Kishalay Bhattacharjee
Bureau Chief, Northeast, NDTV
After eight years of serious travelling across India's North East I am still a newcomer to Mizoram. From North East's capital, Guwahati it is a long and arduous road journey, which can take more than 18 hours and the alternative air route is uncertain. As I touched down at Lengpui airport in a small ATR aircraft I entered a modern airport but far removed from the usual. The landscape, stunning.
An hour's drive takes us to Aizwal through a zig zag hilly road.
Barely a few days left for elections but the capital town has no flags, banners or wall writings. No vehicles with party colours crossed our path. Even by North East standards it's the most low profile polls I was about to cover.
I was rattled by the reluctance of the place to tell me its stories. It is not easy to dig in to a electoral battle when there is none visible. So, I started by meeting people. A majority of them prefer to speak in their own language so my resources were meagre.
In most places my trusted guides are the drivers. Dika, a former policeman, drives a rickety Maruti 800 and wears a happy smile. Maruti 800 is almost the designated mode of public conveyance in the state and has been in use as a public transport since the eighties. The speed with which it manoeuvres the hilly terrain makes it appear like a convertible.
It's warm in November. Unusual, I'm told. The lackluster election preparation is also unusual. Mizoram is a young state but elections follow the great Indian chunav tamasha and is accompanied by feasting and music. The music though is hard rock and choir music. The badakhana is a traditional Mizo delicacy. But I will miss all that because a conscience keeper, Mizoram Peoples Forum, has issued a diktat to political parties that this election must be a low budget, low key election.
Welcome to Mizoram. A whole new world of conscience keepers and youth forums run parallel governments in this state. The guardian angel of these groups is the Church. A physical reality which peeps from every bent of the road. The Church is the final destination in Mizoram. So, naturally I started walking towards a Church.
Church elders are very sophisticated and well read people. They were accommodating and had no reluctance in answering my uncomfortable questions. They knew where my questions came from and accepted that it's this one institution which matters in Mizoram - one place where religion and politics apparently has had a healthy fusion.
But step out and meet people and you hear that the Church is becoming 'dysfunctional'. Their diktat on prohibition on liquor doesn't have many takers today and individuals feel the Church has trespassed its limits. So have all the other NGOs collecting fees in the name of serving citizens. Voluntary service which comes at a cost.
Curtailment of liberty is one cost that most are not willing to pay anymore. Many of course feel otherwise.
North East had taught me to expect almost nothing and be surprised by the unexpected. But Mizoram was getting intriguing. The bellboy of my hotel leading me up to a winding fifth floor room was the most depressing moment. Clean linen but a damp room with a bad odour. They call it a suite because of a large terrace overlooking a picturesque Aizwal city. Hospitality industry hasn't even taken off in this state. Hotels are scarce and facilities next to none.
But if you look away from the clutter of the town, it is high fashion. Almost every lady in town is in a pair of tight black jeans in a coordinated dress code. Fashion accessories are very chic. In sharp contrast to Manipur or Nagaland or some other North Eastern towns, Aizwal is safe. It is not a police state but the strangeness is uncomfortable. At the end of my first day I was still clueless. It requires a different template to understand Mizoram's politics.
Source: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showcolumns.aspx?id=COLEN20080073438
Bureau Chief, Northeast, NDTV
After eight years of serious travelling across India's North East I am still a newcomer to Mizoram. From North East's capital, Guwahati it is a long and arduous road journey, which can take more than 18 hours and the alternative air route is uncertain. As I touched down at Lengpui airport in a small ATR aircraft I entered a modern airport but far removed from the usual. The landscape, stunning.
An hour's drive takes us to Aizwal through a zig zag hilly road.
Barely a few days left for elections but the capital town has no flags, banners or wall writings. No vehicles with party colours crossed our path. Even by North East standards it's the most low profile polls I was about to cover.
I was rattled by the reluctance of the place to tell me its stories. It is not easy to dig in to a electoral battle when there is none visible. So, I started by meeting people. A majority of them prefer to speak in their own language so my resources were meagre.
In most places my trusted guides are the drivers. Dika, a former policeman, drives a rickety Maruti 800 and wears a happy smile. Maruti 800 is almost the designated mode of public conveyance in the state and has been in use as a public transport since the eighties. The speed with which it manoeuvres the hilly terrain makes it appear like a convertible.
It's warm in November. Unusual, I'm told. The lackluster election preparation is also unusual. Mizoram is a young state but elections follow the great Indian chunav tamasha and is accompanied by feasting and music. The music though is hard rock and choir music. The badakhana is a traditional Mizo delicacy. But I will miss all that because a conscience keeper, Mizoram Peoples Forum, has issued a diktat to political parties that this election must be a low budget, low key election.
Welcome to Mizoram. A whole new world of conscience keepers and youth forums run parallel governments in this state. The guardian angel of these groups is the Church. A physical reality which peeps from every bent of the road. The Church is the final destination in Mizoram. So, naturally I started walking towards a Church.
Church elders are very sophisticated and well read people. They were accommodating and had no reluctance in answering my uncomfortable questions. They knew where my questions came from and accepted that it's this one institution which matters in Mizoram - one place where religion and politics apparently has had a healthy fusion.
But step out and meet people and you hear that the Church is becoming 'dysfunctional'. Their diktat on prohibition on liquor doesn't have many takers today and individuals feel the Church has trespassed its limits. So have all the other NGOs collecting fees in the name of serving citizens. Voluntary service which comes at a cost.
Curtailment of liberty is one cost that most are not willing to pay anymore. Many of course feel otherwise.
North East had taught me to expect almost nothing and be surprised by the unexpected. But Mizoram was getting intriguing. The bellboy of my hotel leading me up to a winding fifth floor room was the most depressing moment. Clean linen but a damp room with a bad odour. They call it a suite because of a large terrace overlooking a picturesque Aizwal city. Hospitality industry hasn't even taken off in this state. Hotels are scarce and facilities next to none.
But if you look away from the clutter of the town, it is high fashion. Almost every lady in town is in a pair of tight black jeans in a coordinated dress code. Fashion accessories are very chic. In sharp contrast to Manipur or Nagaland or some other North Eastern towns, Aizwal is safe. It is not a police state but the strangeness is uncomfortable. At the end of my first day I was still clueless. It requires a different template to understand Mizoram's politics.
Source: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showcolumns.aspx?id=COLEN20080073438
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