TURA: The Am’beng Magazine, the first of its kind written entirely in the Am’beng dialect was released recently by GHADC CEM, Dipul R Marak in an elaborate function held at the Garobadha Higher Secondary School premises in South West Garo Hills. The magazine release was attended by Silkigre MDC, Augustine R Marak as the Guest of Honour.
The magazine is the outcome of the efforts of a group in the social media Facebook called ‘Am’beng Ku’tok’ which was created by a few Am’beng elite friends to share their views and comments in the Am’beng dialect to ensure its preservation and to encourage the Am’beng youths from today to speak their mother tongue.
The motto of the magazine is ‘Ma·bitchrini Ku·rang Biambini Katta’ which literally means the ‘voice from the seed of a mother and the words of the creator’. The main objective of producing the magazine is to preserve Am·beng dialect in written form, so that the younger generation of Am·beng people, especially teenagers, can learn Am·beng language, its vocabulary, the sweetness of its tone and accent, and its richness and lexicology.
Speaking during the magazine release, GHADC CEM, Dipul R Marak, who also belongs to the Am’beng community spoke in his native dialect and extolled the leaders of Am·beng Kutok for their dedication and whole-hearted work in bringing out the Am·beng Magazine for the first time in the history of the Am’beng people. He urged the people belonging to the community to learn and understand their mother tongue before learning any other language so as to preserve it for future generations.
Guest of Honour and Silkigre MDC, Augustine R Marak spoke at length on how to value and love the mother tongue by citing the example from the high school text book, ‘The last Lesson’ by Alphonse Daudet where the teacher, M Hamel is to teach his last French lesson in the class, and the pupil, Franz sadly regretted for not paying attention to learn French, which is his mother tongue. He cautioned that likewise, Am’beng youths should not neglect their mother tongue or hesitate to speak it at home and in social gatherings.Editor of Am’beng Magazine, Rel Gokarek Rema spoke about the various problems that he and his editorial staff had to face in bringing out the magazine. He said that the release of the magazine is a proud moment for all Am·beng speaking people, who never before had the chance to read written Am·beng dialect other than speaking the same at home.