Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture, Guwahati organised the First Minati Hazarika Endowment Lecture – 2013 on Wednesday, 10 April, 2013 at 5.30 pm. in the Williamson Magor Auditorium of the Institute at Uzan Bazar, MG Road, Guwahati.
The lecture was delivered by Prof. Nagen Saikia, Noted Scholar & Former President, Asom Sahitya Sabha on Jibon Bikshya: Prachya aru Paschattya (Outlook towards Life: East and West). In his lecture, Prof. Saikia said that human beings have always been intrigued with the origin and purpose of this universe and about life itself. Human civilisation flourished when man learnt to control the forces of nature through his intelligence and as a result the world has become a global village. Certain rules, beliefs, faiths, customs, etc. have gradually taken the form of religion.
Prof. Saikia discussed about the development of both the Oriental and Western view on life in a detailed manner. According to him, the Indian view of life is based on the teachings of the Upanishads that methodologically searched the ultimate cause of creation of the life and the universe and arrived at “Brahman”. The Indian view of life does not discard earthly life, but it goes beyond.
On the other hand the Western view of life gives more emphasis on the earthly life and it teache to serve the beings to make their life peaceful and free from sufferings. Though there is no conflict between the two, yet the ways are different in spirit.
Earlier in the evening, Shri Dipok Kumar Barthakur, Chairman, VKIC delivered the Welcome Address and talked about the background of this lecture series. The Guest of Honour, Dr. Minati Hazarika also spoke on the purpose of choosing VKIC for initiating the lecture series and hopes that this lecture series will be beneficial to the society in the long run. She also thanked VKIC for its support in this endeavour.
The programme ended with a fruitful interactive session. The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Smti. Bibha Choudhury, Karyakarta, VKIC
