Panorama feels that the achievements and contributions made by these people need o be highlighted so that others can follow suit. As such, we have identified a few such people who hail from our own North East region and present them to you our readers as our North East Icons - 2013.

RATAM Thiyam - Great theatre personality from Manipur

Ratan Thiyam, who was born on January 20, 1948, is an Indian playwright and theatre director and the winner of the Sangee Natak Akademi  and several other coveted awards for his contribution to the promotion of plays. In 2012, the  Sangeet  Natak Akademi awarded him the Fellowship, its highest honor. Earlier, the Government of India in 1989,  honoured  the Theatre Guru with a Padma Shree. Although a Manipuri by birth, conversant with its topography, hopes, aspirations and problems of fellow Manipuris and the turbulent recent history, his plays reflect universal appeal. That is why he has been accepted, admired and revered by theatre- goers irrespective of caste, creed and religion.

Ratan Thiyam was born into a family of artistes at Nabadwip in  West Bengal’ Nadia District and grew up at Haobam Dewan Lane in  Imphal. His father  Guru Thiyam Tarunkumar was one of the most respected gurus of Classical Manipuri Dance and his mother, Bilasini Devi was a renowned dancer. He graduated in  Dramatic Arts from the National School of Drama.He has excelled as a designer, music composer, choreographer, lighting expert, costume designer and  architect  besides being a playwright, painter and poet. He is considered   one of leading figures of the “Theatre of Roots” Movement in Indian theatre of the 1970s. Ratan Thiyam is also noted for writing and staging plays that use ancient Indan theatre. He also promotes traditions and forms in a contemporary context. A former painter and proficient in direction, design, script and music, Thiyam is also considered one of leading contemporary theatre gurus.

He is the founder-director of ‘Chorus Repertory Theatre’ formed on the outskirts of Imphal in Manipur in 1976. Ratan Thiyam who was Director of the National School of Drama (NSD) based  in Delhi has produced and directed several plays. Critics assert that that Ratan Thiyam has first hand knowledge of the Indian social scenario and hence, his plays deal with social welfare and spiritual yearnings in the midst of the political chaos in the modern world.

Among his famous plays are ‘The Shrine’, the main theatre of Ratan Thiyam’s Chorus Repertory, Imphal,Karanabharam ,Karna-bhara: Karna’s burden by Sanskrit playwright Bhasa.Imphal Imphal ,Chakravyuha  (Army Formation),Lengshonnei (1986) (An adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’sntigone),Uttar Priyadarshi (The Final Beatitude, by Hindi playwright Agyeya) (1996),Chinglon Mapan Tampak Ama (Nine Hills One Valley),Ritusamharam (Ritusamharam by Sanskrit playwright Kalidasa),Andha Yug (The Blind Age, by Hindi playwright Dharamvir Bharati) and Wahoudok (Prologue), Ashibagee Eshei (based on When We Dead Awaken by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen) (2008), The King of Dark Chamber (Raja, 2012), based on a play Raja (1910) by Rabindranath Tagore.

He has served as a Council Member of Manipur State Kala Akademi, Imphal; Advisor All India Radio, Imphal; Senate Member of Manipur University; Member, Manipur University Court; Member of the First Court of Nagaland University, Nagaland; Member of the Governing Council, ICCR, New Delhi; Chairman Review Committee North East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur; Member of the Programme advisory Committee of All India Radio and several other honorary positions at the state and national levels.

SHIVA THAPA - Emerging as NE’s boxing face

Shiva Thapa participated in the 2012 London Olympics  and was the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the multinational games. Shiva Thapa is ranked 3rd in the bantamweight category in the AIBA Men’s World Ranking.

Shiva represented India at the 2008 Children of Asia International Sports Games held in Moscow and came back with a bronze medal. In the same year’s Haider Aliyev Cup, he won a gold medal. He again represented India in the 52-kg category at the 2009 Junior World Boxing Championships in Armenia. Thapa was the lone international medalist from the team of seven boxers that travelled to Yerevan and returned home after grabbing a bronze medal.

