Do we have any identity

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Topic: Do we have any identity ???

Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/11/01 at 06:10:02 »

When my non bengali friends ask me .. I say I am a Bengali .. but again I do not associate myself with a rossogolla-loving, ganguli-adoring , fish-crazy, miserly-bengali from west bengal ...
Again I can , at no cost , pass myself as an aSSamese .. if i really have to explain .. then i have to tell them that i originally come from sylhett ... a place in bangladesh ... and that rings a bell in their minds ... about illegal immigrants in assam .. they make fun of me .. sometimes...

[b]Do we have any identity???[/b]

subir (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/11/01 at 07:34:57 »

Yes Silchari this is a very burning fact of our originality that we a4re Sylheti & unfortunately its now in Bangladesh. This ofcource gives us another title of being REFUGEE.

Now if u consider the maximum no. of affluent Bengalies in terms of heart, knowlege, money, its a fact that the Sylhetis are always way ahead of their other Bengali counterparts.

Recently I met a few Bangladeshis (all from Dhaka) and asked them regarding Sylhet and how are they regarded in Bangladesh. They were all of the view that Sylhetis are the most prosporous & educated among the Bangladeshis. Infact when a Sylheti goes out of his country he says he is from Sylhet & not Bangladesh.

But the core question of we being termed as illigal immigrants & all are due to the unwarranted news spread by these dirty Assamese population, they always feel the upperhand since their land was not partitioned. Ofcource these Assamese do not have any moral right to say such a thing when they themselves are trying to break the country.

So to fight this charge with any invisual of non-Bengali origin we need to explain some basic facts of misinformation. Why ??Our ex-PM Gujral, LK Advani both are Pakistani then. Explain to these people that if we can accept an Italian we can definately accept a Sylheti who faught the Independence war with more or equal vengence as any other.

Subir

Rupam (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/13/01 at 01:01:51 »

nice one...both of you
yeah ...quite a predicament that we have to face when explaining to people our origins.

hey Rupam, where do thee hail from?
-I am from a small place in Assam called Silchar, small in size big at heart.
oh, so you are an assameese?
-well, ahh...not really...you see, I am a Bengali
ohh...you are a bengali? so you must be having lots of sweets everyday, and pronouncing the 'a' as 'a', and must be having fishes every night...and every other thing that you Bengalis do?
-err, you see I am not that kind of a Bengali ...you know our breed is different from the genre that you normally identify a Bengali with...we are ...you see...a little different from the west bengalites...you know...we are exactly not their kind of Bengali..we are dfferent
So do you speak bengali?
-I do.
Do you speak assameese too?
-Yah, that too.
But you are neither a Bengali nor an assameese ? so what is your mother tongue?
-I said na, my mother tongue is Bengali, but a different version of the one that you will find the wbites speak...wspeak a differnt kind of Bengali...the kind that was very much prevelent in the undivided bengal before theprtition..
Oh, so you are an immigrant?
-Dhur bata chamar, bhag on tone , tui bujhte nay ami kita...ja beshi dimag chatis na...jabra public...and there ends the conversation.
for these people still associate us with the chunks of infiltrators that enter into the region everyday ...and there is no point trying to explain to them what we are...for these hotheads aint gonna listen

tonmoy bhattacharjee
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Re: Just not this not that speaks of lack of confi
«on: 08/24/01 at 08:28:22 »

;D
It seems denying some sterotypes like fish-eating, ganguly-loving and niggardiness constitute somebody's pride at oneself. This is simply fooling around with the idea that you are above all these and yet remain a bengali. well you speak assamese, hindi or english, that do not empower you to become any one of that. Do you think that by fooling around with multiple languages you could desist others from claiming that they are Bengalis, just because a afrodasiac like you does not approve of essential characteristics of being a bengali.

Also one should remember that by just denying the specific characteristics of an identity you do not become a universal human being as it merely hoodwinks others from asserting their identity. iN fact socially dominant identities in India have always deployed such wily means to liquidate smaller identities.

Do you have the courag to say that (1) assuming that you are a Hindu, you do not at all accept the tenets of Hindutva nationalism? and (2) assuming that you belong to some other religious community do you openly deny the bigotry and blind faith associated with it's institutionalized form? If you are true to your claims and not just a pretender comment on your own state of mind on your religiou affiliations to give us the feel that you are really universal and above petty features of an identity?

I will affirm that all of us as human being belong to a culture of reason which could make us critical insiders and not just pokers at others shortcomings.

Rupam (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/24/01 at 09:07:08 »

you build a castle solely on the basis of your assumptions and then you try forcing others live inside that...huh...boy! it cant get any more befuddling.
whatever arguments you have put forward are the childs of your assuming self...the kinda self that assumes only those things that suites its way of thought
huh...we had been called a spoilt generation. and then when out came a reply...there was a desperate attempt form the older generations at salvaging whatever little pride was left...and the reply had not ben countered with logic...rather with passion..with assumptions yet again, assumptions those weere deprived of any justification.
and here we see the reflection of it yet again...to no surprise at all... ones passimism taking its toll...
although a reply to this balderdash is not worth the burden, still lets try a terse one at that
firstly...no one here said that by denying those 'adorable' characteristics of the wbites..we were cnsidering ourseles as universal human bveings...there again was that weirs assumption at play...
second...'assuming that you are Hindu'...there it is !!!at least one assumption that s spot on!...yeah I do accept certain tenets of Hinduism...but certainley bnot all...and I do not support the bigotry either...thats categorical...
pretender? phew...no one who has ever known me would tell you that I were a pretender...n you would do well to take mme at my word...this one time...pretender...haha...boy!!! charges and baseless indictments...whats gonna happen to tis place?
and you are still free to make your assumptions...pretenders...cheerleaders...yeah...woh...whatever...

Jimut (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/25/01 at 13:18:38 »

Arrebaash,

Rupam Das in good form once again...bujha jaar kar kaam-kaaj beshi aar kaar kom.
Anyway, I think I too can put in my views on this...my experiences have also been similar but I think we need to look at this in a different way if we don't want to end up being exasparated as we are at present.
I ask everyone, how many of the pople who've asked you questions about your roots do you think are actually interested in your answer ? Or how many of them, however well-groomed and placed, can actually point out in a map of India where Assam is ? I'm sure most you end up with "very few." So why bother at all ? Agreed, we all would like to stress our identity and drive home the point that we are as good or even better than any others anywhere...but don't we not always end up either confusing the questioner or enraging ourselves due to their ignorance ?
I plainly say Bengali from Assam but my mother-tongue is a dialect ( which we have to accept , it is) just as Bhojpuri or Maithili is a dialect of Hindi or , for that matter, the Kannada that is spoken in North Karnataka is a dialect of the purer version popular in Mysore and Bangalore.Half the time, this explanation works and doesn't lead to any more open leading questions which we feel is our birth-right to answer in our favour.
I too fall in the brigade of people who don't like to be categorized in the same vein as the Bengali known the world-over but is it really worth the effort to try and explain all the complexities of our identity to a person who isn't even vaguely capable of understanding either the facts or the sentiments behind our explanations ?? My family has been in the same place in Assam for over 400 years, probably much before the families of anyone who visits this site shifted from Sylhet...how do think I can explain anyone that I cannot be termed as a immigrant from the erstwhile undivided India and that it was just an issue of convenience for my ancestors to shift wherever they liked ??
And honestly, are not all these attempts of ours just petty instances of "beating our own drums ??" If we are good, which I feel we are, we'll get noticed anyway...why are we always under pressure to load people with unwanted general knowledge about ourselves?? Even I invariably add the " It's a small place called Siclhar in southern Assam... " line...why can't we stop doing that ?? If people don't know about it, tough luck for them...I think that should be our attitude...when none of us are shy to say that we are from one of the lesser-known places in the country, why can't we go one step further and rub in the ignorance of others as well ??
Don't we know where each state in India is ? Don't we have a more-than-average knowledge of most places ?? I think we all do...so what's the point in getting frustrated about poeple who aren't that gifted ?
I feel our replies should be what we feel is the truth...If that makes people feel that we have just swung down from a tree, fair enough...I even tell people we used boats to travel to our floating schools where leeches thrive like mad and we eat anything that doen't bite in return...people either laugh it off and start taking you seriously or they know that you have an attitude...isn't that the end we are trying to achieve..recognition ??
If we think we should be taken more seriously we better start doing that ourselves first...I feel we all have big holes in our coat of self-pride...we should start mending them immediately. Period.

tonmoy bhattacharjee
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Re: IDENTITY GOES ON HOLIDAY
«on: 08/25/01 at 15:30:54 »

[quote author=Rupam link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=0#4 date=08/24/01 at 09:07:08]
you build a castle solely on the basis of your assumptions and then you try forcing others live inside that...huh...boy! it cant get any more befuddling.
whatever arguments you have put forward are the childs of your assuming self...the kinda self that assumes only those things that suites its way of thought
huh...we had been called a spoilt generation. and then when out came a reply...there was a desperate attempt form the older generations at salvaging whatever little pride was left...and the reply had not ben countered with logic...rather with passion..with assumptions yet again, assumptions those weere deprived of any justification.

YOUR IDEA OF LOGIC AND PASSION AS OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER BETRAYS YOUR OWN PREDICAMENT WHEN YOU DENY CHARACTERISTICS, GOOD OR BAD, THAT MAKE US KNOWN TO OTHERS. WHAT LOGIC IS THIS EXCEPT STULTIFICATION OF ONE"S OWN IDENTITY! AND WHAT PASSION IS THAT EXCEPT BECOMING DEAR TO THOSE WHO DEBUNK BENGALI IDENTITY. OF COURSE YOU ARE ALWAYS SUICIDAL.
and here we see the reflection of it yet again...to no surprise at all... ones passimism taking its toll...
although a reply to this balderdash is not worth the burden, still lets try a terse one at that
firstly...no one here said that by denying those 'adorable' characteristics of the wbites..we were cnsidering ourseles as universal human bveings...there again was that weirs assumption at play...

BY DECRYING BENGALI IDENTITY WHAT DO YOU ASSUME? DO YOU ASSUME SOMETHING MORE UNIVERSAL OR A NON-IDENTITY?
second...'assuming that you are Hindu'...there it is !!!at least one assumption that s spot on!...yeah I do accept certain tenets of Hinduism...but certainley bnot all...and I do not support the bigotry either...thats categorical...

BUT YOU DO NOT DARE TO DENY THAT YOU ARE NOT A HINDU. WOULD YOU CLARIFY WHAT KIND OF A HINDU YOU ARE AND YOU ARE NOT? THE WAY YOU DID WITH BENGALI IDENTITY.

pretender? phew...no one who has ever known me would tell you that I were a pretender...n you would do well to take mme at my word...this one time...pretender...haha...boy!!! charges and baseless indictments...whats gonna happen to tis place?

WHAT ELSE? HOW DO YOU CLAIM THAT YOU HAVE THAT IDENTITY WHICHEVER LANGUAGE YOU SPEAK? HOW DO YOU ASSUME THAT YOUR SPEAKING HINDI AND ASSAMESE MAKE YOU THAT? WHY SO MUCH BAD FAITH IN YOUR OWN IDENTITY?

and you are still free to make your assumptions...pretenders...cheerleaders...yeah...woh...whatever...

yeh woh ho ho! SOUNDS QUITE PRIMITIVE. YOU REQUIRE TO CROSSB EVOLUTIONARY STAGES BEFORE ASSUMING AN IDENTITY!
[/quote]

Saayan Choudhury (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/26/01 at 07:27:47 »

I stopped long ago trying to explain 'the identity'. Some success at explaining geographical factor can be got by drawing analogies .. "what Alice Springs is to Sydney is what Silchar is to Calcutta or Delhi .. etc." For personal identity .. don't know. A good friend, Pritam in his website www.syhlleti.com talks about "statenloss" .. some obscure :)term, which he can better explain.

I remember one particular incident .. I was on the Assam mailing list (US origin) when someone commented that Barak Valley was the cancer of Assam. I got a bit carried away (Jimut re ba, oi BP ota bari gesil :) ) and said something on the lines of "what Cachar is to Assam .. is maybe what Assam is to the rest of India .. if I have to follow your freq". Man, was that guy incensed. I left Assam mailing list since then.

Anyway, the point is we really don't know how to fix our locii(?) This discussion is interesting (and also heating up ;) ).. carry on.

I am also "touched" by the previous posts about the "spoilt generation of the '90s" thing. Why is it only the '90s? Why the specific attention to '90s ?? Come on ..'30s, '40s .. '60s, '70s and '80s are also after all "screwed up" .. err .. just like the '90s :P :P Go ahead man, call every Silchari spoilt :) :P

Rupam (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/28/01 at 04:57:50 »

It was said...

"YOUR IDEA OF LOGIC AND PASSION AS OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER BETRAYS YOUR OWN PREDICAMENT WHEN YOU DENY CHARACTERISTICS, GOOD OR BAD, THAT MAKE US KNOWN TO OTHERS. WHAT LOGIC IS THIS EXCEPT STULTIFICATION OF ONE"S OWN IDENTITY! AND WHAT PASSION IS THAT EXCEPT BECOMING DEAR TO THOSE WHO DEBUNK BENGALI IDENTITY. OF COURSE YOU ARE ALWAYS SUICIDAL."

Writing in capitals amounts to yelling...and the fundamentals cannot be alterled with any amount of yelling...hehe...
anyways...getting down to business, firstly I would like to state that, I am in no 'predicament' what so ever...and under no proclivity to deny 'our' characteristics as Re: Do we have any identity ???

Himadri (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/28/01 at 16:22:27 »

I don't feel that there is any reason for us Silcharis to deny our Bengali heritage because we are as much Bengalis as anybody else is, be it from West Bengal or Bangladesh.There are differences between all the different dialect speaking Bengali communities like the Mymensighis, Daccaiyyas etc. in just the same way as the Sylhetis, in both language and culure, but the differences are mostly subtle and none so severe as to force a sense of dichotomy on us.Bengalis form the largest community as a whole in all of the Indian subcontinent and so differences are bound to be there among the various sub-communities.

Identity is so subjective that you cannot quantify it to just one.I don't think any human being can.It depends on the perspective of the person as well as the one who wants to know.For an American, I am just an Indian and in some of the cases like the recent US census I am a South-Asian or something to that effect.If someone needs more qualification on it, then the layers can be peeled but this need not be construed as an identity crisis in any way.

-Himadri.

tonmoy bhattacharjee
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/30/01 at 14:05:05 »

???

Would you please let us know explicitly whether you consider Bengali speaking Muslims as part of Bengali community? If you consider them as identical with Bengali Hindus then there is no identity crisis. But the crisis comes in instances of misrecognition and denial of characteristics which some people out of their inferiority before otheres tries to hide. Later back at home they recover themselves from this state of deracination and claim back to be Bengalees.

Himadri (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/31/01 at 12:40:51 »

Ofcourse Bangla speaking Muslims are an integral part of the Bengali community.

Rupam (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/01/01 at 02:17:53 »

Nope, there was no denial. Misinterpretations suited to provide base to otherwise fragile arguments built on the basis of see-through assumptions are not going to get you anywhere. There was never said that we deny our being Bengalis. Why should we? We are as much Bengali as anyone else in the world. But yes, we will say if asked, that we are different from the WB ites,,, the simplest reason for that being that we indeed ARE different from one another.
And did I hear someone talking about the infy complex? haha Even Alfred Adler would have turned around in his grave probably smiling at the ignorence among the masses in relation to the term that he had coined.
infi complex? phew!!! comes again without any explanation. so very typical of the person. Can you give us one solid reason why we should have that complex?
Come on, we are all ears.

tonmoy bhattacharjee
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Re: Apply Adler to your wretched self
«on: 09/01/01 at 10:13:10 »

Nuts, you talk of difference. In order to show the difference you deny those essential bengali characteristics that most bengalis have. you deny those just to be different and show that you are superior from your ilk. This is an extremely egotist and individualist strategy to cast yourself in a role that suits you in a competitive world. For that you look at those characteristics that are held by some corporate bugs as drawbacks of bengalis. You just believe in those doctored andmugged up tricks of keeping you upmarket. This is the garb that you need to cultivate in order to sustain your mobility in a different cultural terrain. Instead of influencing the atmosphere with the best of bengali values you prefer to prune them to suit yourself to the tempered environment.

Adler's inferiority complex and his turning in the grave are your hackneyed metaphors to turn away from your split self. Rather carry out an analysis of your tendentious self attenuation why actually you are prone to sheer off those esential markers of Bengali identity that constitute it. Why your responses are so numbed that you supress your own identity? Reading of Adler would be useful if you can apply it on your wretched soul. Otherwise your reading of Adler is too illiterate.

tonmoy bhattacharjee
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Re: Apply Adler to your wretched self
«on: 09/01/01 at 10:13:32 »

tonmoy bhattacharjee
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Re: Apply Adler to your wretched self
«on: 09/01/01 at 10:14:30 »

subir (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/03/01 at 09:14:13 »

:o Are Bafre baf, ikhano dekhi tumul jhogra suru hoi gese, adha to eto hi-fi bhashae je bujau jai na.
Whatever the fight that is taking place between Rupam & Tonmoy, it does give a little more insight into two sides of the story. At times it did look Tommoy was having some reserved views about the Sylheti Muslims to which ofcource everyone is of ONE view that they r included. Let me bring home a point that we the Hindu Sylhetis are much less in no. than our Muslim counterparts, so it is more likely for them to face such a question hence we cannot neglect them at all.

