Stress laid on preserving traditiol crafts and modernizing them

From a Correspondent

GAON, January 25: A UGC supported tiol semir on ‘Bamboo and Cane Crafts of North East India: Challenges and Opportunities’ was organized by UGC Community College, Haji Anfar Ali College, Doboka,  in collaboration with the Women’s Cell of the College recently. The semir was graced by the presence of a galaxy of academics, resource persons and scholars.

A bamboo and craft exhibition hosted by the Community College in tune with the thrust area of the semir was an added appeal to the occasion. The exhibition was iugurated by Sukumar Haobam, an intertiolly famed Industrial Product Designer from Imphal in presence of a host of distinguished guests invited to the semir.

The iugural session was marked by the presence of Dr. Dibya Jyoti Mahanta, Dean, Study Centre, Krish Kanta Handiqui State Open University, Assam, renowned designer Sukumar Haobam and Pulak Kumar Mandal, Assistant Mager (Training), Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC), Meghalaya. It was chaired by Dr. Mamun Azam Barbhuiya, Principal, Haji Anfar Ali College, Doboka. In his iugural speech Dr Dibya Jyoti Mahanta expressed his overwhelming pleasure at the organization of the semir on an innovative but highly relevant area of importance, and stressed the need of both preserving the traditiol crafts and modernizing them to suit the intertiol market.

The first session of the semir was chaired by Sukumar Haobam, and second session by Pulak Kumar Mandal. As many as 26 research scholars and academics from different parts of the country presented their thought-provoking papers shedding a flood of light on various dimensions and areas of the main theme and sub-themes of the semir. A vibrant interactive session initiated by the resource person Sukumar Haobam after the two semir sessions was an extra grace to the semir. Students of Haji Anfar Ali College and other invited guests took an active part in the discussion.

The valedictory ceremony was addressed by the Guest of Honour Animesh Talukdar, ADC, Hojai. In his speech, he expressed his satisfaction over the semir since it provided ample space for researched deliberations on the rich bamboo and cane crafts of Northeast India. He also underlined the need of motivating the youths of Assam to move forward to keep pace with others in the competitive world.

The semir was first in its kind in gaon district.