GUWAHATI, Aug 8 � The awards for the Gariyoshi Chandra Prasad Saikia short story competition, 2009, were conferred on three winners at a solemn function held in the city today. The programme, attended by Governor JB Patnaik, saw rich tributes being paid to the late Saikia, a distinguished litterateur and editor of Gariyoshi, who passed away on this day in 2006.
Addressing the gathering at the Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture auditorium, the Governor mentioned the rich literary and cultural heritage of Assam, and the way it has helped establish the identity of Assam. �Today, Assamese literature has reached a position that is in no way lesser than any other regional literature of India,� he said.
A Sahitya Akademi winner, Patnaik mentioned that literature has the potential to empower an entire community, reinforcing this by referring to Assamese and Oriya literature�s contributions in periods of difficulty.
Speaking in Assamese from a written text, he mentioned Jagannath Das, the iconic figure of Orissa and Srimanta Sankardev, mentioning how their literary output helped establish strong literary roots.
He handed over the prizes and citations to the three winners of the competition and hoped they would continue their good work.
The first prize was awarded to Ushamoni Kakoti, a student of Dibrugarh University for her story Eta Natun Khel. The second prize went to Mrinmoy Kumar Nath, while the third prize was won by Achyut Gogoi.
Presiding over the function, eminent novelist and editor of Gariyoshi Dr LN Bora, paid tributes to Chandra Prasad Saikia, describing him as an extraordinary person with acute intellectual abilities and a firm commitment to his job as an editor.
�He succeeded in his different roles because of his total, almost obsessive, dedication to his work,� Dr Bora remarked and added that just days before passing away he was asking people to write for his magazine.
Saying that the late Saikia was one of the three men of letters who influenced him to a great extent, Dr Bora said that he had an uncanny knack to connect with writers and readers. Such was his ties with writers that he could make them write for his publication with effortless ease.
Speaking on the occasion, TG Baruah, chairman of the Assam Tribune Group, remembered CP Saika as a writer who was able to write for the masses in an inimitable way. He congratulated the prize winners and hoped that they would be able to reach new heights in the times ahead.