Comming to the solution to this problem till now Jimut has the best answer, coz when put to practice it does give a convincing reply to the questioner since most of the questioners from India does recognise the various dialects of a language. As far as Silcharites abroad are concerned Himadri's logic seemed to be the best.

tonmoy bhattacharjee
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Re: PLEASE CORRECT YOURSELF
«on: 09/03/01 at 14:22:45 »

::) A proposition like, "We the Hindu Sylhetis are much less in Number than our Muslim Counterparts" Is thoroughly wrong, if not naive. Mark the use of the word "counterpart". If Himdri is right, them Sylheti Muslims are not our counterparts, nor even parts but they are one with us and vice versa. In fact if we consider that Bengali is a linguistic identity, then it is our responsibilty to define "we" in such a manner that does not keep any difference with anybody within.

But you talk in we vs. them in a broad way and feign this baseless fear that Hindus are less in number than Muslims, a thesis of Hindutva forces, who like Muslim fundamentalists, emphasize on the divide in religious lines. But Hindu fundamentalists put the thing in an inverse manner by stating that Muslims are larger in number than Hindus. You perpetuate the same trick here and this is what you call two sides of Identity.

As far Jimut's response is concerned, it was a messy reply on many counts. He takes pride in four hundred years roots. Just because his family is early settlers than others, so his logic is that they are not immigrants. As if being immigrants is a bad name and de re he accepts that being not immigrants they stand above others of the same identity. He is no sympathiser of the plight of the larger section of fellow human beings who are immigrants due to historical reasons. Rather he wants to salvage his own name and his family's name from the slur of being an immigrant. This is the attitude of undermining a section of fellow bretherens, which is also there in your comment on Numbers to generate a sense of insecurity among your bretherens through a vertical division between Hindus and Musims like immigrants and non-immigrants. You people are using such self-defeating description of yourself showing a poor commitment to the cultural, political, national and historical identity called Bengali. So it is not surprising that you are led to a blind alley by two other blind forerunners.
Please correct yourself and take a critical look at my arguments and do not reduce it to clay footed arguments of Jimut, Himadri or Rupam.

Saayan Choudhury (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/05/01 at 01:27:13 »

I have objection of being lumped as a Bengali, when someone is talking about the "generic" Bengali community. It is not a question of superiority, it is simply that the Bengalis from Barak valley are different from Bengalis - as people from other parts of India or the world sees them. I see nothing wrong if we excuse ourselves from the sweet-curry-eating, smooth-talking, conniving, robindro-shongeet-singing, and rather cold hearted Bengalis from WB, who the rest of the world think represents the entire Bengali culture.
Are we Borgs? Remember - "You will be assimilated, resistance is futile"? Is it wrong to be proud of one's language (dialect, as you might insist), one's place and one's society? I think I mentioned once before that my love for all these is unconditional. And the faith shall stand up to the facts.

Rupam (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/05/01 at 04:11:15 »

you talk of cultures and heritages, what do you mean when you say these? do you think eating rosogollas and adoring any Bengali just becaiuse he is a Bengali and not because of his abilities is true to the Bengali identity?
As i said earlier, we are different from the WBites...and it remains that we, for we indeed are different...and this does not mean we are disowning our Bengali identities...rather we are stressing on the varied aspects of this identity...if that were to be regarded as an identity crisis, then YOU too are faced with that, and so are those WBites.
That is where from the discussion erupted...that was the very genesis of this lengthy discussion. If we were not to be led into a blind alley by the so called blind people, then where are you leading us to? to the darkest alley? to those lands where passion rules more than logic? where hegemony is the law?
Why are we to believe that whatever the WBites do is true to the Bengali identity?
How do you associate eating fish and rasagollas to someone's identity? Why is it to be that speaking Bengali the way the WBityes do, should be taken as an yeardstick to measure one identity? We speak Bengali our own way, the way we love to...how does that contribute to our not being a BEngali? If I do not eat rasgollas, fishes and I do not listen to songs by the genius, do I cease being a BEngali? can you snatch my very identity away from me? you cant...only a fool would think he can, although no one is preventing you from proving yourself one.
If I were to adore Saurav I would do that for his cricketing prowess, not because he is a Bengali or not because he is not a Bengali. Why should we be expected to behave in the same way that WBites do? are they the watch dogs of Bengali identity? CERTAINLEY NOT. Identity can not be quantitive...irrespective of the number of people in a creed, a creed can always have seperate identity of its own, with differences both subtle and titanic. And this is what I stress on, leave the WBites on their own and let us dwell on our terms. Dont try to mingle these two identities into one, in which only their way will rule. Wat would then happen to our ways and beliefs? We dont need to behave in their way to be termed as Bengalis. For are trhe WBites not facing an identity crisis themselves these days? are they not maligning their own identity? are they not following the ways of the westerners? And even if they are doing, what is the harm in that if they can come up with an assimilation of the good points of varied identities and develop a new identity? (hope that did not appear as a contradiction to your cursory mind)Are they always expected to stick to age old beliefs and traditions? Can they not decide what is best suited to them given the changing world? If your answer is yes, if they can decide what is best for them, then we can as well. Can we not?
And on Adler and his thesis, reading Adler purposefully alone does not make one literate as proposed by you, rather reading it with an accommodating mind and not with a prejudiced mindset would make one literate. And getting back to that cliche 'Adler turning on his grave', yes thats commonplace, but then people like you who provoke such commonplace statements from others are commonplace too. An adage can become heckneyed, but its essence never does. what else? yeah...you understanding of certain people's messages here, was rather murky. May be you need a mind lift and freedom from the shackles of parochialism. May the Lord help ;Dyou.

Dimasa (Guest)
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Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/05/01 at 05:37:14 »

This is going too far folks....its better everybody cool down...
It is true that we are not fully bengali (this is what tonmoy wants us to understand)...we are a little branch out from the Tree called "true bengali culture" with which WBites are attached. Bengali culture is not static but its dynamic and its still evolving. Now bengali culture in WB is quite different from that of Bangladesh as of now because time has created a divide among us. Similarly history has created a blunder and we are forced to stay away from the true bengali culture but we have nevertheless developed it more and in the process created a small separate identity for ourselves.
Tonmoy should understand that although we are bengali but our language is a bit different like our eating habits and so inspite of being part of bengali culture we were able to have a separate identity.
We don't deny our bengali roots and origin but over a period of time we have moved away from it and thus were able to develop a new identity for us.This separate identity is not a threat to true bengali culture. infact it will enrich the bengali culture by its presence.
Did you know?? Among all the dialects of bengal only sylheti dialect has a script of its own.Its folk songs are more popular and varied. A normal WB person won't understand khati sylheti but he may understand other dialects. But the reverse is not true.

tonmoy bhattacharjee
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Re: Bengali Identity is not a Jackpot
«on: 09/05/01 at 13:30:22 »

::) All saayan, Rupam and Dimasa share a common ambiguity: they fail to distinguish that it is one thing to belong to Bengali identity but it is another thing to conceive oneself as different within the identity. Difference is concommitant with any claim of identity but not of identicality. Although we all perhaps belong to Bengali identity, yet we are diferent and never identical. In other words identity is not sameness but difference in it's manifest forms. So one should not confuse identity and identicality.

Now coming to each of individual responses I follow the order: Saayan, Rupam and Dimasa.

FOR SAAYAN: The idea that there is nothing wrong to excuse yourself from sweet-curry-eating etc. etc. admits that we have these characteristics and so we would like to excuse us from these. If we do not have them there is no question to excuse us from all these. Generic Bengali Community is also something like that as it exists and hence you like to object to it. Actually such objections are by nature trivial as not practising all these does not change your or mine identity from Bengali to something else. Your love for Sylheti and Sylheti culture is not contradictory or antagonistic to your being an integral part of larger generic identity as that does not constrain your practice of these lovable markers of your identity.

FOR RUPAM: You have miserably failed to carry Adlerian sel-analysis. It seems your ideas are vertically split between different than Wbites and the idea of a new identity. Both are not only contradictory but are at loggerheads when you say " Can you snatch my very identity from me?" Which is this identity: is it the rubble of WB identity and not yet grown new identity? It looks like an empty space, a dash, hung between two horns of a confusion. I will advise you to start with a positive definition of your identity ( possibly you can't start like that as you know almost nothing of Sylhet's history or Culture and that's the reason why you mention Rosgolla and saurav, you are just a poor mugger of some advertising features). In stead of talking of a new identity in the air( of course people like you do not fall within the historical definition of Bengali identity) you better spell out what you are. Do not somebody else's ( as you suppose) characteristics on you and then deny that you are not that. it's not a fancy dress competition.

FOR DIMASA: Good historical sense of how a small separate identity developed in us but it lacks conviction. If Sylheti is rich ( which I believe is) it won't have to pronounce difference with larger Bengali culture but it will exist in it's own speciality ( like the script that you refer to). As far as our predicament of identifying us as Bengali is concerned it's not a Jackpot that some hucksters could just deny it by pretending that we are different than them.

Saayan Choudhury (Guest)
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/05/01 at 20:12:36 »

I did not use "excuse" as in "sorry, please excuse me". I used "excuse" in place of "exclude". Most Silcharis are not sweet-curry-loving etc. etc. but people from other places of India or abroad do not know that. So, the attempt at "excusing".
I can see your point about the "part of a larger whole". Somehow, I feel reluctant to be this "integral part". Cannot relate to the larger identity and I think many people from Silchar feel the same. Perhaps, we should start a discussion thread why this is so.

Dimasa (Guest)
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/06/01 at 05:40:29 »

We are definitely different
tonmoy...by repeatedly saying that we belong to the true bengali culture over and over again won't make it so since its not like that.We don't belong to the "true" bengali culture.This is what i feel.I don't know whether you are a sylheti or a "true" bengali but I can tell you why i don't feel like a true bengali.
I don't use bangla language at home..i use sylheti to communicate with my parents, grandparents etc.I even use hindi or english to speak with my siblings.Even my accent is different while using bangla and anybody can tell me that i am not a bengali by my accent.
I don't eat too much fish (I am not saying eating too much is bad or something...but people generally associate fish eating behaviour with bengali people)and I can go without it for months.
I eat a lot of dry fish and the WB's bengalis don't associate themselves with this.Infact some even don't approve of its consumption.
The way food is prepared at any sylhetis home is different. We like it hot and spicy and not sweet (we don't put sugar in daal,maach etc...i am not criticizing it...its just an example of the difference in eating habits)
Any WB bengali in silchar is as foreign as he is in any other land.since he can't communicate in sylheti.But if he speaks up in bangla people will answer it in bangla.its the same in france where people will use french to communicate with everybody.If you ask them in english they will answer back in english..though not happily.
In my earlier reply i told you how our separate identity got developed. We never tried hard to make a separate identity but over a period of time it developed its own identity due to historical and geographical factors.Even a bangladeshi from sylhet generally says "I belong to sylhet in bangladesh".Similarly I say that i am a sylheti from assam. People generally think that either i am a bangladeshi or a assamese.They never think that i am a bengali from WB.
I am not saying that we have developed a complete separate identity but the process of separate identity has started and it will continue irrespective of whether we wish or not.So to say that we are pretending is not quite correct since this is the way we feel.Moreover sylhet has existed in its own right right from the beginning. The geographical entity which is sylhet was never a part of british bengal(which included todays WB,bangladesh,bihar,orissa).Infact sylhet was a part of assam.During partition it was not clear whether the majority is of muslims or of hindus so a plebiscite took place there in 1947 (your grandparents can tell you more about that) along with NWFP(North west frontier province). At both the places muslim majority was comfirmed and so these were cut off from india and handed over to pakistan. At that time assamese politicians in assam were quite happy to part away with it since this region was dominated by sylhetis. But even after partition south assam is still dominated by sylhetis.
So sylhet region has existed in its own right.. separate from bengal and even in future it will remain so.And since region influences the practices and culture of people so the culture and practices have also differed .This difference is there for everybody to see and by closing your eyes can you deny it tonmoy??

BTW we can have a poll here to see how many of us feel that we are different from WB's bengali.perhaps premashish can help us better by setting a poll and we will have the result.and to vote we should use our logins otherwise anybody can vote more than once.

Rupam Das
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity? we most certainy do
«on: 09/10/01 at 01:25:00 »

ha ha ...ones lack of comprehension is being attributed to someone else's (so called) lack of knowledge of history. a sullen attitude indeed. tonmoy, whenever you read a message, do read it carefully and do read it twice...that would help you save a lot of typing. ;D
now getting down to business, we certainley do have an identity, at no point of time has it been stated here that we deny being Bengalis, why should we? after all we arent ashamed at being Bengalis, for there are no reasons to be such.
But we certainly would like ourselves to be differentiated from the occult that the word 'Bengali' means to the world. For we have certain differences indeed, the one of language being very pronounced. And probably this single aspect, coupled with the geographic variations and the socio economic factors prevelent over the past century has introduced much differences among the factions. so there is no point in raising a brouhaha everytime we say that we are different from the WBites, when they tend to keep themselves aloof from the Syhlletis, why cant the Syhlletis ignore them and differentiate themselves? Infact, we can and we will. And there are no two ways about it.

ahmad (Guest)
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ??? Yea........
«on: 09/26/01 at 11:35:51 »

Mr. Silshari r u Bengali ?
Ofcourse you.
Cachari Bengali.
All Silcharis are Cachari.
Am I right ?

( Cachari Bang Khawar Jat, Egur Lagi Cachari Koite Doraw Ne ? E Bodnam To Onek Ager Taki Na? )
( Toby Bengali Bole Onnoder [Other Bengali] Kno Gali Daw Bhai ? Halar Hala Bengali.)

I know Silchar in Greater Cachar.
Am I wrong ?

What is your Mother Tongue ?
Bangla.(Cachari accent.)
( Like this Sylheti. Tomra Re Bolo, R Sylhetira
Ba / Bo Bole Sombodon Kore Ai To Partokko.)

R u remember this name : ----------------------------
" KAMLA VATTACHARJIA, "
" SHACHINDRA PAL,"
" KANAILAL NIYOGI, "
" SUKOMOL PUROKAYASTA,"
" HITES BISSAS,"
" TARANI DEVNATH, "
" CHANDICHARAN SUTTRADOR,"
" KUMUD RANJAN DAS."
" SATENRA DEV,"
" SUNIL SARKAR,"
" BIRANDRA SUTTRADOR."

" 19th May 1961 at 2:36 p.m. in Silchar Railway Station."

Think man who r u and what is your roots.

Why you debase to your community ?

Why you confused to your identity ?

Thanks Himaddri for your brave comments :
" Ofcourse Bangla speaking Muslims are an integral part of the Bengali community."

Ahmad,Badda,Dhaka,BD.

Rupam Das
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/27/01 at 01:16:59 »

why do people not understand that not even a simgle member has despised the BEngali language or the Bengalis, for most of the members , almost all, I can safely assume are Bengalis...so the question of frevouring a venom of hatered towards BEngalis does not arise at all...
why...why do you fail to see this?...that thepoint stressed here is the difference between two or more communities ...BEngalis of course...albeit Bengalis who adheare to different myriadness of the Bengali language...why does such a point, such a broad demarcation fail to get across? or is it a deliberate urge to argue that is at play? why dont you ahmad and the likes understand that the point we are discussing here is our identity, and the point being stressed is how this identity has evolved and has differentiated itself from the other identities within the Bengali communion? why should it take so much of head banging to see this point?
and the names that you have mentioned, those eleven lion hearts, yes they were fighting for the language, against some other language being imposed upon them, and they fought it their way, and they died martyrs...and they were not fighting for Syhlleti or Cachari or any other variant of Bengali, rather for the language itself, to save our linguistic identity, and unless we had an identity, there would have been nothing to fight for.
Bengali speaking muslims indeed are a part of the Bengali community, only an insane would raise an antithesis to that. But you got to realise that differences exist among the various subcommunities within the bigger domain of Bengali, and you cant turn a blind eye to that. And before you try to take this discussion into a devious route, ahmad, do retrospect and read through all the messages under this topic, probably that wouldhelp you to decide which face to argue for.

rudra
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/21/03 at 09:22:42 »

Hi this is rudra,
got some free time now.....so thought of going thru silchar.com..i am a sylleti originaly silchar.hope some of the guys form rec silchar still remember me?? Caught a glance of this discussion forum.This topic has often been troubling me..though i never mentioned it to anyone.....I feel any sylleti is free to identify himself any way he likes....be it sylleti or bengali or a assamese.....i very personally very much agree with Dimasa ,he said whatever i feel regarding this topic.....
actually whenever anyone asks me where i am from and my mothertounge...i say i am a sylleti from assam....that's it...they say they never heard about this particular language..i say that there are many other dialects or languages taht are not officialy recognized in india........(remamber that meties want a language of their own....even gurkhas want.....konkanese got their official status some months ago.....previously they were known as marathas).....so i think ther's no wrong in identifying myself as a sylleti......i pride in my distinct identity......... i am not asking other sylleties to do the same thing......but that's how i feel........and it always saves me useless queries regarding my identity.....and myself trying to explain them.....what do u say guys??

ciao..
rudra.....

ihatesylhatis
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/22/03 at 14:13:15 »

well if u r so affluent and have the best brains among bengalis then why cant u set up a good infrastructure for studies and industry or employment to your own community......why again you come to calcutta which in your words are children of lesser god......and if you are so good why doesnt sylhetis are so much well known to the other parts of the nation..leave alone international.....u people are real communial B_A_S_T_A-R_D_s...and the term refugee serves u right...go away go back to bangladesh thats what u deserve.....u ppl with a uncouth accent....

tomojit
tomojit

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/22/03 at 18:13:49 »

hey ihatesylhetis,
i think you have dared to go too far. history has played a dirty joke on sylhetis and thus even today we are engulfed with many problems. but remember one thing-we were always Indians and will always remain Indians and where does Bangladesh come into the picture? moreover what makes you
compare a population of only 30lakhs living in one corner of assam with a state of 9million bengalis?
for your information only a fool would go to kolkata for studies today because you believe in the policy of strikes and narebaazi " änd paint everything in bloody red.
now a thing or two about accent. in the last 55 years of independent india you people have failed to speak our national language properly and when it comes to speaking english your accent would even confuse shakespeare. come to silchar and we will impart you a few lessons on hindi so that you people can do something worthwhile outside WB.
wakeup from your slumber in the cushion of rasagollas and macherjhols and realise the fact that you have emerged as a quarrelsome, miserly , messy, onlyfoodloving community.

