Lakhyahira Das is like a lamp with burning flame of a vast
range of life experiences and she shining with immense
inspiration.
This lamp has been there for decades, brining light and a ray
of hope to this world shrouded in darkness. She, filled with
determination, is intent on serving humanity with the
blessings of the masses, by illuminating all that is dark and
this she does with her light of literature and music.
�Gana debater gupon byathar
Muka bhasha paisu sim�
����������
�Pujar bedit jiban bilai
Asomik jam puji�
������..
�Kopalot janatar ashish saani
Jyotir sadhona koru jiwon jini�
(Sur setu)
Lakhyahira Das has been successful in fulfilling her dreams
through her tunes, words, songs and poems. She had started her
life as a poet at the tender age of nine when she penned down
her first poem �Prabhati� in the school magazine. At the age of
eighteen, when she was a student of Cotton College, she had
her book of songs�prathama� published. Her poems saw light in
the famous magazine �Ramdhenu� when she was in her
Post-graduate classes. This was the beginning of Lakhyahira
Das�s life as a poet and a writer. Since then, she has been
moving forward through brightly lit paths and dedicating
herself in making mother earth a musical heaven without having
to look back even once.
�Aandharor bhangi poth
Aaguwai mur roth
Kiba sunu sudurot
Koto bhaab poranot�
��������..
�Bhedi poth timiror
Dekhu rup ashimor�
���������..
�Sei setonar deepshikha joli
Bukur aaroti dhali
Suror sorog rosu
Matir
bukut� (Sur setu)
Lakhyahira Das is a known name in the field of education and
culture in Assam. She is multitalented, has an attractive
personality, romantic character and has the capacity to look
at life in a realistic manner.
Parents:
Her father named her Lakhyahira as he was elated to have her
as his second child for whom he had great hopes stored for the
future.Her father Lalit Chandr Baishya Saud was an able
administrative officer and dedicated to the Shankari art and
culture. Lakhyahira Das was brought up under the guidance of
her music and literature loving father who was equally sincere
in his duties. She was encouraged and inspired by her father,
who had seen many good signs of prosperity in the family
because he was appointed in the administrative service soon
after her birth.
Lakhyahira Das�s mother reflected great patience and was a
good housewife showing perfection in her weaving skills.
Lakhyahira Das lost her mother at the age of eight but the
tunes of �gushainam�ai nam, biya nam� which her
mother sang so well remained as memories for her.
Lakhyahira Das was born in her father�s parental house in
Sualkuchi on 2 February, 1933. She had to move from place to
place with her father who worked in different places on
transfer and she thus had the opportunity of spending her life
in a number of places in Assam.
Education:
Lakhyahira Das started her schooling in Adarsha Prathamik
Bidyalaa in Panbazar, Guwahati. She spent her high school days
in Tezpur Govt. Girl�s High School, Phuleshwari High School in
Sivasagar and Jorhat Govt. High School. She passed out from
the school in Jorhat with a first Division securing the
highest marks in Assamese. She passed her I.A. examination
in1948 from J.B. College, Jorhat by securing the 6th
position, getting the highest marks in 3 subjects. She passed
her B.A. examination in 1950, securing 3rd position
with Distinction marks in Assamese and the highest marks in
Education from Gauhati University in 1954 and was awarded a
fellowship from the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India. She
completed her research work successfully in 1958. She did her
Ph.D. from Gauhati University in 1973 and her topic was
related to secondary education in Assam. Her eagerness to
learn has made her take up work even after retirement for a
D.Lit degree.
Profession:
Her work can be categorized under three heads: Education,
Literature and Culture. Very few people have shown such
excellence in all the three fields equally. She everything
including the patience, effort and dedication needed to make
life beautiful and prosperous. She was able to do what she
liked and was successful in choosing the profession that gave
her scope to do the work she had interest in.
Professional life:
Lakhyahira Das started her career as a Lecturer and Head of
the Department of Education in Cotton College after the
subject �Education� was introduced in the college in 1959.
Moreover, she was successful in established a psychology
laboratory at the college level for the first time in Assam.
She was appointed Reader in Gauhati University in 1977 became
the Head of the Department in 1986 and retired service in
1993. She guided 14 research scholars to get their Ph.D
degrees and as many as 10 are working for their degrees with
her.
