Social media illusion and us

I have two best friend, a male and a female one. We have a strong bonding. But you would feel strange knowing that within the duration of 8 and 12 years of our friendship we have hardly 50 photographs together. It was so funny,  that one day we three went for a photoshoot with his DSLR camera and were able to click not more than 10 photographs one whole day. That’s probably because we were more into spending quality time with each other.

We have become unsocial after using social media. Most images shared on social media’s are just an illusion of our real life. Reality is quite the contrary. Everyone just wants’ others to know how much happy they are, when they actually aren’t. Someone who gives attractive status upload should be able to realise the importance or the true sense of happiness in life. How can one "feel happy with 30 others", or "feel alone with 15  others", "a day like never before", "a wonderfull day with 20 others".

It’s a wonder how the most important events in our lives are overshadowed with posing for the perfect capture, till the moment itself is lost. We live in a society, where the value of human life and the importance of relationship has decreased. Here, I reminded of a story of two terrorist who talk about their plan of killing 30 people and a dog. One man overheared them and could not control his curiosity and loosely enquired, “Why the dog?”. That’s the reality. No one really cares about the lives of people anymore.

One can cite the example of celebration of the days like “mother’s day" with a photo of his/her mother. Instead of giving her the love and respect she deserves in real life, we believe that public display of emotion on social media even when she doesn't have a mail id is quite ironically.

We have become more dependent on our phones and make the social media the primary concern of our life. This is the reason why games like 'Blue whale', 'momo challenge' can cost lives and change their perspective towards the society. Well mobile phones and social media have become an integral part of our life and we cannot deny the importance of it. But one should realise the pros and cons of it and let it not rule our lives.

       
                    NILAKHI HAZARIKA.

ৰাসোৎসৱত অত্যাধুনিকতা

ৰাস মহোৎসৱ । আঘোণ মাহৰ পূৰ্ণিমাত উদযাপন কৰা হয় ৰাসোৎসৱ । ঠাইভেদে ৰাসৰ ভিন্নতা দেখা যায়। অসমৰ বহু ঠাইত ভাওনা, কৃষ্ণৰ লীলা নাট্যৰূপত পৰিবেশন কৰি উদযাপন কৰা হয়, আকৌ কিছু ঠাইত মৃন্ময় মূৰ্তিৰে কৃষ্ণৰ লীলা বর্ণনা কৰি ৰাস আয়োজন কৰে। ঠাইৰ ভিন্নতাত প্ৰদৰ্শনো ভিন্ন হয়। 

সময় বাগৰাৰ লগে লগে ৰাসোৎসৱৰো কিছু উপাদান যেন সলনি হৈছে। বিশেষকৈ মৃন্ময় মূৰ্তিৰ প্ৰদৰ্শিত হোৱা ৰাস মহোৎসৱ সমূহত । অসমৰ বহু উল্লেখযোগ্য ৰাস মহোৎসৱ আছে য'ত কেৱল মৃন্ময় মূৰ্তিৰ ৰাসৰ বাবে বিখ্যাত হৈছিল। কিন্তু আধুনিকীকৰণৰ লগে লগে ৰাস সমূহত বৈদ্যুতিক মাধ্যমৰ প্ৰভাৱ পৰা পৰিলক্ষিত হৈছে। লগে লগে বৈদ্যুতিক আহিলাৰে মৃন্ময় মূৰ্তি সমূহ আৰু অধিক আকৰ্ষণীয় কৰি তুলিবলৈ চেষ্টা কৰিছে প্ৰতিখন ৰাস উদযাপন সমিতিয়ে , আৰু নিসন্দেহে বৈদ্যুতিক আহিলাই ৰাসৰ মূৰ্তিসমূহ আৰু অধিক আকৰ্ষণীয় কৰি তুলিছে। 

 কিন্তু ইয়াৰ লগে লগে গা-কৰি উঠিছে কিছুমান সমস্যাই । আমি দেখিবলৈ পাইছো বহুকেইখন উল্লেখযোগ্য ৰাসত বৰ্তমানে মূৰ্তিৰ নামত ইংৰাজী জনপ্ৰিয় কাৰ্টুন ধাৰাবাহিকৰ জনপ্ৰিয় চৰিত্ৰ বৈদ্যুতিক মাধ্যমৰ আহিলাৰে আৰু অধিক আকৰ্ষণীয় কৰি ৰাসত প্ৰদৰ্শিত কৰিছে। সৰু ল'ৰা -ছোৱালী , জেষ্ঠজন সকলোৱে আনন্দেৰে এই কাৰ্টুনৰ মূৰ্তি সমূহ উপভোগ কৰিছে। 

