G Plus Vol 6 Issue 50 by G Plus

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Volume 06 | Issue 50 Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019 Price `10

INSIDE

All rural households to get Functional Tap Water Connection by 2024

Plan your pandal-hopping better!

PG 02

PG 10 - 11

Heavy surge expected from Ola, Uber during Durga Puja in Guwahati G Plus News @guwahatiplus

ith the commencement of Durga Puja, what Guwahatians fear the most is getting stuck in traffic jams for hours together in the name of pandal hopping. In spite of the city police’s efforts at maintaining smooth flow of traffic by altering routes for commuters, traffic jams

a very limited number of appbased services are expected to be available on the roads and surge pricing is expected to be at the maximum. “Earlier, there were around 15,000 taxis enrolled with Ola and Uber but now it has reduced to around 8,000 out of which 50% of the vehicles will not be available during the Puja for various reasons,” said president of All Assam Cab Owners’ Association, Ismail Ali, adding that many cabs are not plying because they

passengers have already witnessed a huge surge in the price of the app-based cab services. “I was trying to book a cab to go to Down Town from ISBT which is around 14 kilometres and the fare which

Representative image showing a surged price on a mobile phone | G Plus Photo resulting from the unplanned city roads always remains a matter of concern during every festival time. Last year however, it was observed that there was lesser traffic because Guwahatians preferred commuting by appbased taxi services like Ola and Uber. Therefore, there were lesser vehicles on the roads. But this year there will be issues as

was showing are preparing their documents was a whopping after the new Motor Vehicles Rs 800,” said a Act kicked in. Also, many drivers student Meren will be on leave to celebrate puja Jamir adding in their own hometowns and that usually it villages. takes around Rs The regular commuters have 140. already started feeling the pressure as according to them, such cONTINUED ON Page 03 regular Ola and Uber

Lead Story Snippets

Assam Govt to set up museum on ‘Battle of Saraighat’ in Guwahati

ssam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal reviewed a presentation on Brahmaputra riverine heritage and the naval history of Assam at Janata Bhawan on October 1. In the meeting CM Sonowal directed the officials to construct a museum glorifying the ‘Battle of Saraighat’ where the Ahoms routed the Mughals. It is to be mentioned that the Battle of Saraighat was a naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal Empire, and the Ahom Kingdom led by Lachit Borphukan on the Brahmaputra River at Saraighat. The Battle of Saraighat was the last battle in the last major attempt by the Mughals to extend their empire into Assam.

Prime accused in Radha Kumari murder case sentenced to death

he prime accused in the Radha Kumari rape and murder case, Bikas Das, has been awarded the death penalty by the District & Sessions Judge, Sivasagar, SK Poddar, on Thursday, October 3. The court gave the accused, Bikas Das, 30 days to appeal before the High Court. 21-year-old Radha Kumari was raped and strangled to death inside a passenger train travelling from Tinsukia to Rangia on July 10, 2018. Her body was recovered from a toilet of the train at Simaluguri Railway Station. Radha Kumari was a student of Assam Agricultural University in Jorhat.

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

All rural households to get Functional Tap Water Connection by 2024 Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

nder the scheme Jal Jeevan Mission, all rural households will be provided with Functional Household Tap Water Connection by 2024. This was stated by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal at the Swachh Mahotsav 2019 organised on October 3, 2019 at the Khanapara Veterinary Field. On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and successful completion of five years of Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October, 2019, Assam celebrated Swachh Mahotsav. The event was visited by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, PHED minister Rihon Daimari, Panchayat & Rural Development minister Naba Kumar Doley, principal secretary of PHED Assam Avinash Joshi, secretary, PHE

A highlight of the ceremony was the launch of a comic book on Chacha Choudhury and Sabu for children depicting them as “Swachhata Doots.” The key messages of the comic books will be sanitation, health, hygiene, waste segregation that will help children become agents of change. cum mission director, sanitation Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin Dr. Siddharth Singh (IAS) along with the Deputy Commissioners and EEs of respective districts. “The two most important priorities of Hon’ble PM are plastic waste management and Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims

CM Sarbananda Sonowal (C), ministers Naba Doley (L) and Rihon Daimary (R) releasing the comic book on Swachhta | G Plus photo to ensure a clean environment as well as safe drinking water for all and we all have to work together to make this successful,” stated the principal secretary of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Assam, Avinash Joshi. At the Swachh Mahotsav, CM Sonowal handed over 1,004 piped water supply schemes to the Panchayat Raj Institutions and a mention regarding CM’s Special 1 Lakh Toilet Initiative was also made that aims to expedite the process of LOBs (Left out of Baseline Survey). Apart from this, another key highlight of the ceremony was the launch of a comic book on Chacha Choudhury and Sabu for children depicting them as “Swachhata Doots.” The key messages of the comic books will be sanitation, health, hygiene, waste segregation that will help children with nascent mind to become agents of change. In his key note address, CM Sonowal put emphasis on discarding the use of single use plastics and starting the use of products made of bamboo and cotton. “All the Gram Panchayat representatives should take the message of “Swachhata Hi

Sewa” to the grassroots and create awareness at the village level and tea garden areas,” he said. The CM along with the PHE Minister and other delegates visited the exhibition stalls put up by various government organisations and private firms who work towards the scientific management of plastic waste. Some of the stalls also displayed alternatives of single use plastic along with various products made by recycled plastic waste. The dignitaries then participated in the Plastic Shramdaan and the ceremonial ‘flagging off’ of the truck which contained segregated plastic waste to be sent to CIPET (Central Institute of Plastic Engineering Technology) for recycling. Highlighting the various harmful effects of plastic, Rihon Daimari, Minister PHE, Assam during his speech said, “Plastic is not just polluting the environment but it is also adding to a lot of health hazards. There is an urgent need to stop the consumption of single use plastic immediately. From this

day onwards, PHE department will discard the use of single use plastics. I urge everyone to join the movement and make minimal use of plastic and completely refuse single use plastic for our environment and our betterment.” He also talked about the achievements of SBM (G), Assam and highlighted the initiatives undertaken by the department in order to achieve the goals of the mission. An audio-visual on the journey of SBM (G) Assam was shown which depicted the progress of the mission and the various initiatives and activities undertaken to bring in a change in the ingrained behaviour of the people. The ceremony was based on the theme of Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2019 which was launched on September 11, 2019 across India with the focus on plastic waste management. In Assam 1,27,144 number of people participated in SHS activities (as on October 1, 2019). A total of 1,27,137 people were mobilized, 6,959 kgs of plastic waste was collected and 6,394 kgs was disposed. n

Cover Story

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Heavy surge expected from Ola, Uber during Durga Puja in Guwahati From Page 01

imilarly, passengers across the city are complaining about huge surge in the fares and the app-based taxi fares have not been regulated. A source in the transport department talking to G Plus said, “Till now the app-based taxi service and the fares charged by them are not regulated.” Sources also revealed that the Centre is likely to permit cab aggregators to charge customers up to only three times the base fare during periods of high demand on a new set of regulations being drafted for the industry. Ride-hailing apps including Uber and Ola have long argued in favour of surge pricing to regulate the demand and supply of cabs on their platforms. The service providers, whereas, claim that algorithms monitor

demand and supply in real time all over the city. When the systems notice an increase in wait times (because there aren’t enough drivers nearby), surge pricing automatically kicks in. This has two effects: people who are not in a hurry wait until the fares fall thereby reducing demand; and drivers who are nearby go to that neighbourhood to get the higher fares thereby increasing supply. The service providers claim that the majority of the money generated due to higher fares goes to the driver-partners. But the taxi drivers allege that the surge amount is not given to them but taken by the company. “Whenever there is huge traffic, Uber and Ola charge more from the customers but the money is not given to the drivers but taken by the app-based companies,” said Ismail Ali. He also said that previously the app-based companies used to take 26% of the total fare but these days

they take 36% and during a surge they take more. A source in the transport department revealed that a committee is being formed to study the fare module of the app-based cab services and the government is mulling on regulating the services. But the process is pending as even the Centre is working on a regulation plan. The proposed rules for cab aggregators by the Centre follow the new motor vehicle law,

which for the first time recognises cab aggregators as digital intermediaries or marketplaces. Earlier, the rules did not recognise

cab aggregators as separate entities, causing firms such as Uber and Ola to operate in a grey zone.

In The News Snippets

Guwahati ranked Second Cleanest Capital City in NE

uwahati has been listed as the second cleanest capital in the northeastern region according to the Swachh Surveksan 2019 results. The city was ranked 303rd out of the 425 cleanest cities in the nation. Gangtok topped the charts as the cleanest capital city in the northeast and secured the rank of 275 among the cleanest in the nation. Silchar and Dibrugarh have been ranked 1st and 2nd among the dirtiest cities in the northeastern region according to the Survekshan. Silchar got an all-India rank of 423 out of the 425 dirtiest cities in the country and Dibrugarh is listed in the 415th position.

Pre-paid taxi service launched at Guwahati airport

or the first time in the north-eastern region, a pre-paid taxi service has begun at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport for all destinations in and near Guwahati. The pre-paid taxi services are available from a booth for a short distance of 5 kms on to a foreign location like Bhutan and other north-eastern cities. Regional Executive Director, Airport Authority of India, Sanjeev Jindal, expressed his concern of the local taxi drivers and tour operators and said that their interests will also be taken into consideration. “AAI will also provide basic amenities to taxi operations at the parking areas such as seating sheds, toilets, drinking water and assistance booth,” he added. As international flights have started their services from Guwahati airport, the taxi service is also planning to add more cabs as per the requirement and timing of the flights.

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

To cash in on demand, pollution testing centres issue certificates without checking emission levels Atiqul Habib @guwahatiplus

louting laid norms, majority of pollution checking centres in the city are issuing pollutionfree certificates to vehicles without physically checking their emission levels. A survey done by G Plus in Guwahati revealed that out of around 26 centres most of them are indulging in such malpractices to cash in on the demand generated after the New Motor Vehicle Act 2019 was enforced in the city. “Previously no one cared to make PUC certificates. Hence, centres were less in Guwahati. However, now with the new MV Act the existing centres are flooded with customers. We don’t have the necessary infrastructure to handle such big numbers and hence we are issuing the certificate without checking the emission levels,” an owner of a pollution checking centre at Beltola told G Plus under the condition of anonymity. A computerised model for pollution check was developed by the Society of Indian Automobile manufacturers, wherein a gas analyser is connected to a computer, to which a camera and a printer are attached. The gas analyser records the emission value and sends it to the computer directly, while the camera captures the license plate of the vehicle.

Long queues as above continue to be seen in from of various Pollution Testing Centres in the city | G Plus photo Subsequently, a certificate was issued if the emission values are within the prescribed limits. The blame for not checking the emission levels not only lies with the pollution centres, citizens are also to be squarely blamed for the current state of affairs. “Customers want their certificate early and hardly anyone has requested us for the emission check levels physically,” he added.

