Assam: 5th Zamira Begum Rahman Memorial Lecture Held

The Fifth Zamira Begum Rahman Memorial Lecture was delivered by a senior IPS officer, Diganta Barah. Barah addressed the students of Siksha Mandir Senior Secondary school of Biswanath Chariali on the topic, "Choosing a Career" through an online meeting.

In his speech, Barah tried to inspire the young minds to think big and try to compete in the all-India competitive examinations by overcoming all kinds of fear and apprehension. "Nowadays, it's easy to get information through the internet. Students should try to make the best use of these facilities," he added.

Barah, a 2004-batch IPS officer, is currently posted as the Secretary to the Government of Assam, Department of Home and Political. Hailing from a remote village, Mikir Bora Chuk, Kalabari in Assam's Biswanath Chariali, he rose from humble beginnings and pursued higher studies in the country's capital, New Delhi. Barah said, "It was not easy for me to come out of my small village to Guwahati and then go on to Delhi. I had to overcome a lot of my inhibitions but I did not give up. We should all strive to overcome our fears and learn to be confident in whatever we do."

The annual lecture was held in memory of the late Zamira Begum Rahman, an educationist and a naturalist try to reach out to students in remote and rural schools. This year, the session was moderated by Dr. Darshana Goswami, Assistant Professor, Nalbari College. Nakul Kurmi, an educationist of Sonitpur district said, "I am happy to be associated with such a noble initiative."

Late Zamira Begum Rahman completed her BA (Hons) in Education from St. Mary's College, Shillong in 1965, she did her BT from Gauhati University in 1967 from the Post-Graduate Training College, Shillong. She was the headmistress of Sumer High School, Meghalaya, and later joined CTPS high School, Chandrapur, Assam. She was an active member of Sumer Mahila Samiti.

The students interacted with Barah and asked questions about their future and career. "I plan to visit more such rural schools and talk to them about career opportunities,'" said Barah.  The online lecture session was attended by several prominent personalities like police officer Numal Mahatta, Journalist Teresa Rehman, Nayama Ahmed, Chinmoyee Talukdar, Anindita Das, Dr. Diptarup Chaudhary.

"Barah spoke from his heart, the struggles that he went through, the challenges that he faced, and told us that how inspite of several failures he did not give up and lose hope," said Ghazala Roy of Tagore International School, New Delhi.

"His approach was thought-provoking. He went back to his past memories, putting them up in the raw natural form to make them useful for the present. While his 'story-telling' narration of events makes one relive one's own journey of life. His journey from his schooling to the person he is today is inspiring. The session was the need of the hour, especially after the COVID scenario. I am sure just like me, the rest of the audience drew valuable insights from the session," said Nafisha Younus, Ph.D. scholar, Gauhati University.

Among the guests present was bureaucrat, Mehbooba Begum.