How I learnt Hindi?

Personal Jottings

In my last visit to Baromuni I found the whole family of Bina Didi had left for US. She was my first and memorable Hindi Teacher.

By RK Rishikesh Sinha, New Delhi

In my case, my command over Hindi has always put me in a different league while I was in school, in college and even in job, though with a tinge of conceived and un-conceived reasons. It was due to prevailing common perception that people from northeastern states are not “good” in Hindi. In school I was told many times, “Rishi, tere baton se lagta nahin, tu northeast ka he.” And I took this complement with pride.

And in my initial college days in Guwahati, the complement turned to curse, overnight. We Hindi-speaking bunch of students were like fish out of water and were least approached by juniors. A Great slap slammed on all of us! Our participation in the college activities were nil as we were not able to understand (forget converse) in the Assamese language. The conversation stagnancy resumed till we were burdened with studies in the third year and we carried the batch “SENIORS”.

We the Hindi-speaking group started acclimatizing the new environment, say re-learning, with the Route Numbers of Guwahati buses. “Oh! The Assamese numerical ‘1’ is similar to Hindi ‘1’, and even ‘2’ is…,” were our bizarre and amusing reactions amongst us.

Hindi came to my rescue in cutting the ice of my first job in a satellite channel at Guwahati. The experience in the television channel ironed out any deficiency left in the language. The sound engineering played with the language increased my confidence by many notches.

Life is rolling fast and sweet moments have started diminishing, the role played by Bina Didi of Baromuni, her parents came new next to our mother’s house, in the formative days of my pre-school learning, teaching me letters, words and sentences of Hindi, is something that I will say has made a solid base of my career and in my life.

In my last visit to Baromuni I found the whole family of Bina Didi had left for US. She was my first and memorable Hindi Teacher.

If you have a story related to your life and wish to share, you are most welcome.

Please subscribe: receive email. Get Free alert on your mobile! Click here.

Subscribe:

The Bishnupriya Manipuri

E – World

Litmus test for Google

By RK Rishikesh Sinha, New Delhi

Three search engines – Google, Yahoo! and MSN – rule the roost in the domain of online “search”. Google’s dominance, which accounts for more than 60 per cent, makes it monotheism for million of online users who believe that there is only one search engine called “Google”.

But the Google Gorilla is facing new danger, with the launch of Microsoft’s new search engine: bing.com. Microsoft move to have a space for itself in the search engine world came after its failed attempt to buy Yahoo!

Is Google worried? Will Microsoft be able to show its offline power in online? – are some of the questions rounding up in the web world.

Bing.com is not the first search engine pitching in the “search” canvass. Before that many attempts had been made. Their launch was hyped to the hilt, but in due course of time these search engines failed to show their sheen, and were not able to meet at par the Google experience.

One is Cuil (pronounced as Cool), developed by former employees of Google, Anna Patterson and Russell Power. The much anticipated fear that Cuil will destabilize Google, even failed to come half-way. Forget, becoming the second Google.

In Cuil, the bishnupriyamanipuri.com doesn’t show up. So someone using Cuil search engine, don’t expect that it will throw up the whole repository of the site.

The mantra for success for any search engine is multi-fold. One of the key factors on which search engine’s sink or swim goes with the experience of the users. If it failed to comes up with intelligent, correct, reliable, and efficient answers, than with bulging cost of operation the search engine itself goes out of search.

However, in the past weeks another search engine had its launch. The search engine WolframAlpha answers a particular type of user’s query. “Enter your question or calculation, and WolframAlpha uses its built-in algorithms and a growing collection of data to compute the answer; based on a new kind of knowledge-based computing,” claims the search engine.

Enter “Bishnupriya Manipuri”, you will see a difference from what you are accustomed to look at in Google search. WolframAlpha comes up with facts and figures about the Bishnupriya Manipuri community. That was not there in Google experience.

To the question, is Google’s dominance in the online search in danger? No, firstly because Google is an export of Silicon Valley; secondly, it is a manifestation of American citizen belief that, for all their recent travails, their fate still lies in their own hands [Economist]. Fourth is again being an American product: tradition of close relations between universities and industry. Last, its most secretive algorithm curry that makes all the difference from other search engines.

Yes, Google dominance will diminish in the coming years. Reasons: In countries like Russia and South Korea, Google is not the first option people look at. The Russian search engine market is dominated by Baidu, and in South Korea, it is Naver. Secondly, Microsoft clout in software with its Office suit is ubiquitous and well-known. Probability of success goes high when it is product of Microsoft, after all.

Please subscribe: receive email. Get Free alert on your mobile! Click here.