In 2017, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority for the National Capital Region was directed by the Supreme Court to carry out a physical inspection of the PUC centres “to check if credible, authentic and reliable tests are being conducted to identify gross polluters.” But it appears that the administration in Guwahati has also turned a blind eye to these pollution checking centres.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Transport, Assam, Virendra Mittal, on September 28 lat, directed the DTOs in the state to monitor the issuing process of pollution under check (PUC) certificates. But how much of that order has been followed on the ground by the DTOs also remains to be seen as we found out in many places the certificates are being issued overlooking all the stated rules. n

Weather report for the week Guwahati

SUN

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

Scattered T-Storms

T-Storms

Scattered T-Storms

31°24° C

29°24° C

30°23° C

SATURDAY Scattered T-Storms

31°25° C

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Governance

Authorities place special focus on cleanliness this Puja Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

eeping in mind the excess amount of waste generated during Durga Puja, especially in and around the pandals, the authorities have issued special instructions to ensure that the waste generation is limited to a minimum and is managed efficiently. The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) authorities informed that they have taken a few additional measures to tackle the excess generation of waste during Durga Puja. “We have undertaken some extra steps to make sure that cleanliness is maintained at all times. In addition to our own vehicles like dumpers, JCBs, auto tippers etc, we will hire some extra vehicles too,” said GMC commissioner Debeswar Malakar while talking to G Plus. He added that apart from the regular cleanliness employees, the 12 flying squads will also remain deployed across the city from 6 am to 10 pm. In order to ensure safe and peaceful puja celebrations this

“We have issued instructions to Durga Puja organisers to minimise the usage of single use plastic items,” DC Kamrup (M) year, the district administration is going all out with its preparedness measures. Over the years, Guwahati has seen a considerable rise in the number of puja pandals being built during the festival in various parts of the city. On a daily basis, Guwahati city generates around 500 tonnes of garbage. However last year, during the four days of Durga Puja celebrations, over 100 tonnes of extra garbage on an average was generated each day. In the four days of Puja, the city produced garbage equivalent to the amount produced in five normal days, as per authorities. On the other hand, deputy commissioner Biswajit Pegu told G Plus that the district administration has issued guidelines to the Durga Puja committees to ensure that they keep enough dustbins at the pandal premises so that the waste generated is not scattered.

“We have also issued instructions to Durga Puja organisers to minimise the usage of single use plastic items, thermocol and other nonbiodegradable material while constructing the pandals and the idols,” mentioned Pegu. Authorities say that whenever they carry out de-siltation drives in the city, plastic is the main substance clogging the drains. Hence a combined effort is needed from all stakeholders in this regard. The officials have also asked the organisers to be conscientious of the fact that waste is not littered in the surroundings of the pandals as well. “In this regard, the we have instructed the committees to deploy as many volunteers as possible since it will not be possible for the GMC volunteers to visit each and every pandal at the same point of time,” Pegu further added. Talking about the challenges faced by the district administration in ensuring smooth conduct of puja in the city, the officials informed that even though they issue instructions to puja committees not to construct pandals on narrow roads, many puja committees do not adhere to this guideline and erect pandals even in places which do not have adequate space. This in turn causes major traffic congestion in the city during the four days of Durga Puja. Additionally, construction of elaborate entry gates for the pandals is another factor which leads to traffic snarls. Further, in order to prevent any antisocial activities by miscreants, the administration has also instructed the puja committees to deploy enough volunteers during the wee hours.

City Snippets

‘Dry day’ declared on the occasion of Sankaradeva Tithi

he Assam government has announced Tuesday, October 8, as a ‘Dry Day’ to mark the Janmostsava of Mahapurush Srimanta Sankaradeva, which is celebrated across Assam as Sankaradeva Tithi. An official circular stated, “During the period possession or sale or distribution of spirituous, fermented or intoxicating liquors or other substances of alike nature are completely prohibited.” It is to be mentioned October 8 also being “Vijaya Dashami”, will also be considered as a Dry Day. All liquor retail shops in the state shall remain closed on the abovementioned date.

Ward Commissioner resigns after failing to improve degrading hygienic condition of Dibrugarh

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

These Durga Pujas in Guwahati are more than 100 yrs old

urga Puja is one of the biggest festivals celebrated after Bihu in Guwahati as well as entire Assam. The fanfare with which Durga Puja is celebrated in Guwahati is

unparalleled, especially over the past few years. As per authorities, this year alone, a whopping 492 pandals are being constructed to observe the puja in different parts of the city. Out of these, 486 will be open

Ahom Royal Family’s Uzanbazar Barowari Puja Mandap Samiti (Since 1889)

he oldest Durga Puja celebration in Guwahati takes place at Uzanbazar’s Barowari Puja Mandap. The puja completed its 130th year this time. Started in 1889 by Ghanakanta Singha Rajkumar of the Ahom royal family, the puja has been a regular affair since then. Initially started in Uzanbazar Rajbari, it was later shifted to Uzanbazar Barowari Puja Mandap permanently in 1934. Like every year, this year, too,

the organisers are expecting to observe the puja with all the rituals and a large number of devotees to throng the pandal to offer their obeisance. Commemorating the celebrations last year, the puja committee had for the first time organised an Aarti singing competition on Saptami and Ashtami evenings. The prize money for the winners was fixed at Rs. 10,000 for the first prize, while the second prize was for Rs. 7,000 and the third prize was kept at Rs. 5,000.

to public while the rest are private pujas. However, as over the past few years, the fanfare, pomp and show have taken precedence in puja celebrations, there are still a few puja committees which have held on

to older traditions and rituals. In fact some of these places have been organising Durga Puja for more than a century now. Here is a look at a few of the oldest puja celebrations in Guwahati

Hari Sabha in Panbazar (Since 1915)

he Panbazar Sanatan Dharma Sabha (Hari Sabha) will complete 104 years of Durga Puja celebrations this year. It is one of the oldest Durga puja venues in Guwahati. The Hari Sabha puja is not only a place of congregation for the Hindus, but also for the Muslims from Lakhtokia area, who participate in organising the week-long celebrations. The Hari Sabha puja is more inclined towards spiritual worship. Here Durga Puja is devoid of modern decorations and glitzy pandals and rather concentrates on worshipping through old Vedic rituals and culture. An

interesting trivia associated with this place is that the idols for the puja have been sculpted by the same family from Jorpukhuri for over one hundred years now. Another trivia is that members of a single family have been sitting as priests for the puja since its inception. Moreover, all the idols are aligned on the same platform and are not sculpted as individuals. During immersion, the Hari Sabha committee used to carry the idols on shoulders from the venue to the ghat. However, for the past three years, there has been a dearth of people to carry the idols, and so, the committee has been using a trolley instead.

ibrugarh Municipal Board (DMB) ward commissioner of Ward No. 11, Rachana Jain, has resigned from her post over issues related to the degrading hygiene conditions of the town. Reportedly, Rachna’s resignation came after the DMB authorities didn’t pay heed to her request to regularly clean up the area. As per her resignation letter, she resigned taking moral responsibility for total failure in serving the tax-paying citizens of the town. Recently, Dibrugarh was ranked 415th out of the 425 cities surveyed under the Swachh Survekshan 2019. It is an annual survey of cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene among the towns and cities of the country. In a Facebook post, Rachna wrote, “Honourable Prime Minister Modi ji Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Dibrugarh town is a failure due to arrogant attitude and total failure of our Dibrugarh municipality.”

Barowari Puja | File Photo

Lighter and faster

Hari Sabha Puja in Panbazar | File Photo

West Guwahati Puja Samiti (Since 1901)

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he Paschim Guwahati Durga puja has completed 118 continuous years of Durga Puja celebrations this time. The committee began holding the puja since 1901 opposite to the Bharalumukh Police Station at the Paschim Guwahati Puja Samiti Mandap.

The puja follows the Puranic system of worship. As per reports, there is no animal or any other form of sacrifice made during this puja and it is purely spiritual in nature. The puja committee organises Ojapali, Nagara Naam, Aayotir Naam and Chandi Paath during the course of puja.

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West Guwahati Puja| File Photo

In The News

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Private players already engaged in recycling and minimizing plastic use Mohua @guwahatiplus

hile the whole of Guwahati is dependent on plastic for every little thing it is time to minimise its use as the government of India has initiated an action plan to have single-use plastic-mukt Bharat by 2022. An initial move to implement a ban was revoked by various stakeholders who use plastics for packaging from sodas and biscuits to shampoo and ketchup. Therefore, as is the case, a full ban doesn’t seem plausible. Now, the most talked about topic is now how effective this new measure will be. Laymen might be wondering

how to use plastic in a productive way. But those who have the passion to work for the betterment of society are already silently working on it. GK Plastics (an industrial entity dabbling in plastic production) headed by one Archana Kalita for example, has been trying to recycle waste plastic that is of no consumable use. GK Plastics collect plastic materials like bottles from kabadiwalas or rag pickers. A grinding machine is used to grind the collected plastic. These plastics are washed, then stocking is done and after cutting, drying and packing it gets delivered to the contractors or other agencies which use them in the construction of roads. A team member of GK Plastics shared valuable information about the scientific use of plastic

Plastic experts extol the virtues of the material

anjay Sikaria from Plastic Federation of India mentioned a few good usages of plastics. Plastic is used in ball point pens, mouse for computers, motor parts, etc. According to him it is not feasible to put a complete ban on plastics.

Some of the alternatives that people have thought about for plastic are jute bags, cotton bags and polypropylene ‘green’ bag. But even there the question that arises is how effective it is going to be keeping in mind the cost these involve. The costs of such bags can be as high as Rs 200 to Rs 500, which many people might not be able to afford. It is said that Assam is a storehouse of bamboo but the bamboo products made for protecting the environment are very expensive. He also pointed out that there is no clarity whether the ban is on or it has been shelved. On October 2, the district administration of North Guwahati held a programme on plastic ban. The Executive member of the Town committee, who is also the Assistant Commissioner, Shehnab Shahin, said that she had imposed Section 144 on those who consume single use plastic. But it is not clear if the administration can still carry out this measure. There are a few other alternatives which might not be as costly as those mentioned earlier, like mesh produce bags, greenlight matches, reusable grocery bags, disposable wooden cutlery, wood hangers, compostable garbage bags, bamboo cutting board, etc.

in road construction. He said that according to PWD standard norm, 10 tonne bitumen is used for the construction of 1 km road. But if the recycled plastic is used with this bitumen, only 8 tonnes is needed as it can be mixed with 2 tonnes of plastic. This not only cuts down the cost of construction, but also gives more durability to the roads. It can save the roads from getting damaged after too much rain. He further added that the use of tar adds to the wear and tear of the roads as it can’t withstand severe heat. In India, 11 states have already started this project; Assam is not using its resources as a result of which it is unable to tap the profitmaking businesses the way it should have been done by now. The main problem in achieving

the target is the collection of waste plastic. The rag pickers usually collect plastics but these are sent out of the state. So, Assam is not capitalizing on this and its reserves are basically misused. He also advised that grinding machines can be sold to the SHGs and Gram Panchayats which can apply this method and recycle plastic. According to the environment ministry, about 20,000 tonnes of plastic waste is generated every day in the country. Of this, only 13,000-14,000 tonnes are collected. In this respect, the initiative of GK Plastics seems praiseworthy. There are a few other projects taken up by some individuals who have collaborated with big companies like Tata Steel. EgyNest is such a company. They have involved

themselves in pet bottle recycling by using polycrack technology which converts the non-segregated feed stocks into materials which leave no residue after it is burnt. Prior to the government’s move on minimising use of plastic, a few NGOs were already trying to do their bit in this regard. The founder member of an NGO, Voice of Environment, said that they had to face lot of problems in making the Kamakhya Temple premises a clean and unpolluted zone for the visitors. The vendors at Kamakhya Temple expressed their displeasure on being urged to stop using plastics as they reported that the devotees who throng Kamakhya Temple prefer the Prasad to be wrapped in poly bags.

