3. NEFA- 15.01.2001
I took my half Avomine and we got into the Sumo to undertake the long drive ‘down’ Megalaya hills, rather ‘up’ North and then East through Assam, across the Nilachal hills towards the World heritage Kaziranga National Park- supposedly the home of the One horn Indian Rhino.
Once in the plains, the plains were covered by Paddy, beginning yellow mustard (milder than the familiar rich yellow ‘Saron’ of Punjab)
And Tea , tea and Tea. They say that Brahmaputra which swells in the Monsoons later recedes and leaves the ‘plains’ so fertile that all you have to do is put the seed, go to sleep and return at harvest time for a rich ‘yield’. This is a rational explanation of the ‘lazy laid back attitude of the masses up there, the absence of absolute poverty, beggars on the streets or the need of higher ‘info-tech’ needs of a regular guy that ‘we’ know of in our part of the world.
Narayan slowed. ‘The people jam’ was not traffic but Ha Ha a Spanish Bull fight- part of the celebration of the Bihu festival. I woke up my Sakhi who jumped at the announcement, picked up the Sony and disappeared into the crowds while I was still manipulating myself slowly down the highish Sumo seats. The Bulls looked rather mild compared to those in Spain but the owners ‘hot’ with their long Dandas and the gambling streak. Narayan was instructed to ‘Dhoondo’ my friend which he failed at. Finally she emerged out of a family crowd with a young bride and groom clamoring for the attention of the ‘Sony’ and sneaking in their addresses for copies of their images with the foreign Indian lady. “How the Hell do they know I am from outside?” “Why the Hell don’t you know, it is your attitude?”
The drive was getting long and the day dark.
Finally the announcement, we were close, we were surrounded by trees in the dark and then aha! Wild Grass. ‘Wild Grass’ was the destination today our resort- Jungle mein mangal- The manager Royneesh was amply welcoming and also inquired if we were psychiatrists which we were and then that that meant there was a special invitation for us for Dinner with Manju the owner (infact the guy who had organized and guided our trip) and another Psychiatrist. After our usual chai we strolled around the wooded cottages, all nationalities of tourists around, music and sounds of tabla around a fire and finally joined our hosts around another big bon-fire. Here is where we met Sushrat, the shrink from London who was familiar with us through our e-group. So from virtual reality we met in real reality at Kaziranga. He was not a ‘transit’ visitor but someone who had chosen Wild grass as his Haven and comes regularly for ‘------???’. “Sushrat wo’nt you tell us about your wild grass connection?”
Next morning was the only morning we got up early which was for a 6 o’clock elephant Safari in the jungle followed by ones later in open jeeps through tall wildy grass and marshy land and dusty roads. We did see the famous Rhinos, wild elephants, deers, boars, crocodiles and ducks but the tiger was no where to be sighted.
There were birds, ‘migratory’ and unusual according to the guide. I tried to focus through his special binoculars, but concluded I was no Salim Ali who had said that the phenomenon of migration is most highly developed in birds, the most enthralling and still a mystery to understand. Assam and the foot of Himalayas form one of 5 popular bird resorts in India and reminded me of my earlier visit to the famous Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan, Bharatpur where I had gone with Shobha, my bird-watching friend 2 years ago.
Veena caught the ‘Snuffles’ and after another Dinner around the Fire,
we retired to be woken up in the morning for our next stop Arunachal.
Veena Kapoor
5.2.2002
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
2- trip to NEFA
2. NEFA
It is Republic day tomorrow. The country is gearing up for the celebrations with an apparent anxiety and insecurity. To my mind the problem is diffusely immense with uncertainties of a kind, which have penetrated factions of societies globally. Only rational/ practical way I keep peace within myself is recognizing my limitations at every level personally, socially and politically. Defeatist as it may seem, I have had an inner strife and have fought intellectually and emotionally most of my adult days and today feel as I do now -- which my mother will like very much…
13.01.2002
Narayan had been instructed not to report at 6 or 7 or 8 AM but 10 as we are both not Sunrise birds and it didn’t hurt to sip Assamese cuppa chai one after another interspersed with muscle-stretches and mind-stretches thrown alongside.
We were driven from Guwahati to the state of Meghalaya ie. The abode of the Clouds although for us they stayed in check and we had 2 clear Sunny days. Passing through small hilly villages we stopped at tiny fruit shops with overhanging Pineapples and Oranges which were ‘heavenly’ in taste as Veena described, very fresh, sweet and smooth as the best whiskey. Shillong was like Simla in Himachal also called ‘Scotland of the East’. It had been the British capital and very much still appeared so. We stayed at Pinewood lodge which is a Hotel from the Raj era surrounded by dense trees and a lake with a tiny restaurant serving piping hot tea, snacks and music to set your feet and soul tapping to old nostalgic beats from the Beetles. Evening was cold but the Big Fire in the room was more than wonderful with a drink and an early meal.