She has visited various universities in India to share her
knowledge and experience of research. She has been working as
the Advisor of the �Women �s Govt. Study Research Centre�
since its inception. She has not only attended a number of
conferences in India and highlighted different aspects of
education of women in Assam and problems related to this in
her speeches, but also traveled to different parts of the
world to represent her state and country in the fields of
education, literature and culture. She highlighted the rich
culture of India through the international conferences she
attended. She has made her country proud by being invited to
take part in such conferences in Bombay, Madras, Patna ,
Mysore, Agra, Lucknow, Calcutta and other places in India and
also in Africa (1986), England, France(1987), Malaysia(1990),
Singapore(1992) and other places abroad.
Life as a Literature:
She has been continuously writing throughout the past five
decades . It was way back in 1943 that she contributed poems
for the magazine published by the Girls� High School of Tezpur
. She has been writing since long and there is a very intimate
relation between her literary works and her work as an
artiste. Having been trained from her childhood to sing, she
had the opportunity of earning laurels during the competitions
of the annual function held in J.B.College, Jorhat. It was
however in Cotton College later that she to concentrate had
the opportunity in this field of art.
There is an interesting story behind her becoming an
established artiste or a singer. She was studying in Guwahati
(then Gauhati) in Cotton College and she lived in Chatribari
Girl�s Hostel near the college. The All India Radio Station of
Gauhati was not far from her College and hostel. One day,
officials of the radio station namely Sayed Abdul Malik, Phain
Talukdar, Bhupen Hazarika and Purushottam Das went to meet her
and requested her to sing for radio broadcasts. She was a bit
embarrassed, shy and hesitant initially. The more she tried to
stress on the point that she was not competent enough for the
job, the more they requested her and at one point of time she
was almost forced to go to the radio station. She waa later
dropped back in the hostel after the voice test for
eligibility to sing over the radio. It was because of the
cooperation of the Principal of the college that they were
able to help Lakhyahira Das in this manner for development of
her career in singing Lakhyahira Das had more problems ahead.
Saved Abdul Malik told her that she would have to sing only
self composed songs and she immediately replied that she did
not know the art of writing poems. But she was encouraged by
being told that she would not only be able to write poems but
would also be able to write songs if she tried. With the
inspiration and encouragement of such good personalities,
Lakhyahira Das became a regular artiste of All India radio who
started composing beautifully.
She has so far been able to compose about two thousand songs.
It was in 1948 when she was still a college girl that she got
recognition for her skills of singing , composing and putting
music to he own songs. She was the first women in her state to
have achieved this feat during that period. She Spoke about
her success thus�: This recongnition of All India radio
awarded publicly to me has given me great encouragement,
excitement, self confidence and will power. It has brought a
big challenge for me�����.I will have to admit that to achieve
such heights, we need people to take us forward by encouraging
and motivating us towards work . Had people like Sayed Abdul
Malik, Bhupen Hazarika, Purushpttam Das Biren Phukan , Phani
Talukdar, Brajen Barua, Mukul Barua, Rudra Barua, Dip
Sarma,Jiten Deb and others not been there, there is doubt
whether I could have become a radio artiste or a singer. She
also expressed her gratefulness to those who had been
encouraging her by reading her poems and other forms of
literature and singing her songs.(Agradoot �September 12,1990).
The demand for self composed songs made her to write songs
frequently and helped her in bringing out her first book of
songs ��Prathitama.� Artistes Sarbeswar Chakrabarty took the
responsibility of publishing the book. Her poems from
Prathitama.� began to be published in the famous magazine of
those times, namely Ramdhenu.People were able to see and read
Lakhyahira Das�s poems and articles more often.Her writings
have been adapted to various regional languages of India
besides being translated in to English. Her poems are being
adored in different parts of the world.
Lakhyahira Das had attended the World Education Conference in
Malaysia as the sole representative from released by Dr. S.
Gunasingam, member of UNESCO and a great writer and
educationist. The meeting was chaired by the Vice Chancellor
of the University of Gujrat, Professor Ramlal Parekh.
Lakhyahira Das still recalls the moment with great happiness
as she says that I feel proud that my book was released in the
midst of educationists and thinkers of different countries and
I consider this as honor not for me alone but also for my
motherland. The conference in Malaysis saw publication of her
research paper on education for the holistic development of
women of the rural areas of Assam.
She has a number of books of songs, poems, children
literature, education (both in English and Assamese) and
translated works to her credit. Compilation of songs and
poems:1.Prathama(1950) 2. Sur setu(1956) 3. Gitaghya(1956) 4.
