#3: India Beyond Bangladesh

I still remember that day,I was watching Baba Ramdev's protest at Ramleela Maidan when a friend of mine called in the eve to inform me that AIEEE results have been declared. Since a lot was at stake on that result, I quickly took my motorcycle to nearest internet cafe. Results were not good, I got gloomy AIR 22696. Now I had to decide, whether I should join a state engineering college or opt for NIT brand. The latter option means I should be ready to go the so called remote area of our country i.e either J&K or Northeast India. At that time I reluctantly opted NIT Agartala.

Since then I never feel that I am staying away from home unless I go to my hometown Bhopal, where I am treated like I am living outside this country.Everybody keeps asking that how you manage there, how frequently violence occur there and no matter how much I tell them that it is quite a nice and peaceful place, they console me with the sympathy that don't worry just survive four years and you will do well for the rest of your life. And this is not just the case of neighbours. This witless thinking prevails from Vodafone customer executive to training officer of NHDC, where I completed my summer training.

Today after spending about 4 years in this place, I realised why people think that northeast is not a good place to visit, it's unsafe there.It is because that these people don't have proper knowledge about this part of country.

Just to crosscheck my blunt views,just go to the main part of India and ask any educated person if he wants to go to Tripura(or any north eastern state) for his studies or business purpose and I am quite sure that most of them will say that it is too far and too risky to go there. Then you just hand him the map of India and ask him to locate any place of northeast,again I can assure you that sadly they will not be able to locate the position of seven states.

So what I have been trying to convey for so long is that the condition in these remote area is not so bad as we think. Actually the situation and people living here are satisfied than many of the people in metro city.This ignorance about northeast is not the problem of common people only but it is also the thinking of media and politicians.Few people know that Tripura has the highest literacy rate among all states in India, still they go on saying that people living in northeast don't know how to live as their food habits are a bit different.

People argue that the geographical features of North East are a big obstacle in developing this area. But for your information the current meter gauge railway track was built by Britishers in 1899. After that it took us 115 years to make a decision to upgrade it. Here arises the million dollar question why the whole mass including government,media person doesn't bother to even think about the people living here.Why a chain snatching case in Delhi is more highlighted then the rape case of Guwahati ??, Assam faces flood every year due to mighty Brahmaputra how many people know that?? Lets ask the capital of seven sister states,do you think the people who are living in mainland will be able to tell even two?
People also say that it is hard to reach in those places since there are no means of transport then I would give a big round of applause to the telecom and beverages companies because you can find their product in every place of northeast even where population density is lower then 100 person per sq km.

What I would request my reader that we live in an era where gaining information is quite easy, Before really making an opinion about a place make sure that you know it well. The beauty of northeast is not from any angle less alluring than that of places like Kashmir and Shimla.

I know there are some burning issues in Assam and other part of north east but it keep happening in every part of country,but just by saying incredible India and doing nothing for these people, we can't achieve the integrity.We need to make sure that these beautiful people living here never feel that they are being ignored.

Ending this note with a wish that someday Indians will change their perception towards northeast and will accept these lovely people instead of calling them chinese & nepalese. As in northeast alone about 220 languages are spoken with about half of the floura and fauna variation found in our country comes from this place. It is even said that the fashion sense in Shillong is 10 years ahead of our bollywood,and who can forget the contribution of "Gorkha regiment" in all the wars India have been ever engaged in.Considering all these facts I think we need North East part of our country to be on same level as rest of the country so that we can move forward as "INCREDIBLE INDIA".

                                                                                                            

                                                                                          Gangeshwar Tripathi