Homen Borgohain is one of the people who played the role of a guardian and guide in Assamese national people’s life from the 20th century to the 21st century. Homen Borgohain played an immense role in developing Positive and intellectual thought across Assam through editing various popular and highquality magazines in parallel with successfully introducing national literature to the world with creative and rich writings. The life, work, thoughts and ideals of Homen Borgohain, who made an important contribution to the literary culture, news, etc., of Assam not only inspired Assam and Assamese, but also made public life fruitful as a guide in the search for the right path of life. Homen Borgohain, a strong personality and high-thinking officer, was a literary, educationist, intellectual, journalist as well as a devoted social worker.
Biography of Homen Borgohain
| Name | Homen Borgohain[1] |
| Date of Birth | December 7, 1932 |
| Place of Birth | Dhakuwakhana, Baligaon |
| Father | Indradhar Borgohain |
| Mother | Aita Borgohain |
| Education | 1/ Dibrugarh Government Boys School 2/ Cotton College |
| Awards | 1/ Assam Publishing Council Award (1977) 2/ Sahitya Akademi Award (1978) 3/ Assam Valley Literature Award (1992) 4/ Harnath Ghosh Medal (2000) 5/ Nilmani Phukan Award 6/ Journalist’s Lakshminath Phukan Award (2000) 7/ Jayakrishna Ramdayal Award (2002) 8/ Shrimant Shankardeva Award (2007) 9/ Matsandra Nath Award (2015) 10/ Sadin-Daily Group’s ‘Lifelong Sadhana’ Award (2019) |
| Death | May 12,2021 |
Early life:
Homen Bargohain was born on December 7, 1932 in Baligaon near Sariskia river in Dhakuwakhana in undivided Lakhimpur district. His father’s name was Indradhar Bargohain and his mother’s name was Aita Bargohain.
Homen Bargohain passed the entrance examination in the first division in 1950 from Dibrugarh Government High School after taking up primary and medium school education. After subsequently passing the ISC (Intermediate Science) examination in 1952 from cotton college in first division, he graduated from Cotton College in 1954 with a second class honors in English subjects.
Also Read : Biography of Nilmani Phookan
Career
It was only after completing his graduation that Homen Borgohain joined the teaching profession and taught at Dhakuwakhana Higher Secondary School. But after teaching for a few days, he passed the Assam Administrative Service examination in 1955 and joined the government job as an SDC. But after bitter and sweet experiences, he gave resignation from full job in 1968.
Importantly, after giving resignation as an SDC, Homen Borgohain took over as the founding editor of a paper called ‘Weekly Nilachal’ and served in this paper till 1977. He later took over as the founding editor of a paper called ‘Weekly Citizen’. In 1980, Homen Borgohain took over the editing of a paper called ‘Lokayat’. Later he was subsequently appointed as a special representative of the North East in a daily Bengali newspaper ‘Aajkal’ published from Kolkata in 1981. Homen Bargohain then took over as the founding editor of three magazines at the same time. The magazines are- ‘Samakal’ (1987), ‘Sutradhar’ (1989) And ‘Kishore’ (1991). He later took over as editor of Assam Bani in 1993. He resigned as an editor of Assam Bani in 1997 and took over as the founding editor of a daily paper called ‘Amar Assam’. In 2004, he resigned as editor of Our Assam Paper and took over as the founding editor of the Assamese daily paper ‘Dainik Samachar’. He resigned from the daily newspaper in 2005 and took over as the founding editor of the fortnightly thought literary magazine ‘Satsari’ for a few days followed by Homen Borgohain in 2006, again took over as the editor-in-chief of Our Assam paper. Homen Borgohain served as the editor-in-chief of the ‘Niyomia Barta’ paper till his death in 2015. He also took root in the ‘Mukhamukhi’ show that aired before satellite channel ‘News Live’ and also took the lead in News Live’s ‘Katha-Barta’ programmed till his death.
For the deep and comprehensive study of Homen Borgohain, who has spent nearly 50 years in journalism, exploring the practical aspects of the study and applying it to work, coordinating basic thinking, etc. He continued to shine as a voter star in the news world of Assam. He also enriched news literature. His efforts added creativity to the journalism profession in Assam
Literary Works
Short stories
Homen Borgohain who picked up a pen while studying in primary school, his first short story “Abeli Alibat’s Song” was published in Cotton College mouthpiece Cottonian. Borgohain’s first collection of stories with which he made the Assamese literature store wealthy is- ‘Various/Bivhina Chorus’ published in 1955. In addition, his published story collections are: ‘For Love and Death/Prem Aru Mrityur Karone ‘ (1958), ‘Stories and Designs’ (1966), ‘Swapna Smriti Bishad’ (1989), ‘Luminous Consciousness of Existence/Ashtitar Jyotirmoye Cetana‘ (Editing, Tirtha Phukan, 1991).
