Circle U.’s Climate Hub invites you to an evening with author, journalist and film maker Sanjoy Hazarika.

The Brahmaputra is among the greatest rivers on the face of the earth. Its scale is epic, journeying nearly 4,000 km across three nations, many climatic zones, cultures and communities. During a flood in places like Dibrugarh in Upper Assam, one cannot see the other bank. It defies human intervention and with its 50 tributaries carries more water than virtually all the rivers of India combined. Over more than 30 years, Sanjoy Hazarika has travelled extensively on the Brahmaputra, in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of the PRC, India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Assam and beyond into Bangladesh. During this time span, he has written, photographed, filmed, documented and developed unique innovations on health care on the river especially the boat clinics on the Brahmaputra (www.c-nes.org) which have been acclaimed locally, nationally and regionally. His work captures different moods and seasons even as he advocates on core issues. 

In an illustrated talk, built on a unique perspective of river travel and deep communications with its communities, Hazarika will bring a focus from ground zero on key questions of climate change, how people are coping (or not) and the kind of changes that weather uncertainties are bringing into their lives.

About Sanjoy Hazarika

Sanjoy Hazarika combines roles as researcher, columnist, mentor and practitioner. He is a former reporter for the New York Times. In 2000, he founded the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research whose flagship programme is the innovative fleet of boat clinics on the Brahmaputra valley (www.c-nes.org [1]). He is engaged with river-related including climate uncertainty and its impacts on governance and livelihoods. Between 2016-2022 he was international director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) which has worked extensively on police, prison reforms and Right to Information.

Author of five books, Hazarika has just completed a travelogue on his journeys on the Brahmaputra – from Tibet to the Bay of Bengal. His books include Bhopal, the lessons of a Tragedy (Penguin), Strangers of the Mist (Penguin) on conflicts in the North East and its neighborhood and its successor, Strangers No More (Aleph). He has also co-edited several books including Hope Behind Bars (Pan MacMillan) and Japan and India’s North East: Engagement through connectivity (Routledge). His essays have appeared in peer reviewed journals, collections and anthologies including the Routledge Companion to the North East. Hazarika has scripted and produced over a dozen documentaries including on the Brahmaputra River, river dolphins and on governance and conflict.