Guest Column

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Cometh the puja, cometh the khichdi! I t’s that time of the year again; the time of joy, grandeur and merrymaking, the time to revel in the flavours of the quintessential Indian staple dish- ‘khichdi.’ With the beginning of Navratra and the ensuing Durga Puja celebrations, most of the country, especially the eastern part of it, is busy preparing their itinerary for each day of the eagerly awaited festivities. But, if you’re like me and food is what defines your

festival, then you have got a whole new blueprint to lie! Amidst all this, there’s one super-food that has become the very identity of these pujas, the khichdi. Very synonymous with Hindu Indian festivals, khichdi transcends to a whole new level during Durga Puja. Serpentine queues of people can be seen thronging the puja pandals to have their share of the divine ‘bhog.’ The pujas are incomplete without a serving of khichdi!

Essentially a potpourri of rice, lentils and vegetables put together with a very mellow addition of spices and a generous dollop of clarified butter (ghee) to top it, khichdi is omnipresent in some form and name throughout the Indian subcontinent. Bengal and Assam’s traditional one, Gujarat’s khichdi with kadhi (a curry with a yoghurt base), Kashmir’s khichdi during the festival of ‘khetsemivas’ and those of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Whichever corner of the country you’re in, you won’t cease to find a unique variety of khichdi and the region’s own unique take on it. Interestingly, the dish has a history of its own which involves among others, the mighty Mughals. Emperors like Akbar, Jahangir and even Aurangzeb were fans of this culinary delight. Khichdi

underwent a transformation during the time of the Mughals. It became spicier, got an added strata of taste in the form of nuts, raisins and dry fruits eventually making it richer both, in taste and texture. Abul Fazl wrote in Ain-i-Akbari that as many as seven variants of khichdi were available in the royal menu for Akbar. He sure had a hard time placing his order! Jahangir, too, loved his khichdi. Along with his patronage for paintings, he also helped spread the dish throughout his kingdom. Even someone like Aurangzeb, who wasn’t much for art, literature or food, was very fond of the Alamgiri khichdi which consisted of fish and hard boiled eggs. Fish with khichdi is still eaten very fondly in Bengal where a fried Hilsa fish over a plate of steaming hot khichdi infused with ghee will make anyone go weak in the knees. With the entry of English forces onto the subcontinent, the humble khichdi made its debut on European soil as well where it’s known by the name of Kedgeree and is still a popular option for brunch. The desi dish just went international! We are not complaining, though. The easy to digest wholesome meal that is khichdi is the perfect blend of protein and

GUEST COLUMN

Sumit Das carbohydrates. The ghee that adds a new dimension to its taste also provides the necessary trace amounts of fat to the body making it a complete dish in itself. Khichdi is by no means a new or fancy dish to us Indians. But somehow, during the pujas, the dish gains a paramount position in the hearts and the taste buds of people. It takes the form of the perfect puja lunch for devotees and not only satisfies the tummy, but also the heart as well. The fragrance of the ghee that is so generously added to the dish has the power to pull you out of your comfy beds and make you join the beeline in the hustle and bustle of the congregation. But when the result is so tempting, you don’t mind, do you? A plateful of khichdi coupled with the very necessary sabzi, popadum (papad), chutney and a spoonful of spicy pickle is all you need to forget all your woes for a short while and reach that elusive state of nirvana that we all so desire. So, join in the festivities with your share of khichdi. Happy Eating!

How effective will the plastic ban be in Guwahati? Atiqul Habib @guwahatiplus

rime Minister Narendra Modi is on a mission to completely eliminate single-use plastic from the nation from October 2. It may be mentioned that the use of plastic doesn’t only restrict one to the use of plastic carry bags but we have become very dependent on plastic as it is present everywhere in other mediums such as beverage bottles, chips packets, gutkha packets or even in the construction business. Although the plastic ban will bring in cheer from many, it will be hard to digest a world without plastic as many plastic recycling companies are clueless and at their wits’ end to gauge the ramifications of such a decision.

For instance, India’s food delivery business is also set to be impacted by this ban as most of the food delivery companies are using single-use plastic items in order to deliver food and beverages. According to reports, if and when the ban is implemented, it could affect close to 10,000 plastic manufacturing units. Bijendra Nath, a worker employed in a disposable plastic cup making factory said, “There is no work from the past one month. I have to pay for the school fees of my children and other expenses of my family and it is a lot of trouble for us.” The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has identified 12 single-use plastic items to be initially banned. These items include thin carry bags, non-woven carry bags, small wrapping, straws, plastic cups,

bowls and plates, plastic sticks for earbuds, balloons and flags, cigarette butts, small plastic bottles, thermocol and thin roadside banners. With India’s annual consumption of around 14 million tonnes of plastic, the government should not rush to ban it before lining up the alternatives for plastic, feel experts. Earlier, before plastic became incorporated in our daily life, in Assam we had seen paper carry bags or pouches made out of old newspapers, which are hardly seen nowadays. The government of Assam should first bring a mechanism in place such that the alternatives of plastic are both eco-friendly as well as cost-effective.

Puja sweets being packed in a non-plastic bag by a local vendor | G Plus photo

City

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Painting competition to be held by Dighalipukhuri Puja committee

ighalipukhuri Sarbajanin Durga Puja Samiti, with the cooperation of Chitrankan Kala Kendra (Art School), Ambari, is organizing an On the Spot Painting Competition at the Prasanti Udayan on the south bank of Dighalipukhuri on Saturday, 5th October 2019 from 2 PM to 3.30 PM. The Competition is open for

students from Class VIII to Class XII. The medium will be water colour or oil pastel. The organizers will provide the paper for painting. Participants will need to bring their own equipment (paints, brushes, pastels etc). Participants are required to report at the venue before 2 PM and register for the competition giving identification proof. There will be no participation fee.

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G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

City

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Plan your pandalhopping better! Traffic restrictions during Durga Puja (From the office of Deputy Commissioner of Police - Traffic, Guwahati) To ensure safety of public, especially vulnerable road users like children, students, women, senior citizens and differently-abled persons on the roads, the following restrictions on the movement of vehicles shall be imposed during Durga Puja in Guwahati city area from 5th to 8th October, 2019.

Restriction on the movement of vehicles: 1. Goods Carrying Vehicles:

Goods carrying vehicles (heavy, medium and mini trucks) shall NOT be allowed to enter the city from 1:00 PM to 4.00 AM (1300 hours–0400 hours - next day) - from Jalukbari, Garchuk, Lokhara, Beltola, Hatigaon and Chandmari side. The goods carrying heavy trucks will be allowed to enter the city from 4.00 AM (0400 hours) onwards (subject to No obstruction on the road due to puja) up to 07.00 AM (0700 hours) in the morning.

Restrictions on movement of City Buses: City buses plying from Basistha Mandir to Garpandu Bus Stand (via Ganeshguri, Zoo Road, Chandmari, Rabindra Bhawan, Kachari, Maligaon) shall move via Basistha Chariali, Tripur Goli, Joyanagar, Sixmile, Express Highway, Narengi, MT Road (Zoo Narengi) towards Destination. City buses plying from Basistha Mandir to Garpandu (via Basistha Chariali Beltola Tiniali, Survey, Supermarket, Ganeshguri flyover, Paltanbazar, AT Road, Bharalumukh, Maligaon) shall move via Basistha Chariali, Tripur Goli, Joyanagar, Sixmile, GS Road towards Destination. City buses plying from Garpandu Bus Stand to Lalganesh (via Maligaon, Kachari, Rabindra Bhawan, Guwahati Club, Chandmari flyover, Zoo Road, Ganeshguri, Ganesh Mandir, Kahilipara, Lalganesh) shall move via Maligaon, Kachari, Rabindra Bhawan, Guwahati Club, Chandmari flyover, Noonmati, Patharquarry, Express Highway, Sixmile, GS Road, Supermarket, Last Gate, Ganesh mandir. City buses plying from Ayurvadic College to Panjabari (via Jalukbari, Maligaon Bharalumukh, Kachari, Guwahati Club, Chandmari flyover, Zoo Road, Ganeshguri, Sixmile, Kalakshetra) shall move via Chandmari, Noonmati, Narengi, Patharquarry, Sixmile towards destination. City buses plying from Jorabat to Kachari (via Khanapara, Sixmile, Narengi, Tiniali, Geeta Mandir, Zoo Narengi Tiniali, Chandmari) will move via Noonmati, Chandmari.

