ANNUAL REPORT OF LOOITPORIA- HYDERABAD ASSAM ASSOCIATION
HELD ON APRIL 2ND, 2017 AT RAVINDRA BHARATI, HYDERABAD
Last year after a long gap in between Looitporia – Assamese Association in Hyderabad, had its annual meeting on 3rd of April 2016 to form a new executive body to run the association actively. Since then the current executive body came into existence and started functioning. The executive body was a mix of young & enthusiastic guys and middle aged “Burahs”. The year gone by was a successful one for the association in all respect. You all will surely agree with me today that after a few years of silence, this committee has brought life to the celebration of various Assamese cultural activities in Hyderabad by the Assamese people. And these could happened because of over whelming support from all you Assamese people residing in Hyderabad . So, in the last year we had a nice combination of energitic EB members and excited Looitporians in Hyderabad . And we the Assamese people are successful in putting our acts together
Events :
To mark the beginning of its activities, newly formed committee had jumped into actions to celebrate Rongali Bihu in less than a month’s time. Though time was limited, all arrangement were smooth at the hand of capable guys. From arranging the venue, to invite artist, to contact TV channel, to practice all the cultural event from Satriya Nitya to Husari was a fun when all came out with one intension of celebrating the spring festival at Nizam place away from home. Rongali Bihu celebration turned out to be a great success with the support from the all the Assamese people in Hyderabad. Probably the biggest ever Bihu celebration in Hyderabad with close to 250 people attending the celebration and that too with live telecast . To be true, it was much beyond the expectation of the committee but the “Bihu spirit” of every one resulted into a well managed show. Success of the Bihu celebration brought immense confidence to the association and helped looitporia to think seriously for the development of Assamese culture and contribute to the society. On the financial aspect the collection for Rongali bihu was actually little less than the expenses.
Second event was Sankardev Tithi on 3rd Sept. This time the looitporian ladies came out to take the responsibility and organised the event. “Nam Kirtan” and “Nagara Nam” made everyone feel at home for a moment; as if we were in Assam and not in Telengana . Though it was initially planned as a small event, contribution from every one and well planned efforts of the ladies made it an event to remember. Looitporia Husori dol in a very short notice participated in the Cultural event of 15th august Independence day celebration of FM Radio. On public demand group had to perform twice. This event was in Inorbit mall and was covered in the local newspapers. Again, on request from cultural department of Telengana Govt. we participated in the cultural program of the National Craft Mela in Shilparamam . Bihu dance, Nagara nam, Husori were performed apart from putting up Assamese food stalls wherein assamese traditional snacks like “pitha”,”ladudu” etc were showcased. As we were busy in all these activities we realised that 2016 is coming to its end and time for Magh Bihu has come . Society has decided to have Magh Bihu Bhoj in such a manner that all people together enjoy a bhogali feast with “mukali bihu”, “Meji”, traditional games and cultural activities. Bihu dance and bihu song by local artist were the main attraction. For all these we needed a venue which is naturally suitable for the Bhogali Bihu Celebration. Accordingly, a farm house on the bank of the waterbody in Lanco Hills with all required facilities was opted for the event. Again like the earlier events there was profound response & participation from the Luitporians in the Bhogali bihu celebration. To add to the Bihu spirit few ladies had put up stalls for Assamese authentic dishes, “bihu Pithas” and traditional assamese dresses. On the financial aspect committee could save a little amount in this event from the collection which added to the corpus fund.
Other Activities :
A web site has been in place as looitporia.in, but it needs a regular update wherein we are falling behind but the committee is looking into it to resolve. So far, our competent Executive Body members are maintaining it but we need to find a way forward for a sustainable model. Looitporia currently has a FB group by the name Looitporia , there are many groups by Assamese people in Hyderabad but this is the only official group of ours .Similarly with the current name “Looitporia -official” the WA group is the official group only for the people who have done their membership registration. We also have one more WA group open to each and every Assamese people in Hyderabad by name “AXOM in Hyderabad “ Membership drive was the uphill task for the society and it remained so till now. We are looking for more and more people not only to participate in the events but at the same time do membership registration paying a nominal amount. To run a society smoothly we require a fund and at this moment membership fees is the only way of generating a corpus fund. So it is imperative that everyone contribute through the membership registration. We urge you all to take membership at the earliest possible. Needless to say that a financially strong society can only serve efficiently & in a better way. We need support from all of you in this. Also, we are open and grateful to them who would like to make donation to the association. To take care of the society registration and other statuary requirements, a CA farm has been appointed.
Thoughts :
We understand that there are many more things to do in the coming years and we need to gear up for the same . As an endeavour towards that we feel some more things to be carried out. First of all - The EB was very small in size and we wish to include more members into the EB, so those who can actively contribute to the association and can take out little time from his/her busy schedule to devote for the association should come forward to help and run the association. It is just sharing of little responsibilities and nothing more than that. Association can also lookout for activities like Helping Assamese people coming from Assam for treatment, studies and jobs etc. Also help them in finding suitable accommodation and other requirements in a new place. A sustainable model of execution for these to be worked out in due course if society intend upon doing these things. Hyderabad has a potential to have a cultural and tourism information centre of Assam and Northeast for entire south India so that more and more people come to know about our culture and also tourism in Assam improve at the same time. Looitporia can leverage on this aspect & definitely take steps towards it. For the children and young generation who are brought up outside Assam - looitporia can conduct workshops or summer camps or periodic classes to educate them about our rich culture, language and heritage so that they get an opportunity to know about the culture of their homeland. Currently we do not have an organised written down activity calendar .We also do not have a wish list formulated. We can bring in these and also at the same time have a year wise budget if needed in future. We can also think of a long term plan for Looitporia as well. We have a separate financial status report which we are presenting to you after this. This report will be incomplete if I do not thank each & every fellow members. The enthusiasm they have to work for the association was the secret of our success . Each and every one has contributed in their own ways during the year. I thank them today from the bottom of my heart. Last but not the least, Looitporia is by the Assamese people and for the Assamese people.Without the support and participation of the Assamese people of Hyderabad Looitporia will not be there . So dear Looitporians, you are the one who is responsible for its success. Take the pride of being a Looitporian and take forward this socio cultural journey ………………. .