Cover of the book. Telegraph picture

Jorhat, Dec. 8: Srigyanamritam, from its cover, is just another book in Assamese recently released at a programme of the Jorhat branch of Asam Sahitya Sabha. But at the core it nurtures seeds of national integration.

Its author, Kosoru Buddhiraju Ramanasri, is not an Assamese but from Andhra Pradesh. One of the poems penned by her, Swagatam, Suswagatam Axom, beckons a visitor from outside the state to visit all the spots listed in the composition — from the well-known Kamakhya temple in Guwahati to the lesser known Ketekeswari temple in Tezpur.

Another poem makes a comparative study of the food, festivals and attire of Assam and Andhra Pradesh. Through short stories she explores the scientific basis of religious practices common to Assam and Andhra Pradesh as well as other parts of India.

This, however, is not Ramanasri’s first effort to bridge the gap between the two states — so diverse in language, culture and habits. Since she stepped into this state, as a young bride at 23 in 1980, her first task was to master the Assamese language. This she did at the behest of her grandfather, freedom fighter Attili Suryanarayana Murty, who had come to Assam along with Mahatma Gandhi in 1921 and taken back fond memories of Tezpur, Jorhat and Sivasagar, the three places he visited.

“When I came here to join my husband who is working in the North East Institute of Science of Technology (formerly Regional Research Laboratory), my grandfather gave me money to buy a mekhela sador and then asked me to learn the language and culture and work for national integration,” Ramanasri said. “It was very hard work as the only languages I knew were Telugu, Tamil and a smattering of Hindi. But I picked up fast, mimicking lip movements and learning the alphabets and grammar with help from my neighbours,” she added.

A masters in social work with specialisation in medical psychiatry from Andhra University, Ramanasri gave her first interview in Assamese on All India Radio, Dibrugarh, and followed this with two more talks in English on Education for National Integration and National Integration Education for International Understanding.

She was soon giving her first talk in Assamese on All India Radio, Jorhat, on how to cure common ailments from herbs and on how to opt for nutritious diet at a low cost. During trips back home, her talks in Telugu on AIR Vizag centred on Assamese society, a comparative study of the marriage rituals practised in both the states, and the Deori tribe and their customs. In a radio programme on AIR Hyderabad, she spoke on the Societal Role of an Assamese woman.

A graduate in Botany, plants, especially medicinal ones, have fascinated her. Here, too, she has mixed and matched recipes to come up with concoctions such as idli with vitamin C-rich carambola (kordoi) and coconut to make chutney instead of tamarind for a unique flavour which typifies both the states.

“It is difficult to make young children eat plants with medicinal value but rustle up something different with recipes taken from both the states and they gulp everything down,” she said.

An environmentalist and psychiatrist, Ramanasri has conducted innumerable workshops on environmental awareness in schools all over the state and on drug abuse and stress management of teenagers.