Guwahati, Jan. 21: An artisan from Sivasagar district has come forward with an ambitious plan of publishing 100 bamboo books.
Mohan Saikia, 51, from Na Nath village, has proved that bamboo is not only a source of income for the poor who eke out a living by making traditional objects but can also be used to create fanciful objects to grab urban customers.
With dexterity, Saikia has prepared pages for his books from kako bah (Dendrocalamus hamiltonii), a kind of bamboo used by Assamese craftsmen to make domestic objects like dola and saloni.
“When craftsmen in my village make domestic items from bamboo, they throw away the unused parts. I thought these could be used to make other things. So I started making replicas of Rangghar, Karenghar and others with the discarded parts and these started attracting customers,” he said. The Na Nath village in Sivasagar district is popular for its bamboo products, especially japi.
“I have made12 books and 10 of them were released by former president of Assam Sahitya Sabha, Nagen Saikia. Eighteen others are ready to be published at a convention of the All Assam State Science Committee to be held in Demow (in Sivasagar district) on January 22,” Saikia said.
He dreams of opening the world’s first bamboo library this year on the branches of a tree where all the bamboo books will be preserved. Readers and visitors will be able to reach it with a bamboo lift.
Cartoonist Nituparna Rajbongshi has drawn 20 big attractive cartoons in one of his books. “When Saikia suggested that I draw cartoons on bamboo, I was in a dilemma. It was something new,” he said, adding that he had never come across such a project in his 13 years of career.
Saikia has covered poetry, lyrics, two chapters of Kirtan Ghoxa, history of his village, Ahom literature and philosophy in his books. “Excluding the leaves and roots, every part of bamboo tree can be utilised,” he said.
“If utilised properly, a bamboo tree can generate anything between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000,” he added.
Saikia has organised several exhibitions of his products on in the state and received a good response.
