On a spring morning, in the midst of the melodious chirping of magpies, I was thrilled to hear his voice over the phone. The voice was that of Bengia Tolum, president of the Nyishi Elite Society, the man I had heard so much about but never had the fortune to meet.
Born to be a crusader, Bengia Tolum sir told me that when he was a little boy he was astonished to witness the denigration of the Nyishi religious philosophy.
The rich culture of the Nyishis was on the verge of disappearing under the onslaught of the advent of Christianity.
Tolum sir alongwith his brother pledged to overturn this and created awareness among the people to save the culture.
He was then a student of Pasighat higher secondary school, and Christians insulted their campaign for protection and coined it as 'rending of crisis'. But he was bold and faced this as a challenge
It was at that time that the then Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, K. A. A. RAJA, sent him a letter asking him to come and assist Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, the director of 'Mera Dharam Meri Maa', so that the Nyishi culture would not be presented wrongly. He was immediately called to come to Yazali where the film was picturised. T. P. Khound an IAS officer on behalf of the NEFA authorities, wrote to him to report to the Governor in this regard. As he had no money to manage his fare to Yazali, Ziro, the Principal of the school gave him 50 rupees. After arriving at Ziro, the Bengia Tolum was hesitant to meet and assist a legend but he was received in a very friendly way by Bhupenda.
Since then he was closely associated with Bhupenda for about one month.
He recalled that one day when Bhupenda was in a relaxed mood he (Tolum) had shown his first poem written in Assamese. This read as, "ৰঙিলী ৰাঙলী ৰঙানদী/ ধীৰে ধীৰে বৈ যায়/ কুলু কুলু গীত গায়/ আমাৰ প্ৰেম প্ৰণয়ৰ কাহিনী/ অসম দেশলৈ লৈ যায়।"