2. No entry restriction:

Dispur PS area: Dr RP Road will be one way only from Ganesh Mandir side. There will be No Entry for vehicles coming from Zoo Road side to Ganesh Mandir. Vehicles are to move via Service Road, GS Road and Supermarket Point. No entry on Service Road from Whole Sale market side to Ganeshguri. Light motor vehicles coming from the Assam Secretariat may take Wholesale Market Road towards Ganesh Mandir (one-way). Paltanbazar PS area: No entry on AK Azad Road from Nepali Mandir side towards Sarabbhati. Entry is open from Sarabbhati only. Panbazar PS area: No entry on MS Road from Shani Mandir side. Entry is open from Railway Gate No 4 only. No entry on Dr JC Das Road from Khubchand point. Entry is open from Tribeni Sweets only (JC Das Road – Danish Road). Jalukbari PS area: No entry from Maligaon Chariali to Pandu. Entry is open from Adabari Tiniali only. No entry of vehicles on PNGB Road between Maligaon Chariali and Kamakhya Railway Station level crossing. All vehicles from Kamakhya Railway Station and Gotanagar area shall be allowed to move through Railway Gate No 3 and Railway Headquarters. Bharalumukh PS area: No entry towards RK Choudhury Road and SC Road from Kumarpara Panchali, Fatasil Ambari. Parking of vehicles shall not be allowed on AT Road (Athgaon flyover to Bharalumukh) and Dinesh Goswami Road (Between Bharalumukh to Shantipur). No entry of vehicles from Sarabhati. One-way movement of vehicles from Bharalu till Sarabbhati and Fatasil. Basistha PS area: No entry on Beltola Joyanagar Road from Joyanagar Chariali to Beltola Chariali. Joyanagar Beltola Chariali Road shall be one way from Beltola Chariali side. Bhetapara Chariali–Beltola Chariali Road will be one way from Beltola Chariali side No entry of vehicles from Bhetapara Chariali towards Beltola Chariali. No entry on Dr BN Saikia Road from Beltola Chariali up to AG Office by-lane. AG Office by-lane will be one way from AG Office side. No vehicles will be allowed to enter from Beltola Joyanagar side. Parking of vehicles shall be allowed between Joyanagar and Khanapara on Beltola – Khanapara Road. Chandmari PS / Geetanagar PS: No vehicles shall be allowed to enter from Anuradha Point to Hatigarh Chariali. Vehicles will be allowed to enter from Hatigarh Chariali only.

Route for light commercial passenger vehicles: Light commercial passenger vehicles, particularly, having all Assam Tourist Permit coming from Lower Assam side will be terminated at Adabari bus terminus during the days of the Puja. Similarly, vehicles coming from upper Assam side will be allowed to come up to the ISBT. All other light passenger vehicles of above category plying within and outskirts of the city will be restricted and will be directed as per the traffic situation at the particular time. Trekker or Tempo vehicles coming from Lokhara to Nepali Mandir will be terminated at Sarabbhati; from there these vehicles will go back to Lalganesh, Lokhara via Chabipul – Bishnupur – ITI Road – Cycle Factory.

Restrictions on parking of vehicles: Guwahati city police has requested all Puja committees to provide volunteers for traffic arrangements. The parking of vehicles will be allowed not near 500 metres from the Puja pandals. Road side parking shall be strictly prohibited on the MG Road, B Baruah Road, GNB Road, Tayabullah Road and on the stretch of GS Road from Lachit Nagar Point to Janata Hotel Point. On other roads, parking on the road side will be allowed if such parking does not hamper the flow of traffic. Both-side parking on any of the roads and at/near intersections shall not be allowed in any case.

Time: All restrictions in respect of passenger vehicles will come into effect from 2:00 PM to 3:00 AM (1400 hours to 0300 hours).

Photo Feature

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

The Finishing Touches... Pandal hopping is set to be a delightful experience in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Durga Puja. Here is a sneak peek on what awaits the pandal hopper in Guwahati. G Plus presents a photo feature on the most attractive pandals in the city.

Kamakhya Nagar, Adabari

Chatribari Sarbajanin Debo Pujasthan

Kamakhya Colony, Pandu At the Pandu Rest Camp

Photo Feature

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Tokobari; pandal made of waste materials

Bhaskar Nagar

Kamakhya Temple in full decor

Bimala Nagar, Bishnupur

Geetanagar

G Talk E

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019 R

Lessening the plastic peril

recall an endearing television commercial from the good old Doordarshan days by Steel Authority of India Ltd which showed the magic of steel through the perspective of a school boy and how it is all-pervasive. Ever since however, it is plastic that has taken over and when it comes to packaging today, nothing can beat the utility that plastic offers. Industries have grown around plastic from which people by the millions feed themselves and thereby live.

Creating a brouhaha over banning single-use plastic and adding the mega fanfare around it on the crucial date of Gandhi Jayanti was, I thought, a really hasty decision by the central government simply because it had not identified a material that would adequately replace plastic by providing the same utility and yet be bio-degradable. Such a material simply does not exist today and so there is all the plastic in all our lives. From the pen to the carry bags, plastic is something we cannot do without. And so, shelving the decision to ban plastic is, for the moment, the right one. But what has indeed served the purpose of the government’s ‘ban plastic’ message is the awareness that has been created because this message, relayed over all

sorts of media tenaciously over the last several days, has had a great impact. Discussions in social forums today centre around lessening usage of plastic and this is something that can surely be done without too much fuss. As an example, banning a vegetable vendor from packing a customer’s purchase in a plastic carry bag would force the customer to either carry his own shopping bag or reuse a plastic bag that he might be having from his earlier shopping. Similarly, for all other ‘wet purchases’ that could include fish and meat. On the other hand, strict enforcement of disposal of garbage in 50 micron plastic bags only should be attempted by the government and achieved within a reasonable deadline. The other single-use plastic items identified by the government can be replaced I believe and some thoughtful attempts will be enough for the needful to be done. Plastic is here to stay; its utility is too great. However, it is up to humans to understand the perils plastic brings and lessening its usage to the extent possible would be a good start. On this note, here’s wishing a Happy Puja! Swapnil Bharali (Editor) @swapnilbharali

Puja and the responsible Guwahatian

otwithstanding the various pressures the nation seems to be in currently, be it with its economy, borders, internal political issues et al, Guwahati seems to have truly ushered in the festive season with a sense of urgency. Perhaps the massive collective social trauma unleashed by the cumbersome NRC exercise has taken its toll on the happiness of the Guwahatians and today, the urgent desire to celebrate and make merry in the balmy autumn weather has overtaken every other priority. As never before, with the huge newfound awareness on the dangers being posed by plastic, this Durga Puja is set to be clean and environment-friendly for sure and which is of course much needed. Plastic wrapping has consciously been discarded and even the mandatory jalebis are being sold wrapped in old newspapers. What this essentially means is that the celebrations are on but with a huge touch of responsible behaviour at all levels of the society. If the most modest of vendors are conscious of respecting his surroundings and yet finds sales during the celebrations, I would reckon that half the job is done. Having said that, festive Guwahati is wearing the look of a beautifully bedecked bride. The pandals have come up and are being given the finishing touches. Some of the themes are unprecedented and so original that it will make pandal-hopping a real pleasure. In such circumstances, the responsibility being displayed currently by Guwahatians needs to be carried forward such that the Puja passes by well and remains incident-free. Liquor consumption needs to be done with the same responsibility and Guwahatians may very well nudge each other to behave as sensibly as it can. Much fun and merriment can be derived from just shopping and meeting up, from consuming the delicacies on the streets to paying obeisance to the deity and in doing so, a whole lot of happiness can be ushered in. Yes, Guwahati can show the way this Durga Puja!

Sidharth Bedi Varma @sid_bv

A right step at the right time

n a milestone move that would have exponential impact, the government of India has protected generations from nicotine addiction, reiterating its commitment to protect and promote health and wellness amongst its citizens, especially young people. While the e-cigarette ordinance ban came

Cigarette and other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 was litigated heavily by the tobacco industry and even after 16 years, enforcement still remains a deep concern. into effect from 18th September 2019, it continues to be widely debated and discussed in the country. The Prime Minister, in his speech at the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Universal Health Coverage Meeting, proudly stated that the growing craze of e-cigarettes in India was worrisome and therefore, to protect the youth from this grave danger, India has banned e-cigarettes. The political will to get rid of this menace is very strong and it is being widely applauded by tobacco control experts. However, there are also many experts, doctors and organizations who are questioning the ban. They all argue about the harm– reduction aspect of e-cigarette over traditional cigarettes. Mainstream and social media is flooded by this harm-reduction lobby citing individual rights, safer alternatives, de-addiction tools and many more ill-informed and industry supported arguments. Efficacy and safety of e-cigarette as a quitting aid have not yet been firmly established by research. Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi said, “Tobacco’s lobby argument on e-cigarettes being less harmful is based on a study which was completely flawed and the authors had serious conflict of interest.” The tobacco industry was in

O pinion Seema Gupta

fact creating an additional market segment for nicotine-based products as well as sustaining the existing cigarette market. Cigarette and other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 was litigated heavily by the tobacco industry and even after 16 years, enforcement still remains a deep concern. The tobacco industry has always been one step ahead of all regulations, the gutkha ban being a case example. Gutkha was banned by FSSAI in 2011, following which the Supreme Court also gave strict directives of enforcement. To circumvent the ban, gutkha companies started selling pan masala separately with pure tobacco – for the users to mix and chew. Recently, the National Tobacco Testing Laboratory has also found nicotine in many pan masalas, contrary to what the packaging claims. A similar regulation on e-cigarettes would become challenging as it would lead to more legal battles, testing and

E cigarette ban in India enforcement nightmares for the officials. It was imperative therefore to ban e-cigarettes before they took over the population and addict a large section like gutkha did in the 1990s. A complete ban on e-cigarette will make it inaccessible to the youth. Most definitely, e-cigarette companies will continue illicit trade as we have already observed this happening over WhatsApp widely in Delhi. However, the high prices and the inaccessibility will be a deterrent in access to youth. Eventually, they will not be seen sold or promoted and used.

rAnimal sacrifice and religion

India has taken long strides in the last decade with a 17% relative reduction in overall tobacco use prevalence and about 23% relative reduction in smoking prevalence alone, between the two GATS, India. The prevalence of e-cigarettes smoking is only 0.02% as of the latest GATS (2016-17). Hence, it is very clear that vaping did not have any role whatsoever in reducing the smoking prevalence during the 7 years between two GATS. Dr Rijo John, a leading expert in economics of tobacco control states, “India doesn’t need vaping as a tool or strategy for tobacco harm reduction. We can achieve tobacco harm reduction and have done it without vaping.” The prevalence of tobacco users amongst minors aged 15 – 17 years has also decreased substantially from 10% in GATS 1 to 4% in GATS 2 due to the multi-pronged strategies and work of the government and non-government organizations. Cigarette companies that also own/fund most of the e-cigarette companies have also observed that initiation of cigarette smoking is reducing amongst youth. Cigarette smoking is not a fad anymore and children/youth are getting more aware of its ill-effects. Therefore, e-cigarettes in the garb of harm-reduction is the perfect tool for them to ensure nicotine addiction remains high amongst coming generations and their profits continue to soar. Is this a cost that all the vaping advocates are willing to bear – continuous and endless generations of nicotine addicts caught younger and younger in this trap! Is this a cost worth the safer-alternative argument that current nicotine/ tobacco addicts support? I would like to ask them, what they would prefer. Safeguarding their health quitting tobacco themselves with proven alternative methods, or give tobacco companies the luxury to use them as fronts of harmreduction strategies and allow them continue to nurture future addicts? (Seema Gupta is a public health expert working on issues of Tobacco Control and Maternal Child Adolescent Health)