Subscribe:

The Bishnupriya Manipuri

E – World

Bishnupriyamanipuri.com is venturing to new web frontiers

By RK Rishikesh Sinha, New Delhi

If you have visited the bishnupriyamanipuri.com typing “Bishnupriya Manipuri” in the search engine, there are 79 people who have come here by the word “santosh kumar singha”; 40 people with “guru bipin singha” and “ranita”; “kartik sena sinha” by 3 people, according to statistics from the period between January 1, 2009 and June 16, 2009.

So, what these statistics say? Besides “Bishnupriya Manipuri”, words or say persons “santosh kumar singha”, “guru bipin singha” and “ranita” were searched more in the Internet; inquisitiveness of the people brought them here in the bishnupriyamanipuri.com.

All total 1459 words brought hordes of people to this site. So it is not only “Bishnupriya Manipuri” word that will make you reach here, there are thousands words that have been bringing similar number of people on this site.

To add to it, it is amazing that all total 736 pages were viewed 12,260 times, during the same period! The best non-Bishnupriya Manipuri articles which drew large number of viewers are: We salute Mumbai attack martyrs [75 people read the article], Social Networking site [60 people read the article]

The above views received by these non-Bishnupriya Manipuri articles need special mention. First, it is not an easy job to make people read in the Internet on these topics where you have got big brothers. But people have read, at least one person devoted his or her valuable time. The writers’ job is done. Second, they have been able to create credibility. These people who have come to read these articles have gone to read other articles on the same topic. The article Outsourcing Employees: Wake Up! by Prabal Atreya bagged 35 eyeballs at that time when recession was on air; and millions and trillions of web content were published. His article gave feel-good to 35 people!

Going little bit deeper, the period between January 1, 2009 and June 16, 57.73 per cent people visited the site using Internet Explorer, Firefox by 1529 and Chrome by 1,047. All total 15 browsers were used for 6,944 visits.

The same period the site saw a dip of 3 per cent in conformity with web trends. However, if you think you and your friends are the one who fall on this site by default. It is not true, 54.38 per cent of new visits by non-regular viewers always make the site refreshing and invigorating. The site has drawn 45.62 per cent of returning visitor; they are the people who visit regularly.

The combination of 54.38 per cent of new visits and 45.62 per cent of returning visits is a healthy proposition to any site. The retention by 45.62 per cent of its original readers and at the same time becoming one-stop platform for 54.38 per cent to new readers opens up new frontier for the site. Conclusion: the site is not constant, it is moving with new readers and at the same time retaining the core value and purpose for which it was built.

One more conclusion that the site throws up convincingly is that people love to read success stories. They love stories related to betterment of people; they don’t heed to stories which are malign in nature. Example: The news story on Gautam Sinha to attend MTech classes in IIT Delhi, at a very short period has come in the top 5 articles here in the site.

Please subscribe: receive email. Get Free alert on your mobile! Click here.

Subscribe:

The Bishnupriya Manipuri
E – World

9 Years of Hope

By RK Rishikesh Sinha, New Delhi

The 149 Bishnupriya Manipuri teachers were slogging in the decrepit Government schools for complete nine years with one wish that one day their job will be permanent and they will be receiving remuneration to their services. What we will call – is it not a mockery in broad day-light with the lives of 149 teachers and their dependents?

The financial and psychological toll that these teachers had to undergo year after year is beyond one guess and imagination. The child who was in class I in 2001 is now a teenager and is getting ready for the matriculation examination; is it not an irony that the same teacher who had taught this child, his life didn’t move an inch. His life has been brought to a screeching grinding halt.

It not only put a pause to the professional and personal advancement of the person, but it ceases the lives of many people: his wife, children and his old parents. The lives of all the dependents were put on stake.

A simple arithmetic calculates the figure to over 600 people (considering a family is consists of 4 members) whose life has been put to backburner. They haven’t seen growth, what “growth” means to them. They were nowhere in the race of growth. For them growth was a burden. That they knew very well the burden, one day, if not got a support from the government and the civil society, they will perish.

The plight of these teachers who went to teach the Bishnupriya Manipuri language in the primary schools of the states in the three districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi, were abstained from the basic source of their sustenance since 2001.

The message that comes out from this episode is that the survival of the Bishnupriya Manipuri language, spoken by a minority community which has its presence in the three districts of Assam, is indeed in stake and it may, sooner or later if not taken steps, might appear in the list of endangered language of India like the Lepcha language of Sikkim is.