Pranganga(1957) 5. Mayur ponkhi(1968) 6. Bhaskar Lagna(1974)
7. Awagahanar Muhurtta(1978) 8. Antargat Nodi(1979) 9. O Mor
Sikuni Desh(1980) 10. Lakhyahirar Geet(1989) 11. Priyo
prithibir Babe(1994) 12. Between Births(1990).
Chidren Literature :
1. Kazirangat Sat Bihu (1979)2. Moumitha mat(1995) 3. Sishu
Galpa Sangrah(1996) 4. Sishu Galpa Sangrah-II(to be published)
Books related to Education
: English -1.Elements of Education(1962) 2. A textbook of
Education(1974) 3. Education in Assam(1978) 4.Some Great
Educationists (1982) 5. Adult Continuing Educational Sociology
(1992) 8.Women�s Education in Assam(1995) 9. Development of
Secondary Education in Assam (1824-1947) and its impact on
society (1990)
Lakhyahira Das had also been editor of two magazines namely
�Biswa Samajik Swasthya� and �Samaj�.� Journal of Education�
had once been edited by her. Some of her poems have been
translated into English and have found place in �Modern
Assamese Poetry� edited by Hem Barua, New voices of Indian
Poetry, poems have been translated by late Anandeswar Sarma,
Hirendranath Dutta, Pradip Acharya and Imdad Ullah. As
president of the poet�s meet in the 46th session of
Axom Sahitya Sabha at Sualkuchi , she said that Analysis of
modern Assamese poetry was not far from being biased in the
hands of a few critics and hence remained incomplete��..There
is scope for thinking that unhealthy symptoms prevail when
critical analysis of the writer is given more importance than
analysis of her writings.
She has read out her poems in many international conferences
and critic Gyanananda Sarma has commented that her imagination
and rhythm filled stanzas are really beautiful. Similarly the
poet has talked about Buddhadev Basu, Debakanta Barua and
Sadhikanta Gogoi without any hesitation. In �Susana� she like
Rabindranath Tagor�s Mahamanaber Sagor Tire� has mentioned
known and unknown centuries and people on the vast shores of
humanity. In the poems �Pratiksha� and Anagoto�, she is seen
waiting for the new generation which will bring life to the
Dalits. The poems seem to echo the spirit of some of the poems
of Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Bishnu Rabha.
Arunabh Duara once in his comment on her poems said that her
poems were reflections of capture life very strongly. Her
poems too are capable of generating feelings similar to her
songs. She does not use words that are difficult to understand
. The contents of the poems are quite often found dealing with
social challenges or threats. (Asomiya Protidin, Sunday,
October 8 ,1995) Dr. Karabi Deka Hazarika has said that Dr.
Lakhyahira Das is a name which can be her poems and songs
reflected her deep feelings, thinking and expressions.
Experiences of the society at different times and her own
varied experiences find place in the poems. She has a liberal
and liberated heart. In her feelings the sufferings of
humanity finds expression.
Noted critic Ram Goswami feels that Lakhyahira Das has been
able to find paths of hope in this world full of restlessness,
fear and uncertainty. The poet is in search of light and in
the process of exploring it, the poet establishes a
relationship between imagining and reality creating a map of
human feelings.
Dr. Lakhyahira Das has sown seeds of immense hope in the light
amidst darkness. She is capable of telling many things with
few words (Nilachal, 28/8/75 in Discussion of Bhaskar Lagna)
Imdad Ullah is of the opinion that she is the carrier of the
new trend in Assamese poetry. We feel that she is able to
express deep realization with very few words and her poems
encompass deep realization with very few words and her poems
encompass both time and grief.�Dr. Lakhyahira Das is indeed a
proud jewel of Assam. She was brought glories not only for her
state but also for the country.�(International Meridian News
Magazine, New Delhi).
The magazine �Femina� wrote about Lakhyahira Das like this -
Lakhyahira Das makes you think of life and living, which is
not surprising. She has made waves in national and
international circles as a poet, lyricist, singer and
educationist. A winner all the way, she is a staunch supporter
of all the varied causes she believes in.�
The noted Assamese critic, Shri Upendranath Sarma commenting
on the book�. Between Births� wherein Lakhyahira Das had ten of
her original poems in English said-� These spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings place her in the hierarchy of
Indo English poets. Her handling of the English Language is
praiseworthy . The words she uses are highly expressive and
melodious.�
I have taken in my hands
A broken piece of time glittering like glass
Wherein is woven the threads of all dreams
I am prepared this time for enormous nights
(The Eternal)
What strikes the reader about these poems is their endless
variety. The poet plays on a whole gamut of feelings and
Sensations , love, anxiety, sense, of death, passions, love
hate relations, hopes frustrations and anger.