Letter to the Editor

Sacrifices are made as an act of giving up something valuable for the sake of something worthy. We, humans however, have changed the entire definition of sacrifice altogether. In a country like ours, animals have been sacrificed for centuries in the name of religion. India’s first national animal welfare law, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 criminalizes cruelty to animals, though exceptions are made for the treatment of animals used for food and scientific experiments. However, sources assert that management of temples and other religious places of worship are obliged to follow the centuries-old religious practices according to which devotees have the freedom to offer animal sacrifices to idols, gods and goddesses as per their will, putting in the custom of these religious rites and rituals as a constitutional right.Traditions of animal sacrificing however might be an age old tradition. Religion should be about having and giving mercy, kindness and compassion, not about killing. Nilakshi M. Daimary, Royal Global University, Guwahati

In Focus

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Centre to hold off on nationwide plastic ban existing rules against storing, manufacturing and using some singleuse plastic products like polythene bags and Styrofoam. The government’s proposed all-India ban on plastic had dismayed consumer firms who use plastic in packaging almost everything. It should be noted that India uses 14 million tonnes of plastic annually and does not presently have an organised system for the management of plastic waste. While based on a report published on the eve of World Environment Day in 2018, Guwahati alone generates 37,000 kgs of plastic waste every day about 12.37 percent of the entire state’s production. According to the report compiled coinciding with the theme of last year’s Environment Day, “Beat Plastic Pollution,” by

G Plus News @guwahatiplus

he government of India has decided to hold off imposing a ban on singleuse plastic for now as this measure could prove to be disruptive for the industry at a time when the country is dealing with an economic slowdown and lack of employment. Based on a report by The Economic Times, two officials have stated that there will be no immediate move to ban plastic bags, cups, plates, small bottles, straws and kinds of sachets. Instead of the ban, the government will now try to curb the use of these items. It should be noted that on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to outlaw six items on Wednesday, October 2 as part of a broader campaign to get rid of single-use plastic items in India by 2022. Currently, the government will ask states to enforce the

a Guwahati-based NGO called Environ, Assam produces 2.99 lakh kgs of plastic waste every day. This means that the city will generate about 13,505 tonnes of plastic waste this year. This has increased almost seven times over the last 14 years from 1,825 tonnes in 2014. Due to the lack of a proper

sewerage system in Guwahati dedicated to cater to garbage that also contains plastic, most of the plastic wastes that otherwise could be recycled, get wasted. However, in an attempt to minimize the use of plastic, many local shops including grocery stores, restaurants and other commercial establishments have slowly shifted from polythene

bags to fabric bags. Biswajit Pegu, Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro) district, speaking to G Plus said, “Awareness activities are being taken up by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) to stop using plastic. Since it is a little difficult to ban plastic altogether, it will take some time for people’s habits and attitudes to change, we have planned to go slowly about it step by step.” It should be noted that the Environment & Forest Department of Assam has issued a notification imposing the complete ban on the use, manufacture, import, supply, store, transport, sale or distribution of plastic bags of less than 50 microns, plastic cups with diameter less than 60 mm and thickness less than 50 microns, short life PVC in the premises of Janata Bhawan. Single-use plastic water bottles that generate plastic waste are also not allowed in the office premises, including in meetings, conferences etc. Instead, multi-use bottles made of metal, glass, bamboo or any other material are to be used in its place.

In a video which surfaced on Facebook and went viral, a city policeman was caught on camera accepting bribe from truck drivers. G Plus followers have not taken lightly to this continuing menace. Saurav Baroi

I’ve been watching these handshakes between the trucks’ handymen and policemen since my school days in places like Cycle Factory, Sarabhatti. There was a time when the “bhudbhudi” auto driver also had to shake hands with them in the Cycle Factory area. Nice custom. Let’s see how long it continues.

Nilotpal Timsina

Any investigation? The departmental inquiry will happen, the policeman will be sent to the police reserve for a month or two (maximum suspension till inquiry report) and after that, he will be restored for regular duty. Seen that many times but let’s see what happens here!

Imran Laskar Shirshendu Sekhar Das

I don’t know what will happen to the police official but kudos to the person who made the video and shared it on social media. The citizens will fight corruption in their own style and we all need to do this whenever we see something wrong happening around us.

Wasim Tabassumahmed

If that policeman is a high level officer, then nothing will be done. But if he is a home guard or a grade IV personnel, then he will be caught and a video of him being humiliated will be made and will be released on social media to show how Assam Police is active and corruption-free.

To stop this type of corruption, first we have to look into the matter from the core and the actual reason behind the trucks giving bribe to the police officials. The transporters (all over Assam) have not made any hike on the fare of trucks as most of trucks or dumpers are bought by owners on down payments. So at the end of the month the vehicle owners have to pay the monthly instalment to the finance companies. Since the fares have not increased by the transporters the truck owners are bound to overload their trucks and this is why they pay bribe to the police or MVI officials. So, I would request people to share this message to all the truck owners’ associations to do a strike or whatever possible to increase the fares of trucks. If this can be made to happen, no truck driver will have to pay bribe to any government official.

Rupak Choudhury

This is called ‘Achhe Din’ for Assam. Corruption is in the blood. Top to bottom the parameter will go on and on. Dreaming about “SMART CITY”?? Nothing is going to happen.

Buzz

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

City school conferred three awards by Telegraph School Awards for Excellence

ity school, Sanskriti the Gurukul, was conferred three awards - the IIHM Award for ‘Excellence in Academics’ (ISC/CBSE), The Sister Nivedita University

Award for ‘Excellence in ExtraCurricular Activities’ and the The Ambuja Neotia Award for ‘Eco-Friendly Initiatives’ by The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence on September 28,

2019. Two students from the school, Rehaan Mazid and Varun Agarwal from SC – XII also won awards for All-Round Excellence.

NE State Level of Wild Wisdom Quiz 2019 held in the city

he North East State Level of Wild Wisdom Quiz 2019 was held in Guwahati on Tuesday, October 2 wherein 200 finalists from the school-level contest from across the northeast region participated. Hurjyudoy Borah of Class V and Ayog S Sharma of Class IV from DPS Khanapara emerged as the junior champs in the competition conducted by quizmaster Abhra Das. The second position was claimed by Springdale High School, Jorhat, and the third position by Royal Global School, Guwahati, followed by DPS Duliajan and Suderashan Public School, Guwahati. In the middle-level quiz, DPS Guwahati’s team comprising Adhiraj Kar (Class VIII) and Samarjit Das (Class VI) emerged as the NE champions. The second position was bagged by Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Silpukhuri, and the third by DPS Duliajan, followed by Kendriya Vidyalaya, Narangi, and Sanskriti-The Gurukul, Guwahati. Organised by WWF-India, in partnership with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the Wild Wisdom Quiz (WWQ) is Asia’s biggest and India’s only international level

wildlife quiz. This year, the quiz is being

held in UK, Colombia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Nepal and Bhutan.

Students of city school win at CBSE Far East Zone Badminton Tournament

tudents from city-based Maria’s Public School won several medals at the recently concluded CBSE Far East Zone Badminton Tournament held at Delhi Public School, Duliajan from September 28 to September 30, 2019.

The medal winners include Debangsh Roy, Runal Devarshi and Kunal Kalita for the U-14 Boys championship, Abhigyan Kashyap, Ritvik Bora and Chhayan Sarma for the U-17 Boys runner-up and Minara Pakiza Ullah and Rishika Mahanta for the U-19 Girls championship.

City school participates in Student Solar Ambassador (SSA) Workshop ity-based school, NPS International School, on October 2 2019, participated in the Student Solar Ambassador (SSA) Workshop

Ambassador (SSA) Workshop 2019 was organized by IIT Bombay under Professor Chetan Singh Solanki, wherein over a million students from across the globe got hands-

wherein a total of 200 students from the school participated in this mega initiative. The Students Solar

on training on solar lamp assembly on a single day on October 2 2019, marking the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Feature

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

10 street foods of Guwahati that you must savour this Durga Puja Gunjan Sharma @guwahatiplus

urga Puja or Pujo is here! With the beat of dhak, illuminated colourful pandals and mouthwatering dishes the city is dolled up to welcome Devi Durga. Along with the various cultures and traditions, each festival brings with it a huge range of mouth-watering dishes making festivals and food synonymous. Pandal hopping no doubt is important but for a foodie his priorities are obvious. During the five days of Durga Puja, Guwahati turns into a huge food court because there is food everywhere making it an ideal time for foodies to relish the delectable delicacies of the season. No doubt restaurant food is delicious and comes with a well-seated atmosphere but the charm of having street food is undeniable. There are food stalls in every nook and corner of the city, especially surrounding every single pandal. These food stalls give a tough competition to the more established eateries of the city with their instant service and tasty food. While one might have to pre-book or wait at a restaurant to have a meal, a street stall will serve you lip-smacking food within minutes at a very reasonable rate. Made with a mixture of unique ingredients and spices, the street food in Guwahati is influenced by various cuisines from around the country/world. From Chinese noodles to Tibetan momos, from crispy pakoras and jalebis to spicy rolls and chops, the street food in Guwahati has much more to offer. No matter how decked up a foodie is they will never miss the opportunity of having food even if it means eating their own lipstick or ruining their clothes. Adding to your list of what to eat this Puja, here are some must-try foods from the streets of Guwahati.

CHOWMEIN You cannot just say no to a plate of Chowmein or Chow-Chow. Streets of Guwahati are filled with hawkers selling Indian style Chinese Chowmein. Tossed with huge chunks of onions, cabbage, chilies, various spices and sauces and sometimes even egg and meat this Indian style Chowmein has its own unique flavor which cannot be compared to Hakka noodles. Chowmein is often enjoyed with tomato and chilli sauce and obviously some raw onion slices on top. There is a joy in watching the vendors while they make fresh batches of Chow-Chow and make you wait for your plate. When you walk out of a pandal and get the smell of someone making ChowChow, go and grab a plate and don’t forget the extra onions.

PUCHKA

Puchka is like the person who is always on your mind and forever in your heart. Puchka is that friend in the group who you can never hate! Be it the traditional Puchka with a potato and pea filling and dipped in tamarind water or the fancy ones served with various types of water Puchka is a must for every pandal hopper. When you bite into a Puchka there is a blast of flavors in your mouth and no matter how spicy it is you always crave for one more. And it is always mandatory to ask for an extra Puri from the Puchkawala.

PAKORA

Pakora or Pokori is an all-time snack. Make it with bread, chillies, potatoes, onions or chicken, it can never go wrong. Tiny breaks while checking out pandals can be enjoyed with pokoris. Recently the city has witnessed some chicken Pakora sellers who are quite famous for their pakoras. What can go wrong with anything dipped in Besan batter and fried in hot oil? Also don’t forget the spicy chutney that comes along. *Grabs another Piyaz Pokori and munches*

ROLLS

GHUGNI

“Ruti nohoi ma roll hoi” *takes a huge bite of roll*. How many times have you explained to your mother that rolls are not rotis? Roll is a delicious mixture of vegetables, meat, eggs, lots of onions and sauces wrapped together in a Maida Paratha. Parathas cooked along with eggs and studded with meat are the show stoppers in the world of rolls. It is the most hasslefree food item that allows you to eat while you walk. For some, the last bite of the roll is the best because even though it has all the extra oil *burps* it also has the extra flavour and keeps you craving for more.

