Driving up to Shillong is always a relaxing, feel-good experience — not as much for the flight from the hustle and bustle of Guwahati as the calm, contemplative ambience that the endearing hill station offers, especially to us Guwahatians. But then, this would be Shillong under normal circumstances. For me though, things turned special on October 23 last when I found myself in the company of the reverend Arup Dutta and the delightful Dr Srutimala Duara — my co-passengers on the journey — who, in turn, took me on a literary journey that had no other precedents in my life!

My interest and humble capabilities in writing was first noticed by Dr Srutimala Duara and she demanded my presence (sometime in February last if I remember right) at a book launch ceremony at the North East Writers’ Forum (NEWF) in Guwahati. She was very vague what the NEWF was all about and so I couldn’t really fathom what I could expect on reaching the venue — the office of NEWF at the Deshbhakta Tarun Ram Phookun Indoor Stadium on B Baruah Road, Guwahati. What I literally ran into was way beyond my reckoning as I found myself in the august company of literary stalwarts like Dhiren Bezboruah, Arup Dutta, Mitra Phukan and Dhrubajyoti Hazarika with a fair sprinkling of the who’s who of Guwahati’s literary circle thrown in — all assembling for the grand launch of Jahnavi Barua’s book Next Door.

The sudden realization for me was that I was amidst those nationally acclaimed Assamese authors and novelists who write primarily in English and with whom the modest writer in me had always craved an audience; their regular company was my dream! From that moment of sheer ecstasy till I managed to be absorbed as a member of the august body that is NEWF, to those moments where I attended my first annual general meet of the Forum on October 24 and 25 last in Shillong (after ignorantly missing out 11 years of the Forum’s existence), it has been a remarkable journey for me — a journey that I hope, will be life-long.

The two-day meet at St Peter’s College in Shillong saw the assemblage of some of the finest writing talents (in English that is) from the states of Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya along with the venerable Dr Temsula Ao, Padmashree, from Nagaland. Indigenous, high-quality original poetry flowed during the three-hour-long reading session making me marvel at the vast wealth of English-writing talent that these states had. Intellectually stimulating lectures and discussions on the various aspects, problems and success stories of showcasing local-language literature to the world through crucial translation works and through other means held me in thrall as to the extremely important work that the Forum was trying to do.

We talked and listened to the problems of the Manipuri writers, who despite these strife-torn times of their land, held on to the belief that Manipur could yet be salvaged and most of their poetry reflected this optimism. We listened to the extremely articulate Shubhashish Talapatra from Agartala who enlightened us on the little-known local language of Tripura, Kok-Borok and the laudable attempts being made to popularise works contained in it through translations — at least to the Bangla literary world if not the English. We listened to Mitra Phukan’s eloquent summation of the journey of Assamese literature from the Shakespearian times of Sankaradeva to the modernity of Homen Borgohain and we lapped up Arup Dutta’s reading of the passage on ‘Uncle Loony’ and his phenomenally ‘phallic’ antics from his ‘Assamese’ English epic The Anagorika’s Swansong. The poetic creations and recitations by Robin Ngangom and Kynpham Nongkynrih made an indelible impression on us about the high standard of English literature in Meghalaya and the recitation by Dr Temsula Ao made us indeed appreciate the fact that it was not without reason that Dhruba Hazarika held Dr Ao way above a certain Naipaul in her capability to tug at the heart strings through her writings and her characterizations. And again there were those young poets from Manipur like Shreema and from Meghalaya like Anindita who recited verses that were way beyond expectations that I held of them — such was their prowess with the English language.

Amidst this entire intellectual exchange, the business of the Forum was conducted and the change of guard was decided. Arup Dutta took over as president from Dhiren Bezboruah and Samrat Bora was chosen the worthy successor to Dhruba Hazarika. A representative from each of the eight States of the Northeast was elected as associate secretary even as the Forum sought to establish a more accountable system of functioning to encourage more literary activities in each of its State chapters. New members were inducted and fresh membership forms were distributed for all who showed signs of commitment in being a part of this remarkable literary journey. The Forum’s journal NEW Frontiers containing poetry, fiction and prose contributions from members was also released and the occasion was apt for the formal release of Dr Srutimala Duara’s collection of poems titled Shells of Expressions.

All in all, these were two days of literary worship for all present and participating and the NEWF vowed with all sincerity to work with renewed vigour towards promoting English-writing talent from the region while also initiating such noble endeavours as translating the excellent indigenous literature into English for world consumption. I, as a member of the NEWF, am happy for the fact that it is a forum of writers who write only in English and yet remains surprisingly non-elitist, eagerly await the full flowering of our potential!

swapnilbharali@yahoo.com

Swapnil Bharali