Bidexot Apun Manuh is a very famous Assamese song, sung by Saju for the television series of the same name. I thought for a while what would be the best English translation and somehow I failed to come up with one which would best express the feeling of the Assamese original. Bidexot Apun Manuh means own people abroad, if it is translated literally, but for someone who has stayed abroad for an extended period of time, it means a whole lot more. The feeling of belongingness, of the camradarie or even the feeling of friendship is quite different with your own than with people from some other community. This is not a nationalistic thought, it is but what human nature is. We do tend to get pulled by our common roots. I did not feel this to such an extent as I have felt it in the last two days (12-14 October), when I attended the annual get together of the members of the Assamese community residing in mainland Europe. If I were to describe the feeling I had after I attended the get together, it would be overwhelmed. The word might mean many things, but I was really overwhelmed by the love that everyone had for everyone present, I was overwhelmed by the feeling of a community in getting everything done and I was overwhelmed by seeingly unknown people merge together and develop a friendship which I have very rarely seen.
This time, the get together was held for the first time outside Germany; on the foothills of the Wienerwald (the Vienna woods), at a small village in Austria called Sparbach. I am happy that it was in Austria, for several reasons. Perhaps, the first reason would be selfish. The commute time from Vienna was less than one hour. But the most important reason for me was that I got the chance to become actively involved in the arrangement. The trust that the people who have organized it in the past placed on me and Sudeshna (a fellow Assamese in Vienna) was immense. They gave us directions and we did some of the local organizing, but it was nothing compared to the effort that everyone put in at the event. Perhaps, at no other time in history has so many Assamese people gathered togetehr as a group in Austria. It was a surreal experience for me.
Yashobanta Da (the person who provided the impetus for the whole meet) summarized the feeling aptly, at the conclusion when he said that it feels like a big marriage party has ended and everyone went back to their respective places with many memories, good food and a ceratin sadness of having to leave behind their community in Europe; their bidexot apun manuh. If I were to write a minutes of the meeting post to descirbe the milon, it would not do justice to it. The milon was much more than a bunch of people meeting at a fixed place on a fixed date to eat a few common meals. It was a time to cherish our Assam, it was a time to get to known the people of our motherland and talk in Assamese. Last year I read In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri, where she described how difficult it was to acclimatize to Italian when she started to live in Rome. The book stuck a chord and it has always remained ingrained in my mind. So, it was a fresh breeze of Assamese which did two things for me: first, it made me feel much better, and second, it made me a bit homesick. This homesickness is worse than any I have felt before. When everyone left, and I came back today to an empty apartment (my flatmate is enjoying his motherland now - Nepal), the pangs of lonliness were felt immensly. But, I talked to my parents, I talked to my fiancee and I talked with Himan Da (another fellow Assamese in Vienna), and it made me feel better. I began to think that, this is not the end. I will meet all these wonderful people again, maybe in the next get together, wherever it is. Or, perhaps even before if I visit the different friends I made in the last two days.
The bond started for me, even before the offical meet when I met Srimanta Da. We realized that our original hometowns (-villages) were less than 5 km apart in Assam. It does not get better than this. When I went to the get together, I went with Sudeshna and Kabya, a soft spoken and kind fellow Assamese from Rome. Kabya and I talked before and in the get together, and it was a pleasure to meet him and to watch him help in the running of the meet. I had to leave the get together for some work in Vienna on Friday, but I went there for the second time at night to find a room full of people. All speaking Assamese, it was heaven. I met Eashan (with whom I have only conversed in Instagram; strange, I know), then I met Satya Da, Pranjal Da, Saswat Da, Rakesh Da and so many others. E one was warm and everyone made me feel welcome. It made me realize the bonds that we, human beings hold; even without knowing.
Saturday was the day of the bhoj, an excellent meal made by Yashobanta Da and Rita Bow, helped by several others. In fact, everyone in the meet did something or the other to make it a succesful one. I have never seen such coordination and such switftness in doing things. The success of the meet lies with everyone who attended (irrespective of whether I mention them by name or not). After the bhoj, we had a small cultural event, which although it officially eneded around midnight, but some of the kharkhowas stayed up till 6 am crooning to songs by Zubeen Da, Jitul Da, Bhupen Da and even Kishore Da. The star attraction of the show was undoubtedly Jitendra, a melodious voice who sang not less than six songs (with a strong public demand), paired brilliantly on instruments by Himan Da and Satya Da. Oh, what bliss it was to listen to him sing; and then later to watch the nasonis dancing to Bihu and Jhumur. I thought, if only this happened every weekend.
But, like every good thing this meet also ended; with hope and promises to meet again. Next year, in a different country but with the same people. I will now count the days for this to happen.
I close the post with an English translation of Bidexot Apun Manuh (which does not capture the original in any way).
Every heartbeat holds this for eternity,
This intimate love.
Unbreakable, unstoppable,
This mysterous bond.
Life has it’s two wings,
And the whole sky - the playground.
They fly away, far away,
To nest in an unknown land.
In the moments of solitude, we remember
Our brethen abroad.
Our brethen abroad.
With the waves of the Thames,
And the banks of the Mississippi;
We search for our friendly Luit.
Even in this distance
Every second the heart yearns
For our utopian Subansiri.
With the waves of the Thames,
And the banks of the Mississippi;
We search for our friendly Luit.
Even in this distance
Every second the heart yearns
For our utopian Subansiri.
We brush away the momentary shadows,
And search for our life’s Majuli.
In the moments of solitude, we remember
Our brethen abroad.
Our brethen abroad.
Every heartbeat holds this for eternity,
This intimate love.
Unbreakable, unstoppable,
What is this mysterous bond.
Life has it’s two wings,
And the whole sky - the playground.
They fly away, far away,
To nest in an unknown land.
In the moments of solitude, we remember
Our brethen abroad.
Our brethen abroad.