Many of you would remember the promise I made some days ago to share  the inspiring story about the life of Guru Tegh Bahadur-ji on this blog.
I was hoping to do last week but my visit to North-East delayed this post. That said, Guruji’s story is timeless…and will no doubt be retold many many times…What follows is my humble attempt at depicting the life of this saint.  Although we are all very familiar with Guru Tegh Bahadur’s name, his deeds – like hundreds of other proud chapters from Indian history …

Post triggered by a notice-board I spotted at Guwahati airport (pl click below to enlarge; take note of the last name on the list)

I wonder why Sh Robert Vadra is exempted from pre-embarkation security checks when he is with “SPG Protectees”? Would it be embarrassing to Priyanka to see her husband being frisked by “ordinary” security personnel? Would it embarrass the children to see their father being “security checked” in public? Or would it embarrass the other “SPG Protectees” he may be travelling with to see him being so checked?
Or …

This weekend, please find a selection of articles from the North-East, touching on some of the topics previously discussed here. More “Notes from North-East” next week. Stay tuned.
The first extract on Majuli, the world’s largest riverine island in the world and its “Satras“:
Majuli was one of the nerve-centres of the Neo-Vaisnavite Movement during its heydays. It was at Majuli (then known as Dhuwahat, Ahom territory) that Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva met his foremost disciple and apostolic successor, Madhavadeva for the very first time, in the 16th century. This event, referred to …

Another hurried post….essentially a summary of conversations over the last three days (in no particular order). Sorry for the lack of formatting etc.
Aggressive Christian evangelism is a “live” issue across north-east. There have been incidents involving conversions either via direct inducement/ allurement or indirect/ soft persuasion aided by unspoken promises of rewards. I heard of at least two cases of deception and/or fraudulent tactics being used to influence impressionable minds.
Infiltration from across the border continues unabated. I sensed a certain degree of fatalism whenever conversation veered on this topic. This is …

This is a micro-post/ a short (and hurried) worm’s eye view of the situation in North-East.
Spent yesterday going around knocking on doors (almost literally) with an earnest young volunteer (Thanks a lot, Jyoti and to Rohith & Tanmay).
We visited several institutions and colleges…and came up against walls of indifference but were also very fortunate to meet some kindred souls.  Thanks to this effort and the 100+ emails I sent during the last few days, the outreach effort is now coming together. People are introducing me to their contacts and …

From Buddhists allege NSCN-IM threat (emphasis added):
…“The people in Wangnong and nearby villages (in Arunachal Pradesh) have been passing sleepless nights. They are all Buddhists. An armed militant group belonging to the NSCN(IM) has ordered them to convert to Christianity,” said Ven Aggadhamma, the highest religious leader of the Buddhists in Changlang and Tirap districts.Aggadhamma said that on May 13, a group of armed men came to the village, gathered the village head and other senior members of the village and ordered them to embrace Christianity. “These persons came to …