Shifting Sands

Tapajuli-Mazidbhita is a char village on the bank of the river Beki, which has seen little development in the past 50 years. However, the emergence of the Jhai Foundation, run by a group of committed local young people gives reason for hope.

- Shalim M Hussain

January is the season of indulgence and transition. It is Friday, the 13th and we are at the junction in between the Pous and Magh months, time of the harvest season and a week of mirth, merriment and festivity. It is uruka and my friend Shamim and I are standing at a different junctionone between land and river at the Janata Bazar ghat in the Barpeta district of Assam. In front of us is a steep fall, a challenge for bikers as the soil down the slope and onwards for about a kilometre is mostly sand. Shamim shifts his motorbike to first gear and we move towards Tapajuli-Mazidbhita, a char village on the bank of the river Beki. As is fitting for this time of the year, we have had a large breakfast of country chicken, pulao and murighonto- fish heads cooked with lentils. It has been rather warm the last couple of days but fittingly for the end of the month of Pous and the annual Pushura festival, it is now biting cold. To use a crude analogy, Janata Bazar ghat might also be seen as the junction between civilization and darkness. On one side is an aspiring village with English-medium schools, electricity and modest modern amenities, connected to the nearby Kalgachia town by paved roads while on the other side is a land of dust and deprivation.

Another Word for Change