����������������������.
����������������������..
�� She is among those few poets of her generation who
have refused to speak the language of the tribes and tried
to speak straight from the heart.�
(BookReview-Kabita-I-bilingual
collection)
In this way has the poet�s writings been analysed and written
on . The poetic creativity and characteristics of her work
have been reflected in this manner. Her minute observation of
things and deep emotional feelings find expression in lines
like these-
�Juir dore dhumuhar dorw nakshatrar dore
Sokolu Satya Udbhashito Hobo
Abyahoto robo manuhor aniruddha goti
Andharor pora alokoloi
Mrityur pora Amritoloi juge juge
(Priyo Pritibir Babe)
Cultural Life:
Lakhyahira Das has been able to spread her wings in the
cultural arena of Assam.too. Her parents helped in nurturing
her musical talents and her father who was a lover of the
Satriya culture gave her the right environment for education
is music. He bought selected records of songs in Assamese,
Bengali, Hindi and Played these to his daughter. Her love for
music became the most intense during the time she was in
Tezpur.
Lakhyahira Das and her parents were in Tezpur in a rented
house of a family member of Jyotiprasad Agarwala and she was
about 8 or 9 years old at that time. Lakhyahira Das this
tender age had the opportunity of meeting Rupkonwar
Jyotiprasad Agarwala played the organ himself when he taught
children to sing. Later as an adult, she won several prizes in
the competitions held in her college and this inspired her to
a great extent. However, circumstances were not very
favourable for music at every point of life. She could not go
through a systematic course in classical music because of her
responsibilities of family life and for other reasons. But she
started learning classical music in right earnest with Birendra
Kumar Phukan, the famous singer and Pandit Achyut Pattavardhan
and his son Ramchandra Pattavardhan.
Another remarkable aspect of her cultural life is her
education in Satriya culture. She got traditional systematic
education is Borgeet when Borgeet was confined only to the
Vaisnab Satras of Assam. She dedicated herself to this form of
music by popularizing it through her stage performances and
performances through the AIR, Guwahati. She recalls her
association with great musicians with gratefulness.
A company recorded her songs for the first time in 1955. A
total of 23 songs were recorded by HMV during the period
1964-1973. The folk songs of Assam have been preserved in this
manner. She has also sung modern Assamese songs with Dr.
Bhupen Hazarika.
Lakhyahira Das not only wrote songs for the Assamese
films�Lachit Borphukan, Sirapat, and Saknoiya, but also she
sang in two of these fimls. Her songs are heard in the voices
of many new and these fimls. Her songs are heard in the voices
of many new and old artists. Noted singer Manna Dey, Usha
Mangeshkar, Anup Ghoshal, Chinmoy Lahiri, Parbin Sultana and
others have also sung songs written by her. She has thus and
others have also sung songs written by her , She has thus been
associated with Assamese cinema too and her creative works
have come popular.
She was adjudged the best playback singer in the 1960s in a
state level competition of Assamese cinema held in Nagaon and
this honour was conferred on her for her song�Opaja Sonar Mati
O� from the film �Lachit Borphukan�.
Lakhyahira Das has great love for Rabindra Sangeet and she is
popular for having translated the songs into Assamese and for
singing them. She has been credited for such creative works at
the national level too. Orissa�s Kalasangam adjudged her the
best lyricist. She has been awarded prizes for her lyrics many
times. She was adorned with the title of Sangeet Dipika by
Assam in 1995 for her contribution to Assamese music. She was
also given the title of�Sangitacharjya� publicly in the same
year. She was offered artist pension in 1995.
She feels that life is vast, varied and is constantly flowing
carrying with it a lot of meaning for us. Life is inspiration,
beauty, light and shelter. Regarding her creative works, she
says that she uses music to establish truth in society and
make it free from all that is against truth. She says that she
has been trying this through several decades (Swarupa :
February 1997)
She
was trying her best for making Assamese folk music thrive and
become popular among people of other places. Surtirtha was
established in 1975 and as President of Surtirtha (a cultural
association), Lakhyahira Das tried the preservation and
expansion of the musical works of the famous musicians of
Assam.
