Lachit Borphukan, Mula Gavoru, Gopinath Bordoloi, Bhupen Hazarika, Kanak Sen Deka...all of these people are jewels of Assam. No need to introduce them to anyone of us Assamese people. And, of course, I dont have the guts to describe them as well. But, sometimes, we came across some people in our life, whom we thought should also be in the same league. But unfortunately, mass does not know about them. I dont know why? Such a person was Late Rajendra Nath Bora of Nijora Paar, Guwahati. I do not have the details of his childhood, but only thing I know is that he was born on 30th November 1934 and that he came out first in entire Assam in Matriculation. During that time, matric exams were conducted by Guwahati University and he was the first Assamese to come out as the first position holder from Guwahati University. But that was not the end. Then came the most glorious gift for Assam from him. After the Second World War, there was an essay competition at the world level organized by the American newspaper “New York Herald Tribune” and the subject was “The world we want”. The prize was, to select the top two winner from each of the participating country and free America tour to those. One of the two contestant selected from India was Late Rajendra Nath Bora. He was the first Assamese that won a US tour during one’s schooling. At that time he was studying in Cotton College. I got hold of a letter written by New York Herald Tribune to principal, Cotton College, where it was mentioned that it was Late Rajendra Nath Bora who composed the letter for the group of 24 delegates representing 16 countries, to present to US President Trumen at White House in 1952. India and in turn Assam should have every right to be proud of this extra-ordinarily gifted young man. At such an early age, he became the first Assamese to enter White House and met an American President. Obviously, such a brilliant student, opted for Science, but later on he passed B A in Economics (Hons.) from Presidency College and then he joined Delhi School of Economics for M A (Economics). Then he qualified in ICS and joined Indian Revenue Services. While working as Income Tax superintendent across the major cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai etc, probably he had never been heard of the word CORRUPTION. A very gentle, obedient servant of Indian Govt, done his job very decently. Took public transportation such as city bus, local train for commutation. Never had any car in his possession. Even if somebody tells him that the inflation is going up, he would reply like our pensions/salaries are also increasing. He was a bookworm but never felt of putting his knowledge into words. One more reason for this was that he did not liked publicity at all. I believe, it is a great loss to Assamese literature. Whether you are a child or a scholar, he will gift you books on your celebrated occasions. I think, for our children, these people are also a source of inspiration, provided we bring them to the children. Hence, on his 80th birthday, today, this is my simple process of doing the job and offer my tribute to a great unknown personality of Assam who served his motherland in a very gentle way so that he remained unnoticed by the masses. The last thing I wanted to mention is that he always tells us that people should not live beyond 80 years because of various reasons and what a co-incidence, he left to the heavenly abode on 29th November 2013, exactly at the age of 79.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 19:49:38 +0000
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