“Toi class korsa na aji?” (Did you attend your class today?), she asked her friend.
“O korsu” (Yes), her friend replied.
Two of my other friends looked at each other and laughed.
I belong to a very small town in lower Assam. We talk in our colloquial language with our friends and family over there. Same goes for my friend too. I speak in Barpetiya, which is a sub-dialect of Kamrupi (a dialect of the Assamese language). The Kamrupi dialect was developed primarily in the western part of Assam. The other dialect people of western Assam speak is Goalpariya. The Kamrupi dialect has three sub-dialects: Barpetiya, Nalbariya, South Kamrupi.
Back in the 7th century, when Hiuen Tsang visited the Kamrupi Kingdom, he noticed that the language spoken there was a little different from the other parts of mid-India. When I went through the writings of the renowned linguist Upendranath Goswami, I found out that the Aryan language spoken first in Assam was the Kamrupi language, spoken in Cooch Behar, Goalpara and the entire Kamrupi District. The early Assamese literature was mainly written is in this language.
I read, “Datal Hatir Unye Khuwa Howdah” written by Mamoni Raisom Goswami where she has used the Kamrupi language. One of the most considerable poets of the pre-Vaishnavite period was Madhav Kandali who belonged to the present-day Nagaon district. He translated the entire Ramayana into Assamese verse under the patronage of King Mahamanikya, who was a Kachari king. The capital shifted to the eastern or upper Assam after the decline of the Koch power. And this is why the language of the state’s eastern part became the language of newspapers, education etc., and the dialects range over the fields of phonology, morphology and vocabulary.
TV serials like “Borola kai” or ‘Oi khapla”, no doubt have brilliant stories, but the people make fun of the language the actors speak. These serials use languages as a comic tool. The film, “The Village Rockstar” (based on local Kamrupi dialect) was selected as India’s official entry to the 91st Academy Awards.
The reason behind this article is to make people aware of their views regarding lower Assam and the language they make fun of. I am not venting out my anger here; I’m just pointing out some facts that every Assamese must know about the state. I have been asked many times to repeat the sentences I speak in Barpetiya out loud so they can make fun of the language and call me a dhekeri (crass). I don’t feel bad about people making fun of the language we speak, but for the lost significance of this language.
I left my hometown three years ago, and till now, I hear people laughing at the language I speak with my family. Once my friends from lower Assam spoke to me awkwardly in the dialect that people from upper Assam used in public, when I asked them the reason, I realised it was similar to mine. And that made me realise that I wasn’t the only one facing this. But why make fun of people who belong to the same state, but speak a different language?
Both of my parents are from lower Assam. Barpetiya is and will always be my roots. And if speaking my language makes me a dhekeri, then I am proud of being one!
Hoi moi Barpeta’r! (Yes, I am from Barpeta!)