Ankush Saikia (born 1975 in Tezpur, Assam [1] ) is an Indian author. [2] He grew up in Madison, Wisconsin; Assam; and Shillong, Meghalaya. [3] Saikia has previously worked as a journalist at India Today , indiaabroad.com, and Express India , and as a senior editor in the publishing firm Dorling Kindersley (India). [4] [5]
He was shortlisted for the Outlook–Picador India non-fiction writing award (2005), and was one of the recipients of the Shanghai Writers' Association's 2018 fellowships. [6] He has also written features and long-form pieces (mostly on North East India) for Tehelka, Scroll.in, Hindustan Times, fountainink.in, The Caravan, Assam Tribune, Eclectic Northeast, DailyO, Indian Express, The Hindu etc. [7]
His 8th book, The Forest Beneath the Mountains, an environmental novel set along the borderlands of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in North-East India, and his 9th book, Tears of the Dragon (the 4th book in the Detective Arjun Arora series), were both published by Speaking Tiger Books, in March 2021 and February 2023, respectively.
Assam is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of 78,438 km2 (30,285 sq mi). It is the second largest state in northeastern India by area and the largest in terms of population. The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur to the east; Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Bangladesh to the south; and West Bengal to the west via the Siliguri Corridor, a 22-kilometre-wide (14 mi) strip of land that connects the state to the rest of India. Assamese and Boro are the official languages of Assam. Meitei (Manipuri) is the official language of Hojai district and the entirety of the Barak Valley districts, while Bengali is an official language in the three districts of Barak Valley.
Northeast India, officially known as the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, and the "brother" state of Sikkim.
Boro, also called Bodo, is an ethnolinguistic group native to the state of Assam in India. They are a part of the greater Bodo-Kachari family of ethnolinguistic groups and are spread across northeastern India. They are concentrated mainly in the Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam, though Boros inhabit all other districts of Assam and Meghalaya.
Tehelka is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper The Independent, the Tehelka was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and another colleague who worked together at the Outlook magazine after "an investor with deep pockets" agreed to underwrite their startup. Bahal left Tehelka in 2005 to start Cobrapost – an Indian news website, after which Tehelka was managed by Tejpal through 2013. In 2013, Tejpal stepped aside from Tehelka after being accused of sexual assault by his employee. Tehelka had cumulative losses of ₹66 crore (US$8.3 million) till 2013, while being majority owned and financed by Kanwar Deep Singh – an industrialist, a politician and a member of Indian parliament.
Golaghat one of the largest subdivisions of the Indian state of Assam, later elevated to the position of a full–fledged district headquarter on 5 October 1987, is a city and a municipality and the seat of administrative operations of Golaghat district, besides being a twin city to Jorhat which is about 55 km away. It is one of the oldest urban areas in Assam that recently featured on the Smart Cities nominations list, along with Guwahati and four other prominent urban areas of the state; although losing out to Guwahati at the final stage. The Dhansiri, one of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra, passes through Golaghat and is the primary water source for its citizens.
Oil India Limited (OIL) is a central public sector undertaking engaged in the business of exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas, transportation of crude oil and production of liquid petroleum gas. The central public sector undertaking is a Maharatna, with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas overseeing its operations. Headquartered in Duliajan, Assam, the company has its offices in Duliajan, Noida, Guwahati and Jodhpur.
The Assam Valley Literary Award was conceived in the year 1990 by Williamson Magor Education Trust to honour creative writers who have enhanced Assamese literature.
The Nellie massacre took place in central Assam during a six-hour period on the morning of 18 February 1983. The massacre claimed the lives of 1,600–2,000 people from 14 villages—Alisingha, Khulapathar, Basundhari, Bugduba Beel, Bugduba Habi, Borjola, Butuni, Dongabori, Indurmari, Mati Parbat, Muladhari, Mati Parbat no. 8, Silbheta, Borburi and Nellie—of Nagaon district. The victims were Muslim of Bengali origin. Three media personnel—Hemendra Narayan of The Indian Express, Bedabrata Lahkar of The Assam Tribune and Sharma of ABC—were witnesses to the massacre.
Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic and writer. A chemical engineering graduate with no formal training in filmmaking or cinema writing, he has had a diverse career in advertising, IT consulting, and cinema writing. He has authored two books on Indian cinema, written for The New Indian Express, The Hindu, and Tehelka, and has been a screenwriter and teacher. As a film critic, Rangan won the Best Film Critic category at the 53rd National Film Awards in 2006. He was the editor of Film Companion South until 2022 and is a member of the Film Critics Circle of India. Rangan currently works as a critic and chief editor for Galatta Plus and runs a Spotify podcast Cinema With Baradwaj Rangan.
Literature from North East India (Assamese: উত্তৰ-পূৱ ভাৰতৰ সাহিত্য is literature in the languages of North East India and the body of work by English-language writers from this region. North East India is an under-represented region in many ways. The troubled political climate, the beautiful landscape and the confluence of various ethnic groups perhaps have given rise to a body of writing that is completely different from Indian English literature. North-East India was a colonial construct and continues to be one by virtue of having a historically difficult relationship with the Indian nation state.
Akhil Gogoi is an Indian peasant leader, RTI activist, and Member of Assam Legislative Assembly from Sibsagar since 2021. He is also the founder and president of Raijor Dal since 2020. Over the years he has been leading many anti-graft movements in the state. Gogoi came to national attention after he was awarded the Shanmugam Manjunath Integrity Award in 2008 for his relentless fight against corruption. In 2010, he was awarded the national Right to Information Award by Public Cause Research Foundation for his role in exposing a Rs. 12.5 million scam in Sampoorna Gram Rozgar Yojna in the Golaghat district of Assam. Gogoi is the founder Secretary of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS)- a left wing peasant organisation based in Assam.
Madhulika Liddle is an Indian writer best known for her books featuring 17th century Mughal detective Muzaffar Jang.
The Girl from Nongrim Hills is a 2013 fiction novel by Indian author Ankush Saikia. The book was first published on October 1, 2013, through Penguin India and is Saikia's second novel, following his 2007 book Jet City Woman and is his third published book.
Jatin Goswami is an Indian dancer and choreographer, known as one of the prominent exponents of the classical dance form of Sattriya. He is the founder director of Sattriya Akademi, Guwahati, a sitting member of its Advisory Committee, and a former member of the General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He is also the founder of Alok Shilpi Sangha, a dance academy and Pragjyoti Kala Parishad, a cultural organization, and is a recipient of the 2004 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for his contributions to Sattriya dance.
Dr. Hemoprova Saikia is an Indian politician who was the minister of handloom and textiles in the government of Assam from 2001 to 2006. She was a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly representing Nazira constituency from 1996 to 2006.She was also chairman of Assam Tourism Development Corporation. She was the wife of the former chief minister of Assam, Hiteswar Saikia, and her son Debabrata Saikia is leader of the opposition in the Assembly.
Dhirendra Nath Bezboruah is an Indian journalist, writer and the founder editor of The Sentinel, a Guwahati-based English language daily. Born in 1933 in the Jorhat district of the northeast Indian state of Assam, he started his career as a lecturer, after completing his post graduate studies at Reading University, UK. When The Sentinel daily was established in 1983, he was selected as the founder editor, a post he held for a number of years. He was associated with the Media Trust, Assam and was the working president of its celebration committee in 1992. The many books he has published from Assamese into English includes The Cavern and Other Stories, a short story anthology written by Bhabendra Nath Saikia. He received the B. D. Goenka Award for Journalism in 1997 and the Nachiketa Samman of Panchjanya weekly in 2001. He is also recipient of Katha Award for translation. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2016, for his contributions to literature.
Anurag Saikia is an Indian film score composer, music director, music producer and instrumentalist from Assam, India. He is one of the youngest composers to be awarded Rajat Kamal for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction for the film Yugadrashta.
Dilip Saikia is an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, from Mangaldoi in Assam in the 2019 Indian general election as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is currently the national General secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a former state Secretary and state organising secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad ABVP Assam Pradesh.
Parismita Singh is an Indian author, illustrator, graphic novelist, and educator. She is a founding member of the Pao Collective, and her work includes The Hotel at the End of the World, which was shortlisted for the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize and is one of the first graphic novels published in India. She is also the author and illustrator of the short story collection Peace Has Come.
2013 Jhankar Saikia Mob Lynching happened in Diphu town, Karbi Anglong district, Assam, in India on 25 June 2013 when Diphu College student Jhankar Saikia and his father, Haren Saikia, refused to pay an auto-rickshaw fare of Rs. 30, when the regular fare was Rs. 20, and were attacked by a mob as a result.