Teacher of coaching institute says Assam’s traditional ‘Gamosha’ is an animal!

Aug. 26: In what seems to be having absolutely no knowledge of Assam and its culture, an old video of a teacher went viral in social media, where he is heard to say confidently to the students that “Gamosha” is an animal. The video is one or two years old and was first published on YouTube with the title ‘SSC JE 2020 Marathon Class’.

"Gamocha is basically an animal!" 😀 IYKYK https://t.co/BKCMOp0ibO

— Sumit Adhikari (@ADSoomeet) August 25, 2021

In the clip, a GradeUp teacher can be seen taking a GK quiz where he explains to his students the importance of ‘Gamocha’. ‘Gradeup’, shows the teacher solving a multiple-choice question (MCQ): Of which state is the ‘gamosha’ a cultural symbol? To this, the teacher said that the correct answer is Assam. What came shocking though was the explanation the teacher gave. “Gamusa is an animal, Abhijit (name of a student). It’s an animal,” the teacher was heard saying.

This is not Static GK, its a dynamic misinformation. Utterly shocking and disdainful. Have you fired the teacher yet @gradeupapp ? Please don't say it was a slip of tongue, he literally reiterated that Gamocha is an animal.@parthatribune @mrinaltalukdar8 may like to look. pic.twitter.com/bkRS2zzBEr

— Sandeepan B (@sandeepan_b) August 25, 2021

Now, this was enough for the netizens to vehemently criticise the teacher who said to his students that “Gamosha is an animal.” Social media users are slamming the inability of the learning platform to serve correct information. Gamocha infact is a red and white rectangular piece of woven cloth. The Assamese greets people with a ‘gamosha’ as a matter of honour. It is widely seen in sarees and traditional outfits across Assam. It is easily one of the most recognisable cultural symbols of Assam.

GradeUp later replied to the video apologising for the blunder. “We sincerely apologise for this. In an old Youtube video, a faculty made a factual error while addressing the class. The faculty is no longer working with us. We ensure that Gradeup as an organisation works to provide the best exam preparation for each student to excel,” they said.

We sincerely apologise for this. In an old Youtube video, a faculty made a factual error while addressing the class. The faculty is no longer working with us. We ensure that Gradeup as an organisation works to provide the best exam preparation for each student to excel.

— Gradeup 🚀 (@gradeupapp) August 25, 2021

The same ignorance about the teacher also came to the sight of the Government of Assam. Taking to its twitter handle on 25 August, 2021, “MyGovt Assam” wrote, “Gamosa, a symbol of Assam’s pride and identity, is well known far and wide. In the post, MyGovt Assam has also given a detailed description about Gamosha along with pictorial representations.

Gamosa, a symbol of Assam's pride and identity, is well known far and wide. pic.twitter.com/el6ZH75I7U

— MyGov Assam (@mygovassam) August 25, 2021

However, such ignorance about the history, geography, polity and culture of Assam or Northeast India among many people in the North or West or “Mainland India” is not new. Narrating incidents from his own experience, Sudarshan Gupta, a college teacher from Silchar said, “During my student life in Delhi in the late 90’s, I was astonished by the fact that people there in Delhi knew so little and sometimes nothing about the Northeastern states. An official in the Administrative Section at Delhi University told me, “So you are from Assam.” I replied “Yes, Sir.” The next question he asked, “Assam se Guwahati kitna dur hain?” (How far is Assam from Guwahati?)

“Another day, one of my classmate at JNU, New Delhi went to a travel agent for booking a flight ticket to Imphal. That friend of mine was from Churachandpur district in Manipur. The travel agent immediately told my friend to produce his passport because according to that man, Imphal is in Myanmar,” narrated Sudarshan Gupta. In another instance, one of his classmates in JNU who was from Mumbai asked him, “Is it true that in Assam, rhinos roam about everywhere in the streets and bazars as cows are found everywhere in North India?”, narrated the college teacher.

Indeed, such ignorance about Northeast among many is quite surprising where “Gamosha” becomes an “animal” or Imphal becomes a “foreign country”!