From the North-East to the rest of India

When a young man traveled to Bangalore many years back on a one-way ticket, he had dreams in his eyes and butterflies in his stomach. He was going to script his story in the Silicon Valley of India. Everything about the city – from the people to the climate to the flyovers to the roads to the malls – would amuse him. As he boarded the corporate bandwagon, he met new people, made new friends, and mingled with new cultures. But, every time he introduced himself to supposedly well-read and well-informed colleagues of his, he had to invest extra effort to educate them about his native place. He of course was me and I am from the North East India!

What has over the last decade not changed is I having to still explain where Agartala is. Questions like ‘is Tripura the capital of Nagaland’ and so on have made me laugh at times and have also sometimes made me angry. How can the so-called educated class of India be so dumb and ignorant about their own country? Surely, Tripura doesn’t even feature in the economic or political or social scheme of things of India. We send only two MPs to the parliament. Our state population can be dwarfed by that of even small cities. But that is no pardonable excuse to justify the ignorance. We’re as much part of the federal structure of India as any other state is, big or small. It’s sickening to know that some people think you may need a passport to tour north eastern states! That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a long time. A lot of people from the region may look different, may wear different clothes, and may represent not so familiar cultures. But isn’t that the beauty of the Indian federalism? Isn’t our constitution built on the foundation of ‘unity in diversity’?

I wouldn't go by sporadic incidents of violence and force generalized conclusions. I cannot however deny that there is discriminatory attitude prevalent in the ‘mainstream’ Indian pulse. Lot of students from the ‘seven sisters’ face societal ridicule every day. They get stereotyped just because of the way they look, speak or conduct themselves in public. Some cultures in this region of India are ‘open’ in a sense of gender-equality. The unfortunate truth is that this gets misinterpreted in a rather obnoxious sexist way, and girls are usually typecast as seductive in a derogatory manner. This is regressive and deplorable. People living in these states grow up struggling with many adversities: some due to the geographic disadvantage of being almost cut-off from mainland India, and some others due to continued negligence by all central governments. There is hardly any industry or manufacturing unit. Railway services haven’t penetrated to even big towns partly because of challenging landscapes. Many of the state capitals don’t have an airport. There aren't enough jobs to attract the youth. Healthcare remains a big concern. Quality of education suffers not because of lack of academic talent but because of absence of investment and organized support. They have a life lot less rosy than most others born in more privileged parts of India. People from this region are going to be different!

Is there something people from the north east living in various parts of India can do to cure this ill? Yes, I think so. The ‘us and them’ syndrome is predominantly due to lack of awareness on both sides of the fence. I’d urge everyone to spread as much awareness as possible, about what this lovely chunk of India is all about, what its people are like, what their cultures are and so on. It’s not enough to recognize it as only a place of scenic beauty worth a holiday plan; it’s much more than that. It’s about unearthing the true beauty of India as a nation; it’s about learning more about our own siblings; it’s about exploring a great opportunity to embrace lesser known facets of the great union of India.  

If you've had friends who come from the north east, you’d know that they’re among the nicest people. Genuine, honest and hard-working as they are, they live a down-to-earth life with simple priorities, devoid of any popular notion of bias. They’re perhaps the greatest company to have!