Amulya Kumar Chakravarty: A Father Of More Than A Lifetime!

 Paying homage and tributes to my father (Deuta) Amulya Kumar Chakravarty (1928-1991), an unsung writer-author from Assam, on his 29^thDeath Anniversary today. He had translated the greatest epics of the world: Greek Poet-Legend Homer’s epics ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ and Roman Poet-Legend Virgil’s Latin epic ‘Aeneid’ into Assamese from the respective English translations. All these three books had been published by Publication Board, Assam. His other translations include the autobiography of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (copies not available with us at the moment) and a compilation of a few tales of Decameron by Italian Writer-Poet-Legend Giovanni Boccaccio. Amulya Kumar Chakravarty’s original works in Assamese are ‘Karim Munshir Char’ (a compilation of short stories), ‘Bishbriksha’(first volume of an incomplete novel) and ‘Jaji Noi Bhotiay’ (an adventure novella for children).  His larger family had instituted a memorial Trust in his name in 2002 in collaboration with Panjabari Sahitya Sabha, and has been conferring a biennial Translation Award on outstanding Author-Translators of Assam since 2003.

Deuta never got what he deserved in life. A voracious reader of world literature from school days he developed an interest in writing too, and ideally wanted to join the academic line to devote himself to writing. After completing his BA in English Literature from Cotton College he went to Kolkata (then Calcutta) to do his MA. However, he was called back to Assam because of family issues midway through his PG course there. The simple and amiable young scholar came back as directed, and later had to join Assam Civil Service under pressure, and started his career as a Sub-Deputy Collector, his professed writing aim now secondary, not forgotten though. As an efficient, dedicated and honest officer he had always been busy with his work and his regular transfers; but he kept on with his writings: an occasional short story apart from his main objective of completing the translations of the world epics. My mother, Urmila Chakravarty, helped him in  her part-time role as his secretary, copying every page that he wrote in her beautiful handwriting, meant for the publishers. In our school days, we remember seeing him writing on a narrow wooden table under the flickering light of a kerosene lamp, and during the sticky summer evenings mother trying to cool him with a hand-fan, when, in those times, a ceiling fan was a luxury, and electricity much more used to playing the game of hide and seek.  

Deuta taught us valuable lessons in life that always stood us in good stead, till today: simple living & high thinking, it was a constant struggle for him to run the family of six with meagre but pure and honest monthly earnings; developing a sense of responsibility, although he did take absolute care in our studies and health issues, but left to us to take major tasks/decisions ourselves like preparing for/writing the exams or choosing the type of courses/subjects we wanted to pursue; to choose the fields/professions for future employment on our own which is unthinkable for modern-day parents; principles of unshakable honesty and integrity in work; never to indulge in self-promotion or flattery and never to crave for publicity; always to act and work with a strong sense of social commitment.

We salute him for his outstanding knowledge and depth in Assamese and in English languages. His constant advice to us and all: read, read and read as many books as possible of world literature which would increase your depth of understanding the lands and the people, and if you develop an aptitude, this would also help you start creative writing in your mother tongue and in English or any foreign language of your choice; if you find it extremely difficult to read with understanding, do not despair, instead, keep a dictionary ready by your side while you read. Whatever I am capable of writing in Assamese and in English today I owe it fully to him, for his painstaking efforts to train or at times to goad us on the right path.  

At a relatively mature age we were awestruck by the collections of his books, almost all of the world classics and others, at his native home at Teok in eastern Assam. When my grandfather, Indreswar Chakravarty who was a farmer but still a writer, found it not viable enough to continue with his farm, and decided to sell off and shift to our home in Guwahati, we took stock of all the books, transferred those to Guwahati home and catalogued all of the books with a seal ‘Home Library’, specially made to preserve his loved treasure. On all his transfers, his immediate task had been to make four cards for the district libraries there, and hand over those to us. We regularly visited the district libraries and borrowed invaluable books in English and in Assamese. Irrespective of whether we borrowed or bought the books home, Deuta always had the exclusive right to have the first read. He saved every paisa in his hard student and working days to buy books, and we too adopted this practice throughout our days, till now.

Amulya Kumar Chakravarty, a father for whom our primary emotion was fear in our early childhood days; a father we started respecting from a relatively mature age; and a father who became our perfect friend in all respects at a mature age, guiding us, enjoying with us and celebrating with us. Having a father like him, well, is the ultimate blessing in our lives. I was fortunate to be able to visit Deuta in his pre-retirement posting as Director of Official Language Implementation at Dispur. On my every visit I was thrilled to discover his workplace as more of a centre of scholarly discourses than a typical government office, and the way the officers and staff admired and respected him. 

Unfortunately, Deuta’s intent desire to revert to full-time writing after retirement was also not fulfilled. About two years after his retirement he passed away on the 6^th of October, 1991, under doubtful circumstances at a nursing home in Guwahati. He contracted diabetes at his early forties and as in those days there were not many effective methods of treatment the disorder took toll on his health, and it started failing him from just when he was thinking of himself as a free man. He also agreed to work for about a year as Principal Secretary, District Council of Karbi Anglong after retirement, at his beloved family friend’s earnest request, and during that period he met with a near-fatal road accident in Diphu in 1990 which contributed towards further deterioration of his overall health.