 এনেদৰে আমাৰ সকলোৰে চকুৰ আগতে লাহে লাহে বৈদ্যুতিক মাধ্যমৰ দ্বাৰা আৰু বাণিজ্যিকৰনে ৰাসৰ ঐতিহ্য আৰু গৰিমাৰ প্ৰতি ক্ৰমান্বয়ে এক ভাবুকিৰ সৃষ্টি কৰিছে। প্ৰকৃততে ৰাস মহোৎসৱ উদযাপন কৰা হৈছিল ভগৱান শ্ৰীকৃষ্ণৰ লীলা পৰিবেশন আৰু তেওঁৰ অৱতাৰ সমূহ বৰ্ণনাৰ উদ্দেশ্যে । কিন্তু বৰ্তমান সময়ৰ এনেকুৱা জনপ্ৰিয় ইংৰাজী কাৰ্টুন চৰিত্ৰ সমূহে ৰাসৰ মূল উদ্দেশ্যৰ পৰা আঁতৰাই আনিছে লগতে  শিশুসকলৰ মনত ইয়াৰে বিৰূপ প্ৰভাৱ পৰিব। আচলতে তেওঁলোকে ধাৰণা কৰি লব যে ৰাস মহোৎসৱ মানে কাৰ্টুন। 

মানুহে যি দেখে বা শুনে সেয়ে শিকি লয়। গতিকে আজিৰ  নৱপ্ৰজন্মই ৰাসৰ প্ৰকৃত উদ্দেশ্যৰ পৰা অজ্ঞাত থাকে তেনেহলে অদূৰ ভৱিষ্যতে হয়তো ৰাস মহোৎসৱৰ পৰম্পৰা আৰু ঐতিহ্যৰ হেৰাই যাব এয়া নিশ্চিত।

এনেক্ষেত্রত আমাৰ সকলোৰে ৰাস উদযাপন সমিতি , সংস্কৃতি সাধক, সচেতন নাগৰিক এক গুৰু দায়িত্ব আৰু ভূমিকা আছে। মূল উদ্দেশ্যৰ পৰা বিচলিত নোহোৱাকৈ আধুনিকতাৰ দ্বাৰা আজিৰ পৰ্যায়ৰ পৰা আমাৰ সংস্কৃতি আৰু উন্নত কৰা চেষ্টা আমাৰ সকলোৰে কিন্তু আধুনিকতাৰ নামত অত্যাধুনিকতাৰ দ্বাৰা প্ৰকৃত উদ্দেশ্য হেৰুৱাব নালাগে।

-ৰাকেশ হালৈ

Veganism as a new food-culture

In a country like India, where numerous animals, birds are mercilessly slaughtered in the name of religious rituals, sacrifices and consumption, in contrary also experiences the high rate of obesity and high mortality rates in the name of health issues. 

So, few days back I was going through an Indian Female Youtuber's Channel which is most probably a food vlog where she not only talked about her resolution on having vegetarian food once a week but also talks about the 'Vegan' Culture. The video fascinated me a lot since the way people were starting to adapt to the new food culture is indeed interesting. 

'Vegan', the word's usage or introduction dates back to the 1840s. Donald Watson coined the term vegan in 1944 when he co-founded the Vegan Society in England . At first he used it to mean ''non-diary vegetarian'', but from 1951 the Society defined it as ''the doctrine that man should live without exploiting animals. However, the interest in the particular doctrine increases in 2010 and in the latter half. 

As per few rules, the vegans do not even use any products be it cosmetics or medicines that are being previously  tasted on animals. They believed that no animals should be harmed for the survival of human. 

 Vegan diets tend to be higher in dietary Fibres,Magnesium,Folic acid,Vitamin C,Vitamin E,Iron and Phytochemicals and lower in Dietary Energy,Saturated fat,Cholestorol,Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids,Vitamin-D,Calcium,Zinc and Vitamin B,and therefore vegetarian diet is not much recommened to the pregnant women and adolescents specially. 

