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Aarohan
Official
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Contact:
Aarohan
Dr. Bhabendra Nath Sakia Road
Basisthapur, Guwahati - 781028
Assam
Phone: (0361) 2231022
email: rashmisaikia@yahoo.com
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Dr. Bhabendra Nath
Saikia was born on February 20, 1932
in
Nagaon town in central Assam. He passed matriculation examination in 1948, securing star marks. He
secured his B.Sc. Degree with honours in Physics from Cotton
College in 1952, and M.Sc. in Physics from the Presidency College of Calcutta
University in 1955 – 1956. He obtained a Ph.D. Degree in Physics in
1961 from
the London
University. He also obtained a Diploma of Imperial College of Science &
Technology (DIC), London
in 1961.
Dr. Saikia started
his illustrious career as a physics teacher, first at the Sibsagar
College and then at the Guwahati
University. He did pioneering work in the publication of college level textbooks
in the Assamese language during his tenure as Secretary of the
Co-ordination Committee for production of textbooks in regional
languages. He served as the Chairman of the Railway Service Commission,
North East Frontier Railways in the early eighties.
However, it was his literary genius that made Dr. Saikia a household
name in Assam. Be it short stories, novels, stage plays or children’s literature
–Dr. Saikia’s stature in Assamese literature is unparalled.
He was the author of twenty nine books as of January, 2001 which
also included his autobiography Jivan Britta that he completed
in 2000.
He received the Sahitya Academy (India) Award in 1976, the Publication
Board, Assam, Award in 1973 (Inaugural Year) and the Sahityik Hara
Nath Ghosh Medal,1981 given by the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad,
Calcutta, the Assam Valley Literary Award, 1990 (Inaugural Year)
institutated by the Magor
Education Trust and the Surendra Nath Paul Award for lifetime
achievement, awarded by the cha – cha – cha Tea Festival of Calcutta
in 1999.
He was honoured with the Srimanta Sankardeva Award, the highest award
Instituted by the Government
of Assam, for the year 1998, and the Kamal Kumari National Award for the
year 2000. In 2001, the
Dibrugarh
University
conferred the Degree of D.Litt, honoris Causa on Dr. Saikia in
recognition of his outstanding contribution in the fields of cinema and
literature. He was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in the
same year.
He broke new grounds in the field of journalism in the state while
serving as Editor of the children’s magazine Sofura and the
Chief Editor of the prestigious fortnightly Magazine Prantik. As
an editor of Sofura, Dr. Saikia was intensely invloved with
cultural growth and development of children.
Dr. Saikia was an icon in the field of Assamese Cinema. His contribution
was instrumental in carrying Assamese Films forward into the global
arena. The seven Assamese feature films that Dr. Saikia directed were
all awarded the prestigious Rajat Kamal award as the best
regional films in India. Besides that, he won the national award for the
best screenplay for his film Agnisnaan. His
films have been included in the Indian Panorama section of the Indian
Film Festival and have been screened at many international film
festivals such as
Cannes
, Montreal
, Toronto
, Karlovy Vary
, and Nantes
.
He was adjudged as one of the “Twenty-one Great Assamese
Persons of the twentieth century”.
He was instrumental in the conception and development of the Sri
Sankardeva Kalakhsetra, Assam and served as its Vice Chairman until August, 2003.
Dr. Saikia was a Member, Sangeet Natak Akademi; Member of the Executive
and General Council of Sahitya Akademi; Member, Indian National Council
for co-operation with UNESCO; Member, Academic Council, Gauhati
University; President of Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society; Member,
Advisory Body, All India Radio, Guwahati; Chairman, Assam State Film (Finance and
Development) Corporation Ltd; Member., Governing Body, North East Zone
Cultural Centre, Dimapur; Member, Governing Body, East Zone Cultural
Centre, Kolkata; Member of Court of the Gauhati University, Assam;
Member, Society of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune,
Member, Board of Trustees, National Book Trust of India.
Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia
established the Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia Children Welfare Trust (Aarohan)
at Guwahati, Assam which he had regarded as his dream and fulfillment of
his life's work. |
"Use truth as your anvil,
nonviolence as your hammer, and anything that does not stand the test
when it is brought to the anvil of truth and hammered with nonviolence,
reject it."
Mohandas K. Gandhi
"I have become my own version of
an optimist. If I can't make it through one door, I'll go through
another door - or I will make a door. Something terrific will come no
matter how dark the present"
.
Rabindra Nath Tagore.
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