“Jolpan”, “Reels” and Life!
If language is a constantly flowing river, then the words spoken in Assam have always flowed with two strong currents, namely, heritage and change. In the 1990s, a Guwahati kid’s day hummed with “ jolpan ” and “ suburi ,” “STD/PCO booth” and “pen friend”. Today, the same city shrieks with “reels”, “streaks” and “DMs". And meanwhile, “Rongali Bihu” becomes “Bihu vibe” in Instagram captions! This is the story of how vocabulary, and with it, worldviews, shifted for Assamese kids from the 90s to today. In the 90s, a vocabulary of nearness existed. The 90s lexicon was tactile, clear and local. It smelt of wet earth after a “ boroxun ” (downpour), tasted of “ til pitha ”, " kaata nimki " and “ laru ,” and rang with words passed around by cousins and neighbours. The daily life of fossilized specimen like yours truly was filled up with words like “ aita ” (grandmother), “ koka ” (grandfather), “ aajori ” (leisure), “ godhuli ” (twili...
