As dynamic as the shifting blocks of land they call home, ‘The Edge’ is an audio-visual reflection on the relationship the Miya community has with nature especially with land, a community that is socially, economically and politically vilified and relegated to the margins of society, the edge of the Brahmaputra in this case, the river that gives them their identity and struggle - Symbolic of Driftwood one finds off the shores, beaten and battered yet fuel warmth to a broken state.
In 2023, i began my investigation into the unique topography and climate of Assam, as i address the ecological realities of vulnerable communities, especially the Miya community in the region, who have been termed "Climate Refugees" with time. The continuation of this project raises the questions of hostility and heat surrounding belonging and identity, ecological specificity, and existing precariousness to prove one's association to a piece of land as the only concrete mark of their citizenship.
I have been working in the region and with the community since July 2019, but this new chapter is about initiating a fresh discourse that highlights the physical and emotional cause and impact of seasonal flooding in this unique border state and its undisputed connection to citizenship, because with floods comes the fear of disappearing documents or erosion that eats away the physical, making it imperative to keep shifting, constantly dynamic like the brutal river, entire villages manoeuvre to avoid the shifting sands, one witnesses how the river slices through land, constantly eroding from one bank to deposit onto another, without design or purpose. Through Bhatiali (A Miya community dialect) folklore, photographs, video, and audio testimonials, i am looking to probe and comprehend how climate is directly affecting one's identity in present-day Assam, with land and identity politics playing out in real-time, that has a lasting psychological impact on human beings trying to survive the onslaught of climate change and their belonging.
My endeavour is to emphasise and communicate the existential battle of drowning communities left on the fringe to fend for themselves, using the audio-visual as a means for them to take charge of their own narrative with intersection of local folklore through music, that addresses these ecological specificities of the region, especially in a state where visual and oral records can be precarious. The treatment of brutality in the ‘natural’, particularly the Brahmaputra and the embankments in Assam as violent are unpredictable forces that speak of uncertainty and the fragility of existence. While the treacherous ecology of Assam is not new, through the escalation of the ‘The Edge’ i strive to bring a new dimension to these realities. I attempt to counter the savagery of these lived realities through the poetics of the Brahmaputra and the fate of its communities that worship it.
The Edge
The start of the dreaded monsoon in the Assamese plains which is the gateway into the Northeast of India Each monsoon season wrecks havoc especially in lower Assam where predominantly the Miya community reside and lower Assam is where the flood water remains longer which gives it more time to erode critical soil over the monsoon period reducing landmass drastically each year
The Edge
Miya community members use the ferry to cross over into mainland from their homes on a tiny island char off Sontuli district in lower Assam They take refuge under a plastic sheet just as the monsoon clouds burst open on them br
The Edge
Miya community members gather on the edge of their island char to witness the thundering during the monsoon season in Lower Assam in Barpeta district
The Edge
A Miya community member crosses her flooded home in Barpeta district in Lower Assam where the flood water remains longer which gives it more time to erode critical soil over the monsoon period reducing landmass drastically each year
The Edge
Local Miya community volunteers help construct bamboo porcupines used to impede the harsh flow of the Brahmaputra river that eats away at the edges of the chars islands Traditional methods are still used by the community to protect itself during the devastating monsoon season The Brahmaputra Board has tried to use their version of the porcupine since 1980 but it has not had a desired effect to protect the remaining landmass from eroding so the community goes back to traditional methods
The Edge
Members of the Miya community ride a ferry back to their homes on chars islands after attending early morning Eid prayers in a mosque on the mainland off Sontuli district lower Assam
The Edge
An elderly Miya community member is picked up from the eroding edge of a char island where he lives off Dhubri district which is a bordering Indian district with Bangladesh
The Edge
Very important identity papers strewn in a Miya community member s home in a village in Darrang district in Lower Assam These crucial documents help prove their Indian citizenship and sometimes these documents go missing in floods that is why its imperative to keep these documents very safe so the Miya community use big steel boxes to safely store all these papers along with other important items because this box is easily moveable during an emergency or flood evacuation
The Edge
A Miya community member cries in frustration of having to move her house yet again in Barpeta district in Lower Assam where the monsoon floods wreck havoc every year forcing community members to re-locate almost each year She has had to move constantly over the years due to quickly eroding landmass just next to her home this frustration arises from not knowing where to head next also a constant battle to see if they can afford to keep rebuilding their home
The Edge
Miya community members and Hindu friends help each other shift shops around from the edge of the Brahmaputra river in Barpeta district Lower Assam The shifting is done in anticipation of eroding landmass that arrives with each monsoon season that is devastating for people as they need to constantly adapt to changing landmass
The Edge
A school girl stands in the ruin of what was her classroom in a school that could not withstand the fury of the monsoon floods that hit this government village school oin Barpeta district in Lower Assam
The Edge
Geo bags a modern technology used by the Brahmaputra board to prevent further erosion to critical points on chars islands or embankments