“Pet beya holeu Ghugni tu khamei,” said another foodie. Durga Puja celebrations are not complete without gulping down a plate of Ghugni topped with onions, chillies along with tangy and sweet sauce. An Aloo Chop along with the Ghugni is like sone pe suhaga. A plate of hot and spicy Ghugni along with some chop be it egg, aloo or chicken, is emptied within seconds when with friends or family and that joy is only experienced on the streets.

MOMO

You can take out a northeastern

all the puja pandals, Biryani becomes the perfect go-to food because it’s filling, tasty and obviously smells amazing.

JALEBI

Road side eatries doing fabulous business during Durga Puja | File photo out of the Northeast but you cannot take out MOMOS from their regular treats. Be it Durga Puja or a regular day momos will always top our what-should-i-eat list, obviously along with the spicy chutney and steaming hot soup. How many times have you told the momo vendor, “Dada, olop extra soup?” The best part about eating momos on the street is having the extra soup and if you’re friends with the momo seller you might even score some extra momos.

DOSA AND PAV-BHAJI

Taking Guwahati street food to a different level, food vendors now make sure to cater to all our food needs. Various food vendors in the city now also serve Dosa, Pav Bhajis and other dishes inspired from various parts of India making it a feast for foodies of the city. You can never say no to buttery Pav Bhaji even if it makes your hands greasy.

BIRYANI

Biryani, more like BIRYUMMY, is

our go-to comfort food. Be it the scorching summer or a chilly winter, a foodie can never say no to Biryani. Especially during Durga Puja, one can find a Biryani stall outside almost every pandal. Biryani is probably the best combination of rice and meat; eggs and potatoes add the icing on the cake. With the rush of visiting

“Jalepii, nimki, khurma nukhuake Durga Puja nohoi de aru,” said another foodie. Jalebi is the most popular sweet during Durga Puja. You might not find a paan shop in a locality but you will find a Jalebi stall. No doubt eating a Jabeli makes your fingers sticky with sugar but you cannot just not have it. Jalebis come along with Nimki and Khurma. On Dashami it is mandatory to eat Jalebis and bid goodbye to Devi Durga on a sweet note waiting for her arrival the next year. So, here is wishing all readers a gastronomically fabulous Durga Puja and do make sure to savour each of the items mentioned above!

Review

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Guwahati’s largest Microbrewery set to open on October 5

Freemason’s Brew Works: G

uwahati’s fast growing food and beverage industry is soon going to add another landmark! This fast growing city is now set to welcome its largest microbrewery - Freemason’s on October 5. Freemason’s Brew Works, located at City Centre mall is ready to change the way you drink. With interiors inspired by German beer gardens and contemporary designs, the brewery is home to a German beer plant which will be maintained by an expert German Brewer. Along with craft beer, the place will specialize in serving refreshing cocktails as their specialty. The Food and Drinks Freemasons Brew Works will majorly serve continental and

Indian dishes. Keeping their menu limited, they want to focus on the quality and taste of the food being served, and with experienced 5-star chefs in their team, it only gets better. Initially, they plan to start with European flavored beers, but depending on the consumer feedback they have assured us of more flavours soon. Freemason’s also has plans to produce a very special beer inspired by local flavours of Assam and Northeast.

It will be a flavour that will belong to the people of Assam and they have plans of taking it national and possibly international. The interiors are designed to make sure that the place looks cosy

age groups. They have a private dining room (PDR) which has a capacity of 30-35 people and their interiors have been imported all the way from Germany. Their German Beer Garden inspired also has a performance area/stage, which has been designed to cater to bands, stand up comics and other stage based performances. Freemason’s Brew Works is set to organise big events on Saturdays, where people can relax and enjoy themselves after the week long work stress. They have a corridor

noise. The micro-brewery plant is visible from various spots in the pub which adds a sense of novelty to the place. As opposed to the various places in town where smoking rooms tend to get suffocating, the exhaust system here is efficient enough to make sure that the air keeps circulating, making it comfortable for non-smokers too. It’s time that beer lovers rejoice and try the freshly made beers from Freemason’s’; and like they say, the joy of drinking freshly brewed

and classy at the same time. They have several seating arrangements which will attract people of various

seating area which gives you the view of the entire mall without being disturbed by the ambient

beer over delicious meal with your friends and family is definitely unmatchable.

it is with an almost physical agony. His laughter is seen as a disease, an aberration, by those around. However, the hope of making it big as a stand-up comic is what keeps Arthur going. That and the desire to form meaningful human relationships with the few people in his deadbeat life. In ‘Joker’ the Director, Phillips, explores the condition of the modern man in his concrete jungle surroundings, and the sense of alienation that pervades. Arthur, who feels that he is being pushed around by society at large, finally gets noticed after murdering three spoilt Wall Street kids, and unwittingly starts a proletariat uprising. An underlying theme of ‘capitalism’ versus ‘communism’ is also explored throughout the roughly two-hour long move. Three-time Oscar nominee Joaqun Phoenix depicts the eponymous Joker as a character that is broken, beaten, and scarred. Every gesture, every word he enunciates is the result of meticulous calculations. Phoenix plays the Joker with a ferocious physicality that is finally on full display after the Joker is set free from the shell of Arthur Fleck.

Phoenix is ably supported by the cast that includes thespian Robert de Niro, who sleepwalks through a role that is similar to his ‘Rupert Pupkin’ character in Scorsese’s ‘The King of Comedy’. The Joker’s slow descent into madness is beautifully complimented by the score by Hildur Guðnadóttir. The feeling of doom and gloom is exacerbated by the minimalistic soundtrack and captures the sense of a rotting metropolis perfectly.

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro Director: Todd Phillips Rana Pratap Saikia

JOKER

C’s ‘Joker’ is a standalone film that documents the iconic Batman villain’s descent to madness. Originally conceptualized as character study of one of the most intriguing characters in pop culture, ‘Joker’ is set in an increasingly chaotic Gotham city, where madness and crime seem to be the order of the day. Arthur Fleck, the man who would eventually go on and earn the moniker of ‘Joker’ is subjected to constant neglect, as well as both physical and psychological torment. Employed as a clown and living in a ramshackle apartment with his mother, who constantly reminisces about a former affair with the city billionaire Thomas Wayne, all Fleck can do to stop himself from breaking down is take seven different medications daily. His frequent sessions with the ‘shrink’ are not of much help either (“Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?”, he asks her at one point). When he does manage to laugh,

Verdict: This visceral and raw approach to uncovering the shroud of secrecy surrounding the most iconic comic book villain is a masterful stroke by the Director, who is ably backed by his leading star. Phoenix sinks his teeth into the role with utter relish. The beauty of this iteration of the Joker lies in his unpredictability. Moreover, the humane touch to the Clown Prince of Crime also makes the viewer relate (somewhat chillingly) to the Joker. It might be too serious an affair if you are looking for lighthearted escapist entertainment, but has the ability to stick long after the credits have started rolling. n

Indian Railway helps man get in touch with mother on train running late

ecently, an anxious son, who couldn’t get in touch with his mother as her train was running late, tweeted Indian Railways for help. “Sir, I am unable to contact my mother Mrs. Shila Pandey,” wrote the Twitter user named Sashwat. He said that his mother was travelling on the Ajmer Sealdah Express that was running late by 12 hours. As he couldn’t get in touch with her, he wanted to know if she was okay. In his tweet, Sashwat tagged the ministry of railways and railway minister Piyush Goyal. Sashwat received a prompt response from Indian Railways

Seva asking him for the PNR and contact number of his mother just a few minutes after he posted his tweet. They also asked for the date of boarding and the boarding station before forwarding the matter to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Asansol in West Bengal. After that, the DRM Asansol

got in touch with the ticket checker on the train and helped Ms Pandey talk to her son. “Working TTE belongs to Sealdah division, he met with that lady and informed her. Now she is talking with her son,” they wrote. Sashwat also confirmed through a tweet that he was able to talk to his mother. Thanking the Indian Railways for their help, he wrote: “Thank you so much sir for your prompt action. I am grateful for your help.” Indian Railways’ prompt action also left other Twitter users impressed and tweets praising them soon began to pour in. (Source: ndtv)

KFC surprises single mom with new car

rystal Lachance is a single mom from Salem, Oregon, who is not only a dedicated mother, she’s a dedicated employee. Lachance works at KFC and for a full year she had to walk to and from work, an hour each way. Her co-workers wanted to recognize Lachance’s commitment. So, they found a way to give back. Lachance’s co-workers nominated her for a “Kentucky Fried Wishes” award. The special honour is given to KFC employees by the KFC Foundations. Employees can nominate co-workers who go above and beyond at their job, and KFC will give them something special. Lachance’s boss, Miranda, nominated her for the “Kentucky Fried Wishes” award and much to Lachance’s surprise, she won. “I went to

work this morning and got surprised with a brand new car,” she wrote on Facebook. “Apparently, my boss Miranda entered me in a drawing a few months ago and I won this brand new car.” Lachance said the car completely made her day. She posted photos of herself and her co-workers with the new car, decorated with a big red row. “I have been struggling a lot this year but haven’t given up and have been working very hard,” her post continues. “I finally went in and got my permit and have been trying to save up to buy a car.” Lachance said that for a year, she had shifts on Saturday and Sundays, and the only way for her to get to work was walk. The walk was an hour each way. With this gift, she and her 9-yearold son, Rhys, no longer have to worry about getting places

they need to be. KFC Foundation’s surprise for Lachance’s did not end with the car. “Now, I have a car and the owner of KFC is going to be paying six months of insurance for me,” she revealed in her Facebook post. “I feel so blessed today and I just love my job and my boss Miranda, she seriously is the best boss ever!” The single mom also posted photos of her son with the car, saying he loves it too. (Source: cbsnews)

Parents ‘needing a break’ abandon children on roadside

here’s no denying that parenting can get really tiring sometimes, but you have to suck it up and push on. Well, not this Ukrainian couple who decided to take a break from their kids by abandoning them on the side of a road, near a homeless people’s camp. Andrey, 3, and his

Trotter

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

younger brother Maksim, 2, lived for a week with homeless people and drunkards in Zaporozhye, southern Ukraine, after their young parents abandoned them on the side of a road under pretext of going to buy some food. The boys were placed in the care of total strangers allegedly for a few minutes, but their

parents didn’t return for a week, and would have probably taken even longer to retrieve their kids if someone didn’t call the police. When asked why they had abandoned their two children, the young couple said that they felt tired and needed a break. (Source: odditycentral)

Woman posing in flooded streets of Patna goes viral

hotographs of Aditi Singh, a student of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), posing on the waterlogged streets of Patna - capital of Bihar - has gone viral all over the internet. Titled ‘Mermaid in Disaster’, the photographer Saurabh Anuraj’s photos on Instagram and Facebook shows Aditi in a red dress posing in the flooded streets of Patna. “Photoshoot bas Patna ke current situation ko dikhane ke liye kiya gyaa hai isko galat way me na le (This photoshoot was done to show the current situation in Patna. Do not take it in the wrong sense),” Saurabh wrote on Facebook while clarifying the purpose behind the photo shoot. The photoshoot has collected over 10,000 ‘likes’ on Instagram along with mixed responses from the netizens. “Splendid work, do not listen to negative comments...U are doing great,” a user wrote. “What bull**** is this? You’re making fun of the calamity Bihar is facing. Shame on you idiots,” another user wrote.