HAPPY READING

Rupam Das
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/22/03 at 20:48:53 »

this is for that creep who calls himself/herself 'ihatesyhlleti' here in this message board.

dhuur betaa/betii chamar/chamari
tor kolkatat kiguu jay rey porat? halaa kumbokhornor dol...kolkatat Silcharer public aijkail khali overnight transition err lagii jay ...for us its nothing more than a overnight transition camp...
for most of us...calcutta these days means either howrah or dumdum ...nothing more than that...gone are those days when people in Silchar used to think that calcutta opens up different avenues for oneself...educational or otherwise4...
its your fault,...its your sluggishness andits your aversion to change that has caused a delapidation in the way calcutta is perceived by the rest of the nation today...what the heck do you have to boast of?
talk of mentality and a typical calcuttan would remind one of a rehmani keeda...
tyalk of intellect and a typical calcuttan would remind one of a snob...
talk of culture and a typical calcuttan would remind one of confused bugger

and still you people boast...for you the surest way to glory is belittling others...and basking in your vanity you think that is the best route....
but then when someone abuses bengalis...it doesnt concern me a bit...because I know that its people like you...not every calcuttan ...but a typical ...and I emphasize a TYPICAL calcuttan is the one that his abuses are directed at...
people from other parts of west bengal ...are generally much more accommodating and much more rational than you bunch of snobs are ...
take a look around...and you will know where you stand ...or rather where you cripple...
seeya

Bill(William) from Bilpar
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/23/03 at 03:23:27 »

What u people gonna do is now get some real clean water, maybe be Bisleri or something like that and clean up the walls. Of late a lot of mud-slinging has hapenned and dirt is all around. ;D
There's no point in debating it out as to are we better than our brethern on the other side of the western border of Bangladesh - a land from which most of the debators hail. Whether that be the cruel joke of history of whether we lost out vis-a-vis the 'Cosmic Blueprint' bears no consequence. What we are today are what we have to contend with and not contemplate.
;D ;D
Mr Rupam Das has said something like 'Kolkata is to us no more than Dumdum or Howrah' .That is essence captures our prediliction.Kolkat is our legal and the most prominent gateway to the world and u can't escape it Mr Das. Of course we can slide away under the barbed wires at the international borders just as cats and dogs cross international borders, but Mr Das is an honourable Sylheti full of pride(for nothing- Dire Straits) and vanity and a loud mouth to even try that. So Mr Das Kolkata's ur interface to the world. This is ur short-sightedness(myopia) due to which u can't observe beyond that.
There's no point highlighting the ills afflicting other people when the speakers have millions of their own. ;D "Chalni Boley Sunch tor podey futo" ;D ;D ;D . Count ur holes before they crack Mr Das and team.
I work for Dey's Medical and could count me worthy if Mr Das would procure his lubricants from us.What's ur choice ...Keo Karpin Hair Oil... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Rupam Das
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/23/03 at 06:35:16 »

no wonder you work for dey's medical...you would not find a better place all your life to work at...
the above statement is not meant to be disparaging but your proclamation seemed to have carried a little bit of pride in your work organization and hence the opener was meant to rub you a little on the wrong side just to get you to rethink whether such proclamations are worthwhile...pun coincidental but intended

and yes to me calcutta is nothing more than just a transition camp...so that I can get my connecter to otherparts of the country...gateway...well nah...I would define a gateway as something which opens broader avenues not just for physical access but for adler's self actualizing goals.....that explains the issue of beiung myopic...and that also is a pointer ...a dangling one rather I would say as to who between the two of us is myopic...

also ayou mentioned that calcutta is my interface to the world...and that is precisely what I said...for me calcutta is either howrah or dumdam...other that that I calcutta to me has absolutely no value whatsoever...plain and curt...to me its only a port that I use to gain access to other parts of the country...I have never looked forward to calcutta for employments and other avenues nor will ever do...for a similar man's perspective, as far as any sane mind would peobably call that pragmatism rather than shortsightedness...unlike you did...ofcourse we could not have expected any better than that...probably you have redefined the opthalmologists' jargon

I would agree with only the literary essence of your last statement in the opening paragraph ' what we have we have to contend with and not contemplate' ...as I said only in the literary sense...not the spirit in which you said it...that again is a pointer to the degree of myopia that the two of us have...no pun intended...in this care is purely coincidental....

running the risk of oversimplification, I would like to rephrase the above statement as' our belongings should not make us contended, rather in order to stay competitive in this changing world, we should constantly contemplate to get better day by day'
and unlike irretional minds, that should be not through disparaging others but rather through self improvement...
shine on

yes, the team.
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/23/03 at 07:54:03 »

What started with s'thing else, has now become another "mancha" for u michhilwallas, as everyone knows kolkata people start blabbering as soon as they hear any topic, no matter whether its intended for them or not. Look at the topic once again carefully and try to understand ( of course if ur brain has nething better to offer to anyone other than dey's pharma company)!!!!!!
they say that people from small towns usually have a narrow mind, thanx a bunch for proving them wrong .
Ur behaviour shows how sick ur mind is, for i doubt whether any syhlleti wud ever go to any kolkata site to spit at kolkattans.

ya, and mr. william, we have much better places in the world to sit and write this, than WB .if u r really sitting in bilpar and writing this, how can u make fun of someone going to kolkata to catch a flight??

Bill(William) from Bilpar
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/23/03 at 11:26:49 »

Now that the feathers are roundly ruffled ...the team is rallying around full-force around our Honourable Mr. Das, however, pity be on them for they write gibberish...and do have junk up there ,where it all matters...ur grey cells are turning yellow and they are stinking ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Contemplate and chalk out ur future and the future of the people of the small town on the eastern side of Bangladesh where people "usually have a narrow mind"(to quote the mouthpiece of the team)...Any ideas on how to do that ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???
;D ;D
Moral:Don't bite the hand that feeds you! :)

asiti
asiti

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/23/03 at 12:19:49 »

Well well well....

The moral is when one punches another, the other one also punches back. Result is nothing.

Let us go back to the initial question. Do we have the identity?

Yes ofcourse. Why not? It is all in the mind. I identify myself as a Sylheti, when it is required. Otherwise I am just another human being communicating to another human being through the language of culture.

I would like to tell "Bill" that in the pre-independence era, LAL-BAL-PAL was a famous phrase in North India. Along with Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal became a flag bearer of freedom struggle. He came from Sylhet. Please do not call us "people from Bangladesh". We were never a part of East Bengal. We were the Bengali speaking district of Assam. It was a cruel twist of history that the Sylhet became a part of East Pakistan.

So what! This fate was also shared by the Lahori's. The great cricketer Lala Amarnath was also from Lahore. Sylhetis are also not crumbled into a small community [as might be known elsewhere] in a place in southern Assam. Sylhetis [Please read: the Indian Sylhetis, I do not want to comment on the citizens of any other country] are everywhere, contributing to the world in different capacities. You may kindly see my identity in the profile, and you would see that I do not stay in Assam.

Let us not start hurting the little little egos of each one of us. I would reiterate the response to the issue of this section by saying that...YES, WE HAVE MADE OUR IDENTITY IN DIFFERENT FIELDS OF OUR ENDEAVOURS, SMALL OR BIG, NOT AS A SHELLED LINGUISTIC COMMUNITY BUT AS AN ALL-ACCEPTING BREED OF PEOPLE WORKING AS WORLD CITIZENS.

silcharor_maiya
silcharor_maiya

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/23/03 at 12:56:58 »

bravo asiti da bravo....... :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
er thaki bhala jukti hoite parena amrar ei bill babur lagi...

princy
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/23/03 at 15:07:44 »

one's identity means a lot to one but when u r outside india u feel more about it .Everytime when u tell that u r bengali everyone takes u certain for being a bengali from calcutta...then this explaining comes in picture ...
"no i am from silchar ,not an assamese nor even from calcutta ....we r different ...."
well i explain them being from silchar and i relate myself with Bangladesh...that stuff about sylhet....(although i'm not an refugee) people may think i may be a refugee ...let them SO WHAT ...well according to me everyone thinks so differently about the refugees ... ...but hey,donot u think and feel about the plight of the refugees ...see no one happily leaves one's land ,they do so under very unavoidable situation...
moreover i rather explain myself being an indian ...because if u r from india.....u will be always asked "whether u r from north india or south india....so why donot u consider yourself as an indian first ....

tomojit
tomojit

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/23/03 at 18:12:16 »

a little piece of information for mr. bill who doesn't dare to unearth his/her identity-
talking about bangladeshi contacts please note-
1. the man who ruled you for 20years mr. jyoti basu still has a house and some property in barodi (65kms. from dhaka) in bangladesh.
2. your congress boss priyaranjan das munshi is a bangladesh born.
3. only bjp mp from wb tapan sikidar is also bangladesh born.
4. your genuine product? - mad mamata bannerjee.
expecting a prompt reply.

kalyan
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/24/03 at 02:23:43 »

I was born and braught up in Shillong. I am not from Sichar but I am a staunch sylheti. After my high school I went out of NE. Last 25 years I am am out of NE and mostly lived in Delhi, Baroda anf now Canada. Every where I have been , I have proudly established myself as a Sylheti and not Bengali from Calcutta. So all of us should be flagbearers of ourselves and establish our identity as Sylheti.All know there is a Sylheti and they are different. They are sincere, large hearted, hardworking and most important intelligent . If need be they can give tough fight to any body and they are not timid.Sri Chaitanya when went to Nadia, people used to laugh at him for his pronunciation but who cares? That is the way we are! We always say, we are not from Calcutta or West Bengal.So we all establish or Sylheti identity.

Bill(William) from Bilpar
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/24/03 at 10:42:45 »

The mere fact that the question is posed shows that there are souls lurking around who suffer from the fear of identity crisis ;D
And the mere fact that some other souls got down to debating on that reinforces this fact. ;D
"Where is no fear.where head is held high,
Lead me to that kingdom of freedom my lord"...
Chollam ami ...tomader janyo GUID generate kortey ... ;D ;D ;D

asiti
asiti

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/24/03 at 12:06:43 »

;D ;D

Jor Banchiechho baba. Ei boyose ek jona Guide jodi jutie dite paro, Shutki Bhorta khaoabo. Bujhle kina baba, tomader moto chhele-der chinta sob somoy mathai ghore, tai oi matha ta ar "held high" rakhte pari na, niche jhuke rasta dekhei choli ar ki. He He He.. ta baba, tumi kintu abar matha ta sojai rekho baba. Honchot lege achharh khele kisshu hobena, oi matha bhangbe na. Ar jodi bhengei jai, tobe, kete hate jhulie ni-o. Ashirbad roilo, bhalo theko, khao-a dao-a koro jeno. Ja Thanda porhechhe..

8) 8) 8) 8) ;D ;D

Rupam das
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/26/03 at 19:11:55 »

this is for bill from bilpar...
why kid? why are you playing the runaway bride now? cat got your tongue boy? ehh?

or your sense of self vanity deserted you?

or is it that your senses (considering they existed in the first place) have turned a turncoat now? ehh?

you no doubt reek of frustration...you have failed to match data ...you have failed to match reason...that is but not unexpected...and this is just one of the reasons, why not only bengalis from Assam, but bengalis from other Indian states...actually differentiate themselves from nerds like you...for no one wants anymore to be clubbed with faggots like you ...got that bill? or is itthat even your identity is BIllable? ;D

hatesylhetis
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/26/03 at 20:22:39 »

;D i really dont understand Roopam ...calcutta is a transit palce for u people....well...but we dont go piss in silchar boy...
and what is the culture u have....i mean do u have a culture...never heard about anything cultural in your community....its what u take from us..gimme a name of a wellknown sylheti writer/singer/scholar...u dont have
dont lose heart u keep on trying may be u will be able to rise at our level....cause we can not stoop down to your level...and how many ppl know about silchar....comparing to calcutta.....?be practical u ppl can not match us in any way....wealth or intelligence we are far more better than you people so...write messages in this board to satisfy ur self virtually because we know what the real world is all about....
;) ;D..live in a fools paradise sylhetis thats perfect for you

Rupam Das
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/26/03 at 23:51:35 »

hahaha ...'hatesyhlleti' ...thats but obvious kiddo...you wont dare piss in Silchar...thats because the pissland that you live in, will for another few centuries be able to accommodate your pissing there....we dfo not intend to argue...and am sure neither you will ;D

fools paradise...could not have found a better phrase myself...and tell me who lives there...you the typical calcutta bengali who the world laughs on? or we, whom only insignificant clan of Bengalis like you loaths? there then boy, now that gets your foot in your mouth ..yet I do not say I hate calcuttans ...for I am not as irrational as you and your clan to fall a prey to deductive reasoning that you have been victimized by...

and talking of intelligence, well ...haha I believe you and your coterie have demonstrated it here quite well...so you8 better not talk of something which you do not possess...

and quite rightly you have lived upto your id...hate syhlletis...ofcourse creeps like you cant do any better than that...thats just about where you can get...optimally...

what about the rest of the Indians who hate Bengalis like you? its people like you who give Bengalis a bad name ...not me ...and son, not just this message board, I will take you head on...try giving it a shot...
after all for you ...ignorence would be the other side of beatitude...wont it.
Shine On

Dwaipayan
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/27/03 at 07:52:28 »

I don't understand what the fight is all about.
I think we all have forgotten the difference between a language and a dialect. Sylethi is a dilect and bengali is a language. People from Silchar/cachar after partition had to be a part of Assam, so often it becomes difficult to explain that we are bengali though we are from Assam. If Cachar would have been a part of WB , there won't have been a identity problem.
In almost all states of India , people of different parts of a state speak different dialects. This doesn't make them think they don't have an identity - e.g people from Barpeta dist of Assam speak entirely differnent dialect from that of official Assamese language. Same is the case of Mangalore people dialect compared to Kannada. For that matter , Mithali or Bhojpuri speaking people called themselves all Bihari.

If Bengali language is rich today or Bengali speaking people are known outside, the contribution is not just from people of Calcutta. People speaking different dialects like sylethi,dhakiya etc have contributed to the this language.
Even Jyoti Basu is originally from Dhaka, if I am correct. The list can be endless.

So the bottom line is , yes there is a sylethi dialect , but comparing it with bengali is foolishness. Bengali speaking people in Assam whose ancestors are from East Bengal have difficulty in expalining their identity. Probably we can't do much about this and live with this. But it is utter idiotic to fight regarding Calcutta and Silchar.

Bill(William) from Bilpar
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/27/03 at 10:36:54 »

"Legeche Legeche legeche ....aagun..."
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Rupam Das
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/27/03 at 14:56:25 »

oye rebaa bill
tumaar bill o (chuha kaa bill that is) ...tumar sunar lonkaaa joler ...jao thuda jol loiya jao...nibhanir chesta koroo ;D ;D ;D
tumar sunar lonka jolle amaar transit campor kitaa hoibo rebaa? ;D ;D
tumaar pran are moner agunn nibhao...aro jee dongol asoin tumrar kolkattiya itareo loiya jao...

Bill(William) from Bilpar
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/27/03 at 18:11:36 »

Hain Mr. Das ...thik e kolkata apanar mato mahaan loker pada dhuli peye dhanyo.
Apanar janyo rakha achey surakhita transit camp...teen-4 din apni Old P G e katabar byabasta... ;D ;D ;D.
Tobey porer bar chesta korben Taj e ghar neoar... ami bole dilei hoye jabey...Chinte perechen amake...shei Bill(William) from Bilpar... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

"Gailiash na ..-Pagla Dasu"

asiti
asiti

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/27/03 at 19:01:02 »

Pagla Dashu has the last word. Listen to him. Let the bout end...DHHooooooooooonnnnnnnggggggggggggg. [Bell porhlo] ;D ;D

Jayanta
Guest

Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/27/03 at 20:43:00 »

Yes, we do have identity, one must look into the history, we were (all migrated people) just the victim of some countable "Matabbar" people's wrong decision, that doesn't mean that today we don't have any originality or any identity, that's not only with the bengalis of Barak, also with the migrated people of Tripura, today, like any other indian (non migrated), we are also indian, india is our motherland! we should not forget our freedom struggle was not for creation of nations rather the core driving force was to have one and only nation, if today someone just make joke with this issue, i would say, he doesn't know the history, and more or less it's a very emotional issue, and this emotion is the integral part of our (migrated or non-migrated) life

well-wisher
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/28/03 at 09:19:22 »

hi everyone,
jayanta is right...it's very emotional issue and i wud suggest noone sud play with anyone's emotion....in some areas jokes are jus not acceptable....try to ve some respect for each other and country as a whole...

