– Dr. Monoranjan Bezboruah (Outgoing President)
This issue is dedicated to the memory of our parted friend Dr. Kamna Das. Despite our desires that she be with us for a long time, she will not be present in this Convention! I am reminded of a couplet from our Panchatantra:
What is not to be can never be;
What is to be comes effortlessly;
What lies right on the palm of your hand
Is lost if you are not destined for it.
(For our younger readers, Panchatantra, is the oldest “niti” (means what we should do, the ideal-based living!) based stories of the world. It is a collection of stories which were used by a scholar/educationist, Pandit Vishnu Sarma, to educate three block-headed Princes. The father of these three Princes, a noble and ideal king, was despondent thinking about the future of his kingdom after his death, for these Princes did not evince either any desire or any capability to learn anything!
The Council to the King suggested that the King request this great scholar Vishnu Sarma to educate his three idiotic sons. The King duly invited the sage/scholar to his Court and begged him to take his sons for the needed education.The sage/Scholar/teacher took the challenge. He assured the King that in six months he would return his sons as capable inheritors of his kingdom.It is stated that this Scholar/teacher used these “niti” (again, no English word for it, it means the principles that you should follow in life) stories and indeed transformed these three foolhardy Princes into effective leaders and returned them triumphantly to the King. As stated, these were the world’s oldest stories; passed on orally first, later they were collected in writing. They were treated as if “elixirs” of life, reputation spread far. Persian Emperor sent scholars to learn about them. They were translated into Persian, then into almost all languages, beginning with Arabic, then Latin, English, German, Italian, Spanish, you name it, and even to here into the America’s South!) It was destined that we would lose Kamna so early! Ever since she came to this country in 1983, she remained an anchor of this organization, and it was a privilege to work with her all these years. We are dedicating this year’s Luitor Para Mississippi (LPM) to her, and we are also instituting an Award in her name for recognizing community service and mentoring, an area which came naturally to Kamna and was duly remembered during her Memorial. Dr. Deva Borah is leading the efforts with close association with Dr. Shonit Das, Aabir, and many others.
We are also deeply saddened by the recent (April 21, 2011) passing away of Mrs. Rita Datta, wife of Mr. Prasanna Datta from Michigan. We join the Assamese community of Michigan in conveying our deepest condolences to the family she left behind.