After many criticised, Saurabh posted clips of a video to show how difficult the shoot was. “No one ever has the wish to stand on gutter water and pose. Everyone has their own ways of sending out a message to the world,” he noted. The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by union cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba, reviewed the prevailing flood situation in Bihar and directed that immediate assistance be provided to meet the crisis. The NCMC has been informed that action to evacuate and rescue people and livestock has been taken by the state government machinery, in which all assistance has been rendered by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other central agencies. (Source: gulfnews)

Fun Jayashree Bose These predictions are based on the month of birth, and are about an individual’s work environment, parents and extended family.

7th October will be a great day to share ideas with seniors or simply just connect with them. You could schedule important meetings on this day. On 9th October, you need to be wary of dealing with the opposite gender. On 10th October, avoid pre-planning, just go with the flow.

6th & 8th October will be great days to connect with seniors. You could schedule a Sunday brunch or coffee on 6th. You could be emotionally betrayed by someone at work or parents on 10th October. 7th October will be a slow day, don’t make any promises. On 11th October, just go with the flow & avoid over-planning.

Certified Feng Shui, Chinese astrology, date selection consultant & author, www.facebook.com/geoprinciples

Sudoku

Use 5th & 7th October to connect with your boss & share your ideas; for good results, host your meetings on these dates. Maybe you could host a Saturday night dinner. 8th October will be a slow day. On 11th October, just go with the flow & don’t over plan, you could feel that people around you are ungrateful.

1 62 87

This will be a great month if you want to make changes. 6th October will be a great day to share your ideas with your seniors & build a relationship with them, Invite them over for a Sunday brunch or coffee. On 9th October, you could be betrayed by someone in your work environment. On 10th October, be careful of your words & actions.

This week just lay low & catch up on your personal work. 7th October will be great day to host your important meetings. On 8th October, you could feel your seniors or parents are ungrateful, they don’t appreciate you. Avoid hosting any meetings especially with your seniors on 5th October. Avoid scheduling any meetings on 11th October, you will face obstacles.

On 7th October, you could be betrayed by someone at work or emotionally hurt by your family. 5th & 8th October will be great days to share your ideas with seniors or simply just connect with them. You could schedule your important meetings on these dates. Avoid connecting with your parents, workmates or seniors on 6th October.

5th & 9th October will be great days to build a rapport with seniors & people at work, host your important meetings on these dates. On 7th October, avoid making any promises or hosting any meetings. On 6th October, you will be emotionally hurt by someone from work or extended family.

6th & 9th October will be ideal days to share ideas with your boss or connect with people at work & family. Host your important meetings on these dates. Avoid socializing or making any promises on 5th or 11th October. Avoid hosting any meetings on 8th October as you are bound to have disagreements.

7th October will be a great day to build your relationship with seniors & people at work. If you are in a habit of grabbing a drink with your seniors, avoid doing so on 6th October. On 9th October, you could have a disagreement with your senior or work associate, not a day to schedule important meetings.

Share your ideas with seniors or generally build a relationship with people at work on 8th & 9th October, host your important meetings on these dates. Watch yourself on 7th & 10th October, avoid making any promises or getting into a confrontation. On 10th October, you could have a disagreement with your senior or work associate.

8th & 9th October are ideal days to mingle with seniors, people at work & build your work network. Be careful with your words & actions on 5th October as you will create your own problems. On 10th October, avoid pre-planning, just go with the flow. Avoid hosting important meetings on 11th October, as you are bound to have disagreements.

Based on the exploits of Resul Pukkutti, what is the name of this Malayali movie? Dr. Soubhadra Chakrabarty This quiz has been brought to you by Brain Jam, a property of Priya Communications

Dilbert By Scott Adams

Mahisashurmardini

curio-city

By what name is Oliver Mellors better known in the world of literature?

Hema Saraswati

What important matter for conservation is governed by the Ramsar Convention, the Iranian city where the agreement was signed in 1971?

Kebab

What is the Arabic name for roasted meat?

Conservation of Wetlands

Which ancient Assamese author wrote Prahlad Charit, one of the oldest works of literature in Assamese?

Lady Chatterley’s Lover

Script by Bani Kumar, music by Pankaj Mullick and narration by Birendra Krishna Bhadra. Which perennial favourite programme are we talking about?

And the Oscar goes to...

curio-city

5th October will be a great day to connect with your seniors & share your ideas with them; you could host your important meetings on this day. You could have issues with your seniors or extended family on 6th & 10th October. On 10th October, avoid trusting anyone with your secrets.

4 2

3 6 1 9

51 8 13 2 8 5 6 4 8 2 64 5 1 38 7 6 4 7 9 3 5 91 8 5 9 2 7 6 1 3 2 7 3 6 4 5 2 3 7 Daily Sudoku: Thu 3-Oct-2019 hard 2 4 6 9

Horoscope of the week

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Daily Sudoku: Fri 20-Sep-2019

easy

last week solution

7 1 3 6 5 62 87 49 28 91 95 56 28 73 14 31 73 84 57 65 29 64 95 46 32 56 48 12 89 77 47 91 73 15 88 83 29 57 31 46 14 35 66 92 29 Daily Sudoku: Thu 3-Oct-2019 8 2 1 4 3

8 4 9 3 47 51 6 4 76 13 9 2 61 94 2 1 85 38 1 9 3 6 4 7 5

2 35 28 89

77 42 56 25 63 86 41

13 92 29

5 38 77 14 8 hard 7 5 6 9

Daily Sudoku: Fri 20-Sep-2019

easy

http://www.dailysudoku.com/ http://www.dailysudoku.com/

Word of of the the week week Word foliaceous knackered adjective [nak-erd] adjective [foh-lee-ey-shuhs] bearingBritish leaves orSlang. leaflike parts.

exhausted; very tired

Crossword Across

Down

1 Loosely woven cloth from Scotland (6,5) 9 Impromptu (9) 10 Animal (with nine nine tails?) (3) 11 Himalayan country (5) 13 Excellent — shining bright? (7) 14 On ship (6) 15 Purist (6) 18 Arctic deer — a Rio cub (anag) (7) 20 Best possible (5) 21 See 23 22 Fling (9) 24 Fifth book of the Bible

2 Fit (3) 3 Person whose speech is not well organised (7) 4 Married partner (6) 5 In which position? (5) 6 Acquit — clear (9) 7 Entertainment area with coin- operated machines (5,6) 8 Narrator (11) 12 TV show (9) 16 Issue (7) 17 Male domestic servant (6) 19 Bathroom basin (5) 23, 21 UK resident who the tax man accepts as having their "true" home elsewhere (abbr) (3-3)

Last week’s solution

Fiction

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

The drinkers of darkness L ife in a tea garden must have been very difficult and lonely for the pioneering planters but as they were of the ruling Imperial Government it was a mission for them to quickly plant and grow more and more areas under tea to fulfil the ever increasing demand of the beverage from England and Europe. They had lost the supplies from China after the great Opium Wars and couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford to lose the opportunity after tea was discovered growing wild in the forests of Assam. These wild tea bushes/trees must have sprouted through the seeds brought down

Anthony fell asleep drunk in his bungalow and a fallen lantern started a big fire which reduced the entire wooden house, with him inside, to ashes. by the mighty Brahmaputra River and its tributaries. Over time, the plants had to evolve to local growing conditions here and so from the Chinese varieties, a local variety evolved called Thea Chinensis va. Assamica - a different tea species from the original Chinese variety called Camellia Sinensis var. Sinensis. Basically the Chinese teas have smaller sickle shaped leaves whereas the Assam tea leaves are broader and semi erect; even in taste they vary, the former being light with some flavour and the latter being much stronger in cup and taste. Most of the early planters were officers of the British army and later when the feasibility of tea cultivation was established, a lot of entrepreneurs came to make their fortune. The British, true to their great skill of colonising countries, soon realized that the lumpen elements alone would not be able to sustain this new industry and hence also inducted some well educated men from landed families to come and take over the control of the fledgling plantations. Much of the time of these early planters was taken up on opening land and arranging the workers to come from far off places as the local populace was not suitable to work in the difficult conditions fighting diseases, floods, wild animals and initially having to feed off the forest tubers and edible plants. The Adivasi tribes had this ingrained capacity to survive the conditions and work. Over time, the plantations grew into huge establishments and the management was kept busy managing the estates and did not have time to brood and fret about

the life they had left behind. The system and methods were all laid out smoothly and the business of tea growing and manufacturing took root giving gainful employment to a large number of people. The Manager and his Assistants also had to have a love for the outdoors and sports in the tea clubs for their entertainment and in fact the Raj replicated an English way of life and standards very deeply in the tea culture. But amongst this, there were also some who found the loneliness too much to bear and took to the bottle as a reprieve. For them it soon grew into an addiction and there are many stories of men who just wasted their lives and died fighting a losing battle with alcoholism; there were no AA groups to try and help the addicts which we in the industry used to call Drinkers of Darkness. Near the garden where I had worked for long and also managed for a few decades there used to be a garden called Boroi Tea Estate. It was on the foothills of Arunachal at a very scenic location and atop a small hillock there are the remains of an old bungalow that was burnt down even as the Manager was inside it. Anthony Turnbull was his name and as a young man he had arrived from Cambridge around the year 1928 to join a tea company. He picked up the working of a tea garden as if he was born for it and was reputed to be very keen to see that his garden made enough profit to build better facilities for the workers and the company. He soon climbed up the ranks and made a good name for himself in the industry. He got married, started a family and then the kids came along and when their education came up he decided to send them off to England with his wife. The plan was that he would visit them there every two years and they in turn would join him on their long winter holidays. This worked fine for one cycle but then he picked up a bad bout of malaria and had to be on quinine treatment for about three months. It was then that he started drinking regularly to fight the chills and became addicted to the bottle. His colleagues and friends in neighbouring gardens tried to help him but Anthony realised that he was dying. One day he penned a soulful letter to his wife and children and gave it to his best friend to hand over to them. After a few days he simply fell asleep drunk at his bungalow and a fallen lantern started a big fire which reduced the entire wooden house to ashes. The workers who all loved their sahib tried to douse the fire but it was too late. A few bones of his body were found and buried in a grave near the site. This story was told to me in detail by a young bearer whose father had worked