Rupam Das
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 01/28/03 at 18:20:20 »

ohh halaa ...
jonogon eii william baabu bisheshh porichito luk...ein moshkora korat aslaa ...
ageuu bujha uchit asill...billpan and then again william ...how could have I missed? ;D ;D ;D

Hatesylheti
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/01/03 at 23:05:34 »

we give bengalis a bad name...hahahaha...what do ya ur a shining star in here...okk may b in silchar...but people like you are in abundance at the streets of Calcutta..who dont have much of work.n r called rockbaz... ;D...like ur netbaz..since u dont have any work....except this...

Rupam
Rupam

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/01/03 at 23:40:45 »

hahaah ...'hatesyhlleti'
who does not have work in the streets of calcutta...and what lowly creeps calcutta nourishes, the evidence of that explodes in your messages... ;D ;D ;D

talking of shining stars, with nebulases like you, even for the starts its atall ask to shine... ;D ;D
with the preponderence of dirts like you, gold will take time to shine through
seeya.

hattesyhetis
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/02/03 at 00:31:59 »

instigate an idiot &........................ ;D ;D ;D ;D

Rupam
Rupam

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/02/03 at 02:18:11 »

precisely, the idiot in you got instigated ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

hatesyhletis er BAAP
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/03/03 at 14:30:14 »

[quote author=Hatesylheti link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=45#54 date=02/01/03 at 23:05:34]
we give bengalis a bad name...hahahaha...what do ya ur a shining star in here...okk may b in silchar...but people like you are in abundance at the streets of Calcutta..who dont have much of work.n r called rockbaz... ;D...like ur netbaz..since u dont have any work....except this...
[/quote]

Thats rite, we can see how busy u r with such fruitful work, entering sites of people whom u hate........... why dont u go to some calcutta site and post ur valuable opinion therein? silcharites r not interested in whatever people like U think of them.
now that u mentioned rocker adda, dont u know a valuable truth? no one in this world can beat the calcuttans in rocker "phaltu"adda and self-praise.

fksylhetis
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/03/03 at 23:53:16 »

;D..well...the phaltu addda has produced Sunil Ganguly..well do u all have any contributions to Bengali culture..?????has any sylheti ever written a book?or anycontribution toward bengali culture ??? ??? ???so what r u?JAROJ offshoot of Assamese culture.......................?

wellwellwell
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/04/03 at 00:28:42 »

huh................how can u compare sylhetis with bengalis???
they r nothing compared to us..we from bangladesh are also much better than those hilarious bunch of jokers..who think that they are something great..

tomojit
tomojit

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/04/03 at 01:02:42 »

mr. or mrs. or 50-50? hatesylhetis,
you are a real parasite which loves to feed on others. idiots like you are responsible for a disunited india today.
some people wanted to discuss their own problems through this message board but you have entered as an unwelcome guest and you are taking great pleasure in vommiting your rubbish.
by the way, if you are representing a community which is doodh ka dhoola''why dont you reveal your identity. you dont seem to be a man nor due you sound like a lady. you can only be a ************* ( understood?)and if you have some material within then come out with your identity.
tomojit bhattacharee
r.k sarani, sonai road
silchar
788006

hatesyhletis er BAAP
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/04/03 at 12:44:03 »

[quote author=fksylhetis link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=45#59 date=02/03/03 at 23:53:16]
;D..well...the phaltu addda has produced Sunil Ganguly..well do u all have any contributions to Bengali culture..?????has any sylheti ever written a book?or anycontribution toward bengali culture ??? ??? ???so what r u?JAROJ offshoot of Assamese culture.......................?
[/quote]

Yes .thats the only answer I got till date(so much for showing ur 32 all out)that sunil ganguly was one of those adda marnewallas. ask any stupid kelu, and he comes out with the same answer :Dand since shei shomoy, everyone is tryin to become a sunil ganguly, if thats what u mean.
i think by now everyone has understood that u r nothin but one of those dumb calcuttans who roam in the streets of silchar for sales purpose, hoping for a transfer but not getting it. ;)

Monohar
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/13/03 at 03:08:51 »

*****this page has given me much to think about and at the same time it proved so well that we cannot stay without fighting ***
do we have Shylleti contribution in bengali culture ? O dear dear me! Saiyad Mujtaba Ali was a disciple of Kabiguru, and he has written a bunch of classics. Contemporaries of Sunil Ganguly are many in Cachar. Only Sunilda can tell - like Shantanu Ghos, Shaktipada BrahmaChari, Tapodhir Bhattacharjee etc. Short story writers are many. Another famous lady was Rani Chanda - another disciple of Tagore and she wrote many articles and books about Tagore. Amitava Choudhury who was famous for his limerics is from Cachar. These things I brought out quickly, there are many many people worth mentioning. The problem of Silchar/Cachar is, it is miles away from mainstream.
There are things to boast about and there are things to be ashamed of. Calcutta has the benefit of being closer to the mainland and this is due to the fact that English chose it to be the centre of administration.
We all suffer from identity crisis once in a while. Being thousands of miles away from homeland, these small fights about our greatness and their lowness means very little. I have wonderful friends in Calcutta, who love me care for me and whenever I go to Calcutta they do their best to show their love for me. Yet I know there are people who will call me "bangal" without hesitation.
I studied in Gauhati when there was terrible riot. I escaped beatings a few times. Then Assamese freinds saved me. My teachers who are Assamese provided money for exam fees when money did not reach me in time from home. We are in an unique position - being born in Assam we can claim to be Bengalis, we offered several precious lives as "bhasha Shaheeds" on the alter of language. Who cares what other peole say about Shylletis - we are unique people with unique heritage. Come to East London and see what the word Sylheti means. Come to Birmingham and see who are Sylhetis. Come to NY eastside and see who we are. Come to LA west dockside area and see what we do there.
Bengali language has 11 dialects - and would you dare to tell that those who do not speak 'khanti boier bhasha' are not Bengalis ? If we look into the history of freedom struggle do anybody know about "shreesangha" of Shyllet and what did they do ? Does anybody know about Tinsukia mail robbery, Goalond steamer robbery ? Our great land was brought to freedom by the bloodshed of many many 'Shaheeds' and Bengal as a whole contributed much.
We Sylhetis shall be always what we are. Take it or throw it - it matters little. In the times of Mahabharata Shyllet was known to be 'Shreehatta'. Lets do one thing - lets read and learn about our own heritage and pass it to next generation, it'll be rgeat.
Apnarar sevak
Monohar

Aniruddha Aditya
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/17/03 at 13:43:24 »

I work overseas. I come across many people from different countries and face the question... Where r u from? i say.. India. Which part of India?... Silchar. Where is that?.. Assam.
Assaamm!! ???Where is that???... Somewhere the North-eastern part of india.
Hardly anyone knows where silchar is...even many indians doesn't know. I try to avoid saying that i am from silchar bcoz itz difficult explaining every one about itz location etc. well now i say i am from calcutta.
We don't have identity... thats for sure. but we can get it. we can do it if we make silchar the best place in the country. keep it clean, well-maintained roads, disciplined people, opportunity etc will bring the national focus. The news about silchar will come in TV, news papers and people will know where and what silchar is. CAN THAT BE ACHIEVED? SOUNDS DIFFICULT!!!!!!
aditya

fukkksylhet
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/22/03 at 20:47:31 »

hey what happened u breed of pathetic uncultured moronic stone age creatures>>>>a ???in the name of human beings

Rupam
Rupam

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/22/03 at 20:53:03 »

nothing...actually we are just serving as a mirror to you jerks...got that? live with that... ;D ;D ;D

4roopam
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/22/03 at 21:34:27 »

roopam ur not a mirror ...though a dickhead like u wont understand that i know..but still ur the actual pathetic creature as said in the previous message

Rupam
Rupam

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/23/03 at 02:08:21 »

yeah nerdass ;D
atleast I dont suffer from a crisis of identity...you do, for you can never sticl to one id...and thats whyyou try to hide yourself behind ids... ;D ;D

and next time you speak, make some sense...for you its a tall ask, but then...the world is a tough place...crackpots like you otherwise wont last long
get a life...smart alec...

Frenz
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/25/03 at 12:50:35 »

Ahhh...........I don't understand the point in making others understand one's identity. I don't feel any need to tell anyone wht I am. Boy, do somethng so that others know wht u r..........not that u go on being "apne muh miyan mittu". When I say, I am from silchar and people don't know where is silchar, thats none of my probs..... they shud be ashamed of their limited geographical knowledge.

Yes, we are sylheti and this is our identity..........This is a fact.....need not be proved to others always.

Kitareba
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 02/26/03 at 11:45:06 »

[quote author=fukkksylhet link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=60#65 date=02/22/03 at 20:47:31]
hey what happened u breed of pathetic uncultured moronic stone age creatures>>>>a ???in the name of human beings
[/quote]

I wonder how many kicks-in-the-ass this person has got from syhletis, to make him so hostile toward them. ;D ;D. How many KLPDs did u get, Mr. Fukkksylhet??? ;)

swagat
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 03/20/03 at 04:27:14 »

I would like to sum it up in few words. When asked about identity or origin just keep it simple. forget about bangladesh,west bengal and assam. just say I'm a bengali from silchar, a town in assam. If you are then questioned in detail say my mother tongue is bengali(sylheti). obviously, when they talk about fish my answer is all bengali's that is from bangladesh or india like fish and why not? we cook fish best then any other people in the planet. be proud of what u are. sylheti's are not immigrants, if we are immigrants in india then most of the people in border states of india e.g. north-east, bengal, punjab, gujrat,etc are all immigrants. do not give up to these people. keep it simple don't get confused and once again be proud of your origin, doesn't matter if it is in bangladesh that is history now.

Deepshikha
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 03/22/03 at 18:48:09 »

Exactly!! I agree with Swagat. Why r we bothered about what others think? There r lots of Marwaris who live outside Rajasthan, lots of Bengalis who r residing in other states, Lots of Tamils staying outside Tamil Nadu, does that make them lose their identity? If not, why shud we be so much concerned about our identity? We r stayin in Assam and not West Bengal, thts all. Lots of Punjabis had migrated to India from Pakistan at the time of partition.....they dont seem to be facing any questions as to whether they r Pakistani Punjabis ot Indian Punjabis.Why cant we just say that we r Bengalis and get away with it?? There isnt any need to prolong the conversation by trying to explain anything further..

silcharor_maiya
silcharor_maiya

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 03/27/03 at 00:28:13 »

Dear Swagat and Deepshikha
ei topic tat hoito tumra dui jon jara lgically kisu chinta koria lekhse baki hokkole to time pas korbar lagi jeta ichcha lekhia gela ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)
jai houk hokkole jodi ila chinta kore taile around the globe ei problem thake na..whether ita sylheti loia problem or communal riots...but alas :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[

asiti
asiti

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 03/27/03 at 12:42:22 »

Right!!

Swagat and Deepshikha are talking sense. May I request them to contribute more to the adda in other topics. Why not become members?

Deepshikha
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 03/30/03 at 13:49:53 »

[quote author=asiti link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=60#74 date=03/27/03 at 12:42:22]
Right!!

Swagat and Deepshikha are talking sense. May I request them to contribute more to the adda in other topics. Why not become members?
[/quote]

Well I'm already a member of Mahaadda Asitida...I do contribute sometimes on other topics as well, but not frequently.

Arnab K Chanda
Guest

Identity crises the world around?
«on: 04/02/03 at 04:29:59 »

I am an Indian Bengali born in Kolkata but originally from Sylhet in today's Bangladesh whose ancestors settled in Silchar which is a Bengali speaking region in modern day Assam. Originally the Sylhetis probably are a mixture of settlers from West Bengal mixed with the tribal population (I and my sister often in the US get confused with Filipinos). So what if people get confused? We are all Indians. BD and Pak were places that were in India. My family were involved in the freedom struggle and they were fighting not for SYlhet's or Bengali or Assamese freedom-- they were fighting for Indian freedom. So no one is a refugee-- whether you live in Sylhet or Silchar or Bangalore or Kolkata-- they were once all in India so if you are from one and live in the other you are Indian and so not a refugee. BTW Sylhetis no matter where they live seem to always be proud of their heritage. WHy would you be ashamed of yours?

Jay
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 04/04/03 at 11:31:20 »

Sup everyone!! (BHALA NI) I am jay from USA and I speak sylhety. This is a really cool site for sylhety speaking people. I heard lots of story about silchar from my parents. So just checking out this cool web site and i will be visiting often.

The Oracle
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 05/08/03 at 12:27:47 »

I am also from USA
-the united states of Assam
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

debasishsilchar
debasishsilchar

how to chat in silchar.com
«on: 05/18/03 at 18:53:19 »

hai every body pls chat in silchar.com in chat room at 6.30 pm to 10.30pm every day to discuss about silchar

Tridip
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/12/03 at 20:38:24 »

I am born in Karimganj. Grew up in New Delhi. I have traveled all over the world. Currently in the USA doing my Finance Management degree.

The problem is when people see my name they think I am from West Bengal. So I like sweets and fish. Which I refuse but then they ask me where I am from ? I say Assam. They will say so you are an Assamese. My answer No ! Well where are your parents from? I say our family comes from Silet which is in Bangladesh so that makes us landless.

I can't really speak fleunt Silethi or Bengali. But I am fluent in Hindi, Punjabi and English. Every other day someone comes upto me and ask me what am I. Well I say I am an Indian from New Delhi. My whole family and reletavies are currently in Karimganj. I have not come across anyone from Cachar.

All I can say that I am an Ambasador from Cachar here in North America !!!

Thanks,
Tridip Chakraborty
scorpio_20@hotmail.com

bichhu_na_scorpio
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/13/03 at 02:19:33 »

[quote author=Tridip link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=75#80 date=06/12/03 at 20:38:24]
All I can say that I am an Ambasador from Cachar here in North America !!!

Thanks,
Tridip Chakraborty
scorpio_20@hotmail.com
[/quote]

Ah well, I guess there are quite a few in that ambassador category to US of A...thing is that they all can speak sylheti as well and have that Silchari/Karimganji swagger to match it too...if you got any of that, then no one would bother you...so I'd recommend you go to your native land and acquire some of the Sylheti "khaislot" :P :P

Asim Choudhury
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/17/03 at 18:32:14 »

I love the debate and the logic carried on by Tanmoy Bhattacharjee. Be prepared guys, I bet I will come and post my opinion about Sylheti culture within a few days. Let's see whether arm-chaired so-called intellectuals can defend their stand.

watchout for my opinion. I will bloody screw all pseudo-Sylhetis

premankur deb
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/19/03 at 18:54:46 »

HI Friends!!!!!
I am Premankur, I have gone through the web site Silchar.com. It is indeed a grat effort to recollect the old memories of Silchar.By the way about me I am also from Silchar, Vakilpatty,now reciding in new Delhi. Done my shooling from Silchar Collegiate School.
If there is any of my friends connected to this web site please reply me in my e-mail which is premankur@yahoo.com.

BYE with Love :-*
Yours
Premankur Deb.

a_arnie
a_arnie

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/22/03 at 16:22:08 »

well guys
as i was going through the topic relating to our identity....
I found that the sylheti culture has its own standard and way of life....this is a culture where we embrace other cultures with ease and great affection...but when the question of our identity arises What i believe is that we sylhetis are responsible for not putting our culture at large....
This is beacuse we sylhetis still feel inferior to the culture of WEST BENGAL.....we are sylhetis we have a different language which is much easier to the normal KELU language...Our parents are also responsible for this becuase when we were kids our parents taught us the NORMAL KELU language and not the sylheti language....this is one reason why we are not able to create an identity....We are still dependent on the WEST BENGAL CULTURE....More over during any social gathering or any function we hardly speak in sylheti...beacuse while giving any speech in the public we dont speak in sylheti.....Its true that if we think about our identity we may relate ourselves as being BANGLADESHIS and all those crap...But being as permanent residents of India...we cannot ever think of such thing...so creating an identity of a culture needs a language which we already have...So i would request each and every sylheti brothers and sisters to converse in sylheti and not in Kelu....more over in an average sylheti family in silchar we would see that children are being forced by their parents to learn RABINDRA SANGEET..My question is why are our parents doing it...
why dont we go for listening sylheti folk geetis.....which will indeed enhance the upliftment of our culture.....well last but not the least...I would blame our parents who dont lay our foundation towards our culture....WE ARE SYLHETIS AND WE ALSO HAVE OUR OWN CHOICE ........AND WHAT I FEEL IS THAT A LANGUAGE IS NEEDED TO CREATE A BASE FOR A CULTURE....beacuse we cannot pick up AK-47 assault rifles and engage ourselves in terrorist activities and fight for a separate state....well thats not our way of living.....we need an identity and people will know us if we prove ourselves through our language......

thank you ......

a_arnie
a_arnie

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/22/03 at 16:26:55 »

rejaul
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/23/03 at 12:00:09 »

I fill that the Bengally speaking muslims are more awkwardly placed in this respect than their hindu brethern.I for example, inspite of the fact that we are inhabitant of cachar for more than 5 generations, have explain to people that I am not a Bangladeshi as the people who don' know the history of this region think that all bengally speaking people of Assam came from Bangladesh.

Gur Gobinda
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/24/03 at 03:27:46 »

Yes you do! "Aarua Kachari Banggal"
Gur

Dada
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/08/03 at 11:57:39 »

Gur re ba laath, ushta chino ni? na chinaitam. Tamasha paiso ni eta?
>:(

Biswajit
Biswajit

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/09/03 at 11:51:24 »

gurer dharma oilo lagi thaka

ar lath ustha marle pao lagi thake

kaju lath ba ustha mara ta budhoi thik oitonai

kintu gurer o uchit ekte kota mone rakha

beshi datta oile manushe kintonai

Biswajit
Biswajit

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/09/03 at 12:22:21 »

Jokes apart.

i have been going thru som of the msgs. And see that perheaps the most lively discussion. And not without reason, this is a question all of us have asked at some point or the other.

