One just cannot deny the fact that Assam has hogged national, nay international limelight — yes, limelight — for all the wrong reasons during the past couple of decades. And that is precisely why there has been a negative perspective all over about the land and its people. Sadly, there has not been any fruitful concerted move to negate this negativity and project Assam in a positive way. The result is that for people outside the state, Assam is a land of jungles infested with terrorists where nothing other than terrorism can happen. Open any newspaper or watch any news channel on television, Assam gets prominence only when something bad or terrible like bomb blasts, killings, kidnappings, etc take place.

However, amidst such negativity, here comes a whiff of fresh air that surely puts Assam on a positive light. It’s a book, to be precise a coffee-table book, titled Assam, that highlights the positives of the land and its people and culture. While deliberately skipping all the negatives — terrorism, in this case — the book in its 29 chapters covers the land and its people, its history, food habits, tourism, wildlife, economy, tea and oil, sports, mobile theatre, etc, resplendently with colourful photographs that speak volumes for themselves. In fact, more than words, it is the photographs that serve the purpose of this lavishly illustrated book, which according to its promoter and publisher Nanda Talukdar Foundation is “introducing Assam”.

Laying my hands on one of the first prints of Assam — the characteristic smell of the glossy paper being still fresh — to have rolled out from Hyderabad’s Pragati, one of the finest printing houses in Asia, I was sweetly surprised that such a book has been published from this part of the country, that too without any financial support from the government agencies. From the well-meaning jacket to the diverse contents inside, the book is a revelation in itself. Be it the aesthetic design, breezy layout, smart word play, talking pictures, et al, the book depicts Assam in all its glorious hues, and all these put Assam at par with any global standard coffee-table book.

In fact, the state government itself could have long back painted a picture of positive Assam through such an initiative, which luckily was undertaken by eleven enterprising people, all coming from diverse fields, who assembled under the banner of the Guwahati-based Nanda Talukdar Foundation, a treasure trove of Assamese literature helping many a researcher and an institution that specializes in social audit, besides foraying into publication, and the outcome is there for all to see.

Says Mrinal Talukdar, who represents United News of India (UNI) in Northeast India and the brain behind this unique project: “It was during my cricket World Cup assignment in West Indies in 2007 that the idea was born. As I was strolling at Connaught Place in New Delhi, two days prior to my departure to London en route to the Caribbean, window shopping, I stopped at a bookstall and was amazed by the array of the giant coffee-table books, ranging from turbans of Rajasthan to houses of Goa to Chandni Chowk of Delhi, besides dozens on the Ganges and India. I searched for books on Assam... As expected, there were several — only on problems and prospects, but not on the happy Assam and definitely, not a coffee-table book.”

Having earlier experience of doing a coffee-table book for the state public works department, billed Roads of Assam, where seasoned journalist and The Tribune special correspondent in the Northeast, Bijay Sankar Bora, one of the eleven people behind Assam, too was a partner, Mrinal conceived the skeleton of the project in the Caribbean islands itself and found the project cost to be well past Rs 10 lakh, which was an unthinkable amount for himself alone. So he e-mailed his friends from the West Indies detailing about the nascent ‘Assam’ project. While some did not bother to respond to his mail, twelve actually got together — one, however, departed midway — to give shape to the dream project. The project also saw the birth of a new concept in the state’s publication arena where the eleven raised the capital floating shares among themselves, opening a completely new model of entrepreneurship. They also worked on the write-ups, routing all the material through a system of check and balance.

The others who joined the project were: Abhijit Bhuyan, an entrepreneur, visionary and pioneer of medical engineering in this region; Prasanta Borkakoti, an oilman by profession but obsessed with rural Assam; Rahul Karmakar, the pointsman of The Hindustan Times in the Northeast; Raj Chakrabarty, who builds road for National Highway Authority of India, yet finds time to be involved with literary projects; Ratan Saud, a journalist-turned-government official; Sanjeeb Kakoty, a historian, a filmmaker and a writer who teaches environmental history and sustainability at IIM, Shillong; Sanjoy Barkataki, a former civil service officer who gave up a cushy job and opted for journalism instead; Utpal Borpujari, who trained to be a geologist at IIT-Roorkee, but chose to become a journalist and film critic — he has won the Golden Lotus for best critic at India's national film awards; and Krishna Talukdar, the administrator of the NTF.

“We all assembled in August 2007 and took the solemn pledge that even if not a single copy of the book is sold, we shall take pride for the rest of our lives that we have achieved something for our beloved land by pooling our meagre resources,” said Mrinal. But that was not to be, as people, especially the Assamese expatriates across the globe as also their friends have shown a keen interest in the book, thanks to its sleek promotion. Perhaps this is the first book from Assam to be promoted on the internet with a video. The nearly two-minute video can be seen on www.youtube.com by searching ‘Assam book’. The book is also available online in websites www.amazon.com and www.ebay.com.

Sample some stuff from the 212-page book: “Assam isn’t just a part of India’s enigmatic Orient; it is a microcosm of the country. There isn’t a single sub-continental community — from a village (Kampur) of localised Sikhs to Tamils in the vicinity of Guwahati’s Balaji Temple and Afghans — that hasn’t settled down across the 78,438 sq km area the state occupies. No wonder, Assam has four official languages — Assamese, Bengali, Bodo and English — and publishes school textbooks in 14, almost equal to the number of primary tongues recognized by the Constitution of India.” Many such fascinating facts about the land and its colourful people adore the book Assam — all elaborated in crisp language.

The living archaeological museum called Majuli, the customs, cultures and festivals of Assam, the flourishing literature scene, the exotic wildlife having a diverse flora and fauna, the vibrant agricultural and industrial scenario, led by tea, oil and coal, the tourism potential, the legends and icons,... all come alive in the book through words and pictures. Then, there are chapters too focusing on Assam’s contribution in the freedom struggle of India, as also its people’s responsible role with a timely agitation against the illegal aliens that have now become a headache of the whole country.

It’s really a laudable effort on the part of NTF and the eleven associates to have brought out such a delightful volume in just two years’ time, though with a little more extra effort and time, the book would have had a comprehensive look.

Mridumoloy