TODAY -
Bengali is like my second mother tongue: Oinam Nilkantha
Times of India | B B Goswami | TNN | Dec 31, 2012, 12.25 AM IST
Q. You have all along written in Manipuri. Why did you switch to Bengali?
I live in the Barak Valley, where nearly 95 per cent of the people talk in Bengali. The official language of the valley, comprising the three districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi, is Bengali. But like any other Manipuri in Assam, Tripura, Bangladesh and Myanmar, we also learn and use Manipuri in literary and educational pursuits. So far, my two novels, 'Chinnahaudrenapada' and 'Rag Darbari', and the two books of poems, 'Koloyninditanhani' and 'Inin' have been published. Keisham Priyokumar is one of my favourite writers. His short story, 'Nongdi Tarak-Khidre' attracted me as it tells the story of the people in this part of Assam. Bamboo cutters use the Barak River during monsoon to transport bamboos. One such bamboo cutter was longing for rain. However, he couldn't because 'Bristi ar holo na' (Nongdi Tarak-Khidre). This is the story of a community's struggle to survive in a backdrop of the Naga-Kuki conflict. Some of my friends, including Laisram Tarani Kanta Singh of Akasvani and Amitava Dev Chaudhary, a renowned poet, encouraged me to translate the Manipuri masterpiece into Bengali.
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* This Post is uploaded on December 31, 2012
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