The local ‘Khasis’ seemed prettier and petiter. Women were ‘manning’ the markets, it being a matriarchal society as we were told.
Next morning we drove via Shillong Peak to Cherapunjee, the highest rainfalls place in the world. We were reminded of the Grand Canyon with multitude Falls on rainbow rocks and a deepish Gorge on the other side overlooking a vast view of Bangladesh merging into the clouds and the horizon far away. Scanty tinroof shops and a grazing goat here and there but otherwise nature at its best!
There was a preserved cave with formations of stalagmites and stalactites with a guide and his harmless dog.
Evening before the big Fireplace again, although Pinewood hall had a concert going with the local ministers’ son as the Pianist who was visiting home from the US, a medley of Christian Hymns and modern
American jazz to the elite of Shillong.
(to be contd.)
Veena
It is Republic day tomorrow. The country is gearing up for the celebrations with an apparent anxiety and insecurity. To my mind the problem is diffusely immense with uncertainties of a kind, which have penetrated factions of societies globally. Only rational/ practical way I keep peace within myself is recognizing my limitations at every level personally, socially and politically. Defeatist as it may seem, I have had an inner strife and have fought intellectually and emotionally most of my adult days and today feel as I do now -- which my mother will like very much…
13.01.2002
Narayan had been instructed not to report at 6 or 7 or 8 AM but 10 as we are both not Sunrise birds and it didn’t hurt to sip Assamese cuppa chai one after another interspersed with muscle-stretches and mind-stretches thrown alongside.
We were driven from Guwahati to the state of Meghalaya ie. The abode of the Clouds although for us they stayed in check and we had 2 clear Sunny days. Passing through small hilly villages we stopped at tiny fruit shops with overhanging Pineapples and Oranges which were ‘heavenly’ in taste as Veena described, very fresh, sweet and smooth as the best whiskey. Shillong was like Simla in Himachal also called ‘Scotland of the East’. It had been the British capital and very much still appeared so. We stayed at Pinewood lodge which is a Hotel from the Raj era surrounded by dense trees and a lake with a tiny restaurant serving piping hot tea, snacks and music to set your feet and soul tapping to old nostalgic beats from the Beetles. Evening was cold but the Big Fire in the room was more than wonderful with a drink and an early meal.
The local ‘Khasis’ seemed prettier and petiter. Women were ‘manning’ the markets, it being a matriarchal society as we were told.
Next morning we drove via Shillong Peak to Cherapunjee, the highest rainfalls place in the world. We were reminded of the Grand Canyon with multitude Falls on rainbow rocks and a deepish Gorge on the other side overlooking a vast view of Bangladesh merging into the clouds and the horizon far away. Scanty tinroof shops and a grazing goat here and there but otherwise nature at its best!
There was a preserved cave with formations of stalagmites and stalactites with a guide and his harmless dog.
Evening before the big Fireplace again, although Pinewood hall had a concert going with the local ministers’ son as the Pianist who was visiting home from the US, a medley of Christian Hymns and modern
American jazz to the elite of Shillong.
(to be contd.)
Veena
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
1-trip to NEFA
1. NEFA - 7.1.2002
Calcutta, as it was to me in 1966- crowded and full of the poor, housing on pavements of Posh Park Street where parents were posted and lived for some years.
Kolkota as of now- cleaner with few apparent poor on the streets, but definitely still – hot blooded and emotional, resorting to ‘Bandhs’ when in need of attention from some faction of the government.
IPS our annual conference held at the Science City was disorganized as they have been during earlier years, to say the least. It was amply evident that the organizing committee WAS the Pharmaceuticals who ‘were the ones’ registering, directing, hosting, and decorating the billboards including the IPS Banner on the main stage covered by ‘Citalopram’ for the prescribing information of the astute psychiatrist.
12.01.2002
My friend Dr. Veena Garyali, the forensic psychiatrist from New York and I took our adventure tour of the North East Frontier States as they used to be known earlier. We flew from Kolkota and were received at the Guwahati airport by our travel guide who was brisk and enthusiastic, the reason as it turned out later, “Madam I was not expecting 2 lady doctors but men”.
KAMakhaya temple was on the way to the Hotel. Legend has it that while Shiva was carrying the corpse of his wife Parvati who committed suicide because he had insulted her father Daksha, her lower half with the ‘yoni’ fell at this spot. Long queues of guys waited to worship the stone image, as both of us were able to sneak in through the VIP back entrance by donating Rs.100. It was claimed that they maintain Parvati’s youth and cover her once a year with a ‘red cloth’ signifying periodic menstruation, a piece of which is given to devotees who believe in the special tantric sexual forces endowed by her, the Godess of Sexual desire.