"Selethi" what is it, who are we. I believe it will be some time before we are able to give a very definite answer to that. I think we are at the present moment going through one of those phases in the history of a language when a dialect evolvs and slowly takes the shape of a ful fledged language.

Wait! I am not sying this without my reasons.

Just take assamese and bangla. What is comon between them, and what is different. -- Same script (almost), almost same litarrrary vocabulary (with some twists and turns), Similar literature, Similar slang, Similar way of loking at things........... and so on. For a person who does not know his way around the world, assamese could easily pass as a dialect of Bengali. And yet it is a language

Now Take Selethi and Sudho Bangla as we know it. -- same script, one has almost no writen literature while the other has a lot to show off, completely different oral literature/tradition, a very different way of looking at things, life for instance and so on....

These differences are nothing much in themselvs, but take the additional facts that the bulk of the sylehetis are physically seperated from the mainland bengalis, that we have started to ask the kuestion "Ke amra?" Who are we, do we have a identity, and that more and more new words are being added to the sylethi dilact-language, consiquently making it reacher, and maybe it would not seem so far fetched to say that we are evolving a new language.

The terms dialect and language are not defined as being very clearly distinct from each other, The boundary in their meaning and scope is very blured even in our common consiousness. It is generally the extent of difference between the mother language and the dialect which tends to determine wheather the dialect has graduated into a language or not. But even this does not give us an emperical tool because difference itself is a very loose and relative term. It would therefore be right to conclude that, when a community starts recognising the difference fbetween the mother language and its own dialect-language, the process of evolution of a new language is started.

Hey no I dont mean to say that we should start demanding the inclusion of our language as a recognised language. That will come much later if at all it has to. What I am saying is that we should understand and accept proudly that we are different from the bengalies (at least the prototype bengalies that the world knows).

we should identify ourselvs just as sylethis and nothing more. So what if no one has heard about us, it is there ignorence. In any case we are not undertaking a advertisement campaign to popularise the sylethi lingo!!!!!!!!!!!

What do yea say folks!

foyzul
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/21/03 at 13:56:39 »

[quote author=silchari (Guest) link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=0#0 date=08/11/01 at 06:10:02]
When my non bengali friends ask me .. I say I am a Bengali .. but again I do not associate myself with a rossogolla-loving, ganguli-adoring , fish-crazy, miserly-bengali from west bengal ...
Again I can , at no cost , pass myself as an aSSamese .. if i really have to explain .. then i have to tell them that i originally come from sylhett ... a place in bangladesh ... and that rings a bell in their minds ... about illegal immigrants in assam .. they make fun of me .. sometimes...

[b]Do we have any identity???[/b]
[/quote] :)

dimpy
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/23/03 at 11:33:21 »

i can understand ur pains buddy ,,,,i am also faceing the same problem ,, though i am not a sylethi ...but i was born and i had adopted the culture 8),and after that i felt like doing something ,,in bangalore as sylathi ,but what i realised that ,,the worst part when i tried to collect some fund to give a shape of one organization ,,,all ideas screwed upp ,so better i felt that we got a kick on our ass in the year 1947 from bangladesh , now getting kicks from assam ,,then one day from india ,,after that one day from this world .....same like devdas ...babuji neh kaha gao chor doo ,,paro neh kaha sharab chor doo,, auj aup neh kahediya kee es hawali(ghar) chor doo ,ekk dinn ohh kaheah gaa kee es duniya hee cjor doo ...... ??? ???

Biswajit
Biswajit

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/23/03 at 12:16:56 »

Hey dimpy

I can understand your frustration. But we are not devdas we are sylethis, one of the most resilent communities.

You know what the problem is? All along, ever since we got the Boot from east bengal, we have been trying hard to assimilate into the general indian diaspora. And so hard have we been trying, that our parents actualy started to try and make us speak us shudhoo bangla. We have always been told that our one and only identity was that we were bengalis. The environment has been such that instead of being proud, we have learned to be asshamed of our language, our culture, our shidol........ I have actually met sylethis who refuse to identify themselvs as sylethis.

No wonder then that you are frustrated in your efforts. But the very fact that you made an effort, the very fact that this website exists, the very fact that we are discussing this issue, shows a wonderful new happening, we are slowly realising our sylhetiness, slowly may be in mutted voices, starting to question our preconcieved cultural tanets.

Things will change. But the metamorphosis will take some time. It is for people like us to catalyse it. So keep it up. In any case a revolution (cultural revolution), if I may call it so, has but few takers in the begining, the vast majority mearely follows in the end.

So Sylheti zindabad.

Biplabs
Guest

What Identity!!!!
«on: 07/24/03 at 11:12:43 »

Hi All,
This question of identity has troubled me a lot too... I don't think we have any identity. I concluded as we are bengalis scattered across the eastern part of india and poor victims of partition.. Nothing more than that...

When you are staying in diferent state then people out there will like to know about your state of origin.. You happily say assam and people assume you as assamese. You have to explain others like this,"Though I'm staying in assam yet I'm bengali and also explain that my bengali is different from what bengalis in calcutta speak"... These leave the second person baffled and he goes back scratching his head....

Doesn't the above para explains our idetity crisis... I am sure it would have happened with many of us who have been outside assam.... Answer honestly to yourself.

We should not say our self as sylethi zindabad or hail sylethi but outside world should tell that..Isn't it??

Have a good day....

Biplab_deb
mailto:biplab_deb@yahoo.com

Biplabs
Guest

What Identity!!!!
«on: 07/24/03 at 11:13:28 »

Biplabs
Guest

What Identity!!!!
«on: 07/24/03 at 11:13:58 »

Arup Baruah
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/29/03 at 15:13:48 »

Dear All
I was just reading some of the comments in the discussion. I couldnot stop myself from writing few lines. I think most of you are getting more paranoid then necessary. The identity or origin is something very debatable issue, more important is how you adopt yourself to situations and circumstances. You are now Indian and belong to a State called Assam. You are speaking a language which could be similar to Bengali or some extent even to Assamese. Assert this and more important believe in it. I have so many friends from Cachar and we used to celebrate bihu in Baroda , they used to join us as an Assamese. The greatest thing in life is assimilation and keep your identity too. And for one thing, there is nothing called hatred for you all in the brahmaputra valley. Assam is melting point and let us make the state strong and contribute to our country. By the way, I am an " Kharkua Asamiya"

confused
confused

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/30/03 at 04:08:59 »

Why aren't there many people like you in Brahmaputra valley? I grew up in brahmaputra valley during early 1980s. I don't quite agree that there is no animocity towards Bengali speaking people. In the recent years the hatred subcided but a subtle undercurrent of prejudice is still flowing. That is the sad part. Whenever somebody ask me which part of India I am from, I always say Assam. Always try to portray a better picture of Assam.

a_arnie
a_arnie

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/30/03 at 07:17:51 »

ALWAYS PRESENT YOURSELF IN WHAT EXACTLY YOU ARE>>>DONT TRY TO BE OVER SMART BEING CALLED or BY CALLING YOURSELF what exactly you are not.....my frends work hard for the upliftment of your culture like our dear PREMASHISH DEB and lot many others working for www.silchar.com are doing....The world is a place where you need to present yourself on the basis of creating an identity not just asking others or searching for an identity..Identity is something really unique....well we sylhetis have a unique culture we are warm harted people , we are not kanjoos like those of calcuttans, but one thing i should to the maiyaas(girls) of silchar to please converse in their in mother tongue(sylheti)....even our professors in our colleges do the same mistake....well but not all...I m really proud to be a sylheti and i really love my culture and even in the sylheti sammelon of delhi i would always give my importance in my language..so my idea will not be searching for an identity....but creating an identity...If we dont do that right now then our future genaration will always be confused like the way we are confused now....so work hard for your culture, your people and obviously for your identity.. it can only be done if we sylhetis are pro-active enough to look forward in creating an identity instead of searching for one.....

remember we people are unique
since we feel the need for an identity
why not work hard for it...
we can do it in our own way..
at least by conversing in our mother tongue
will really do the first step...

romi
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/14/03 at 00:51:29 »

I dont understand what the identity we r talking of here. Isnt it enough that we r all indians.
Now If we talk about sylethi or any other linguistic group thats a different issue.
"Every language is so great in it that it cannot be criticised or compared"
People who enquire about your language and discriminate on the basis of language are morons,
and why should we be so concerned of Morons. Moreover I have found peoples here talking anti assamese
but is that fair enough? I am a bengali born and brought up in Guwahati I have found many assamese peoples discriminating as "kela Bongal". On the other hand I have met peoples who dont have such feelings.
I think it's not fair to blame an entire community on the base of few instances.
I have been to silchar once and had a couple of bad instances that doesnot mean that silchar is not a good place In fact its a beautiful place.I like it and have made a few friends there.

Its more important for us to uphold the identity of our country as whole.

Romi..

confused
confused

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/14/03 at 02:16:49 »

A person can have many identities. In fact it is healthy. You can be an Indian as well as a Bengali. When people identify very close to one identity it may take the shape of extreme nationalism or fanatism. Take Islamis fundamentalism for example. UK and USA are probable the most nationalistic societies. However, Americans do feel proud of their Irish or Italian heritage. Scotland is a different story. But welsh people do feel proud of both being British and Welsh.

Mohamudagar
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/15/03 at 02:20:44 »

Here in the US anyone who has a brown skin is Asian/ Subcontinent...that includes all the silcharis, bengalis and assamese ..... so get with it and realise that petty divisions are just that..petty. We have been ruled by others because we could never work in a team as a group...ultimately we are all the same.... as they say here... don't think your shit don't stink....so cook or get out of the kitchen.

we need an identity
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/16/03 at 22:42:52 »

Dear mohamudagar
You are so sure that identity is not neccesary. Tell a Frechman or an Englishman that and lets see the response...You are oversimplifying the issues we suffer here on a daily basis. How about you getting out of the kitchen?

Mohamudagar
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/16/03 at 22:48:15 »

Fight all you want..You will all be known as " People of color" at best irrespective of your origin or religion. Stand above the crowds with good actions and merit .....not by violence arrogance and pettiness...I'm out of your smelly brownassed curried kitchen.
Moha

Without identity?
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/17/03 at 04:37:30 »

In USA the identity is not always an issue. Yet, I am often asked to fill out the optional origin of my ethnicity. I reluctantly answer that I am an Asian. Why should I call myself an Asian? Am not I an (Indian born) American? Should I fight all the way to the Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. to tell the senators that the issue is not fair? They will act only on the oponion of the majority of the people, who say that the issue is racist. Well, it does not bother my conscience much because, I know they are changing the laws all the time as they are listening to the voters' oponion. But the fact remains - should I forget my identity deep in my heart? No way. I am proud of who I am and where I came from. The memory keeps me alive and vivid in the changing world.

brishti
indianfriend

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/17/03 at 18:05:05 »

why on earth it is not so important that we are happy race of human being....why we have to fight for identity when we already have it....we r proud sylheti bangali...is it not enough?we know our origin, our literature,our language,our food habit....what else we need?

we should fight for what we donot have,like we r losing our values as human being,there r lot of problems waiting to be solved other then our identity problem.Just think about those basic problems of barak valley.as the young generation, we can do a lot. :)

Shihabuddin Qasmi
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/04/03 at 17:45:20 »

Before partition, Silhat was a part of India. When the partition took place, many families were divided; some in India, Assam, while the other in Silhat. As a result of this partition, several Assamis have their relatives in Silhat and vice versa. But those who born in Assam and their father and mother are Assami, how can one call them Bangladeshi only because of their relatives live in Silhat? Therfore, it is highly regretted that some Assami Silhati feel hesitation to consider themselves Assami. It is my humble request to them to build confidenc and prove themseves Assami boldly.

Contemporary
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/07/03 at 18:16:26 »

The name Sylhat or Sylhet is originated from the region now called Cittagong or Chattagram, which is inside Bangladesh. What if the partition designated border is lifted and we live in greater bengali speaking region? Should we call ourselves Assamese? That's the burning question. So, as long as we are inside the Assamese boder, we are obliged call ourselves Assamese as a show of unity with the rest of people in the state, however we pride ourselves as being Sylhati or Sylhetti in our hearts.

navajit
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/17/03 at 14:24:54 »

8)hiii aamra bangali that is the biggest identity in us.......we r proud to say that we r bengali and bengaliz r the best at any cost....

beanibazari :)
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/28/03 at 03:11:00 »

ananta purkayastha
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/28/03 at 16:19:23 »

Genealogical Table
Name Year of birth Wife’s name
1. Ramcharan Sarma Around(1750-60) Ganga Debi
2. Shiv charan Sarma ” (1780-90) Parbati Debi
3. Sarbananda Sarma ” (1810-20) Rebati Debi
4. Sambhunath Sarma ” (1840-50) Shiva priya DebI
5. Rajendranath Purkayastha ” (1870-80) Hemangini Debi
6. (i) Rasamay Purkayastha ” (03-01-1913) Renuka Purkayastha
(ii) Radhika Ranjan Purkayastha
” (19-07-1915) Rajlakhi Purkayastha
(iii) Ranjit Purkayastha ” (16-08-1927) Vesna Purkayastha

7.(i) Prasanta Purkayastha (” 17-01-1945) S/O Rasamay Purkayastha
(ii) Jayanta Purkayastha - -- ”
(iii) Srikanta Purkayastha -- --- ”
(iv) Ananta Purkayastha -- -- ”
7. Tarun Kr. Purkayastha -- -- S/O Radhika Ranjan Purkayastha
7. (i).Rabindranath Purkayastha (Rabin) -- S/O Ranjit Purkayastha
7. (ii) Arun Kumar Purkayastha -- S/O Ranjit Purkayastha

hrick
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/29/03 at 13:05:15 »

yes we a identity. i believe that we r after the people of kolkata isnot it. aamra baaangaalii and i feel proud to be a bengali. aamader vaaasa aamader bangla vasdssa

Jayantika Biswas
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/30/03 at 06:51:44 »

(My) Death

How terrible was the day
When I saw the face of death
My heart stopped clicking
And soon unchained my breath
I was leaving the world behind
So many things were there on my mind.
But, I am on a road that never returns
No matter who cries and whose eyes burn
I wish when they put me to fire
No one should cry around my pyre.
I was waiting for my friends
But, when he came, he saw me DEAD.

sanjit_ghosh
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 10/09/03 at 13:22:15 »

Identity is a big crisis not only for the Bengalis of Silchar but for all in nook and corners of Assam. I realised it first when I studied in Jorhat Engg. college. I feel same in my home town Kokrajhar even there Bengalis are Majority in the Town. sometimes I feel Iam neither Bengali nor Assamese and Neither Indian nor Bangladeshi.

Mr.XYZ
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 10/09/03 at 16:53:10 »

If U are so confused with your identity please ask your parents. They should be the best one to help you.

Ami
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 10/12/03 at 10:38:00 »

Your identity is already there, you were born with it, a white cannot be black and nor could black be white!
The question now I put is how many of us are able to maintain that identity.
If you live in London, you will see that we have quite a community here; you have people from all over the world living in this little small place, but yet when you ask them where are you from? majority of them will reply no doubt "I'm english!" And believe at times they do get offended because you asked, it's almost like you should know, the thing is it's there fault now, as they are beginning to let go of there identity, it's not because they live here, it because how they live here.
I was born in London, and most people say where you are born that who you are! That's complete rubbish for you! Then why was I not born white?
But thanks to my family I am very Bangladeshi, I may not have mas bath and rusgullah etc, but hey the question is does my identity have to judge my taste?

comfortably numb
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 10/13/03 at 13:25:47 »

...What the heck ???..I see that all the guys out here have spent such time and energy in debating whether we do have an identity of our own..the identity of Sylheti Bengalis...is this something to debate about???The very fact that some person refers to Barak Valley as the "cancer of Assam"proves that we have asserted our identity so well that the dominant power group have started to feel a degree of unease about the whole demographic situation!!!!Nobody is born with an identity but that of the surname of his/her biological parents.Any form of socio-political identity has to be constructed by a person himself keeping in mind his material consciousness and his positioning vis a vis the superstructure.It is strange that all the pastings in this section ,in a way,reinforce the bourgeoisie existence of our class,an act that i whole heartedly oppose >:( >:(It is time that we move out of our petty comparative consciousness of gormless comparison with the Assamese or the Bengalis of West Bengal.Let us concentrate our energies to chalk out a more universal identity by breaking away from the localised.Remember,it is only through a social revolution that new identities are forged...grapling with concept of comparative analysis leads nowhere but mere wastage of cyberspace.

Rongbaz_BD
Rongbaz_BD

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/03/03 at 03:54:36 »

This is one of the best sites ever. Actually I never knew Sylhetis exist anywhere else but in Bangladesh! I am very secure about my identity. I hate Nowakhalis who work in Sylhet and think that they speak in a better tongue. I mean, have you guys ever heard of a non sylheti talk? It’s very “Korkorsh.” Even people in Dhaka say that they speak “shuddo bangle” but at home with their kids they speak they own “Anocholik Basha.” This is a very hypocritical stand of non sylheit people. Look at the following:
Monu keta aiyesay, kumtom aiyesay?
Halar mati kaitlay katum noilay deshy cholay jamou.

