Film actor Victor Banerjee visits Akha and Radio Brahmaputra
The renowned film actor Victor Banerjee recently visited the boat clinic at Dibrugarh and interacted with the Brahmaputra Community Radio Station team.
“I met (C-NES Managing Trustee) Sanjoy (Hazarika) at Shillong and have seen the documentary ‘Where there are no Roads’, on the Boat Clinics and was very impressed. I am amazed that such good work is being done. I said to Sanjoy, ‘Please use me – what can I do for you?’ He replied, “You come, we will go together….”
Although Mr. Hazarika could not join Mr. Banerjee on this trip, the latter spoke to him by phone and said he was ‘completely bowled over’ by the experience and promised to help in any way possible.
During the 25th Aug, 2014, visit, Mr. Banerjee wrote the following inthe Visitors Book at C-NES’ Dibrugarh Office: “The Boat Clinics are a good example of what the citizen can do for his people”. There is no “Jaat” in the service, he added, because it was “for people in distress.”
Banerjee has acted in major Hindi, Bengali and English language films and has worked for prominent directors such as Roman Polanski, James Ivory, David Lean, Jerry London, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray and Ram Gopal Varma.
He visited Akha , C-NES’ first Boat Clinic which was started in 2005, providing essential health services to the most needy in the Brahmaputra river islands in upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district. The boat was anchored along the bank of the river at Maijan Ghat and the veteran thespian spent over an hour onboard sharing lunch and ideas with the team including Arup Saikia, C-NES’ District Program Officer, Dr. Juganda Kumar Deori, Medical Officer of the Unit and boat crew followed by a visit to the Radio Station.
After being felicitated with gamosas (traditional Assamese hand woven towels), Mr. Banerjee, had a long discussion with the staff managing the radio station, led by the energetic coordinator of the unit, Bhaskar Bhuyan and first time reporters, local talents picked up from the communities to which the station would be catering to. Much to their delight, he also shared details from his personal and professional life.
Mr. Banerjee has won international recognition as well as awards in India and abroad for his roles in maestro Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj ki Khilari and David Lean’s Passage to India. He runs a family-supported school for the visually challenged at Moran, near Dibrugarh.