Fried Eye

Dear Readers,

Welcome back to yet another issue of FriedEye. February brings to all of us a new season, a new dimension. In keeping with the mood of the season. meet AxomiMatters, an organization which has taken on itself the onus of creating a new educated and informed Assam. The sleepy sun has finally consented to occasionally rear its head amidst the foggy skies and the time seems just right for a visit to the Scotland of the East. Keeping in tune with the mood of the season, Ajatashatru takes us on a bike ride through Shillong, the capital city of the abode of the clouds, Meghalaya. While your spirits of adventure are still up, take a stroll into the heart of Kenduguri, Assam to experience an enthralling Bhauna with Pramathesh in Through the Lens.

As the season lazily changes colours, it is also time for gradually making space in the wardrobe for a sunnier season ahead; which of course means it’s time to check out the latest trends “in” and “out”. However, obsessive adherence to style mantras can be hazardous and in her article, FriedGuest Sabrina warns one and all of following fashion blindly. What perhaps would be more engaging in this season of transition, is to glance inwards and try and clear the cobwebs gathering in the wardrobe of the heart. The Children’s Section of this issue features young Sandeep’s attempt at illustrating Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant- a story that focuses on just such a spring-cleaning.

But cleaning can get murky too. Find out how in the regular section of 55 Fiction as Mani dabbles with the genre of crime noir. Let Noyon ‘s exclusive with Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan bring to you a new insight into the Star of the Millenium’s life . And last but not the least, may the Wise Bachelor and Miss Cellany continue to regale you with their antidotes and anecdotes on the many faces of society in change.

With warm regards,
Myra B
Editor
(on behalf of the Fried Eye team)

There are only a few things over which Neelam and I agree without fighting. After our Agartala trip, I had the impression that she would not question my judgement in matters of travel at least. I was wrong! When I first proposed Shillong as our next destination, she summarily rejected it. Her reason: Shillong is a “clichéd” tourist spot that everyone seems to visit. more

With a song on my lips and spring in my steps I set out for my workplace this morning. Everything looked fresh and clean. I was waiting at a traffic intersection for the chartered bus when I witnessed an incident which… I am not sure if i have an adjective to describe it yet. So let me just narrate it instead.
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Q. Meri girlfriend mujhe maarti hai. I love her, but when she hits, she hits really hard. I don’t retaliate because I don’t hit women. Please help me tell her not to test my endurance power. Pitahuwa Premi, Shillong.

Ans: Dear Lord! Who is this woman? I have a friend who is in a relationship with an amorous woman. When they make love, she bites and scratches him like a wild cat. The next morning, my friend has to face a lot of embarrassment more

The actor, who was voted the ‘Star of the Millennium’ talks about his relationship with the media and how it has gone from being bad to good at times in his 40-year old career.

The excitement to know what is happening in someone else’s life is almost an integral part of most human minds. The desire gets stronger when the life that we want to know about is that of a celebrity. And it gets ever stronger when the celebrity in question is Amitabh Bachchan. Dozens of media personnel follow every minute of this superstar’s life to bring to the reader more news on him – the ones that he has not already pasted on his blog.

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Alice in wonderland wandered
down into an upside-down world.
What to do to escape from reality? more

Ideas storm my tiny brain
you won’t rest, will you ?
another nudge to the cells
eye should not miss the scene
a twitch in the heightened sense
no whisper even must miss the ear.
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“Fashion”… a vague word with tremendous significance for the stylish folk world over.

The trend of following fashion fads, I believe, cannot be traced back accurately in time. But it cannot be denied that fashion does rule the young and not so young alike. Everyone wants to, or at least secretly desires to, look pretty and in tune with the “in “styles. But the dilemma is what exactly is “in” and what is “out”. More complex is the question as to who decides what is “in” and what is not. However again, we the common folk or the lay men are not concerned with who decides and why but we are mainly curious to know what styles are the styles of the day.
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What happens when an original masterpiece is redesigned and repackaged as something that only faintly reminds you of its past glory? How about a redesigned Taj Mahal with a banquet hall look? I don’t know about others but I am one stubborn man who would refuse to accept it. Do you know the reason for this rant? Well, it is outright frustrating to see Kailash Surendranath commit such a heinous crime of destroying his earlier masterpiece, ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’. Despite its obvious weakness- the typical mainland India bias and colonial neglect towards the culture and history of Assam and other Northeastern states- the rendition was an aesthetic delight to every Indian irrespective of his/her age. Those who were born in the late 70’s and early 80’s literally grew up with ‘Mile Sur …’ telecast on DD to promote national integration before cable TV invaded Indian living rooms.
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By Oscar Wilde

Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden.
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. ‘How happy we are here!’ they cried to each other.
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On January 1, 2010 a new website was released. Prime audience targeted: the youth of Assam. No, we are not talking of FriedEye here though the date of launch coincides. The website under discussion is the enigmatically titled http://www.axomimatters.com/. So what is this website all about? The FriedEye team recently got in touch with Mr. Amarjyoti Saikia, the man behind the site, to find out just that.
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The Vaishnavite Bhauna tradition of Assam has evolved and adapted since its beginnings during the fifteenth century. One of the most written upon folk forms of Assamese culture today, the Bhauna (from the Sanskrit Bhavana meaning “display of/production”) risks being categorised as a homogeneous blanket form, However the differences in the presentation and performance of Bhaonas is subtle and hard to grasp by a layman unless he sees the different types in full action in first person. In one of my rambles among the nooks and corners of Kenduguri ,Jorhat, I got a chance to enjoy a Bhauna in progress at Charingiya Suk, No. 2 Brahmin Gaon. The Bhaona was occasioned by the reinstitution of the Manikut in the Naamghar and was based on the Bhagavata story of Bhakta Prahlad. The bar-sabah (congregation) was already hooked to the riveting tales of the sutradhar(narrator) at the time of our arrival. It took a while adjusting our eyes to the smoke and incense filled ambiance even though the age old gacha (large earthen chandeliers of multiple earthen lamps) and the ariya (torches) were overpowered by new age electric lights. The dialogues were riveting and the boy-actors (especially the ones in female roles or charitas) were both delicate and entertaining in their act. Needless to say, I was soon caught in the magic of the presentation and the innovative techniques used to produce the special effects left me very impressed. I managed to capture some moments of the humor-riddled narrative performed by the natuwas and bhaoriyas (performers), hope you have an enriching experience browsing through the same.

Mom had asked me to return soon but it was dark now. She always does. There was a killer on the prowl. I gulped and walked on. Just in the alley there was a strange policeman waiting. He beckoned at me smiling crookedly…all happened quickly. Slash! Slightly messy .I Have to dispose the razor today.