GUWAHATI, Oct 11 - The people of India were gaining longevity during the years after freedom enabling an average Indian to expect to live for at least 70 years. Man could expect to lead a long life provided one had a positive outlook towards life and knew certain basic principles of maintaining good health.
This observation was made by former president of Asam Sahitya Sabha and scientist Dr Lakshminandan Bora while addressing a function held at Sankardev Kalakshetra on the occasion of the 88th birthday of senior journalist DN Chakravartty on Thursday.
The felicitation function organised under the auspices of Brihattar Panjabari Sahitya Sabha (BPSS) in association with Baligaon Milon Chora and Journalists Association of Assam was presided over by Nagen Bhuyan, president, BPSS.
Dwelling on the contributions of Chakravartty in the domain of journalism and also in the field of social service, Dr Bora said that the most arresting feature of Chakravartty was his positive outlook towards life, indefatigable spirit and his indomitable courage to face the challenges from all quarters.
�It was because of his courage and conviction that he openly challenged the ULFA when everybody dreaded to criticize the banned outfit,� he said.
Ranajit Sutradhar who anchored the programme was addressed by Dr Hitesh Deka, Vice Chancellor of KK Handiqui State Open University as special guest.
Dr Deka said that he was more proud as a teacher and wanted to forget that �he made a foray into the dirty world of politics as member of Assam Legislative Assembly.�
Dr Anjanjyoti Choudhury kept the audience spellbound with his Bhupendra Sangeet and his brilliant humour in his inimitable style.
Dr Hitesh Baruah also presented revolutionary songs appropriate to the occasion. Konika Bhattacharya, too, presented a song.
MP Bijoya Chakravarty, Dr Surendra Mohan Mahanta, Bimal Kumar Hazarika, Anuradha Sarma Puzari and Pabitra Barthakur, in their speeches, referred to the relevance of thoughts and ideas of persons like Chakravartty to instill in the minds of the Assamese people in general and the despondent youths in particular.
A felicitation volume was also released on the occasion.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in his message wished Chakravartty a long life and commended his role as a courageous champion of the cause of the people. Chakravartty, in his acceptance speech, thanked the BPSS and other organisations for the honour accorded to him, and offered an amount of Rs 20,000 to build up a charity fund titled as �Janakalyan Nidhi� to help people to recover the meaning of life in the face of financial hardships.
Referring to the tragic incident at Sarthebari where a couple killed their children and committed suicide due to bankruptcy, Chakravartty said that by opening charitable funds in every locality �we could prevent the recurrence of such tragic incidents of suicide.�
Retired bureaucrat Dal Bahadur Chetry gave a brief introduction of DN Chakravartty.
The musical programmed which followed was participated by Mridula Bezbaruah, Ekata Saikia, Rituparna Phukan Bharadwaj, Sumana Garg, Hiralal Bora and Chandrashree Saikia.
