Goswami - Along the Red River: A Memoir

29 May 2010

In the undulating journey of life, I met several people. Each one of them played a role in my life directly or indirectly. While some have encouraged and enthused me, others have brought about impediments and obstacles. Such diverse attitudes of the human mind strengthened my resolve to face life. My family showered their love and affection on me and always reposed their confidence in me especially my eldest and youngest brothers who encouraged me to move ahead in life courageously. My two daughters stood by me through this turbulent journey of life.

Mon Gongaar Teerot (Along The Red River ) would have remained an indelible part of my memories had it not been for the belief that the editor of Dainik Janambhumi , Hemanta Burman, had in me. He felt that my experiences touched upon a mosaic of issues through my personal struggle. Thus, what began as an autobiographical column in Dainik Janambhumi s Sunday supplement Vasundhara , has today taken the shape of a book. Only expressing my thanks and acknowledgement to Hemanta is not enough!

As the column continued to be published, I was flooded with letters. The column elicited responses from young and old, men and women, even people who I had lost touch with. Almost all of them had a positive word on the writing and expressed their thoughts on the issues. However, I also got to hear the reservations that some of my husbands relatives had about my blatantly honest and truthful writing.

As part of my professional habit, like all journalists, I too had detailed notes of my assignments especially of my extensive travels to all the states of the Northeast. I also had extensive notes of the Assam Agitation, its consequences and the situations arising thereafter. I had a clippings file of some of my major and exclusive stories. However, when I had to shift from Assam, most of my records and notes were misplaced, except a few. While writing the book, I relied entirely on the events etched in my memory and some notes that I still had left with me. I probably have missed out on some events or relevant anecdotes. Strangely, whenever I was stuck with a certain date or year, I often came across contemporary articles written by other writers where I got reference to the date I was looking for. It was as if Providence helped me at the right time. Of course, with the personal details it was as if I relived each moment of my life.

Having read my serialized autobiographical column in Dainik Janambhumi s Vasundhara , the editor of Anwesha Publications, Paresh Malakar, approached me with a proposal to compile the series into a book. For me it was like a dream come true. I am indeed grateful to Paresh Malakar and his entire team.

Mon Gongaar Teerot (Along The Red River ) is not a book written in chronological order of events. It is a true tale of my life. I am not sure how readers will respond to my book. But I am confident that there will be some response positive or negative. Readers will definitely not be indifferent!

I place before you Mon Gongaar Teerot .