Notes from North-East: A worm’s eye view

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 acquaintances and the list of people to meet (and talk to) is growing daily.

Sadly, I am without a mobile connection since I landed in India – having managed to block my SIM card (long story..but this is a self-inflicted wound 🙁 ) and I’m having to juggle my schedule with some work-related phone calls with folks in US and UK (i.e. late nights and early mornings).

Guwahati feels noisy…and surprisingly polluted (apparently the fourth most polluted city in India). It is rare to find a smooth road…The fastest mode of transport is a hemmed-in autorickshaw – which feels cosy (not) inside..and you have to pay through your nose for the privilege of travelling in one (you can have dinner for less than what you would pay to travel for 30mins in an auto).

The situation on the ground seems to be stable. Most people I met felt that insurgency is on the wane. There are other factors that are causing worry – the unabated influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh and the designs of China in this region. I certainly felt more “safe” in Guwahati than I would feel in Jharkhand or Chattisgarh today. But there is also a certain sense of hopelessness and despair about what the future holds…This was worrying to me…When people begin to loose faith and hope, that is when the the situation becomes truly serious. I expect to get a better sense of this in the days to come.

During the day, we travelled in a “Trekker”, a bus a cycle-rickshaw, an auto-rickshaw and also walked for about 2.5 kms. All this fuelled by two cups of tea (in a glass that was rinsed; not washed) and a 1/2 ltr water bottle shared between 2 people!

Later in the afternoon, I also went to Ganeshguri – which has the sad distinction of being one of the most “bombed place” in India.

Fingers crossed on the result of all these efforts…More tomorrow*.

Image: A bird’s eye view of Guwahati (31st May ’10)

* Internet connectivity permitting; For almost the whole of today, I was without a mobile phone and without an internet connection (i.e. I lived like the 500m odd people whose life is a daily struggle; I must not complain)…I am realising that spending my days without a mobile phone is helping me think better!

P.S. By the way, why don’t my tweets show up on the homepage (right hand side above the Facebook group)? The message I see is “No public Twitter messages.” Anyone else seeing this? Thanks