Minister UG Brahma pitches for Kamini Kr Narzary Academy on 98th Birth Anniversary

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: Synchronizing with the observation of 98th birth anniversary of great cultural genius Ostad Kamini Kr. Narzary, the Dularai Boro Harimu Afad (DBHA), a cultural organization of the Bodos celebrated the 2nd Boro Harimu Saan (Bodo Cultural Day) at Baganshali in Kokrajhar on Saturday. The day was jointly organized by the central committee, DBHA and Kokrajhar district committee, DBHA where an open memorial lecture on the “contributions of Ostad Kamini Kr Narzary in Bodo culture” was held mesmerizing the relentless dedication of Ostad Kamini Kr. Narzary who played a pioneer role to expose Bagurumbha dance in a broader platform.

As part of the programme, the president of the DBHA Bijuel Nelson Daimary hoisted the organizational flag followed by floral tribute to Ostad Kamini Kr. Narzary by his then dance student Noisi Brahma. She was one of the dancers in the Bagurumbha dance presentation in the Republic Day celebration in New Delhi in 1957. The open memorial lecture on the contributions of Ostad Kamini Kr. Narzary was chaired by the president of DBHA Bijuel Nelson Daimary.

In his inaugural speech, minister UG Brahma said Kamini Kr Narzary was an unsung genius of the Bodos but his dedications and contributions were forgotten. He said Ostad Narzary was the one who established the Bagurumbha traditional dance form and participated in the Republic Day celebration in New Delhi in 1955 who subsequently received ‘Sangeet Natak Akademy award’ in 1956 for his outstanding contributions in Bodo culture. He said there should be an academy of Bodo folk dance in the name of “Ostad Kamini Kr Narzary” to promote indigenous culture and to preserve his dance form. He called upon the DBHA to take necessary initiative to preserve his dance form and the academy for preservation of indigenous culture. He also said the Bodos forgot the contributions of Ostad Narzary for long but today everyone has come forward to seek out his insights and contributions in Bodo culture.

President of DBHA Bijuel Nelson Daimary said the association observed the Boro Harimu Saan in connection with the 98th birth anniversary of Ostad Kamini Kr. Narzary in every district to revisit his unrelenting efforts and dedications for the Bodo traditional dance. He also thanked the government of Assam for declaring November 9 as the Boro Harimu Saan and the government of BTR for extending support to celebrate the day.

Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, the president of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS) Dr. Surath Narzary said the Bodos were forced to survive and establish their culture, tradition, language and literature with many challenges and sacrifices over the year because the Bodos were subjected to be untouchable by other advanced communities as they used to eat pork, snail, insects etc. which according to his observation could be of superiority complex of the upper caste communities. However, the Bodos went ahead with the challenges and sacrifice in every field to establish their basic things, he said adding that Ostad Kamini Kr Narzary was one of the geniuses in culture, Binod (Dabla) Brahma in sports, who had no concern for their families for the sake of serving the community. He said Kamini Kr Narzary started the “Jarapagla” dance in “Kherai puja”, as he was extremely curious when he heard the sound of “Kham”. “Jarapagla” was a good follower of the God and in deep interpretation the Bodos use the word- “Pagla” to express excessive love, hate, faith, anger etc. He also said Ostad Narzary used to visit remote villages and taught folk dance and streamlined the classical form too. He further said the “Daoshree Delai” dance was also a discovery of Kamini Kr. Narzary. Since Ostad Kamini Kr. Narzary deeply devoted his life for the Bodo culture, everyone should recollect his true contributions to the society. He thanked the DBHA for taking initiative in keeping the name of Narzary alive.

The memorial lecture was also spoken by renowned historian from West Bengal Hiracharan Narzinary, advisors of DBHA Rahendra Nath Brahma and ABSU secretary Dinesh Brahma and  Rohendra Nath Brahma and was attended by advisor of DBHA-Jogeswwr Brahma, Rupendra Basumatary, president of Kokrajhar district BSS Bijel Kr. Basumatary, general secretary of KDC, ABSU Khampa Basumatary, editor of ‘The Bodo’ of the BSS Baneswar Basumatary, founder president of Kokrajhar district DBHA Kanteswar Mohilary, one of the Bagurumbha dance in Republic Day celebration in New Delhi in 1957 Ratneswari Basumatary and others. Ostad Kamini Kr. Narzary was born on November 9 in 1926 at Bamwnkhura village under Gossaigaon sub division of Kokrajhar district. He died in 1998.

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