However, a huge study of Seventh Day ,Adventists says, who ate little or no meat showed longevity of life span increased by 7.28 years in men and 4.42 years in women. Also an average life span could increase by 3.6 years with a complete vegetarian diet, moreover few plant supplements could nourish the immunity system.  A vegetarian diet also reduces the risks of cancer which is of much probability for non-veg eaters.

Veganism as a dietary revolution could not only uplift the health strata of the society but also decrease the amount of killings which goes on for human consumption.

Indeed, consuming veggies all the time looks boring but there are at present large options in the vegan food pantry too with different vegetables,staples,nuts,deserts and many more to constitute different delicious recipes to never bore the taste buds.

Although,it won't be possible for the people in India to go for vegeterian food daily but one can follow the Vegan-Diet once a week which could necessarily bring a drastic change in the terms of health as well as survival of animals.

By Rajashree Das

Bishnupriya Manipuri language and Diaspora

I was deeply desolate on hearing, “You know, we don’t get to see many Bishnupriya Manipuris (BPM) in such events”, commented my friend in an entrepreneurs’ meet when I happened to introduce her to a Bishnupriya Manipuri person, to which I belonged.

 Such statements are commonly heard when you belong to a community that has thrived with all its might to retain its feeble existence in the world where the lingua franca is quite different.  Hence, it  gives me a feeling of despair on seeing a language losing its identity, be it mine or any other. According to the list of endangered languages in the world, Bishnupriya Manipuri has been termed as ‘vulnerable’ by UNESCO in 2011 posted by The Guardian, which generates an impression of it being in danger and unrecognized fully in its own domain.

This also makes me retrospect to instances where I was termed ‘conservative’ when asked about my community, when others are incognizant of the language. The Bishnupriya  Manipuris  has a strength of more than 50,000 speakers presently, a huge number of them living in the Sylhet division of Bangladesh and parts of Assam and Tripura.  The community primarily thrived on an agrarian economy that is rooted to their culture, but the upcoming generation being educated,  look for opportunities to get themselves employed; regardless of their community interest,  thereby discerning them on their skill;

This also reminds me of the instance, where a newspaper interviewer asked me the question, “Do you recognize Bishnupriya Manipuris as the real Manipuri or the Meiteis as the same?”,  to which I felt subservient but  answered on Bishnupriya Manipuri, being an Indo-Aryan language, having its historic roots in state of Manipur and being recognized by the state governments of Assam and Tripura. 

David Kaufman, Linguist and Founder of the Endangered Language Alliance(ELA), a non-profit  organization in New York has taken an initiative; a current project on preserving the Bishnupriya Manipuri language in collaboration with Uttam Singha (founder of POURI International) along with many other minority languages of the world. 

In the Endangered Languages Fair in New York, Uttam Singha, a renowned expert on Bishnupriya Manipuri had given a presentation on its ethnicity and stressed on its preservation in the meet held on September 29, 2012. He has been living in New York for 10-15 years, however laments for his society, its culture, language, history. In Bangladesh he opened an organisation named POURI through which they publishes various magazines, articles, newspapers for the propagation of the language.  Even though the language dates back its origin from Manipur, 200-300 years ago from now, the BPMs got scattered to areas of Assam, Tripura and Bangladesh due to a conflict arising in the state of Manipur.   The Bishnupriya Manipuri youth, speaking and being brought up in the majority language constructs the generation to stay away from its roots thereby being ignorant of its ethnicity, the culture etc., however Uttam Singha yearns for change, he wants the young generation to buck up and make an attempt to make their mother tongue thrive instead of being apathetic towards it and letting it fade casually. He doesn’t want the death of their martyr go in vain. The Bangladeshi diasporas living in the Jackson Heights, Queens, New York (a place which consists of more than 160 spoken languages than anywhere in the world), says, they have been living here since 2000 after leaving their native Bangladesh. It’s a bittersweet feeling to see their children not being able to connect with the culture. On the contrary, the world being competitive, keeping yourself rooted to one’s culture becomes strenuous at times.

 Satyajit Singha, a Bangladeshi diaspora says, he left Bangladesh 10-25 years ago and came to America for a better life, and the former’s easy going life is completely different from the life in the latter. They are so busy that he doesn’t have words to express it. Both are completely different worlds. However he hopes to retain the culture in their children’s lives, as when they visit their homeland, they will be able to interact well and gel up with them.

By Rashmi Sinha