New Delhi: Noted Assam educationist and theatre personality Dr Sitanath Lahkar has penned a poem on the recent instance of corpses found drifting down the Ganga in various parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Bloated bodies, all suspected to be of Covid-19 victims, were found floating in the river in Bihar’s Buxar district and parts of Uttar Pradesh. As many as 71 bodies were fished out from Buxar last month while hundreds were found buried by the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao.
Lahkar’s Assamese poem, titled ‘The bodies are speaking’, is a stinging comment on the country’s failing healthcare system and the human catastrophe it has led to in the second wave of the pandemic.
A powerful #assamese poem on the bodies of #COVID19 patients floating on the #Ganga — written and recited by noted #Guwahati based #theatre director Sitanath Lahkar. #GangaExposedModi https://t.co/WCHUE1NZlz
— Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty (@sangbarooahpish) May 29, 2021
Roughly translated, a few stanzas of the poem read:
“Young, middle-aged and old
Whose bodies are these
The king has abandoned?”
It goes on to say:
“Dreams have been broken
Families wiped out
Children became orphans
Because of a blind king’s criminal negligence
The dead say in unison,
In a chorus
– We have been murdered without oxygen
– Long live the king”
Lahkar, a former principal of Guwahati’s Cotton College, also directed a film recently, called Aei Maatite, on witch-hunting, based on one of his stage plays.
Also read: From Guwahati to Dimapur, Facebook post drives a ‘movement’ to help people during Covid
‘I was labeled different’ — Naga girl at commencement speech at New York institute
The commencement speech by a Naga girl at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) recently put Nagaland in the global spotlight. A video of the speech by Tiajungla Dominica Jamir has since gone viral.
Jamir, who has an MA summa cum laude in UX/UI Design and Development from the NYIT, delivered her speech to over 3,000 fellow graduating and international students.
“Far from New York City, my journey began in Nagaland, India, where I grew up among the gorgeous green hills and mountains,” Jamir said in her speech.
She added, “For Indians, in the world’s largest democracy and, by landmass, the highest population on earth; it is easy to get lost among its almost 1.4 billion population — but not for me. Sticking out like a bump on a log, I was labeled ‘different’, and mistook that for something negative.”
Jamir will now take her next step as co-founder and creative director of a New York-based firm.
Abraham Tagit Sorang 14th Arunachalee to scale Mt Everest
As many as 14 mountaineers from Arunachal Pradesh have scaled Mount Everest so far, with the latest being Abraham Tagit Sorang.
Sorang’s feat came days after Dirang-based Tashi Yangjom became the first Indian woman to scale Everest this season. “Sorang, who hails from the Sapha village under Pip-Sorang circle of Kra-Daadi district, is on his way back but facing tough challenges due to inclement weather,” Abraham K Techi, vice president of the Indian Weightlifting Federation, was quoted as saying.
As many as 50 climbers scaled Everest on 12 May and over 150 mountaineers have summited the world’s largest peak so far this season.
Video of Mizoram couple’s ride to Covid quarantine centre wins hearts
The video of a Mizoram couple’s innovative way of maintaining physical distancing while going to a Covid-19 quarantine centre has been winning hearts on the internet.
In the clip, the woman is seen sitting on a plastic chair on the trailer of a jeep while her husband takes the driver’s seat. The clip has also been shared by IPS officer Rupin Sharma on Twitter.
Husband taking his #Covid_positive WIFE to #quarantine_centre in #Mizoram?#INNOVATIVE METHOD.#AtmanirbharBharat#Jugaad @ANI @PTI_News @DDNewsHindi @ndtvindia @RatnadipC @brajeshlive @TheLallantop pic.twitter.com/8j4YWJlFCL
— Rupin Sharma IPS (@rupin1992) May 31, 2021
The couple is later seen waving at the camera before leaving for the quarantine facility. Mizoram Monday registered 99 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the total tally to 12,087.
Also read: GSI scientists stumble upon 100-million-year-old dinosaur bones in Meghalaya