Both of the sentences sound total rubbish to me. I prefer to speak Sylheti. My beloved sylhet and MC College . Baba shahajalaler desh
------------------------------------------------------------

Bianibarazi na ki kuttachoda naam toor ami jani na kintu motherhode boinchodee tuiii India room aa aisaa Bangldesh loiyaa kharap jobaan chartasoos kuttar leez. lozza lagee na bejonma kutta "anti-Sate" motherfucker indian room aa aisaa nijeer desr manusgoo loiyaa kothaa koitee? harami bainchodee ootiii jodii toor piritii taiileee hogaar(ass) uutoo lathii mairaa toree Assam pathaiyaa dimuu. bejonma kutaa tor moro khakiir polaree ami tuukra tuukta koiraaa kutaa diyaaa khauyaamu .. sala bejonma Bangladeser kolonko.....

ronita
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 03/30/04 at 11:55:26 »

:) ;) :D ;D :-X

Nari
Nari

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 04/03/04 at 21:39:33 »

I have been reading this topic from quite some days and I'm glad to know that sylletis have got a good debating skill and being a sylleti I'm proud of you.

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 04/04/04 at 07:19:58 »

C'mon! You are all a great debater. I am really trilled by the different thinkings on the topic. It shows the debate never ends. It goes on forever. Those who articulate the subject very clearly are the ones that dominate the subject. Yes, Sylleti is a secret for success. It adds up punditry in someone's ability to express himself/herself. Please keep the debate on identity more lively than irrirating or boring.

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 05/11/04 at 04:48:17 »

Identity is defined from the different perspectives. To me. it's not just a piece of land on the earth where the people are living together or talking exactly in the same language. The individual persons are very unique in their own characteristics or attributes, yet retain the sense of their connection to the past, present and probably to the future, hoping the next generations will learn somthing from it. How advanced or sophisticated the persons maybe with the changing times, the history will be recorded in the book and the historians will dig up deep to discover the lost threasure of their own identity. Sanskrit is very old language, but many modern languages are derived from that language. The language may be changing or evolving wth time and so is the identity.

mrinb
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 05/12/04 at 11:52:17 »

I do agree with you that 'identity' shouldn't be related to a piece of land or area,but, unfortunately, that has happened in the past and is happening today also.
However, i don't agree with your way of defining the word 'identity'.Identity cannot be something dynamic which keeps on changing from time to time.Had it been a dynamic element,the word itself would not have been there.
Identity do varies from individual to individual but not within the same entity.

Sylhety_american
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 05/20/04 at 04:10:02 »

8) whats up my silchar/Sylhety people. This is stuning to me that we have so many sylheties live in India. WOW !!!! I am sorry but I had no idea. I was born in Sylhet, raised in US. I always knew sylheties were different than other bengalis. We are indeed very protective about our language and culture, which somehow gives me a pride of my identity.
You guys probably know by now how Sylhety only marries another sylhety and that regardless of religion. Whether ur Muslim, hindu, budda or christian you feel yourself deep sylhety in heart.
Just to clarify some things, Yes you guys form silchar do have an IDENTITY and that is Sylhety/ Silchari. Sylheties and silcharies share same culture language and views. There is no difference in us.
Sylheties are very business minded and persuing respectable establishment abroad. UK, USA CANADA. You guys probably know by now that UK ambassaddor to Bangladesh is a Sylhety Born British. We often hear criticism from non sylhety bengali as well. Sylhet is the only place in Bangaldesh that people are very conservative and protective about their root. Beacuse of this fact other bengalis often envy us. Sylheties dont hate non sylhety, however we just feel that we are somehow different from non sylhety bengali.
For instance, in india Punjabi people are very punjabi. Non punjabis dont hate them because they are hardcore punjabi but in bangaldesh Sylheties are being hated beacuse of the way we are!!!!!!!!!
So dont feel bad my sylhety brothers and sisters, your identity is your culture your tongue. Keep it up and keep our sylhety tongue and culture alive.
By the way I grew up in USA and I speak Sylhety and English. I know how to speak Shuddo bengali but I dont speak it. Anyone speaks shuddo to me gets reply in sylhety. if they dont understand it thas their problem not mine. I can always speak english...........................take care
PEACE

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 05/21/04 at 01:22:38 »

Any idea how many people are speaking sylheti? Is the number is still rising? This will be a very good indicator about the stength of the sylheti heritage and culture. Maybe, non-sylheti people may already know sylheti very well that it's hard to notice the difference. I am sure by cultivating the culture through various social programs, folk dances, dramas, fairs and the like in the various locations will possibly increase the perimeter of the sylheti speaking region and go beyond. I believe the sylhet people are very smart about exploiting the oppotunities for success home and aborad. For example, why not organize the heart-throbing sylheti dance team and send it abroad to entertain the audience from various cultural background with thrill and awe?

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 05/30/04 at 15:16:58 »

I wonder if the people in Cittagong or Cattagram in Bangladesh are speaking sylheti. Are they recognizing the silcharites as the sylheti speaking majority? Is there a way to bridge the regions on both sides? It is like Punjabi speaking regions in India and Pakistan and also like bengali speaking regions in WB and Bangladesh. Uniting the regions will possibly strengthen the culture, though not possible in physical.

Sanjay Das Chowdhury
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/01/04 at 12:27:58 »

It is my pleasure to inform that I am from Assam and I belong to Sylheti community. I am proud to be from Northeast India. I am also glad that we sylheti have our own land and identities like any other people of Northeast, in Nagaland, Manipur or Tripura who are different. Every people of Northeast are proud to recognize themselves as their own tribe. Why not we sylhti's come out of this notion that we are sylhetis and we pretend to be more from Kolkota. Neither our culture nor the dialect we speak are similar to Kolkota Bangla. So, why we should consider ourself and speak their language. Infact let them come to Silchar and learn our language. I am also proud that we can speak both the Kelu and Sylheti. But the Kolkotans know only their language.

:o I am proud of our delicacies of Shidol and Shutki that I have been missing with my staying in Delhi. I can never find the fish curry here that my mom cooks at home with all love. Puti Mach, Rou Mach and the mangsho, the kolar thur, the pui shakh and the Khatol torkari are just my favorites.

Believe it or not, I just want to be there in Silchar once again with all my sylethi people. I do not know how to speak much of it but I am proud of it. I come from Nagaland and the language I speak comes up in diferent tone and style. Here in Delhi, people call me a Naga-Bengali. I do not mind. But I am proud that I am from North east and I belong to that part of India.

Now we are moving to the cosmopolitan world and it would be my pleasure to inform that we Sylethi form a different identity and we should come to the world to get recognize as sylethi.

mrinb
mrinb

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/02/04 at 07:17:40 »

It doesn't matter what percentage of population speaks SILETI...what really matters is their consciouness about their identity....there are instances where a minority community has brought remerkable change and has contributed significantly to the socity and state......

sunny123
sunny123

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/02/04 at 08:33:35 »

mrnib bhai aage baaro.... aami tomar loge aasi..

mrinmoyb
mrinb

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/02/04 at 11:41:18 »

Okhon aamar aar chinta nai.....tumi aamar loge aaso.....

aukal_talukdar
aukal_talukdar

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/10/04 at 03:58:47 »

The very fact that a preponderance of people find it worth their while to point out their "separateness" from the overall community is sign of a distinct identity.

My experience with Indian friends, over time, has been that Sylheti by itself as an identity been enough. Did it require educating them - sure!

Incidentally, if you are to draw inspiration, you might want to understand how the Sylhetis (the real Bangladeshi ones) are doing. They thrive in London where they own 95% of all Indian restaurants. Infact they are called Londonis. So much so that, in certain municipal councils, knowing English (or even Bengali) is not enough. You need to know Sylheti. They identify themselves as such - a distinct entity yet a part of the overall Bangali community. While the new generation Londonis are much more Islamicized (Sylheti Muslims practiced Islam of the Pirs and was heavily influenced by Hindu customs), almost always the predominance of your language (vis-a-vis your religion) comes through.

They are growing in affluence, asserting their identity, discovering scripts and promoting culture in their language.

The distance between language and dialect and between a dominant and distinct culture is not much. The more important question is whether we do need an identity, distinct at least in certain respects from Bengali.

Those who follow what is happening in the north east where tribe is fighting tribe, where community is fighting community and there is always a harsh, pending war for meagre resources, it makes sense for us to assert our distinct identity. Build it as sons of the soil (North East India) as much as an Assamese or a Naga is. Our parents generation abdicated that responsibility. Without political mobilization based on this distinct identity, it will be very difficult in the days to come.

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/11/04 at 16:14:35 »

Very interesting thought or view on identity. The more we learn, the better we will be. History teaches us that we are evolving with time and space. Not sure what future will hold for us. We only know the present time. As long as we are here we feel the distinct idenity is still there. If we are gone, there is no point to discuss it. It is up to the next generations either to cherish it or to mingle with into the different idenity within the greater bengali community.

brishti
indianfriend

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/11/04 at 18:55:47 »

you do not need to make any hue and cry about your identity if you have dep trust in your roots, and complete knowledge of it. and wherever you go you will unconsciously carry that identity along with you. identity speaks for itself. it is a deeply rooted culture and belief within ourselves. we sylhetis are very at it. we are proud to be sylhetis.

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/12/04 at 16:24:20 »

Good point. It is true that we unconsciously carry the identity with us. Our kids don't know our mother tongue and seem not interested. That is the reason for us to be naturally concerned about the future, not that we are making hue and cry about our own identity. The bengali associations across the country and the world organize some events featuring culture, songs and drama using the WB language (Kelu), and a few sylheti peoole have to join them without any choice. Now, we are speaking in their language everyday, not ours. We don't dare to utter a sylheti word least they won't understand us. It means we have to adjust ourselves to get socialized with the majority.

mrinmoyb
mrinb

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/14/04 at 11:43:52 »

Happens....sometime it happens.....irrespective of what we want we get compelled to do.....but, my credo says that despite of that we can hold our roots.....it's all depends on the way we take others not the way others take us.....

swagat
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/17/04 at 01:22:04 »

we do have an identity and that is we are indian first and then bengali from assam. don't complicate things by saying sylheti. lets start again. when a foreigner or an indian asks u about your identity say that u r a bengali from assam. now to keep a distance from the west bengal bengali's if it gets to that point say we speak bengali but its not the same to kemon achis and all that. its a bengali sylheti language. do not feel shy to express your identity. explain it properly and u should have no probs. if u still do then u know u havn't got it cleared. the reason I'm saying this is because it works and i had no problems. reference immigration from bangladesh which is a truth then that applies to the other states that was partitioned as well.

nitu
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/17/04 at 11:50:02 »

Swagat, why are you making the things complecated. Say you are an Indian and than say you are a bengali. If people presses you more like are U a ghoti, nuakhali, silati, etc.ie. what short of dilects you use, say to them you are silathi. Dont tell your fathers name when someone ask your name. I mean always answer to the point.

aami_swapnil
aami_swapnil

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/18/04 at 00:45:50 »

I agree with you my friend but the point is we are saying our neighbours name when we are asked about our father. ;D ;D ;D ;D :P

mrinmoyb
mrinb

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/18/04 at 06:55:30 »

The reason is, u r staying in a rented house......

Khati Syletthi
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/18/04 at 12:01:02 »

:)
Aami sob re koite saimu je worl over 10crore 80 thousand syletthis(Both Indian n Bangladeshis) ason are kalu speaking 8crore something asoin te oto boro ekta communitir kita identity nai ni
Amrar maje Hindu Muslim Christian sob asoin abong world over high status ala o bohut asoin.
We do have a identity of our own.
I am sorry for my bad syletthi.
A khati Syletthi Guy From Guwahati.

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/18/04 at 16:41:47 »

10 crore 80 thousand sylhetis? That's a lot! Obviously, the sylheti people are concentrated along the Barak Valley regions and elsewhere across the country. We are really proud of hearing that magnitude. But, we would be prouder if we could bring ourselves together from walk of life and celebrate something as a sylheti symbol.

swagat
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/20/04 at 01:38:40 »

nitu, i thought i was making it easy but it seems you are making it complicated. i said first we are an indian then bengali. to make it complicated you seem to mean bengalis cannot be indians, well thats what i gather from your posting. correct me if i am wrong. where does the fathers name crop from? i think you need to answer things to the point not me.
by the way, the question of identity is explained when people press you more as u mentioned. if they don't ask for further details all u have to say that u r an indian i.e if u r from Barak Valley. that does not include the sylhethi people from bangladesh. i leave it to you now to get your head cleared.

[quote author=nitu link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=135#136 date=06/17/04 at 11:50:02]
Swagat, why are you making the things complecated. Say you are an Indian and than say you are a bengali. If people presses you more like are U a ghoti, nuakhali, silati, etc.ie. what short of dilects you use, say to them you are silathi. Dont tell your fathers name when someone ask your name. I mean always answer to the point.
[/quote]

budhai
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/21/04 at 13:40:50 »

i agree with whatever swagat said. that is the most logical way to explain our identity.

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/21/04 at 14:49:13 »

Sylheti is actually a Bengali dialect, not necessarily by nationaility or ethnicity. We are all Bengali and speak according to our mother tongue. The word 'BENGAL' is very recognizable worldwide because it is often tied with the tigers.
The foreign countries already know where the name comes from. Thanks to Bangladesh, the Bengali language has been elevated to the high level. We should be proud of being a bengali even though we have to tell them we are from India.

aukal_talukdar
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/21/04 at 22:55:06 »

When does a language stop becoming a dialect and becomes actually a language? Why is Assamese a language and not a dialect of Bengali?

Sylheti has had a script for at least 200 years - long before the Assamese co-opted Bengali script. It has had some literature written in Sylheti - most of it however was Muslim lierature.

The difference between a dialect and a language treads the fine line between the identity the community seeks, the search or the lack thereof of formalized culture and literature in the language that you speak at home.

Sylheti got identified as a dialect during the times that Calcutta was the cultural beacon of Eastern India, where the aspirational value of identifying oneself as a Bengali was much higher than as a Sylheti.

Times have changed for us. Our parents generation, having to struggle with the loss of home, hearth and security, kept lying low in the face of constant assault on the community from all tribes and communities in the North East. For all means and purposes, we as a community are there in the North East - for good or bad. For all means and purposes we have been on the backfoot as we have seen previously marginalized groups such as the Khasis, Nagas and Mizos come to the forefront. We have ceded space and have been constantly ceding space.

Any identity (or component of one) that does not serve a valid purpose in our times and for our needs does not have much relevance. Given the constantly changing kaleidoscope in the NE and the surrendering we have been doing for decades, we need to mobile ourselves and knit ourselves back into a strong community. Not just in Cachar but in Guwahati, Nagaon, Kohima, Itanagar and all the other small towns where Sylhetis in small numbers get browbeaten every day. Once we fight back and give as good as we get can we command some respect from these communities. More importantly, we will demand and get a share of opportunities that come by in the NE.

Does the Bengali identity help us much? How much? Do we need a separate script to coalesce ourselves into a distinct community? Do we need a strong nodal organization that takes advantage of the numbers and give us a good leverage? I don't have answers for all these questions. Some would be yes and some would be no. But for those that escape the NE quagmire, it is important to think along these lines in addition to their personal progress.

We have been a community in retreat for a long time and that needs to change.

mrinmoyb
mrinb

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/22/04 at 06:14:26 »

The term 'Bangali' is a virtual identity for the syletis.....Whenever i get introduced to someone, i say that i'm a bangali....what, actually is not.....the reason behind this is we don't come under the category of "formally identified group" or "formally recognizable group".....through decades we have been identified as 'Bangali' not as Syleti.....the fault lies with us.....on first meeting we never say that we are 'Syleti', probably because of the lengthy explanation that we may have to give next.....

When Assamese are identified as Assamese without having a script of their own why can't we.......

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/26/04 at 07:33:14 »

You have got a a piece of land within Assam, and if you want, you can annex a piece of land from Bangladesh to make the whole land become a sylheti state. That is when you can realize that the sylheti dialect will stop and become a language. For now, you have to accept the dialect as a fact way of life. But, the process of annexation will be done diplomatically and peacefully, not by force. On the other hand, you may ask the Bangladeshi people to join India as provincial state instead of being a distinct moslem country, because Assam and eslewhere has already seen the moslem population still growing and the hindu population is spreading and influencing the other states of the northeast region with the doctrine of democracy, technical/economic leverage etc.
No wonder that India is becoming world class power.

mrinmoyb
mrinb

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/28/04 at 07:44:27 »

Unless n until we ourselves become bold enough to reveal our identity in front of others, whatever trial and error method we try out cannot take us to the ladder of success.....my observation says that people staying out of Silchar r more bold and revealing when the aspect is 'identity'.....

nitu
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/28/04 at 12:58:44 »

Swagat and Budhai,
Both of you are the same person as both the messages are comming from same IP address. I am not sure why Swagat want to prove that he is right with the help of some other identity. I am sure you are new to the world of chat, so dont make a fool of yourself again by writing with your view from one name and supporting your satement with some other name. Shame.

mrinmoyb
mrinb

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/30/04 at 07:05:41 »

Identity="Identifying an entity"

budhai
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/30/04 at 16:18:52 »

nitu, this is for u. we were having this intellectual discussion on this message board on an interesting subject untill u started to spread personal malice to prove ur intelligence. people may have differing views but that dosnt mean that u should become personal, u somewhere inside u have got something dirty and thats why u r not ashamed of making false allegations. i dont know or swagat and there was no need of making allegations against me. i said only what i thought was right. nitu, if u want to take this to a personal level u r welcome.

about nitu
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 06/30/04 at 18:34:16 »

First you managed to throw out Sunny123 and now Budhai and Swagat.
Good job Nitu.

