North East News Agency

TWO cultural doyens of the North-East are of the view that violence is affecting the rich cultural activities in the. In the capital to receive the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award both renowned Sattriya dancer Jatin Goswami and Folk singer Satyaram Reang expressed deep anguish and sorrow over senseless killings and mindless violence.

Stressing hard that genuine grievance of the people should be redressed at the earliest, both the cultural ambassadors of the North-East reminded the youths about the great cultural heritage of the region. Both of them want to spread their activities to prevent the youths from being misled.

Jatin Goswami was categorical in saying that it is easy to lure the youths to the path of violence than to attract them to cultural activities. Saying that he is lucky that all his children are doing well in various cultural fields, Mr. Goswami admitted that few other parents were not so lucky. Narrating his personal experience, the Sattriya dance guru confessed that he and his wife had to spend many sleepless nights to prevent one of their dear and near one from joining the militants.

According to him family values and proper advices from the parents are the only way out to prevent children from being misled. He stressed the need of proper parenting as the main weapon to fight this menace. ˇ§My children are in the mainstream as we were able to teach them proper values¨ he said.

On the other hand Satyaram Reang is of the view that spread of violence is hampering the growth of culture in the North-East. Mr. Reang pointed out that because of violence artists are unable to perform from going one place to another.Until and unless you perform through out the region, youths will not know about our rich cultural heritage. If you can't move out from your house or avoid visiting some places feeling unsafe how can you expect the heritage to spread,  he asked.

Mr. Reang felt that chronic unrest in Tripura has hampered the growth of Hojagiri dance. The 1943 born Satyaram Reang dedicated for the cause of folk dance and music of Tripura trained a large number of youths from his community in Hojagiri dance. He is, however. Not satisfied with his achievements. Mr. Reang wants to train more and more youths once violence is stopped, provided he remains fit till such time.

We may be lagging behind from mainland in many aspects. But we are no way inferior to anybody when it comes to cultural heritage. We are proud of our cultural heritage. We will have to preserve and enrich it. We can only bridge the gap of information and understanding between North-East and mainland through our rich culture. North-East is not about killing and violence. It is as beautiful as any other parts of the world. Its culture is as rich as any other great cultures. By indulging in violence we are earning a bad name for ourselves. Say no to violence,ˇ¨ says two born optimists.

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