Sofura Foundation - A Charitable Trust

ikia, the famous literateur, playwright and film producer was the founder editor of this magazine. It is said that the publication of 'SOFURA' was a milestone in the history of Assamese Children Magazine. Previously, it was published as a 'monthly magazine', but later on, due to various reasons it was published as a bi-monthly. About ninety issues were published till its last issue in 1996. Sofura stopped its publication in 1996. Though the publication of 'SOFURA' was stopped, the pioneer Mr. Ambika Pada Choudhury didn't lost hope of its revival. He entrusted Mr. Dhiraj Goswami, an efficient publisher of Assam Book Hive and he was already associated with the management of 'SOFURA' the responsibility of restarting the publication of 'SOFURA'. Due to the efficient management quality of Mr. Goswami, the successful publicatio of Sofura began for the second time in March, 2002 with Dr.Bhabendranath Saikia as the editor for the second time. In 2002, about 3000 copies of 'SOFURA' were sold. Today, 'SOFURA' is the highest circulated Assamese Children Magazine with about 15,000 copies sold this year. The popularity of the magazine is much more in Upper Assam if compared to that in Lower Assam. After the demise of Dr. Bhabendranath Saikia in 2003, Mr. Kumud Goswami was entrusted the responsibility and he became the editor of the magazine. At present Rupam Barua is the honorary editor of 'SOFURA'. The unique characteristic of 'SOFURA' is its cover-design. It is filled with the colourful drawings and paintings of children and the name of the artist also appears at the back page of the contents. This has indeed created a great interest among the children. In the editorial, 'Hope you are well', the editor gives inspiring messages and advises the young generation. Various articles, poems, stories, news items, jokes, letter to the editor etc. are published in this magazine. The editor always stresses on correct spellings for which he follows Chandrakanta Abhidhan- an Assamese dictionary, as well as on uniformity of language. The poems of 'SOFURA' are humorous but have a moral in them. The children can learn amazing facts of science in the science stories. The maths section is wonderful. For children, it is a window to a world of excitement and builds up their enthusiasm. The general knowledge and puzzle solving sections increase IQ of the child and keeps them busy all the time. The translated Assamese stories under the title 'Phuloni' are written mostly by established writers that are always educative and entertaining. The high write0ups of 'SOFURA' are illustrated with a beautiful picture. In short, the exciting range of 'SOFURA' in characterised by its reader-friendliness, unique lucidity, logical presentation, appropriate illustration, adequate exercises, appropriate size, reasonably low cost, perfect page make-up and excellent paper quality. The editorial always stress on intellect of the child by providing knowledge of all aspects of life and that is the meat of a much good magazine. Another reason of popularity of 'SOFURA' is that since 2004, the publisher Mr. Dhiraj Goswami has been organising ''SOFURA Summer Camp' in association with the Assamese daily, Pratidin. For school children, the summer vacation is the right time to pursue their interests and learn something new. Students are thought about various topics like science projects, about Assam, yoga, magic, drawing, brain teasers etc. Thus, by ramaining engaged in a 'Summer Camp', the children not only benefit by learning various things but also by enjoying their holiday in a unique way. In this way children are getting to know about 'SOFURA' and the magazine is gaining its popularity. The Scholarship Examination for Assamese medium school children of class-IV, conducted by Sofura is another important reason for its popularity. Thus along with the publication of the magazine, the publisher of 'SOFURA' is achieving a great popularity of the magazine through the all round activities associated with the magazine.