Ranadip
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/08/04 at 16:21:33 »

This topic seems to be ridiculous. Why we Sylhetis are so against Bengali language Culture that is really rich. To prove our Culture great we need not let down some one else’s culture or language. In Bihar there are 17 different dialects but you won’t find a Bihari saying that he is a Bhojpuri or Maithili etc. Even in our state ASSAM, we have people from Upper Assam speaking different Assamese than the Lower Assam, their food habit and culture also seems to be different but there is never confusion among them that they are Assamese. I have read some post here where we have given lot of our support to the Sylhetis across borders forgetting that these guys only brutally killed our near and dear ones during partition. Forget past, these people till date support Pakistan if there is a war or a cricket match with us.

I never in my life faced any identity crisis as I always identified myself as an Assamese in India and abroad. I am not one of you who prefer to speak in English than in Bengali or Assamese just because you are a Sylheti.

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/10/04 at 00:38:38 »

Have the people across the borders expressed their gratitude to us for liberating them and their homeland from tyrany of Pakistan? Are they seeing the religion is not an issue anymore across the borders because we are all proud of being bengali?
We are testing the water of their attitude towards us at every level and seeing their behavoral changes over time after 9/11 effect. We already suffered a lot in the past because the barbarian action from East Pakistan. I hope the people in Bangladesh wake up to the world oponion about terrorism and fanaticism so embedded with Islamic factions. I believe many a good people over there do not contribute their support to senseless action as jihad for the sake of strengthening frienship and cooperation among the greater Bengali community. This means an opportunity for the bengali individuals to rise to high occasion (prosperty, happiness, compassion and the like) above the cloud of doubt, mistrust, fingerpointing accusation etc in the name of religious and political bickering.

mrinmoyb
mrinb

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/14/04 at 08:11:01 »

But, still the minority section left over in Bangladesh are the victim of agony....things haven't changed yet, as u said....the sentiments n feelings of hindus r trampled below the feet.....the barbarian age is not yet over there in Bangladesh.....

Sagarmatha
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/20/04 at 09:23:04 »

"I never in my life faced any identity crisis as I always identified myself as an Assamese in India and abroad. I am not one of you who prefer to speak in English than in Bengali or Assamese just because you are a Sylheti"

This refers to the above post-

It would be interesting to see how the Assamese digest this
line of thought. The Assamese themselves are perenially in doubt about what would happen to their identity, so we should leave them alone and not addto the confusion.

The fact that the Assamese are patently suspicious of the Bangalis in general and Syletis in particular cannot be overemphasised.

There are instances galore of them trying to browbeat the Sylheti population into submision in name of the various agitations they keep on having time to time.

Now with the myriad Tribal communities asserting their identity and seeking Sixth Schedule guarantees they have much more on their plate then just Bengalis.

They have made no secret of the fact that they think Cachar is the Cancer of Assam. No prizes for guessing what Assam is to India.

Right now the Assamese are crying hoarse about the centre not paying attention to the flood problem.

Aren't they doing the same to Barak Valley. Of the 181 Cr to be released for flood relief I doubt if anything will be made available for the Barak Valley although the flood scene is equally grim.

Road/Rail traffic snapped since almost 2 weeks now there is no concern on the part of the administration not even the symbolic special flight to evacuate the stranded.

mrinmoyb
mrinb

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/24/04 at 12:27:12 »

Identity, in fact is a thing that considers other personal aspects of an individual then his community or religion......identity had never been a problem for those who cud reach the pinnacle of success in their profession.....no one ever speaks about the communel identity of the achivers..everyone speaks about their achivements.....

JoroKaJhatkaDhireSeLage
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/27/04 at 14:22:26 »

bhai ra....

I have seen many cultures by dint of being in diverse circumstances from defence to corporate.....but one thing I found that it is not the language which identifies you...but your personality...you maybe from any part of india in fact any part of the world and if you don't have proper response to the people in general it is bound to center round your language or place of origin may it be syllethi, bengali, bihari, tamil, gulti, malyalli, jhat, sardar or maybe scores others....we are the bearers of our heritage that is our mother tongue sylethi and it is through us only, that she gets her notion from the people in general.....This is my personal opinion and I believe it is by the way you present yourself is the way people know you and your language...the people in this context maybe a american a hungarian, a african or as a matter of fact maybe our own bihari, bengali or tamilian.

In my earlier days in....many people were there who used to ask me my place of origin..I used to say to them clearly that I am a bengali but, different from those residing in bengal. we originate from east bengal(now bangladesh) and have basic dialect wise and characterwise difference.

I am proud to be a syllethi, and there were times when my contemporary sometimes felt that I am from a not so known community, then I always make it known to that that I am from a less known community and still I am here, but you are from wellknown one but then also you are here with me....so either you pick up your socks and do better or just shut your trap and prove yourself better or accept my superiority.

Biswajit
Biswajit

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/27/04 at 16:25:49 »

[quote author=mrinmoyb link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=150#156 date=07/24/04 at 12:27:12]
Identity, in fact is a thing that considers other personal aspects of an individual then his community or religion......identity had never been a problem for those who cud reach the pinnacle of success in their profession.....no one ever speaks about the communel identity of the achivers..everyone speaks about their achivements.....
[/quote]

Quite right! But this as far as it goes for ones individual identity. Let us not forget that beyond individual identity lies national identity (including that of being selheti) While both these identities comlimentary it goes without saying that our selheti identity can be asserted with strength only when the comprising individual identities have reached some level of strength.

However if i may say so our selehiti identity is in no way subsiervent to the identity of individuals while the individuals identity is trensient, adding to the sylehiti identity as long as it is active, our sylhetness has and will survive the individuals. It is for us the sylhetis to contribute in strength to the sylheti identity by asserting our sylhetiness so that later our sylheti identity can be an aid to the generation that follows us just as the american identity is often an aid to americans.

Beshi boki lailam ni! Ufai nai bok bok korar khub icha jagse hotat.

mrinmoyb
mrinb

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 07/28/04 at 13:57:08 »

[quote author=JoroKaJhatkaDhireSeLage link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=150#157 date=07/27/04 at 14:22:26]
bhai ra....

I have seen many cultures by dint of being in diverse circumstances from defence to corporate.....but one thing I found that it is not the language which identifies you...but your personality...you maybe from any part of india in fact any part of the world and if you don't have proper response to the people in general it is bound to center round your language or place of origin may it be syllethi, bengali, bihari, tamil, gulti, malyalli, jhat, sardar or maybe scores others....we are the bearers of our heritage that is our mother tongue sylethi and it is through us only, that she gets her notion from the people in general.....This is my personal opinion and I believe it is by the way you present yourself is the way people know you and your language...the people in this context maybe a american a hungarian, a african or as a matter of fact maybe our own bihari, bengali or tamilian.

In my earlier days in....many people were there who used to ask me my place of origin..I used to say to them clearly that I am a bengali but, different from those residing in bengal. we originate from east bengal(now bangladesh) and have basic dialect wise and characterwise difference.

I am proud to be a syllethi, and there were times when my contemporary sometimes felt that I am from a not so known community, then I always make it known to that that I am from a less known community and still I am here, but you are from wellknown one but then also you are here with me....so either you pick up your socks and do better or just shut your trap and prove yourself better or accept my superiority.
[/quote]

Well said.....mon khushi kori diso re bhaai....baachia thako

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 08/03/04 at 05:34:34 »

Very interesting point of discussion in the context of individuality, community and nationality at large. We are so identified with mote than just one. The question is should we define identity in the context of religion ? I find the religion as the omnious cause for dividing the sylheti speaking people more than cementing them. It's almost like black-white issue in America though they all speak the same language. Maybe, we should put the religion, social order, inferiority and sensitive issues aside or dump them forever and only focus on educating the young geneations on the values and disciplines in everyday life because they are the driving force in behaving and thinking properly when dealing the people under all kinds of circumstances.

leftisright
Guest

losers
«on: 09/03/04 at 11:55:37 »

u ppl need a break.. :-/

i mean.. how do u get so much time to think up all the stuffs u beeen putting here... yea.. u got loads of energy... and its pathetic that u are ripping apart ur little-refugee-brains over ur non-existent identity... go meet a good pagla-doctor..

nehru made a historic mistake by allowing all outcasts frm bangladesh to be allowed into india.. silchar specially... and term u as citizens..

dont cry over ur identity.. its as big a myth as ur other beliefs... u are like all the other rats and cows which roam the drains of tis city... no wonder why it stinks all over... try to look up for ur identity in that shit rather.. u will find plenty..

money and peace couldnt cure u of ur worries... worries that someday mainland india will push the stick thro ur pig-shaped noses and shove u bac to ur motherland.. or fatherland watever.. and u got one hope.. i will be there in the relief camps to spit on u...

lama
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/05/04 at 01:33:47 »

Mr. whatever whatever
if u r staying at assam and yet u call assamese as ASSamese then we should kick u out of assam. becareful as non of the assamese is going to bear this kind of activity. think something good otherwise don"t think at all, ok

Sanjay Das Chowdhury
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/06/04 at 05:05:44 »

Identity depends on a person. I do think that we have the unique idity of our own. I amproud to be a sylethi. This is where I hail from.. Why should I lose my own identity. Things from which i adopted my own culture and own life style. It is the thing that I sometimes boast about. The dry fish that we take and the warm hearted welcome that we sylethis are really confined are something that is different to talk about. We are considered the people of South Assam. We are bengalis. But we have our unique language different from the rest of Kolkatans. We talk fast. We know the other languages as well. This is the uniquness of our identity. We should not dare to lose it. Infact I am proud to be a part of the sylethis and we represent as unique to the rest of the world.

Sanjay Das Chowdhury.

leftisright
Guest

oh lala..
«on: 09/06/04 at 12:36:33 »

swapan das.. i m proud of u.. i wont spit on u.

and dear lama. I am not talking about assamese or ASSamese. they are a diffrent story. I was talking about you. got it.

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/11/04 at 12:36:53 »

As I said before, the discussion never ends here. Being a proud sylheti without saying anything sounds like dumbo. You can say anything that should be more relevant to the topic discusiion. I agree that Nehru was responsble for the breakup of the Indian subcontinent. Subhash Bose fought so hard to defeat the British colony, but fleed to the unknown place for face-saving because he was a part of seeking help from Hitler and Japan prior to WW II. Now, we, the sylhet people are divided across the Assamese-Bangladesh border. North Vietnam fought so hard and became united with South Vietnam. Two Germanies have already been united without any trace of war. Koreans are the next to be united. So, why can not we do something about getting all the Bengali speaking regions (WB, Bangladesh and part of Assam) together and becoming a major force in the world? Are we thinking so much about sylheti for the sake of identity and letting the rest of the land disintegrate into pieces ?

Shamol Gosh
Guest

Re: We are Cachari Only .
«on: 09/26/04 at 16:30:47 »

Dear All Friends & Brothers,
Thanks to all that i learn a lot from you all. Really by this way we can share each others feeling.
I have a feeling & own experience in Indian 20 Cities & 7 Other Countryes , Please check how is my feeling,
When we say Sylethi Means no dought all Indian & Bangladeshi think we are Immigrant , When we say assese they think same like others. We are Cachari & the entire Barrak was under Cachari Raja (King ) . So, why don't we say we are Cachari & Actually i feel i am cachari & when we say we are Assamese Cachari then no one urgu because everybody know Cachari King .
I write my Point of view & i don't mean to dishturb other. Excuse me if i dishturb anybody.
Thanks for Reading.

ravi
ravi

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/26/04 at 20:45:06 »

Shyamalbabu,
what we are, that depends upon our mother tongue and what language we speak. Cachari is an independent tribal language spoken by the Cachari (or Kochhari) tribes, which most of us (including you too, I guess) can not understand and speak. This Cachari is the language of Cachari kings ruling Cachar. Bengalis of Barak velley are sylhetis because their forefathers migrated from Sylhet to Cachar and this is a fact whether you admit it or not. However, strictly speaking, this migartion word is not applicable to the people of Karimganj district, because it was a part of the eartswhile Sylhet district. Anyway, this migration does not entitle you to be termed as an immigrant because this took place at least half a millenium years back and even before the Cacharis became the rulers of Cachar. The way we did not turn as British Just because British ruled India, similarly you do not become a Cachari just because you were ruled by Cacharis. A bengali living in USA is a bengali and a French living in india is a French. This is because we can change the nationality and even change the language, but we can not change the DNA.

Shamol Gosh
Guest

Re: We are Cachari or Not???
«on: 09/26/04 at 23:25:04 »

Dear Mr. Ravi,
Thanks for your suggetion. I will follow this but........
Actually i am staying abroad & we face so many forigner everyday. For other country People we are Hindi or Indian thats all . But when we meet Indians We say them Assamise means Assams Citizen. But when we meet Assamese they will ask from which part , we say cachar silchar then some of them ask from Bangladesh or what. We say no we are Indian original but they Laugh. When we meet Bangladeshi & say Assam's Bengali Sylethi . They start to shout what are you talking man ....... what is Assams Sylethi. You fell shame to say Bangladeshi they charge like this.
Now i ask you what is the solution for all this. See my fore fathers were the donor of so many school,Playground,Roads in Barrakvelly & we never visit Bangladesh or we don't have any relative there & we settle in England .We are facing this problem everyday & somany people joking with us when we say Indian.Assamise,Sylethi & for that i deside that if i say Cachari it will be wright or not? I don't want to lie to anybody in the world & also i want to avoid Quarling everyday. Suggest me finally after you read my situation.
As a Indian we can say Hindi or Indian , As a Assamise we can say Assamise . As a Cachar Citizen can we say cachari or not ??????
Please advise me finally. I will appriciate your suggetion.
Thanks & good Luck.

ravi
ravi

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/27/04 at 00:19:03 »

Dear shamol babu,
sorry to listen your plight. But we should not feel depressed for others' ignorance. You can suggest the Bangladeshi's to learn a bit of history. However, it is cumbersome to quarrel with the ignorant people. So, it is better to ignore their queries. As a citizen of Cachar you (not me, am from Karimganj) can always term yourself as Cachari, but just remember that your mother tongue is not Cachari. This is important because there is a language named Cachari, otherwise there would not have any problem. Similarly I can term myself as Karimganji, but there won't be any confusion because there is no language named Karimganji. And finally, it is upto you to decide what you have to call yourself and you have to have mental satisfation, you need not and should not care for what others' think.
Thank you
Ravi

syloti
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 09/27/04 at 05:02:41 »

what rubbish. say you are a bengali from assam. just like french canadians or algerian french and so many others. every human being wears a number of identity hats in this globalised world. if you can't figure out a coherent identity for yourself, then that's your problem. no silchari sylheti living abroad like me that i know has a problem with that. everybody is as sure-footed as any other true blooded creature about who they are. if someone doesn't understand, no one gives a hoot.

BD_NewYorker
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/11/04 at 04:13:47 »

This is my first time on this site, so “hi” to everyone. The topic is very interesting for its ideological perspective; I think this is both a very complicated and simple issue at same time. By the way, I am Bangladeshi guy who is both the citizens of USA and BD. I am originally from Dhaka region and my fiancé is from Sylhet area, and we both speak of our own dialect Dhakiya (me) and Sylheti (she) without conflicting each other, and of course we both are Muslims.

First of all, one of your posts mentioned that when Sylheti from Bangladesh introduce them, they call themselves “Sylheti” rather than “Bangladeshi”, which is a lie. Actually, they call themselves “Sylheti”, not “Bengali”. Both mean very different meanings, and Sylhetis feel very proud for being Bangladeshi just like their other fellow BD Muslims brothers and sisters. YOU SHOULD KNOW, WE ARE BANGLADESHI, NOT BENGALI (BENGALI MEANS BENGAL SPEAKING HINDU INDIANS). We had fight against Pakistani military machines to achieve that identity, and we lost 3million people across the whole regions. It’s called BANGLADESH = LAND FOR BENGALIS and we are not those joker snobs of Calcutta who only think they are the only Bengalis around. So please when you talk about your own issues, don’t bring Bangladeshis name in it. You Hindu Assami/Bengali people are not our business.

I been to Calcutta twice, and I saw their inferiority complex with my own eyes. I had seen some unknown hostility toward Bangladeshis by them, and they try to mock our accents (usually we have different accents like Dhakiya, Sylheti, Chittagong, Noakhali, Barisal, Jessore etc.) and speak Hindi (with horrible accent) in front of us. Actually I don’t blame them, because people of West Bengal are the second class citizens of India, in fact when I talk with my Panjabi and Gujrati friends; they mention with very disgust about Bengalis of Calcutta, they call them “Bongs” “KaamChor”. West Bengal is nothing but a fossil of a Dinosaur, and they are the one responsible for the division of greater Bengal. Anyway, they can live with their pathetic life; we give a rat’s ass.

Well, I think Sylhetis are Bengali, just like others.

Aaami
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/11/04 at 06:00:12 »

[quote author=BD_NewYorker link=board=0011&num=997528202&start=165#171 date=12/11/04 at 04:13:47]
). We had fight against Pakistani military machines to achieve that identity, and we lost 3million people across the whole regions.
[/quote]
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D BETA INDIAN ARMY'r Bhikka na pailei tumrar aar swadin Bangladesh ooito na bujlai niii........ Ne way Its not ur fault its the typical ooKritgyo bangladeshi in you...... Veta Farraka barrage sluice gate khuli dile kano jaiata be..... hasina dir bari oo dubi jaito bujlai niii Bangladeshi Rat Ass... ;D

BD_NewYorker
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/13/04 at 22:27:40 »

Ouch! Did my last post hurt that much? Do you need a tissue sissy boy? ? I know truth hurts, but it’s simply the fact, I can’t help it.Want to wipe your eyes?You just have to swallow.