The Government of Assam has failed to support and enrich a language spoken by a minority population in the state. The act of negligence to the development and preservation of the Bishnupriya Manipuri language is contrary to the universal belief that a child ability to absorb facts and information increases when the primary medium of instruction is in its mother tongue.

But this hasn’t been practiced in this case.

How one could expect with the unsympathetic approach of the state government that people will take up the noble profession of teaching? Definitely they will abstain from taking up the teaching profession. This will not only have a cascading affect on the language but it will bring into edge the identity of the whole community. It will create ‘identity-crisis’ amongst the members of the affected community.

Unfortunately this has been taking place in the community. If it is not stemmed there is an imminent danger lurking ahead that a generation will come with out any basic knowledge of their language, culture and custom.

In the same breathe a fact that calls for urgent attention and pondering is: the type of education children of the 149 teachers would have received. These aggrieved teachers couldn’t have thought of giving proper education to them. Alas! The future that is lying ahead for these children is gloomy and uncertain. They can’t even think of standing to the future challenges that they had to face. Forget the condition health of these children.

However, things become more serious when one considers the man-hour loss of these 149 teachers for 9 years. Take this: If a take-home salary of a teacher is meager Rs. 5000 INR per month, in 9 years it amounts to Rs. 8, 04, 60,000 INR! This figure comes considering the revision of the salary didn’t take place in the 9 years. What a great loss for us and for the whole community?

Now with the costs and man-power loss involved in this period, one question that has to be answered urgently: Is it worth carrying the cost for another unimaginable time period? A definite answer has to come very soon.

Else the teachers would again resume their duties with a hollow hope that one day they will start receiving their dues from the government. Things will go on and on.

If you or your relatives have been affected by the non-payment of the dues, do comment.

Read:

Lessons that Bishnupriya Manipuri teachers can teach! - Henryy Sinha

Braving rain, over 100 teachers sat today on strike in Silchar
Hunger strike by Bishnupriya Manipuri Language teachers on June 5 in Silchar

Bishnupriya Manipuri Teachers’ body lauds Govt initiative

Lack of vote-bank mars demand of Bishnupriya Manipuri teachers

Creation of Political Platform: Dire need of the time

Please subscribe: receive email. Get Free alert on your mobile! Click here.

Subscribe:

The Bishnupriya Manipuri
E – World

Contribution of man in dress can’t be sidelined; they are in India, B’desh and US

By RK Rishikesh Sinha, New Delhi

Punjabis are proud of being one minority community in India which produces jawans to (Army) Generals. People of this fighting community hold posts from the foot soldier to the military decision-maker of the country.

Their ubiquitous presence in the armed forces of the country in para-military, or in the Army, Navy and Air Force, have instilled a belief in the minds of the people whether the Indian military culture is of Punjabis, or it is Punjabis that make up the essence of the Indian military forces.

Punjabis penchant for military is beyond one’s imagination. One can find names of the Punjabis “Colonel”, “Subedar” and “Major”.

The same penchant and the intensity of love (although it is employment driven) towards joining the fauz could be seen in the Bishnupriya Manipuri community. Since decades boys from villages have been joining the forces which names end with all possible puzzling-acronym: BSF (Border Security Force), CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force), ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police), Assam Rifle, SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal), Railway Protection Force and ICG (Indian Coast Guard).

The list is besides the three Indian Armed Forces which includes the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force where the Bishnupriya Manipuri people make a sizable population. Especially in the Indian Army compared to Indian Air Force and Navy, lingos like “Sinha platoon”, “Sinha Party” have come up in the tongues of jawans.

There the name of the community is not “unrecognized”. Young boys have been making up the recognition of the community since decades. In all the disciplines and departments, one can find Bishnupriya Manipuri presence felt.

The presence of jawans from every home from every village in the defence forces of the country has not only provided a solid support to the respective families, but it has played a pivotal role to the stability of the whole community. The little bit ‘visible’ prosperity one see around in villages, in towns and in cities, one will find directly or indirectly it is associated with the salaried money brought from the fauz.

The sons and daughters of the bygone jawans scattered all around the country are the news faces of Bishnupriya Manipuri. There is no profession which has given as much to the community than the fauz. For Indian Bishnupriya Manipuri, the fact will not surprise them.

Take Bangladesh, there the presence of Bishnupriya Manipuri people in Army, Police and Bangladesh Rifle (BDR) take up the figure to 400 presently. Even there, the fauz shows its presence. The second professions in Bangladesh where the people of the community are engage maximum it is the teaching profession. 300 Bishnupriya Manipuri people are working as Primary Teachers in the country, according to Ashim Singha.

However, it is not in India and in Bangladesh the Bishnupriya Manipuri boys have brilliantly sneaked in the armed forces, in US Navy the boys have don the respect of the dress.

