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