New Delhi: What is the relationship between Brahmaputra and Bhupen Hazarika? Author and former journalist Sanjoy Hazarika had a succinct answer to the question.
“You cannot write anything about the Brahamputra without Bhupen Hazarika. He was the balladeer of the river, and we grew up with his songs, views, perceptions and music,” said Hazarika, adding how the singer knew his friends well.
He was speaking at a discussion on his book, River Traveller: Journeys on the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra from Tibet to the Bay of Bengal, at the India International Centre on Wednesday. Also present on the panel was Mahesh Rangarajan, professor of history and environmental studies at Ashoka University.
The session was moderated by Anupreeta Das, South Asia correspondent for The New York Times, with the small conference room overflowing with people as participants kept trickling in.
“One song of Bhupen Hazarika, Manuhe Manuhor Babe (humans standing up for each other) is like an anthem to me. And these songs and stories of his, written more than 50 years ago, are part of our lives,” said Hazarika.
‘One river, three nations, five names’
The book has been divided into three parts, based on the three nations Brahmaputra flows through, and looks at the significance of the river in each location.
“The earliest memories I have of the river are going to the banks of Brahmaputra with my parents and elder brother and watching dolphins dance, and it remains with me. I must have been 5 or 6 years old,” said Hazarika, when asked what prompted him to write a book on the mighty river.
But the idea to write the book came from his travels with filmmaker Jahnu Barua when the two were working on the film A River’s Story – The Quest for the Brahmaputra (1998), for which Hazarika was the scriptwriter.
The mapping of the river itself had remained incomplete until 2000. It was when the Chinese allowed a National Geographic team led by Ian Baker to film the Great Bend that the last few kilometres were mapped.
“For me, Brahmaputra has always been one river, three nations and five names,” said Hazarika, speaking of how the river flows through China (Tibet), Bangladesh, and India. “The story of the river cannot be told unless you merge history, geography and mystery”.
He also talked about his interactions with people whose lives are directly affected by the river.
Hazarika recounted how a young pregnant woman lost her life due to a lack of access to healthcare facilities in Majuli, the world’s largest river island situated on Brahmaputra.
“That incident made me realise that people who lived on islands are hit by the double whammy of geography and lack of access,” said Hazarika, emphasising that questions about Brahmaputra encompass a multitude of arenas.
But this unfortunate tragedy led to the creation of ‘Boat Clinics’, which are supported by the National Health Mission (NHM) and the Assam Government. Currently, there are 16 Boat Clinics in 15 districts of Assam, providing healthcare services to remote riverine Islands.
Hazarika also mentioned houses built on stilts, especially in Majuli — a practice that provides protection from seasonal floods. He noted the importance of working with the ecology and practices of a region, instead of seeking to upend everything in the name of development.
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Turbulent waters
Much of the book discussion focused on the geopolitical concerns evoked by China’s construction of a dam on the Yarlung Zangbo river (the Chinese name for Brahmaputra).
Das asked Hazarika and Rangarajan how the current strained diplomatic ties between India and China impact the kind of dam China is constructing, and if information is being exchanged between the two nations to make sure that the development doesn’t impact downstream countries, including India. She also mentioned how even Bangladesh and India, once close allies, are experiencing turbulence at the moment, and how it impacts ‘water politics’.
Rangarajan said that information sharing has been carried out between the two countries, and that the country most agitated by Chinese ambitions is Vietnam. This, he said, is because construction of dams by China on the upper reaches of the Mekong river might affect rice cultivation in Vietnam.
One factor that Hazarika’s book mentions, and which Rangarajan also dwelt on, is how the Brahmaputra leaves behind sediments during flooding — which are rich in minerals but detrimental to longevity of dams and turbines needed in hydroelectric projects. This adds to the uncertainties about the future of any project that seeks to “harness” the river.
Rangarajan summed up the concerns surrounding ‘developmental’ projects and dam construction in one sentence: “Rivers are moving entities, and we are transforming them into static entities”.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)