When we stay away from our land,
either of two things is bound to happen. Either our affinity towards our
culture will increase or we become an alloy of mixed culture and fail locate
our origin. However, I might be wrong, and we might remain the same as we used
to be back home, and continue being ignorant.
Map of Assam- Courtesy: Maps of World |
So this other day I was with an
esteemed gathering of the Assamese community here in Delhi where a very famous
actress performed a monologue of her famous on screen appearances. The crowd
mostly comprised of working professionals and students from Assam, who have
settled in Delhi and somehow attach themselves with the cultural sphere back in
the state. And hence her performance was no less than a treat for most of us.
The performance of hers was undoubtedly
brilliant, and I don’t absolutely doubt her credentials and her grip over the
subject matter. But there was one particular thing about one of her monologue that
really bothered me, and this has been one thing which I have always wanted to write
about.
She performed an act where she
depicted characters with Barpetia
dialect of Assamese. Everything was fine apart from the fact that in an attempt
to be more humorous, she overdid what was supposed to be done, and her accent
became crude Nalbaria. Now must I
here state that, Nalbari and Barpeta are two districts in lower Assam who have very
similar dialects.
Nalbari Map |
But similarity does not mean same
right? Barpetia, I believe is
smoother than Nalbari, and there
happens to be a very significant difference as how the tone is used while
speaking. Yes, seniors would say that I am too young to probably comment on
this, but Nalbaria and Barpetia are dialects which I have inherited and I am
actually particular about how it is portrayed.
In her act, the veteran actress,
yelled in vernacular words narrating a particular instance which was suppose to
be funny. But surprisingly enough, I felt that the entire act was a little exaggeration
of how things are and that too not exactly from the region which she claimed it
to be based on.
Map of Barpeta district |
Her act was probably a very small
issue to be considered, but the larger picture about which I wanted to write
about is about making fun of one’s accent or dialect. At times I have felt that
the local cultural industry (Read: Multimedia Industry) takes lower Assamese
dialects granted to be funny. As in, I don’t really understand how it
functions, but I have noticed that at times certain characters do not really
have any funny content, but rather speaks in Nalbaria or Barpetia
accent, with an intention of making things funny.
Even popular news channels and
radio stations use this ploy where they have one character based on lower Assam
and is bound to be funny. Please pardon me if I someone believes I am not being
a sport, but I seriously feel at times our dialect is taken for granted, and
made fun off. I appreciate good comedy, but making fun of someone’s way of life
might not be that acceptable.
To conclude, I am as big a fan of
good comedy as Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary is of Tendulkar. This post was not really
meant to insult anybody, but rather opine about something which I have felt for
a long long time. My dad is from Nalbari, mom is from Barpeta and I was born in
Nalbari, spent significant time in Barpeta, brought up in Guwahati and educated
in Delhi. So yes, I definitely have an affinity towards my region and language
and hence the concern.
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