited various remote places in Bodo areas during the Bodo movement. He praised the writers—Mamoni Raisom Goswami, Ambikagiri Hazowary, and Gitali Baruah—who wrote on the history of certain Bodo legends and movements. Since Gitali Baruah has 35 books to her credit, she deserves the Sahitya Akademy award, he said, adding that the literature had no boundaries, caste, or religion, and creative writing is also not easy.

Writer Gitali Baruah said she had seen many book-releasing functions, but this function has more weight because the function was attended by noted writers and thinkers. She said she was brought up in a Bodo-dominated area, and thus she has a lot of friends with the Bodos. She said the story of the book was based on practical experience. She also said reference books were very important for more relevance. The book-releasing function was also attended by Professor of Kokrajhar Government College and a noted writer, Dr. Anjali Basumatary, Sahitya Akademy Awardee and translator Janil Brahma, vice president of Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS), Nilima Basumatary, principal of Hossaigaon BEd College, Dr. Ajit Boro, ex-MCLA Jatindra Brahma, and other writers.

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