HAIL HOWLY BY
SWAPNANIL BARUA
The old red bus on its long journey to dhubri would come to a welcome halt in a serene midway station. A small place with a few shops and one hotel that was about it all in the place. The passengers seemed to get relieved as soon as they crossed the Beki on one side or the iterveta bridge on the other, all in keen anticipation of a good cup of tea to cheer up the drab journey and stretch the aching backs. Although the place was small ,the service was very efficient. But the prime attraction seemed to be the neatness and the lovely squash and jams of H.M.S.S. Little did I know then that this co-operative established by some enterprising people of the town, had put up a food processing plant which produced national quality goods. Years later when I went looking for the plant and its excellent produce, I could not but shed a silent tear in the premature death of this path breaking enterprise in this remote corner of the state. It just gives an indication of the farsightedness of those pioneers who could dream big in those days, a quality which has now disappeared from Assam. It was this group of pioneers who even thought of a jute mill in this small town, which can only speak of the lion’s heart of these giants, whom time has perhaps has not given them their due share. The futuristic mind of the people of howly was again shown in the desire for higher education in the area. The imposing façade of B.H.College (which for many years I knew as Bhupen Hazarika college) was a beacon of hope and enlightment in the lonely stretch of the highway of mind and matter. As the deputy commissioner of Barpeta, I had to good fortune to be associated with the affairs of the institution, which over the years has carved out a niche for itself as one of the leading educational institutions of the state. Where could one see an institution nurtured by the dedication of its founder principal sri Satya Nath Das, to spread across a sprawling campus, with all the three streams of education and all facilities for devoloping the mind and body? The auditorium will be an object of envy of any institution in the country. The level of education and the prevailing discipline in the institution speaks volumes of the teachers and the student alike. Howly has a unique culture of silent activities running through it. Every thing good or bad keep going on in a silent mood.
A mini stadium is coming into being in a silent manner, a little at a time, but some devolopment is always discernable after some time. The ‘Namghar’ and ‘raas khoala’ has some activity going on every year and the complex has taken shape in the last few year’s silently. Even the Howly Club has progressed to it’s own house in a silent manner and continues with its social work and wonderful evenings in a silent manner. No one knows the volume of transaction in the supari trade in the area; silent, but deep. The unveiling of the “Manomati Stambha” is another silent act that I remember. The cultural evenings of the Chandi Baruah Hall are getting to be more frequent over the years, which is providing a melting pot for the culture of the future, as an amalgam of its Assamese, tribal and neo-assamese inhabitants. The multi-religious particularly the endless cues in the “Ras festival celebration is something to be seen, where tribal and immigrant population contributes in the largest numbers, to an unending crouds. The history of howly has laid the foundation of Assam’s Literary history, especially the Assamese novel which originated in the now derelict inspection Bungalow of Halapakuri, in the pen of Sahitya Samrat Bordolai, in the form of ‘manomati’ at the turn of the last century. It is this sense of history and the pulls of the tradition of the place that lends an aesthetic milieu into the life of living of the people of the area, indicated by its neat flower gardens, kitchen gardens full of seasonal fruits and vegetables, a commonality which run through even the villages in the neighboring areas. The love for a higher standards in living and learning has made Howly an institutional area with a DIET, a Basic Training College, a DPEP resource center, a Navodaya Vidyalaya, a Regional Fishery Training Center, many Computer education centers, a Theological Jamia Islamia, a Junior College , not a speak of 50 year plus girls and boys high schools and many more educational institutions. And which town can boast of flower nursery when there are not even a hundred houses in the whole town. As a govt, institutional area also perhaps no small town can boust of two battalion head quarters (APTF & SSB), a Muga Firm, two veterinary farms, a Frozen Semen plant an industrial estate, FCI godowns, a hospital complex and the largest numbers of Kisan Credit Cards in the whole state. Perhaps the most stricking feature of the town and its neighboring villages that it is a last post office of the both Kamrupi and Goalporia culture, that lends a unique nature to its people.
To an outsider, the people of Howly have the simplicity and straight forwardness of the goalporia and also the enterprise and futuristic outlook of the kamrupia. The pacific influence of the Vaishnavite and Islamic culture also gives its people a warm an open heart, to accept all, and to live together by giving a little taking a little. May this spirit foster a new generation, which will raise Howly to the height of heydays of Chandi Barua.