In the 2012 Asian Olympic Qualifiers held at Astana in Kazakhstan, Shiva clinched the gold medal and qualified for 2012 London Olympics in the 56 kg category. In July 2013, Shiva became the youngest Indian to win a gold at the Asian Confederation Boxing Championship at Amman, Jordan, and participated in the 2013 World Boxing Championships at Almaty in Kazakhstan and in his debut Shiva reached the quarterfinals of the World Championship.

At the 2008 Children of Asia International Sports Games that was held in Moscow, Shiva Thapa won a bronze medal in his category. On the basis of his performance, he was chosen to represent India in the 52-kg category at the 2009 Junior World Boxing Championships in Armenia where he ended up with a bronze medal.However, the coach expressed his satisfaction at the boxers’ performance who returned with their biggest haul of medals from this competition.

Denhang Bosai - The Proud son of Tirap

Born during the year of Indo- China aggression in 1962, Denhang Bosai was brought up in Kaimai village. He was the topper in both language Officer and DIPRO examinations conducted by APPSCE, Itanagar and had his stints in IIMC, New Delhi, IIM, Kolkatta and CIIL Mysore. He writes speeches for VIPs during Independence Day and Republic Day. He is a well known social thinker and writes regularly for newspapers, magazines; journals and periodicals with many of his work appearing in some of the most highly respected publications in the country.

He is the secretary of the Society for Promotion of Nocte Indigenous Culture (SoPNIC) and he has been conferred with a Gold medal for his meritorious service by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh besides being awarded with the most coveted institutional and globally reputed presentation of ‘Bharat Jyoti Award’ along with a certification of excellence by the famed India International Friendship Society, New Delhi in the year 2013.

The coveted ‘Bharat Jyoti Award’ was presented to Bosai on December 23 in New Delhi at a glittering function for his objectively and impartially and his fight in life which is a worthy example which can serve as an inspiration to others. Other previous recipients of this award include Mother Teresa, a number of Governors, Sports persons and film stars like Devanand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Sunil Dutt and others.

Talyang Shanti - An apostle of practical religion

Talyang Shanti stands up from the crowd and dedicates herself, without seeking personal glory or rewards, to a service that has gone unattended by those who have the resources to do it but do not exercise that choice.

Recipient of the Anita Sen memorial award, Talyang Shanti is a woman who knows the strength of dignified perseverance in the face of apparently insurmountable odds.

Her journey began when, shaken by the tears on the faces of orphans, the wails of poor abused women and the society’s apathy towards the physically and mentally challenged, Shanti along with likeminded fellows floated a voluntary group Achukuru Welfare Society dedicated to taking care of the economically deprived and socially despised. The AWS established Mother’s Home in 2005. Today it serves orphans, widows, the mentally challenged, the destitute and the aged, expecting nothing in return but their prayers and good wishes.

Shanti who always wanted to serve the downtrodden humankind, fulfilled her long cherished childhood dream by establishing the Mother’s Home in 2005. “I don’t have money, but it never became a reason to stop me from doing the job. Whatever I am doing is from the bottom of my heart,” says Shanti. “During my childhood days I had a desire to help the poor and destitute people and am fulfilling my childhood dream now,” she adds. Relegated from the society and with nowhere else to go, the home is a source of food, shelter and solace to these inmates. The main source of income is the ‘fish pond’ above which is housed the home.

Jitendra Nath Goswami - The ‘Moon Man’ of Assam 

In 2013, when an Indian spacecraft started its journey to the Red Planet – Mars following the flawless and successful launch of India’s first interplanetary mission on November 5th -  the people of Assam too, felt a sense of pride  as one of the scientists who was a member of the Science Advisory Board of this mission, Prof. Jitendra Nath Goswami hails from the Upper Assam town of Jorhat. He has earlier shouldered the responsibility as the Principal Scientist of India’s first planetary mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1 launched in 2008. He is also closely associated with India’s second Lunar Mission Chandrayaan-2, as the Chairman of the Science Advisory Board. It is of no wonder therefore that people have dubbed him the ‘Moon Man’.

