By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The North East Zonal Cultural Centre (NEZCC) in collaboration with the family members of late Verrier Elwin, a celebrated anthropologist who has written the most extensive accounts of the life of tribals across India, on Wednesday released a book of poems written by Elwin at Book Mark, Nongrim Hills on Wednesday.
Speaking at the release function, NEZCC Director Som Kamei said this project was taken up to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Centre.
“ As part of our silver jubilee activity, I felt that we should pay tribute to intellectuals and all those involved in the work of preserving tribal art, craft and artifacts. We owe a lot to Verrier Elwin about how we perceive ourselves and how the North East is understood by the outside world,” Kamei said, adding that he would like to set up an Elwin museum at the NEZCC Guwahati to conserve the huge collection of artifacts of the anthropologist.
Earlier, Dr AS Guha of IGNOU Institute for Vocational Education and Training (IIVET) who reviewed Elwin’s poems played glowing tributes to the ‘philanthropologist’ who he said articulated his multi-layered pathos with love as the abiding philosophy.
Guha also praised Elwin’s daunting foray into the world of literature.
The function attended by a few invitees is the second of its kind. Earlier, Bijoya Sawian also had a reading of her book “Shadow Men” at Book Mark, owned by book enthusiast Sambha Lamarr.