Avinash Singh
It was an out-of-the-blue message from a complete stranger! A line in introduction and this first year BA LLB student of Faculty of Law, Gauhati University wanted help in highlighting Assam floods. Amanpreet Kaur Washisht was to the point, brief and crisp and felt genuinely for the annual sufferings of people in her State.
Still in the last year of her teens, this daughter of a medium-sized workshop owner impressed me with her resolve and so did her brother Kanwal Jit Singh Washisht, a student of final year MSc Zoology at Central University, Sikkim through the next message. Clarity of their thought was reflected in their confidence.
I asked them to send me some facts and figures on Assam floods. The missive ended with a line: I would prefer if it is a write-up. Same message was sent to another youngster from Guwahati, Hrishikesh Sarma, a humanities student of class XI, who was in touch with me to get his writings published in some papers in Delhi. Irrepressible that he is, Hrishikesh Sarma sent me a piece within 24 hours which included everything that should be contained in a story.
Amanpreet, in the meantime too sent me something (may be with the help of her brother Kanwal Jit) that made me marvel at the potential of these teenagers. Both the write-ups – by Sarma and Washisht – were in true journalistic style. Sarma’s copy carried a lot of data, which takes time for a journalist to collect
Facts apart, Amanpreet’s copy added to the emotional quotient. With little bit of touching up, it made for a very good reading. Rimpi Sokhi, from Golaghat, in the wrong side of 30s, reacted to two stories I put out on the FB introducing the two youngsters, by sending me pictures she was collecting date-wise reflecting the travails and agony of floods. She told me she cannot write, but the information provided by her depicted the tough times she had been through on other occasions. Her story was responded with through many active engagements in the feedback columns.
By this time, a former student of mine, Atlana Mahanta, who did her Masters in Communication from Christ University, working as a senior multimedia journalist in Delhi, but an Assamese at heart, responded by literally writing an analytical Genesis of Assam floods. A YouthBrigade was already in the making with Sonia Kour, Ritu Kaur and Aayushi Karanwal expressing their desire to be a part of it. They alongside Kanwal Jit Singh Washist, are in the process of contributing to the series. While this was still happening we got messages from Kamaljit Kaur from Dhanbad and Er Gurmohit Singh from Pune to join the Brigade. At the time of writing this there were many more youngsters waiting to join the bandwagon offering to write on or highlight social issues.
Not many took note when comedian Abhineet Mishra brought forth the real miseries and despair of the poor through his video. It shows a man who lost everything is being pulled out of water. He jumps back in the presence of his rescuers and is swept away by strong currents of water. A comedian had made me cry. There is another video by Navdeep Singh where a one-horned rhino is trying to find a safe place next to a highway! The YouthBrigade has been successful in fuelling the series with its forthright ideas and powerful thoughts. Stay tuned for more on Assam Floods on Top Lead India.
Part 1: Assam floods: A perennial problem
Part 2: Drowning Assam: Why flood situation in the state is turning from bad to ugly
Part 3: Assam floods: It’s a critical situation, but if Dutch can do it, why can’t we?