 

As fond memories of him keep flooding in we cannot help but take solace in the fact that he is up there to take full care of our youngest brother, Dr. Aswini Kumar Sarma (1961-2020), whom we lost on September 18, 2020, in a very shocking and untimely way. Aswini or our beloved Sunny, was as good a child to him, probably more, as the four of us. Although much later in his life, the bond of love and friendship between the father-in-law and the son-in-law was something that defied the traditional family textbook patterns, with Sunny taking absolute care of Deuta also as a physician till the last days. Great souls, we need not intone ‘rest in peace’; they will indeed be in eternal bliss, and our unwritten bonds of love, compassion and a range of emotions will cross all borders of the real to the ethereal. God bless all.

Crimes Against Women: The Bestial Lows!

 Accept it or not: feudalism had never left India. The feudal forces of exploitation, torture and crimes still flourish, particularly in the northern belt of the country including, prominently, the most populous state of India, Uttar Pradesh (UP), with its around 20 Crore people. This state has been the hotbed of crimes against women, communal violence, maximum custodial deaths, fake encounters and so on for decades, even though its crime rate does not still top the list thanks to its enormous population.  

 

The powerful upper castes here continue playing the dominating roles as landlords, politicians, criminals, rapists and mafias. And they work in tandem forming a huge empire of vested interests that percolates down favorably to the local authorities, including the police in particular. Naturally, there has always been an overpowering spirit of mutual protection between them. Whenever any of the feudal lords is under a cloud of doubt or danger the corresponding forces get into motion by engineering cover-ups or the like, finally ensuring their protection against all odds.

 

All low-caste inhabitants are untouchable for them, except their women. The upper-caste men or their off-springs or their domesticated goons prowl constantly for an opportunity to torture, rape and kill low-caste women, sometimes as measures of punishment for what they decide is wrong, and sometimes just for carnal pleasures. The poor down-trodden low-caste menfolk, subdued in a continuous process of oppression, watch dumb and numb, and if some dare to protest the feudal counterparts in the local administration act immediately, suppressing them ruthlessly. Of course, there would be exceptions always when low-caste individuals manage to infiltrate the upper-caste bastion, assuming important positions of power.

 

During the last few COVID-19 infested months the notorious state has been witnessing a series of brutal rapes and rape-murders, one after the other as if those beasts achieved acquired immunity to possible action by the administration or the justice system. One of such inhuman acts happened on the 14^th of September 2020 at Hathras in UP when a 19-year-old low-caste girl was waylaid, abducted, gangraped and physically brutalized by four upper-caste beasts, almost to the point of death. With her bruised-battered body, her spine broken and her tongue cut the victim just managed to reach home, and was immediately admitted in the local hospital. Later, as her condition became critical, she was transported to a hospital in Delhi. Details of her treatment there are unclear as the media that time were head-to-foot engaged in the investigation of some glam gals.

 

The media or some of it, hopelessly polarized as they are in India, woke up only when the unfortunate girl died on 29^th September. They were forced to stay awake as the UP police hurriedly took away the body to Hathras, and cremated it around 2.30-3.30 AM on the next day, without the victim’s family’s wish or consent or permission. And then only, the media decided to make it a national outrage recalling, justifiably, the horrors of the Delhi Gangrape case in 2012 that shook the nation leading to a mass movement against the rapists and drastic changes in the legalities of crimes against women.

 

The UP police went on with its brazen act. Some of their top cops even said that it was not a case of rape at all: the girl died due to a neck injury the intensity of which made her bite off her tongue. Their sayings were supposedly based on tests done one week after the incident, and the final autopsy report. More acts followed in apparent haste: the victim’s family was isolated, their phones being allegedly snatched away; the whole village of Hathras was sealed not allowing anybody to enter or exit; political leaders of the opposition parties were blocked, arrested and even manhandled; the now-desperate media were also not allowed to enter Hathras.

 

First, the police gave the COVID-19 excuse for such coercive measures, and then, as the state Chief Minister announced a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe, they said no one would be allowed to enter till the probe was over. The family must be protected from outside influence and any possible tempering of evidence must be prevented, they also maintained. The top cops further strengthened the apparent cover-up by saying that it was a conspiracy to fuel upper-caste versus lower-caste community tension.

 

The nation exploded then: people, women activists and political parties coming out on streets protesting; the High Court giving a notice to state government to explain the hurried cremation; Human Rights groups asking for explanations and so on. But crimes against women in the state continued unabated, at least two more women being brutalized and murdered in the last two days. The feudal status-quo and the brazenness only got heightened, with the state being ruled by the most powerful national political party. Instead of promising stern action and preventive measures the ruling dispensation chose to make mockery of protesting opposition leaders and others. In many instances of rape-murders in the recent past leaders of that political party were found to be involved, at times directly. A well-known former judge added more fuel to fire by building up a theory as to why men rape women, the COVID-induced unemployment being the main reason for such crimes, according to him.

 

In spite of the fast-tracking justice system in regard to crimes against women that was developed post 2012 Delhi case and the recent executions of three of the perpetrators, there seems to be no deterrent to the enemies of humanity who continue to wreak havoc on the society as they wish. This issue is seemingly beyond laws and the justice system. The society at large must take the final call, to prevent more horrors like Nirbhaya, Hathras and others in future. The society must break out of the exploitative feudal values and the vested interests’ nexus. Governments can only provide more effective laws, if at all; the society only can implement to ensure a protective environment for women.