with Anthony and his happy family. He told this tale to me and my friend Shirish with whom he was working at Boroi when I was visiting him for dinner one evening. In fact Shirish took me to see the site of the burnt down bungalow where only a part of the rock and stone foundation remained and was overrun with weeds. His grave was nearby and maintained quite well. No restoration of the place was done and even the workers got scared to work in the tea sections nearby unless they were in a group. The whole site had a gloomy feeling and naturally a lot of ghost stories were bandied about. Then again a tea planter from Himachal who was well known to my elder brother and also became my senior friend when I got to meet him later, started hitting the bottle in front of my eyes. At first it was only having a drink of two in the evenings with friends and then Himmat stopped socialising and took to drinking alone. Many a time I went over to see him and sat with him nursing a drink as his wife had requested his friends to try and help him come out of this disease; his was a

took up farming on a large plot of farmland that his wife inherited in UP and after three years he did rejoin tea in a different Indian company. I met his wife once long ago at the Delhi airport on her way to be with her husband in Assam and enquired about the wellbeing of my senior colleague. I was happy to hear that Himmat had improved and was more careful now. I sincerely hope and pray that he has been able to remain on the wagon. In the loneliness of the bungalow if one is not careful, the temptation of having a drink one too many got to many of my peers. Those days there was no culture of wine drinking as the only wine available was Port wine which was in fact very potent. The hard drinks were mainly Bagpiper whisky, various types of rum, Doctorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brandy and gin. I have met many planters knock down one full bottle on a drinking spree and then nurse a massive hangover the next morning after opening the garden office and somehow signing the cheque to manage the expenses for the day. In those days the garden office Head Clerks were very efficient and they could run the show for a day

case of being overlooked for a promotion and he took this very badly. His wife started hiding the liquor cabinet keys and he countered this by keeping bottles all over the house and at times it became very uneasy for her to entertain guests. This became common knowledge to the superiors in the company who naturally lost their confidence in Himmat and he was compelled to hand in his papers. I felt very bad for him and the family as on occasions when he did not drink he revealed his true self which was indeed very endearing. But life is harsh on a man with any vice and Himmat learnt it the hard way. I found out later that he

or two competently enough. But if the Manager did it frequently there could be problems. This happened in the case of a Mr Jimmy Katoch, whose father was a senior officer in the Indian Army. From my first meeting with him I was taken aback when he made fun of me joining tea as an owner and decried the tea life and working conditions. Here I was a young man enthused to try and improve our garden and bring it up at least to the level of the good company gardens around and he was so disparaging! I began to avoid his company in the club and found out that he was an unpopular chap because of his nature and heavy drinking sessions. One night while returning very late from the club,

Ranjan Kumar Choudhury ranjanchou@hotmail.com

the bonnet cover of his Standard Herald car flew off blinding him temporarily and losing control of the vehicle, he ditched his car in a roadside pond. Luckily for him he survived but it became a police case for which the company was naturally very upset. His garden profits and general management was also suffering for some time and they took this chance to lay him off. I believe he returned to Delhi and with the help of his father started a tourist taxi service firm. All the above instances I had encountered in Tea but the one that shook me most was the time my very dear friend from early school days became severely addicted to the bottle. Our common friends saw it unfold before our eyes when he visited us from Delhi with his wife and young family and we gathered over dinner to catch up. He developed the habit of eyeing the bottle till it was empty and then asked for more. Once or twice we obliged but at 4 am with three young kids, he made it very difficult for his wife. I knew his late wife very well from the first time they met at a party and their relationship started in college, continued when he stayed back for his MA course and they got married soon after his post grad. He worked in the advertising line while she was a linguist and she did a lot of freelance work in the embassies in Delhi. She confided in me about his alcoholism problem when they visited me once in the gardens. Indeed my friend was very lucky. His life partner stood by him like a rock and made him join the AA chapter in Delhi after his twenty odd years with the problem. Their children are now grown up and he has kept his promise to his wife and continued in the organization rising to be a top counsellor himself now in India. As for myself, I count myself fortunate that I was able to develop a lot of interest in other activities and picked up some great outdoor hobbies while working in our family tea garden to steer me away from this syndrome. It also helps when you have siblings and good friends who can tell you off if they see any danger in what you are doing. Ultimately it has to be your own choice; whether you can control the spirit or let the spirits control you to become a drinker of darkness. n

Lifestyle

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Vaastu and medicines Hemanta Kumar Sarmah Engineer, Businessman, Advanced Pranic Healer and Su Jok Acupressure specialist.

arring some minor ailments, we have to take medication for almost all kinds of health problems. Some are supplements which support other medicines or act as catalysts. But we have seen that in many cases, despite taking

The Vaastu energy acts on everything, be it a living being or a still, inanimate object. That is because every object has a bioplasmic vibration of its own which can be affected by external forces. For example, if you keep a cough syrup in a hot room that has lots of sunlight, it may get damaged sooner. It is written in almost all covers and bottles of medicines

best place to store medicines. The northeast also has that extra spiritual energy needed for healing. The southeast is the direction of the fire element. If medicines are kept in the southeast, then the chance of getting better soon declines and the patient has to take more dosages. For this reason, medicines should not be kept in the kitchen because

of Yama, the Lord of Death. If medicines are kept in the south, the members of the family have to take medication for smallest of ailments as their immunity system does not work properly even after administering drugs. Many of us have this habit of keeping tablets for emergency near the bed. Medicines for blood pressure, heart attack, acidity, indigestion, fever etc are a few

hypochondriac attitude besides acquiring negative energy and thoughts. The southern southwest is the direction of expenses, misuse and sacrifice. If medicines are kept in the southwest, they do not work properly. So, this direction should be avoided. Medicines kept in the west give positive results. The northwest direction assists the west but

the best available medicines, a person does not get well or there is a recurrence of the disease. In such cases, the patient becomes dependent on medicine.

“Keep in a cool place.” This was well known to our Vaastu experts long back. The northeast is the coolest place in the house. So, the northern northeast is the

the fire element dominates this place. Almost every member of the house becomes victims of illhealth. The south is the direction

common medicines that are kept near the headrest of the bed or on a side table. This practice should be avoided as this gives a

not so in the case of medicines. People who take medicines kept in the northwest become drug dependent. n

Recipe: Doodh Paneer Navarati and the second Navarati is celebrated in September or October, known as Sharad Navarati. With this time, comes the occasion to enjoy festive delights. One such delight is Doodh Paneer.

Ingredients:

Paneer - 150 gm Sugar - 1 tsp Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Sandeep Das

avarati, a Hindu festival which means “Nine Nights,” is celebrated to honour the Mother (Devi) Goddess Durga. It is celebrated twice a year - first at the onset of summer in March or April which is known as Chaitra

Whole dry red chilli powder -2 Curry leaves - 5 gm Kashmir red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp Milk - 200 ml Butter - 2 tbsp

Method:

Cut the paneer into cubes. Heat kadhai, add butter, sugar, whole dry red chilli, cumin seeds and let them crack. Add curry leaves, ginger paste, stir for one minute. Add Kashmir red chilli powder and paneer and stir for another couple of minutes. Add salt, stir for some time. Add milk, let it cook for sometime in low flame to adjust the consistency of the gravy. Check the seasoning and it will be ready to serve.

Entertainment

G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

Assam director bags award at New York Cinematography Awards 2019

irector Arunjit Borah has won the award for the ‘Best First Time Director’ at the New York Cinematography Awards (NYCA) for his film Midnight Song for the month of August. The film will be screened live in New York on June 29,

2020. The film is a suspense-drama based on the relationship crisis and self-discovery of a woman. It has been produced by Aparajita Bhuyan and stars Rupam Chetia, Kalpana Kalita and Monuj Borkotoky in the lead roles. The NYCA is a monthly film competition for independent filmmakers across the world who are

Miss United Kingdom, Miss East Europe, Miss Fiji, Miss Chile, Miss Samoa and Miss Ukraine. She bagged the titles of ‘Miss International Beauty Icon’ and ‘Classic International Beauty Runner Up.’ She represented Assam in the international platform and opened the show in a traditional muga silk sari and Assamese jewellery along with a flag of South East Asia. The jury members consisted of well-known personalities, including a fashion mentor from Australia who were fascinated by the rich culture of the state. In her interview, Modi laid emphasis on how a woman is capable

Assam boy shines in singing reality show ‘Superstar Singer’

H awarded in multiple categories after a comprehensive evaluation process by a panel of expert judges.

Guwahati woman bags two titles at international beauty pageant ipika Modi, a resident of Guwahati, recently represented South East Asia in the international beauty pageant, ‘Miss Exclusive and ExtraordinaryI am the World’ held in New Delhi. She successfully made it to the finals along with

enough to juggle her family responsibilities along with her career while at the same time influencing society. She has also been the finalist of Maven Miss Plus Size India held earlier this year in August.

arshit Nath from Assam has made his place in the top 8 of the singing reality show, Superstar Singer which airs in Sony Entertainment. 10-year-old Nath hails from Sivsagar in Assam. It is to be mentioned that Nath’s parents could not afford to buy a musical instrument for him, so he used to practice with a tanpura mobile application on his phone. During the audition round of the show, Nath sang Kishore Kumar’s Aane Wala Pal. Earlier, he had also taken part in Rang Channel’s reality singing show, Jhankar Little Champs.

TV actress from Assam to star in new season of Big Boss

elevision actress from Assam, Devoleena Bhattacharjee, is all set to star in the upcoming season of reality TV show, Big Boss. The show is hosted by Bollywood star Salman Khan and it premiered on Sunday, September 29 with its 13th season on Colors TV. Bhattacharjee hails from Sivasagar district of Assam and she shot to fame with the portrayal of her role as the obedient daughter-inlaw, Gopi in television show, Saath Nibhana Saathiya. She also starred in other television shows such as Kundali Bhagya, Lal Ishq and Sawaare Sabke Sapne Preeto. Big Boss is a show which lasts for three months where the show’s contestants are required to perform tasks and their dayto-day activities are recorded by cameras. The winner of the show will take home a cash prize and a

trophy. During the tenure of the show, which is around three months, the contestants are required to perform various tasks and their activities are being constantly recorded by cameras inside the house. The winner of the reality show takes home a huge cash prize in addition to a trophy.

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G PLUS | Oct 05 - Oct 11, 2019

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