Novel
A total of twelve novels have been published by Homen Borgohain as a novelist from 1963 to 2003. These are: ‘Subala’ (1963), ‘Tantric’ (1967), ‘Kushilav’ (1970), ‘Haladhiya Sarai Baudhan Khai’ (1973), ‘Pita Putra’ (1975), ‘Timir Tirtha’ (1975), ‘Astarag’ (1986), ‘Matsyagandha’ (1987), ‘Haodar Puiteke Nau Meli Jai (1987), ‘Nisangata’ (2000), ‘Bikhannata/Depression’ (2002), ‘One Day Diary’(2003). In addition, a novel titled “Puwar Purvi Sandhya Vibhas” written by Homen Borgohain together with Nirupama Bargohain was published in 1971.
Poetry
Borgohain’s only collection of poems is ‘Haimanthi’ published in 1987.
Autobiographical book
Homen Borgiohain’s strong personality is also reflected in the autobiographical notes and autobiographical books written by Homen Bargohain. His autobiographical books are: ‘Atmanuhandhan’ (1988), ‘My Journalist Life’ (1989), ‘Storm and Rainbow’ (Part I 1997 and ‘Part II’ 1998), ‘My heart is a battlefield’.
Other compositions
Apart from stories, novels, various works written by Homen Borgohain have been a concern in the readership for decades. These are: ‘Jigyasha, ‘In Search of Joy and Pain’, ‘Dhuhar Diganta’, ‘Itihahar Hakhi/Witness history ‘, ‘Heaven and Hell’, ‘The sweetest time of life’, ‘Happiness and Sorrow’, ‘Jibabnar Hadhana/Pursuit of Life ‘, ‘Pathakar Tukabohi’, ‘The Pursuit of Wisdom ‘, ‘Atma o Deepo Bhava’, ‘Katha-Barta’, ‘Aamak Kitap Lage/We need books’, ‘Diverse experiences and feelings’, ‘What do we want from life’, ‘Source of endless inspiration – Nu e Pestoor’, ‘My favorite man Socrates’ etc.
Homen Borgohain also wrote various books to promote the mental excellence of the students. These are: ‘The joy of reading books‘, ‘Pride of being human‘, ‘Benjamin Franklin’ etc.
Notable books edited by Homan Borgohain are: ‘Assamese literature of the 20th Century‘, ‘Assamese Story Collection’ (Part I and II), ‘History of Assamese Literature’ (Part VI), ‘Assamese Love Poems’ (jointly), ‘Prose Pursuits’, ‘Malik/Owner’, ‘100 years of Assamese poetry’ etc.
Drama Literature
The one-act-play written by Homen Borgohain who has also contributed to the field of drama literature is: ‘Ratanpur Evening’ and ‘Not by Brad Alone’. Apart from this, the Anatar drama he wrote is ‘Sudden Evening’.
Importantly, Borgohain held the charge as a president of Assam Sahitya Sabha at the Dibrugarh session in 2001. And held the charge of president at the 2002 in Kalgachiya session. During his tenure as president, Homen Bargohain took over the initiative and published ‘Encyclopedia’ and ‘Vigyan Kosh’ from the Assam Sahitya Sabha.
The literary works of Homen Borgohain are not confined to Assamese language alone. These are translated into English language as well as other Indian languages. Homen Borgohain’s novel ‘Antarag’ has been translated into English, Oriya, Hindi, Nepali, Boro and Bengali. His novel ‘Matsyagandha’ is translated into Hindi and Nepali. Apart from this the novel ‘Pita Putra’ has been translated into a total of 21 Indian languages including English and Hindi. The short stories of Homen Bargohain have also been translated into various Indian languages.
His Doings
Homen Borgohain, who has been awarded various awards for his creative talent, won the Assam Publishing Council award in 1977 for his novel ‘Pita Putra’ and Sahitya Akademi Award for this novel in 1978. In 1992, Homen Bargohain received the Assam Valley Literature Award for his contribution to Assamese literature. Apart from this, the Awards he received are Jayakrishna Ramdayal Award, Shrimanta Shankardeva Award, Harnath Ghosh Medal etc.
Conclusion
The birthday of Homen Borgohain, a living library of Assamese literature, is celebrated as ‘Pragya’s Day’ on December 7. Homen Borgohain, who has been engaged in the service of Assamese literature and the news world for nearly five decades, was diagnosed with the Covid 19 epidemic disease and died on May 12, 2021 at the age of 88.
FAQ
1. When and where was Homen Borgohain born?
Ans: Homen Borgohain was born on 7th of December 1932 at Dhakuwakhana, Baligaon Assam.
2. When did Homen Borgohain was awardad with Sahitya Akademi Award and why?
Ans: Homen Borgohain was awarded with Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese language in 1978, for his novel ‘Pita Putra.’
3. Name some of his notable works?
Ans: Some of his notable works are- ‘Pita Putra’, ‘Dhumuha aru Ramdhenu’, ‘Atmanusandhan’, ‘Matsyagandha’ etc.
4. What is the only collection of poems of Homen Borgohain and when was it published?
Ans: Borgohain’s only collection of poems is ‘Haimanthi’ published in 1987.
5. When we celebrate ‘Pragya’s Day’?
Ans: The birthday of Homen Borgohain a living library of of Assamese literature, is celebrated as ‘Pragya’s Day’ on December 7.
6. When did Homen Borgohain died?
Ans: Homen Borgohain passed away on May 12,2021 at the age of 88, due to covid 19.
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