Travels around the North East

Written a bit late( thanks to tons of work) , but nevertheless!!

Last month I headed for a break to the north eastern parts of our country and yeah this time it wasn't my usual solo backpacking trip, but one with my mum. The last trip I had done with her was to Sri Lanka in 2005. It was my first trip to Assam and Meghalaya , though for my mum it was her 3rd visit since my dad was posted in the NE more than a decade back.I was busy with studies/work and never made it to the NE. The first place I wanted to visit when the thought of NE struck me was Arunachal Pradesh but with my mum having high altitude sickness I decided to do Assam and Meghalaya only and leave the Arunachal bit for my solo travels.

North East is still quite green but from the people who have been living there and from what I read , it's already lost 50% of the green cover in the last 20 years. Quite a few reasons behind it the main of course being human encroachment. I found random constructions happening around every major town I visited and in most cases there wasn't an inch of visible green area remaining even on the hills. North east has been historically very different from rest of India and it was the British who consolidated them as part of our country. The area was never plundered or ruled by any of the Mughal conquerors and are more aligned to the South Eastern countries. It was not open to foreign visitors till about a decade back and even now other than 3 states even Indians need permit to visit the places. The seven sister states as they are collectively called are so very different with regard to the tribes and the language's they speak. Nehru at least did one good thing during the independence by creating the NEFA and providing great autonomy and not pulling them into the modern race. One can argue about it either way , but it let the tribals survive and continue their way of life but in recent times with changing times the people there feel cut out and now lots of money is being pumped into the development. I am sure the place is going to loose its individuality in the coming years.

Here's a quote from what Nehru had to say " I am alarmed when I see not only in this country but in other great countries too-how anxious people are to shape others according to their own image or likeness, and to impose on them their particular way of living. This applies equally to national and international fields.
We are welcome to out way of living, but why impose it on others? In fact there would be more peace in the world if people were to desist from imposing their way of living on other people and countries. I am not at all sure which is better way of living, the tribal or our own. In some respects, I am quite certain theirs is better. Therefore, it is grossly presumptuous on our part to approach them with an air of superiority to tell them how to behave or what to do. There is no point in trying to make them a 2nd rate copy of ourselves" .

I will surely head back to the NE sometime soon, having spent 2 wonderful weeks there.

Here are the related posts:

• Floating around the brahmaputra
  
• Chasing the clouds