She took the initiative of getting the works-�Agnibanar Tan�
of Ambikagiri Raichoudhury and�Jinibi Jiban Pan�of Umesh
Chandra Choudhury preserved through two long playing
Records.Surtirtha has plans of recording the songs and poems
os Nalinibala Devi too. Several noted artistes of Assam have
lent their voices for the purpose selflessly. The fund received
from these great works is being used to help the sick and the
needy artistes.
Lakhyahira Das�s continuous effort towards enriching her
culture is reflected in the rhythm and singing style which
she maintains in her writings and performances. She will be
remembered by the masses for her immortal songs.
Lakhyahira Das will remain in the hearts of people through her
songs from films-�Ei matite moru Jodi bohujonor mon-pran
alurito kora geet/ deshor hoke junjute moron nohoy si je amar
boron mala konthote�.
Social Life:
Dedicated to the core, Lakhyahira Das �s love for work helped
her in coming close to various state and national level
institutions in different capacities as Vice President, Vice
President executive member, etc. Such institutions (the names
of these institutions have been retained as found in the
Assamese source): 1. Sarbabharatiya Likhak Sanstha
2.Sarbabharotiyo Siksha Sanstha3. Bharotiyo Bishwabidyalay
Abiroto Siksha Sanstha 4. Sarba Bharotiyo Kabita Samai 5.
Bharotiyo Siksha Parishad 6. Bharotiyo Prapta Boyaskar Siksha
Sanstha 7. Bharotivo Siksha Parishad 8. Bharotiyo Gananatya
Sangha 9. Bharotiyo LikhakParishad 10. Sarbabharotiyo Siksha
Parishad 11. Antarjatik Kobi Sanstha .12. NCERT Gaweshana aru
Sanskar committee 13. Axom Academy for cultural Relations14.
Anandaram Baruah Bhasha Sanskriti Parishad 15. Axom Sahitya
Sabha 16. Sodou Axom Lekhika Samaroh Samiti 17. Assam Kobi
Samaj 18. Anatar Shilpi Sanstha 19. Kabya Manjari 20. Kabi
Chakra 21. Manobigyan Samiti 22. Surtirtha 23. Amrita 24.
Sankar Kristi Bikash Kendra 25. Bharotiyo Nari Siksha
Gaweshana Kendra 26. Uttar Pub Bharat Nari Sanstha.
In spite of being an active member of all these important
institutions, she has been able to engage herself with full
devotion to literature and music.
Family Life:
She has been equally successful in her family life. She has
brought up her children and helped them get the desired
education and Abhinandan Das serves as a child specialist in
Gauhati Medical College and is also an artiste playing
instruments for Doordarshan and All India Radio. His wife is
also a doctor and an eye specialist working in the same
institution. Her second son Amlandeep has a Masters degree in
English and teachers in Cotton College. He is also an artist
for western music being played by Doordarshan and All India
Radio. His wife also has an M.A. degree in English and
teachers in Maharshi Vidyamandir Bidyalay. She has completed
her Visharad degree in music and is learning Bharat Natyam.
Her third son Anirban Das is a chemical engineer. He is well
known as a ghazal singer and is a regular artiste of
Doordarshan and All India Radio. His wife Ghritashi Das who
did her M.A. in Economics is a responsible officer in the
Indian Railways and is also a sportsperson.
Lakhyahira Das lives with her grandchildren Nirmalaya Pratim,
Anangsha , Lopamudra and Arsiya happily and in peace. Her
husband Ramcharan Das�s encouragement and constant support has
definitely contributed to making her life a full circle . Mr.
Das was the Head of the department of Anthropology in
Aryavidypith College and is the write of 10-12 books. He is
also a social worker and has tirelessly been working in and
outside his home to help his wife concentrate on what she has
been doing.
Each member in the family has respect for each other�s work.
Independent thinking and concern for each member of the family
has enabled them to live a life full of love and sharing.
Conclusion:
The search for and realization of truth and goodness has made
Lakhyahira Das�s life worth living. She has made Barpeta proud
because her husband hails from this place famous for its rich
cultural heritage and especially known for Sankari Kala
Krishti. It is hoped that the outcomes of her independent
thinking through her writings would be able to encourage the
coming generation of youths to come up with writings that
reflect all that is good and filled with hope. May the
talented lady live many more years in good health with her
active life style and bring national and international laurels
to her cap.
