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Bid to trace history of fishing community through literature

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 25 - A literature and storytelling festival will be held at Ananda Nagar, North Guwahati, from July 28 to 30.

The festival is being initiated and facilitated by the Directorate of Museums, Assam, under the aegis of the Numaligarh Refinery Limited, Guwahati and Samata Sainik Dal, Barpeta.

The inhabitants of the village are from the Malo and Burman community who are traditionally fishermen by occupation. Nearly 300 families reside in this village.

This community migrated from Bengali-speaking regions of larger Kamrupa Bengal expanse and has a very unique culture, social history and custom.

The project seeks to record an inclusive set of documents on cultural, intellectual and enigmatic layers of life, history and heritage of villagers of Ananda Nagar, according to the Directorate of Museums.

Most importantly, the process and methods of recording will be initiated by the collective efforts of the community.

�In this project we will give particular emphasis on writing/sharing the old stories from our grandparents� history, on the cultural roots, experiences being a community that bears various spiritual relationships with the river, experiences that are beyond the comprehension of other communities,� an official in the Directorate of Museums said.

Another aspect of the programme is to investigate complex factors of history and the surrounding cultural influences and exchanges in the formation of identity of each other. In the festival, the villages will revisit their history through storytelling methods, where they will write about their history and memory, recreate literature reflecting their daily living and struggle of complex issues. It envisages to create a bridge of knowledge and empowerment of their life, economy, social and cultural ethos. It will further invigorate intellectual and spiritual dimensions of the community life. Around 60 villagers will participate in the festival.

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