Now the time has come up to strengthen the strength that the jawans have created, and have been creating till now. It is our strength, and like the Punjabis we have to make it rhetoric, a statement. And we must feel proud of our strength and optimize it to the fullest.

The Life and Time of Jonaki Sinha Plesniak!

By RK Rishikesh Sinha, New Delhi

Here on June 17, 2008 the news of death of Jonaki Sinha Plesniak sourced from The Telegraph was carried out. For all of us it was one of the saddest days of our life. Those who knew her the pain of losing her cannot be felt. However, for those who didn’t know her, she remained an incomplete Jonaki!

Through the strings of comments we all came to know that Jonaki was a musical wizard. She had under her belts many achievements. But we don’t know. You can say, actually we didn’t take care of it. Alas, she remained a passing figure, for many of us.

She was not a passing figure, her remainings is with us. Her life and time is still somewhere.

Can’t we do something that completes her profile, which fills in the vacuum that she had created?

Can we relive the life and time of Jonaki?

Yes, we can.

It is the way we do for our near and dear ones.

Please subscribe to the blog: receive email. Get Free alert on your mobile! Click here.

Subscribe:

The Bishnupriya Manipuri
E – World
English Grammar

Bishnupriya Manipuri artists performed in the Rising Day of 14 Bn BSF at Kailasaher

A troupe of Bishnupriya Manipuri music artistes led by Dr Sushanta Sinha showcased their talent on the Rising Day of the 14 Battalion of the Border Security Force, the world’s largest paramilitary Force, on April 1, 2009 at Rangrung Tea Estate, Kailasaher, Tripura. 

In the well-attended programme, civilians adjacent with BSF officials enjoyed the musical renditions by Kailasaher-based Bishnupriya Manipuri artists. They sung patriotic as well as oldie-goldie Hindi songs. 

The song “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon…” sung by Nabanita Sinha where it swept the sentinels of the border into patriotic fervour; Babita Rajkumari with Bhupen Hazarika’s “dil hoom hoom kare …”, Subarna Sinha’s “O Maji Re…” , “Dolna Dolna…” by Aditi Sinha, were able to stole the show with their performance. 

Kuhali Sinha rendered the “Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya…” hymn, and BK Sinha read one of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem. 

Please subscribe to the blog: receive email. Get Free alert on your mobile! Click here.

Subscribe:

The Bishnupriya Manipuri

E – World

English Grammar

You’re receiving SMS from bishnupriyamanipuri.com

The blog has acquired the URL http://www.bishnupriyamanipuri.com/ yesterday exactly at 8.30 pm. Now onwards, readers can directly type in the browser address bar “bishnupriyamanipuri.com” and visit here. However, special care has been taken to those who will be visiting the earlier “http://bishnupriyamanipuri.blogspot.com/” web domain. They will be seeing the same. There is no hair-separation between the two domains.

It is to be mentioned that it is just a change of web address/ URL; there is no change of its functioning. The heart and soul of the “blog” remains the same.

Let me reiterate – there has been no change of contents between the two domains. It has been done primarily after getting analytics feedback of the blog which shows a population of users is searching with “Bishnupriya manipuri .com”. It is simply to position the blog so that they don’t remain away from the blog.

Keep on reading! Thanks

Please subscribe to the blog: receive email. Get Free alert on your mobile! Click here.

Subscribe:

The Bishnupriya Manipuri
E – World
English Grammar

Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School at Kailasahar, Tripura was established in 1872

Prashanta Kilikdar, Headmaster, Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School at Kailasahar, Tripura is a person who didn’t switch off his mobile when a Delhi mobile number was flashing intermittently for many days. He was patient, enthusiastic receiving each and every call. Test of his patience came very visible when he answered all the minute queries put forward by the interviewee. 

By RK Rishikesh Sinha, New Delhi

The Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School at Kailasahar, Tripura is not a school of this day. The history of the school dates back to 19th century, when India was still in the clutches of British Raj and the present State was nowhere in the political map. One can imagine the state of education in those days. 

But it didn’t deter people to embrace the importance of education that it brings to the society. The grand foresight that education is necessary for the overall development of an individual and it is instrumental to the upliftment of any society, was well understood by Rudra Singha. A Bishnupriya Manipuri, Rudra Singha, donated 2.37 acre of land in 1872 to the establishment of a school which is now named after him and it stands as a beacon guiding generations after generations since its inception. 

The double-storey school recently organised the women Northeast Football Tournament and Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha (NBMM) Platinum Jubilee. Those who attended the Platinum Jubilee celebration were awestruck seeing the level of maintenance that is being followed by the school. The Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School bestows a playground and a beautiful garden.