By the way, did I mention that we pee on your Indian army and don’t give a fuck? We have seen your big mouth for last 30 years since we got independence, but guess what? It’s all but empty sought. The real fact is, India wanted to help Bangladesh during the war to make Pakistan weak and also post war Bangladesh a slave state of it like Sikim or Nepal (Assam too, thanks god they are fighting for their independence and dignity). IT DID NOT HAPPEN. We have raised up as an independent nation, made our own military, navy, air force, border petrol, foreign embassy throughout the world (Our people are spreading through the whole world, in fact, just only in London and New York we have 500,000 Bangladeshis and own most of the Asian restaurant businesses), and slowly but surely doing great. We have lots of obstacles, but we will overcome it for sure. And you Farakka barrage doesn’t matter us anymore.

For your please, don’t worry too much about your Indian loving Hasina didi, because very soon she will visit to her heavenly father. She survived twice from grenade and AK-47 bullets, but hopefully, next time they won’t miss.

I think the topic was ethnicity, so please don’t bring politics in here.

BD_NewYorker
BD_NewYorker

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/14/04 at 00:54:30 »

By the way, I have no propositions against Sylhetis, everything I said meant to be for the people of Calcutta (Gopal Vaar). I think Sylheti's have distinctive culture and creativity that have enriched greater Bengali community. Obviously, I don’t wanna deliver any kind of anti-Indian statement for any Sylhetis, because they are the citizens of that place. But certainly I have great sympathy for them since their ancestors migrated from Bangladesh.

DD
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/14/04 at 13:07:58 »

Newyorker,
I don't want to fight with issue on how great your country(Bangladesh) is . But just answer one question - If your country is so great why so many people from Bangladesh illegally migrate to India(Assam,WB and other Noth Eastern states) ? You need not have sympathy for us. Rather ask your muslim brothers who have illegally migrated to India to go back. This will be a great help for us.

BD_NewYorker
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/15/04 at 01:33:31 »

DD,
I probably mentioned earlier that don’t bring the politics in here, and you have brought that up again.
Then, let me answer your questions. First of all, I did not mention anywhere in my previous post about any greatness or exaggerations, but I only pointed out the achievements that we have made despite as a very new born small country with minimum resources and high population. Since one of your idiot brought some senseless questions as a moron, indeed, I had to answer. Second, I have no idea who are infiltrating in your country from Bangladesh and why are they doing so? I think you should discuss that matter with your BSF and our Bangladesh Rifles and ask them to stop any kind of illegal emigrations. Maybe that will be helpful for you, and don’t ask me that kind of immature nonsense again. You are too old for that, aren’t you?
And last of all, we will have sympathy for Sylhetis regardless of your hatred for us (you like it or not). Because we are who we are, and you know about yourself.

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/15/04 at 09:34:25 »

I have no quarrel with the border crossings due to limited resources on either side, but the people with political or extremist view shouldn't be welcome. The leftover ISI agents are still roaming inside Bangladesh, and we know how to root them out when the situation with terrorism is getting bad on our side. We respect peace loving Bangladeshi people, and welcome them whenever or whereever they wish to travel our side, not the extremists or terrorists, who will eventually become a target of war on terror.

ig
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/15/04 at 10:05:10 »

muslims can't be peace loving...whether Bangladeshi or Pakistani......also ultimately thay both are against INdians....always.....so don't beleive any MUSLIMS whether Indian muslims,,,whether Pakistani or Bangaladeshi...... :'(

JAN
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/15/04 at 10:16:02 »

Mr BD_NewYorker.....

right fromm morninng toothpaste taki aarombo koria ratre good night mat ,,,,,okholtar lagi porere deshor upre dependent Bangaldeshi,,,,,,,,,,BANGALADESHI MANE BIDESHER BIKKAR UPRE BACHIA ASSE....TUMRAR KUNO NIJESHOO EXISTENXE AASE NI.............??????

LOMBA LOMBA AALAP BONDO KORO

BD_NewYorker
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/15/04 at 22:19:43 »

Good to know that Sidney. Sure, you got to do what you got to do, who is forbidding you? I think you have at least 50 different terrorists/freedom fighters (depend whose point of view) including ULFA, NAGALAND, different Kashmir groups, Many tribal, and numerous organizations are working against their own country, and I don’t understand why are they so pissed about, you should ask them? Maybe they feel less vulnerable than their hindi/panjabi speaking counterpart. Yes, you have a long way to work for reducing the terror. I can not help you out with that, sorry, but good luck.

IG, life is too short wasting on a momma’s little sissy like you. Your unsecured feeling gives me pleasure.

JAN, I barely understood whatever you said. I think your point is we are depended on foreign country. Sure we do, who doesn’t? In fact you are much more depended than we are. Your calling centers are the biggest “Vikka” from America, all of your unqualified people working with hoax resume for those centers who barely can speak proper English. Recently, US senate has passed a bill on matter because of the extremely low services of those call centers, and they will start shifting many of them to Canada. You not only get “Vikka” from outside, also you women are top quality fuckable materials everywhere, and you also sell them properly. At least we don’t have Visa discriminations like you do as more Panjabis-Gujratis and North Indians get more visas than you idiots from North East states of India. So Halai tuii toor looba looba Jobban Bondh koiraa Raak Kuttar Leez.

I can use numerous derogatory things against you, but that won’t give me any profits. I think that wont give me any profit.

guest
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/16/04 at 04:01:07 »

admin,
I wud suggest u remove these posts. There are heavy tint of communilism in their posts which might create another 'godra' in silchar.com.
Please be clear to everyone that communal mentality are not welcome in this site.

Mr BD_whatever, u r proving ur background by such posts.

JAN
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/16/04 at 10:54:11 »

BD--Mother-fuch***r Bangaladesi,,,,,,
most probably your Mom is one of those ,,,who are saled outside...

BD_NewYorker
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/16/04 at 19:56:38 »

Ouch, how poor little baby, you want to cry? If you have an issue, here is the tissue. Now I am really feeling sorry for you Silachori cockroach. This is much more fun that I anticipated.

Actually, I shouldn’t have feel any sympathy for you in the first place(your posting attracted me, but never mind), because Sylhet is part of Bangladesh, and they are the real Sylheti. You people got kicked out your asses long time ago for your filthy nature(I can see why), and now you are not Sylheti, not Bengali, not Assami; more like a combination of illegitimate cultural refugee bastard. God doesn’t feel sorry for you, why should I?

Waleed
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/17/04 at 00:59:47 »

Dear BD_NewYorker
I am sure you are not muslim(Proper).
A muslim can't use such types of odd language.I don't have any right to say you any thing but you are blaming muslims.
We are proudy to be Indian Bengali(Muslim). We have some respect in the world but about you?
Bangladeshi means a labour by chip cost, educated degree holders without any knowladge, no status at all, Who is powerfull stay with him, no culture, no knowladge, no food at home but talking & busy with politics, so so so many things i don't want to write more.
Who say you that we are 2 class citizen, may be he is one of your nabour who come from Bangladesh & saying he is Indian, be sure there is no 2 types of citizen in India , all are same & only the 2 class culture & citizen are those who comes from Bangladesh & they are the doing all the notorius work what they do generally & naturally.
I am not interested to fight with some one who is so so so small in knowladge, so poor in language. Upgrade your self & your nature.
Waleed

jani na
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/17/04 at 01:25:18 »

Man Man Man..

Three years back when i as a kid.. we had tis kind of topic and discussin in this site.. godness nothings changed.. people still spit vemon against each other...

cheers... keep it up

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/17/04 at 08:26:43 »

Poor BD_NewYTorker! I thought You are highly educated and always attempts to refrain yourself from saying filthy words in the fast growing/changing societies in the world. In NY, you can't say such things in public least you will be caught red-handed. CIA and FBI will be watching the people from Pakistan and the Arab world and maybe from BD since some of them may have felt agony over US aggression in Iraq/Afganistan. So, please stop insulting us and focus on fighting terrorism and insurgency within and outside your beloved country because senseless action will surely bring about self-infliction or self-destruction upon themselves and their younger generations to come. I am a hindu and have many muslim friends here in America as well as back home in India (especially in Silchar and karimganj). They are very kind to us whenever we talk or party. You perhaps already know that some people in the world have the extreme/politcal views about things we believe in. Your late leader liberated your country from Pakistan's tyranny and sacrficed his life. Now, you are enjoying the taste of freedom in BD. Now is time to think about technology and resources that may help to lift your own people out of sufferings and proverty. We are doing the same in India. You are right in saying that West Bengal has not changed much since independence. The Communist party is responsible for all nuisances. The people over there are so corrupt. We dont' have no choice, but still moving forward slowly, but steadily on social and economic development. Communialsm may be a thing of the past with the advancement in many sectors bercause the people want a change in their lives and don't want to dwell on the past history, which is boring and perhaps dead in the eyes of the advanced and sophisticated people.

JAN
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/17/04 at 10:28:32 »

Mr.. MFUk.. BD...

I think to proof your below standard ,,,personality,,,thses comments passed by others is enough......so in future don't try to pariciapte int h room

BD_Rongbaz
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/18/04 at 07:48:46 »

Dear Waleed,
You can be sure that I’m a pure Muslim (Inshallah), moreover, a pure Muslim doesn’t need to be clarified from an Indian Muslim whom we all Muslims of the world don’t even treat as pure Muslims. You are more like Hindu than Muslims. So your view is nothing but a joke. Anyone can use any sort of language, because linguistic pattern has nothing to do with ones faith.
Of course you have to be proud, because some people need to exist for ass-licking and show polish for superiors, and who would be better off than Indian Muslims or shortly Mickey Mouse. If I don’t make any mistake just few posts before one of your Hindu soul mate mention about the doubt about Muslims including Indian(!).
I am happy to see that every characteristics that you have drawn about Bangladesh are all wrong, and I wont blame you because your frustrations, moreover, a pathetic minority can write anything comes to his mind. I don’t know about everyone’s educational skills of BD (I don’t work for statistical bureau), but certainly you need to learn how to write proper English. Your writing skill is simply horrible (sentences, vocabularies), have you ever been to high school?
There is no doubt about second class citizens, as example, you are right in front of me. 80% of the Indian businesses, Civil Services, Defense Industries, Foreign Visas are dominated by Punjabis, Gujratis or South Indians. Their cultures, languages, and privileges are highly reflected on every aspects of Indian lives. Who cares about Orrisa, Assam, Monipur, Mizoram or other northern states anyway comparing with Panjab, Gujrat, Maharastra or other south-western provinces of India. Who does care about your culture? You are neglected as hell! whom Are you fooling?
Most of the people I know so far migrated from Bangladesh are all Hindus, who settled down there because of religious similarities including Joti Basu(BikrampuR), Sunil G(MadariPur), Sirsendu(Bikrampur), Suchitra sen, Vanu(Bikrampur), Robi Gosh(Jessore), Aparna Sen(ancestors from Chittagong and Maimansing, she said in an interview) and many more. The cultural activities of W.B. are completely engaged by immigrated Bengalis so fat I know. So you Indian “Jaroj Kutta” Muslims are responsible for all notorious works, I guess. No wonder why 2000 Indian Muslims like you cut into pieces by your fellow citizens at Gujrat as the reward that you deserve.
It’s not “small knowledge”, it’s called “Narrow Mind” or “Lack Of Knowledge”. Agee Kotha Bola Sikhe Esoo Boka Choda, Taar Pore Kota bolo.

BD_NewYorker
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/18/04 at 07:49:57 »

BD_NewYorker
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/18/04 at 07:59:18 »

Sidney, yes buddy I am so frickin’ poor. Dude, maybe you can send me some dollars through FedEx. Anyway, you have good point. By the way, I am not that much educated or highly intellectual, never claimed to be, I am 23 years old and just finished my bachelor from State University of New York and working for a Bell Corporation. So I am very normal guy. Certainly, you are smartest among others. Have fun.

BD_NewYorker
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/18/04 at 08:02:04 »

Jaan, listen Cockroach, if you say one more word, I will start vomit. Yaaaaaaak ;D

Waleed
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/18/04 at 13:22:03 »

Dear BD_NewYorker
What i wrote its check by yourself if really you are in USA. About me i am poor in Language & english as well as & i am comeing soon to you to learn from you gentleman.
I don't think who did bachelor he can write such language accept his background is from Postitutes family.
About India you don't know anything so pls, stop your business its not B.........D..............

BD_NewYorker_re_pita-De
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/18/04 at 15:42:52 »

Halar Hala,

Visa loiya gesle ni New Yorko?

Your rants about Indian Muslims notwithstanding, here is where you stand in the Muslim hierarchy worldwide. In Indian cinema, Mithunda was known as the poor man's Amitabh. Govinda was known as the poor man's Mithun.

As an analogy, you are the Govinda of the Jehadi terrorists. The scumbags everywhere - In South Asia (even in goddamn Karachi - how the fuck do you Bangladeshis land up in Karachi or under a flyover in Delhi I don't understand), in UK and other European countries and even in New York.

New York! In the taxi drivers order, the Bangladeshis are the pits. The scumbags amongst taxi drivers.

The first thing you need to do is to go back and cut off the dicks of yourself and all your brothers. And yes, your fathers and grandfathers too. Perhaps. At the rate you guys breed, you give even the rabbits a run for their money.

The scumbag of rabbits!

Hell, yeah!

DD
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/18/04 at 23:58:44 »

Hi Dog (BD_Newyorker),
You seem to be postig your fu**ed up replies too often. Are you having some itching in your half cut di*k? Just cut it off fully and don't come back to this place again.

symphonus
Guest

All all of you!A sincere request friend!
«on: 12/20/04 at 14:39:20 »

Well this is the first time I am visited this site and become aware that a site like this do exist! Well then I have gone thru a number of posts and really liked to c that well something is happeening!

But B'live me although I don't agree with much of what has been proposed and discussed, yet I feel that there is really something out there in all of you people,something which shows presence of good thoughts and composures!

Sometimes it happens that we are indulged much towards ourselves and our identities that we forget what we have contribute towards the welfare of the world in terms of our work in helping the world to reach a destinition in reasonable timeframe,to reach a destinition which shows presence of a commmunity in this world which demands themselves to be the greatest creation of the Almightly.

Frankly friends,well we have to fight for identities but one should never nurture hates towards any community as a whole. So,whether we are christian,Hindu,Mulsims,Jews or whether we are indian,pakistanis,bagladeshis or american or iraqi...the socio-economic conflict along with the political separation in approach and disagreement on issues at country level or community level should never enforce moral bias in us towards a whole community. What I want to suggest is that although hate is human nature one should prevent its developmet within one's mindset,proving that there are other human qualities which are more piowerful than it.

Again we should never forget that till we are human the same blood flows through all our nerves, we act to emotions and situation in similiar ways. We have negative qualities in us but finally it is the positive qualities in us that still maintains the world as a place to live on.

And so many thoughts will follow......

And well I am thankful to all you people that these thjoughts were generated after ging through your posts only.

Strange! it might sound! but all these thoughts comes after seeing all these posts! I am really unhappy to see the way in which we are reacting to the posts of BD_New yorker.

Friends!I suggest !Stop reacting to his POSTS! He will stop automatically! And one more thing, his are the posts ! which don't deserve any attention! At least from people like you who have good thoughts in mind and precious time to spare! And I know I don't have to request to you more!

Please understand that your personal values doesn't get lowered in ignoring things like this,rather in doing so you may find a god lot of pleasure within yourself in that u are able to ignore something that really wastage in time and energy to pay attention for.

And again I am not asking to Boycott BD_Newyorker, What I am asking is,stop reacting to his thought or ideas. And friends we have to help people like him to come over a taruma and a mental stage which I don't know but forcing him to act in that way!

Probably a sense is lost reagarding the destiny of human life and this is true not for him only. Millions of rathers might be going through this kind of stage!

So friends!Let us first help him and outselves by ignoring his thoughts for the moment being!

We will discuss other topics later on.
Thanking you.

reallyconcerned
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/21/04 at 13:23:27 »

its a shame on kicking one's own back. And u ...who told that sylhetis have nothing to contribute. Don't forgetThe great R.Tagore. Just go back to ur basics ...is he not from East Bengal. Shame on u all guys out there makinging fun of ur brother. If not, instead of praising and boasting which Bongs are known for, do something fruitful

sidney
Guest

Re: Do we have any identity ???
«on: 12/24/04 at 11:41:32 »

One African (Botswana) boy exclaimed on the stage in the auditorium attended by the distingudised people in D.C. area - "We are the same". After a few days he died from HIV (AIDS). He knew the death beforehand, but didn't show fear or bewilderness on his face. What he meant is that we are not much different than the rest of the world though we were born into the community with noticeable distinct in language, culture, religion, political preference and something else. The sick people can not see any distinction when they are so weak and can not think of anything in the world but just want help from whoever (regardless of their origin) can come to their rescue. Likewise, in the extreme situation like natural disaster, plague, famine etc, we should put any difference in politics, religion or identity aside, embrace together and fight for survival. In the present world, the people are talking about politics or glorifying their own cultures and religions. It's alright as long as nothing is happening. We already saw floods, firestorms, SAR virus, mad cows and more. Something dreadful may be in the work. So, we should think about preparing ourselves for any event (better or worse) and ways and means to prevent them. The bottom line is politics or religion can not do anything to help sick or unfortunate people, but we as human beings can.