Attempting my first Assamese Sonnet !

The sun is about to set, the water in the pond had a glittering golden shine to it. In our film language we call this the magic hour. Most stunning photography is done during this time of the day. It was a long awaited trip to the tea gardens. I badly needed some time to switch off from my schedule. Minku and Tuki are close friends and we had the privilege to meet them in Muktabari Tea Estate.

As my other half caught up with his friend sharing an old monk, I drifted away to the backyard. Surrounded by fresh garden leaves stood an Assam-Type house with a pond flowing nearby. White ducks swayed in it. It looked even brighter under the shadows of the sun that will soon disappear. The stillness in the air except an odd bird chirp made the moment last in my mind. As I heard echoes of laughter coming from the front garden, I parked myself at the edge of the pond.

A sudden urge prevailed in me to write something… something completely foreign. I wanted to express in a language I never dared to write before although I proudly call it my mother tongue.

Shame on me! I was writing my first Assamese Sonnet in English. I decided to dedicate it to the pond (read river) and Minku’s beautiful backyard


Misiki ke hahi mari
Nemata kaile baru tumi
Ojaan ojaan lage jodiu
Lage kionu, ojibonor aamar aai enazoree

Junak raati, xitol botahor majere
Kee nu koi gola tumi?
Bujibo khujileu janu, paam ne buji tumar monor kotha khini khuli ?

Mynta: a fusion between swedish ice and indian spice

MYNTA brings you a colorful mix of Indian vocal, African and Latin-American rhythms, Arabic sounds, Swedish Folkmusic and Cuban violin, together with Indian traditional instruments as tabla, kanjira, ghatam and tampura.

To listen/download their tracks like:
Song from Brahmaputra
Fuzzy
and Teabreak
click here

Sweden and India find a common place in music through the ears and imagination of the group Mynta. Founded in 1979, the group has created their own genre of music, while preserving the integrity and traditions of their root sounds. The Swedish-Indian fusionists define world music, by extracting the organic elements that runs through the vein of centuries-old musical histories.
MYNTA is led by the Indian musicians Fazal Qureshi (tabla) and Shankar Mahadevan (vocal). These virtuosos within the classic Indian musical tradition have performed all over the world with such musicians as Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharma, and Zakir Hussain. Fazal is the younger brother of Zakir Hussain, who belonged to John McLaughlin's famous group Shakti, one of the earliest fusion bands in Europe.
Representing the Swedish alliance are veterans of the Swedish music scene - Santiago Jimenez (violin), Max Åhman (guitar), Ola Bothzén (percussion) and Christian Paulin (bass). Together the four musicians slant the music in the Nordic direction, inflecting a cool jazz feel into the mix.
MYNTA have come to be respected in the music world for years of making music that is honest and refreshing everytime. John Baxter of Option magazine praises the world-class performers for their expansive view of music: "Qureshi and Mikael Nilsson lay down some of the most electrifying percussion grooves I've heard in years; and in it's blinding, effortless speed, Max Åhman's guitar pays homage to John McLaughlin. Mix in Swedish hammered dulcimer, the Indian santoor and tanpura, and the North African saz and this becomes an exotic sort of orchestra. With groups like Mynta, it's clear that Scandinavia is turning out the most fascinating and enjoyable world fusion around.

The white woman's burden

Iris Macfarlane, married to a tea planter in Assam, reflects on her growing sense of the injustice of colonialism. For her recent book, please see: http://www.alanmacfarlane.com