Facility of bathroom is one aspect where Indian schools lag behind, but the school again scores the point here. It has a clean, well maintained bathroom for boys and girls. The pathetic state of bathroom facility in schools in India is well known. Reports do appear in media where students read girls abstain from school only due to lack of this facility. 

Location of the school, to be precise the area in which a school comes, is one determining factor on which a status of any school is given preference and given value. And it goes to the neighbourhood-population where the school is situated. “The school is situated in an area where the Bishnupriya Manipuri community accounts for 75-80 per cent of the total populace” said Kilikdar. 

Students from Guldharpur, Bhagabannagar, Gaunagar, Icchabpur, and Deorachhara gram panchayats take admission in the school, said Samar Sinha, who teaches geography in the school.

Being in the Bishnupriya Manipuri predominant area is very visible in its student enrollment. Over 80 per cent of the students studying in the school are Bishnupriya Manipuri, said Kilikdar. The school has morning and noon shifts. 

The Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School has classes from Class I to Class XII. The first batch of Class XII (Arts stream) would be passing this academic year. Enrollment of girls in the school is something that the education fraternity of the country should take note of it. 

In Class XI, the number of boys and girls is 15 each. The ratio of boys and the girls which runs equal from Class VI to Class XII is a remarkable achievement of the school. And the credit must go to the parents of the nearby areas who understand the importance of girl’s education as they are with their boys’ education. According to Ministry of Human Resource Development report (as on 30.9.2004), the dropout rates in Class I-X is 60.41 percent in boys, and 63. 88 per cent in girls. 

However, taking into account the percentage of students passing the Class X examination from the school, if it has not touched the magic 100 per cent result, it has not been poorer either. In 2006, 72 % of the 42 students who appeared in the exam were able to get through the exam. Four students secured First Division. 

In 2007, the Class X result went to a new height. Out of 45 students who sat in the exam, 96 % of students were declared pass. In 2008, the passing result came down to 82.35 per cent. 34 students appeared in the matriculation exam. 

Like any other government school of the country, the Rudra Singh Higher Secondary School at Kailasahar, Tripura is not unscathed with problems plaguing it. In the morning shift (Class I – V) only 5 teachers are teaching the students, whereas in the noon shift (Class VI – XII) it is 17, Kilikdar said. The dismal Pupil-Teacher ratio is 33 in Pre-degree junior colleges/ Hr. Sec. Schools, as on 30.9.2004 Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, report said. 

Prashanta Kilikdar confirmation that the school is facing scarcity of teachers in all the classes, calls for immediate attention and call for action from the stakeholders of State’s education. Else the school which has been the precursor of change for the people living in the area and for the State will loose its sheen to the English-medium schools that have popped up in the past couple years. 

It is remorseful for all of us that the walls of the century-old school have started crumbling and cracks have started appearing in it. Going by the records of students who have come out with flying colours in the matric exam securing First Division, it is minimal. In the academic year 2007 and 2008, only one student secured First Division and in 2006 it was mere 4. 

Please subscribe to the blog: receive email. Get Free alert on your mobile! Click here.

Subscribe:

The Bishnupriya Manipuri

E – World

English Grammar

Watch the photos of Mahasabha meet in Tripura

The Platinum Jubilee of Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha (NBMM) held at Kailasahar, North Tripura on February 13, 14 and 15, was organised at a “grand” scale. Participation of the people in the conference was “euphoric”. 

Can you visualize the words “grand” and “euphoric” used above with the 43rd conference of Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha? Perhaps, not! 

Since those who were present there can only understand and appreciate the words “grand” and “euphoric”. Rest, who were not at the place, like most of us, can’t have an affinity to the event or to these words. For them the words are hollow and insipid. Truth is that, it is not. 

So, coming to the rescue of those who haven’t been at this event, a visual representation can definitely point out to the nature it was carried out. 

The blog comes up with a string of photos depicting the whole event. 

The first slide is a collage of all the photos captured in “2009” shape highlighting that the event had taken place in the year 2009. The second photo and many, one could see, the football of people assembled at the venue. These photos bring forth the fact that the event was indeed organised in a grand manner and the audience went berserk and euphoric. 

Related articles:

Mahasabha Election: Debendra Kr Sinha, Uday Sinha re-elected President, Secretary General posts – THURSDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 2009

Bishnupriya Manipuri demand introduction of language, appointment of language teachers, establishment of Devolopment Council – FRIDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2009

A Brief History of Mahasabha from 1932 to 2009 – THURSDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2009