The Real Munin Barkotoki

The Real Munin Barkotoki

• Publisher: Tiger Print (10 October 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9389231655
• ISBN-13: 978-9389231656

In the tunnel of self criticism I often ask myself   “Am I an introvert or extrovert?”

Perhaps both!

What lead to such thoughts was nature of few friends. They are extremely talented creatively but gave it up just like this.  They are more talented than me, have more knowledge about the subject and start some project that could have been a unique masterpiece but they gave it up just like this!

I first observed the trait in few of my artist friend while working for some creative project in college. We had some goal, a deadline, burnt a lot of midnight oil in the project but they refuse to complete the work citing perfection. To us the work he finished is a masterpiece but the creator is not just happy with his work ….

Then I found many writer, musician, wild life enthusiast and   artist (off course!)  Who have abandoned project of high potential and continued with the journey itself. I feel pity why they are like this (In my search for exactitude I already declared that absolute perfection is pathetically comic even in the comic book.

Then I got information about this Graphic novel “The real Mr.Barkotoky”  because of two reason I got interested in the book as

1.      My name is involved with Mr. Munin Barkotoki as I happen to be recipient of the prestigious award named after him

2.      I was little invidious of the fact that something like graphic novel is coming out of Assam for the first time conceding my ambitious  planes about the genre .

Order in Amazon failed but luckily a gracious soul got to know it and sent me a personal copy. Good/bad thing about creative product is that you can peek into the creator’s soul. And in this book I could peek into two soul –one that of Mr. Munin Barkotoki (the real one) and of the author Shisir Basumatari. My inference both of them are perfectionist and introvert.

The project is bold even in the graphic fiction genre, and we can see a lot of hard work knowledge and international metaphor shaped in a sort of fiction. But it contains mostly real person and events.  In the protagonist we can see the author and to move the storytelling forward he has created two character (Dr.Das and Captain D ). The life, diary of and events of the real Mr. Barkotoki has been unfolded with mystery and we can see how the search for exactitude can sink a person like the real plutonium that has been lost in the Himalaya in the time of cold war (Both real incidents). Many other real characters from Assam and the world (Dr.Jack Kevorikan) appears in the book, events like Chinese aggression of Assam , the arrests that took place in the time of Emergency are also are also tactfully interwoven into the narrative .Many paranormal, physiological, philosophical questions are raised sometimes like a thriller sometimes like a documentary the book  tell us the protagonists struggle with REAL BAD HANDWRITING of Mr. Barkotoki . I too belong to that elite group of ineligible handwriting  but thankfully Micosoft word came for my rescue in 90’s  which is much more handy than the ‘letera’ of Mr. Barkotoky. Technology has a lot of darker shade but I have to admit technological advances have empowered the minnows like me to overcome our shortcoming. And I have observed formation of a group of silent ‘talented’ selfless workers through technology. Say the netizen are burning midnight oil in adding article on Wikipedia in Assamese language, many worker wokers are making online database/app of dictionary containing meaning  indigenous word (Assamese ,Bangla , Bodo ,Karbi , Missing ,Rabha ,Dimasa ,Khasi  end ) and their mutual translation , Many are working day and night in Google translate or and other translator engine so that the language ,identity and culture gets their due in digital and international platform. Such work does not have much recognition as such but many people do it for share responsibility to their cultural identity.

The self criticism than deepens …If they are perfectionist, talented (much more than me) than who am I …and Escapist? Half cooked opportunist? The self pity deepens. Perhaps I am but besides being a social introvert and opportunist extrovert in my comfort zone but I differs from that good or bad if vow to complete a project that I have undertaken I have nightmare until and unless I complete the project. Thankfully Author Sisir completed the project and shown us a new facet to the art of storytelling.