Prof. Goswami also nurtured ISRO’s Planetary Science and Exploration project from PRL during its formative stage (2004-07). Prof. Goswami is a recipient of the Young Scientist award of the Indian National Science Academy (Delhi) and was a young Associate of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Bangalore) and later become a fellow of both the academies and also of the National Academy of Sciences (Allahabad). He received the NASA Public Service Group Achievement Award (1986), Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1994), Kamal Kumari Award in Science and Technology (2003), Goyal Prize in Physics in 2009 and the TIFR Alumni Excellence Award (2009) for his exemplary contributions towards scientific research in different fields. Dibrugarh University conferred Goswami an honorary D.Sc. in 2010.

MAPUIA CHAWNGTHU - FILM MAKER

Mapuia Chawngthu truly an icon in the cinematic history of Mizoram and for other budding film makers in the State. His feature film, Khawnglung Run created history for the State by becoming the first Mizo feature film to be showcased in a major film festival in the country. The film which was produced over a two year period and released in 2012 was the opening film of the session titled ‘Focus North East Cinema’ at the International Film Festival of India 2013 held in Goa in November. The film has been screened in three other International film festivals across the country.

When his film was screened at IFFI, this is what he said “Frankly I never imagined my film would be screened at any film festival, forget IFFI. I think we have reached the impossible, and that’s what makes me happy because I know there are extremely talented filmmakers in Mizoram who might say now, ‘If Mapuia can do this, why can’t I?’,”

For a State that has no cinema halls, he had to use his ingenuity and screened the film in localities and villages with the help of local units of some NGOs. His work will definitely help shape the nascent film industry and inspire the film fraternity in the State.

DR. BIKUL DAS - Tenacious to the marrow

Dr. Bikul Das, a young doctor who graduated from Gauhati Medical College in 1994, and currently a stem cell researcher at Stanford University, was the lead author  of  a research paper published in prestigious Science Translation Medicine Journal  on January 31, 2013; which successfully demonstrated the path breaking findings of his study that dormant TB bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) hijacks a stem cell type known as mesenchymal stem cells (CD271+) to hide in bone marrow to escape drug treatment of the patient. The paper demonstrated that due to such factors, there may be recurrence of Tuberculosis, even after successful drug treatment of the patient.

Dr. Bikul Das came to such conclusions after conducting a remarkable clinical study among the Idu-Mishmi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh. The study was facilitated by the Research Institute of World’s Ancient Traditions Cultures and Heritage (RIWATCH) based at Roing, district headquarters of Lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh. RIWATCH helped the clinical study by organizing free medical camps in five Idu-Mishmi villages. As part of the clinical study, individuals among Idu-Mishmi volunteers who earlier had Tuberculosis and successfully completed drug treatment were identified. The research team led by Dr. Das isolated the CD271+ cells from bone marrow of the Idu-Mishmi subjects and found evidence of dormant TB bacteria in those stem cells. These results supported Dr. Das’s laboratory and animal study evidence that dormant Tuberculosis bacteria hide in CD271+ stem cells.

Dr. Das’ research is expected to set new dimensions in the process of treatment of Tuberculosis as recurrence of TB, even after successful drug treatment has remained a big challenge in controlling the disease.

Dr. Das who holds a doctoral degree from Medical Science (Oncology), University of Toronto, Canada, 2007 for his thesis titled “Hypoxia and Oxidative Stress Driven Tumor Stemness Switch”, has been focusing on stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.
Currently working as a Post-doctoral scholar with Principal Investigator status, Medicine/Oncology,  Stanford University School of Medicine, CA, USA, Bikul Das conceptualized the idea of his work when was completing an informal research training project of bone marrow aspiration cytology under the guidance of late Dr. A.N.Gyi, United Nation Volunteer, Mongar Referral Hospital in Bhutan during 1995-1997. During this period, he conceptualized the idea that because malaria, and kala-azar parasites home to bone marrow, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacteria too, might home to bone marrow.

Dr. Das, hails from Sualkuchi, the silk hub of Assam, is member of American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association of Cancer Research and Physician for Social Responsibility. He is also the founder of the KaviKrishna Foundation in Sualkuchi which was established in 1994 with an objective to support community and environmental health research. As part of the Foundation’s activities, a laboratory with the idea of conducting study and research on novel anti-cancer phytochemicals extracted from medicinal plants which grow in the pristine forest of India’s North East, is coming up at the Guwahati Biotech Park in Technology Complex, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati.