Guwahati, Monday, April 24, 2006
STATE
World’s first online English-Assamese dictionary launched
From Our Correspondent
SIPAJHAR, April 23 : It is a matter of pride for every Assamese that the world’s first online English-Assamese dictionary was launched on March 10. The internet site (http://www.baruah in/assamese/word search.htm) was launched by a talented Assamese youth Bikram M Baruah, who presently is a senior petroleum engineer with Kelkar and Associates in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Baruah is a good example for the younger generation of Assam to follow as he has worked for the development of Assamese language in the age of modern information technology.
Having completed HS (Science) from Cotton College in 1991, he moved to Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad and completed B.Tech (Petroleum Engg) in 1995 and obtained MS (Petroleum Engg) degree from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA in 2001. Although initially he joined as a Reservoir Engineer in Geology and Reservoir department in Oil India Ltd in 1995, later he worked as a Patroleum Engineer with Schlumberger, Mexico from 2001 to 2004 and was appointed in the present job in 2005. He has vast work experience in website development as he had worked as a web developer for the Petroleum Engineering department in Texas Tech University to cover part of tuition fees and other expenses where he learned most of the website development techniques.
Talking with this correspondent he informed that he wanted to do this work many years back. However, appropriate technology was not available though he always looking it and suddenly discovered it in February, 2006 and started to create the site. The operational dictionary with limited vocabulary was made available on March 10.
Describing about the need of an online dictionary he says – “While there are Bengali and Malayalam online dictionaries, an Assamese one was absent. Also when I try to write science fiction stories, the need to go through the voluminous dictionaries frequently was a frustation. Then the need for a quick and easy reference material was felt.” He termed it a voluntary effort – working just for the sake of devotion for the development of the Assamese language and also a collaborative work of assamese online located all across the world.
He also said that the dictionary was for the Assamese people, by the Assamese people and of the Assamese people.
His future plan of action is to increase the vocability to make it the most referenced English-Assamese dictionary, collaborate with well known publishers of dictionaries like Hemkosh, Chandrakanta Abhidhan and Bigyan Abhidhan, etc and include pictures and sound.
As a writer of science fiction, he has already published two very popular fiction in Prantik and also similar fiction in some other magazines.