After lunch we cruised on the mighty Brahmputra, the only ‘Male river’ in India and the longest originating in Tibet and traversing Arunachal, Assam, Meghalaya, East Bengal and finally merging into the ocean at the Bay of Bengal. In the middle was the Peacock Island with the Umananda temple on top of the rock. Veena hiked up while I gave respite to my aging bones admiring first the golden ‘langur’ family hanging from the branches and then the group of young men including the priest who came into the boat. One young boy started crushing and chopping what looked like ginger to me but turned out was actually ‘Bhang’ which was given in ‘offering’ by the pilgrims in the temple but was consumed by them including the priest.
The evening Sun had turned a flaming red and was caught instantly by Veena’s ‘digital Sony’.
‘Bihu’ is a festival at the end of the harvest season when families come home and celebrate like ‘Thanks-Giving’ in the U.S.. One of Veena’s friends was one such member of one of the many Baruah clans of Assam who joined us for a drink back at the Hotel Ashok and an early dinner. Late nights are not a ‘norm’ and nothing and that means nothing happens after dark! He is currently the Political Science Prof. at Columbia, N.York. It was literally mind boggling to hear the history of this part of India, Assam being the largest North Eastern State, has been plagued by insurgency for years.
The Hindu rulers were taken over by the Buddhist ‘Tai’ tribe in the 13th century and then the Burmese and the British in the 17th.
Political agitation and upheavals took place after the 1980’s with lot of migrant populations from Bangla desh with the emergence and dominance of the under world the ULFA and the SULFA who are ‘into things’ and that means really ‘into things’.
Getting to bed we realized ‘not to our surprise’ the toilet of the ITDC Ashok was leaking and laughed remembering the Posh ‘Park’ of Calcutta owned and run by the APJ group.
(To be continued)
Veena Kapoor
24. 1. 2002
Calcutta, as it was to me in 1966- crowded and full of the poor, housing on pavements of Posh Park Street where parents were posted and lived for some years.
Kolkota as of now- cleaner with few apparent poor on the streets, but definitely still – hot blooded and emotional, resorting to ‘Bandhs’ when in need of attention from some faction of the government.
IPS our annual conference held at the Science City was disorganized as they have been during earlier years, to say the least. It was amply evident that the organizing committee WAS the Pharmaceuticals who ‘were the ones’ registering, directing, hosting, and decorating the billboards including the IPS Banner on the main stage covered by ‘Citalopram’ for the prescribing information of the astute psychiatrist.
12.01.2002
My friend Dr. Veena Garyali, the forensic psychiatrist from New York and I took our adventure tour of the North East Frontier States as they used to be known earlier. We flew from Kolkota and were received at the Guwahati airport by our travel guide who was brisk and enthusiastic, the reason as it turned out later, “Madam I was not expecting 2 lady doctors but men”.
KAMakhaya temple was on the way to the Hotel. Legend has it that while Shiva was carrying the corpse of his wife Parvati who committed suicide because he had insulted her father Daksha, her lower half with the ‘yoni’ fell at this spot. Long queues of guys waited to worship the stone image, as both of us were able to sneak in through the VIP back entrance by donating Rs.100. It was claimed that they maintain Parvati’s youth and cover her once a year with a ‘red cloth’ signifying periodic menstruation, a piece of which is given to devotees who believe in the special tantric sexual forces endowed by her, the Godess of Sexual desire.
After lunch we cruised on the mighty Brahmputra, the only ‘Male river’ in India and the longest originating in Tibet and traversing Arunachal, Assam, Meghalaya, East Bengal and finally merging into the ocean at the Bay of Bengal. In the middle was the Peacock Island with the Umananda temple on top of the rock. Veena hiked up while I gave respite to my aging bones admiring first the golden ‘langur’ family hanging from the branches and then the group of young men including the priest who came into the boat. One young boy started crushing and chopping what looked like ginger to me but turned out was actually ‘Bhang’ which was given in ‘offering’ by the pilgrims in the temple but was consumed by them including the priest.
The evening Sun had turned a flaming red and was caught instantly by Veena’s ‘digital Sony’.
‘Bihu’ is a festival at the end of the harvest season when families come home and celebrate like ‘Thanks-Giving’ in the U.S.. One of Veena’s friends was one such member of one of the many Baruah clans of Assam who joined us for a drink back at the Hotel Ashok and an early dinner. Late nights are not a ‘norm’ and nothing and that means nothing happens after dark! He is currently the Political Science Prof. at Columbia, N.York. It was literally mind boggling to hear the history of this part of India, Assam being the largest North Eastern State, has been plagued by insurgency for years.
The Hindu rulers were taken over by the Buddhist ‘Tai’ tribe in the 13th century and then the Burmese and the British in the 17th.
Political agitation and upheavals took place after the 1980’s with lot of migrant populations from Bangla desh with the emergence and dominance of the under world the ULFA and the SULFA who are ‘into things’ and that means really ‘into things’.
Getting to bed we realized ‘not to our surprise’ the toilet of the ITDC Ashok was leaking and laughed remembering the Posh ‘Park’ of Calcutta owned and run by the APJ group.
(To be continued)
Veena Kapoor
24. 1. 2002
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