Live! Mizoram Assembly Election Results

02:57 pmWe can safely declare that Indian National Congress has won the Mizoram Legislative Assembly 2013










02:50 pm

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 32 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	19	6	25
Mizo National Front +	2	3	5
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

BJP

0

1

1

02:42 pm

31 / 40

Party	Leads	Result	Change	Total
Cong	6	18	-1	24
MNF	3	2	+3	5
BJP	1	0	+1	1
ZNP	1	0	0	1

02:28 pm  Vote Tally so far

02:25 pm

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 28 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	17	6	23
Mizo National Front +	2	2	4
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

01:59 pm

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 27 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	15	7	22
Mizo National Front +	2	2	4
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

01:07 pm

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 27 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	14	8	22
Mizo National Front +	2	2	4
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

12:59 pm  Congress inching towards magic figure in Mizoram.

12:55 pm

Party	Leads	Result	Change	Total
Cong	8	13	-1	21
MNF	2	2	+2	4
ZNP	1	0	+1	1

12:50 pm

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 25 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	13	7	20
Mizo National Front +	2	2	4
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

 

12:39 pm  Mizoram CM wins from both seats he contested.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla today won from Serchhip and Hrangturzo, the two seats he contested in the Assembly elections.. 

12:30 pm

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 23 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	11	8	19
Mizo National Front +	2	2	4
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

12:09 pm

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 23 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	11	8	19
Mizo National Front +	0	3	3
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

12:03 am  Congress candidate H. Rohluna wins from Lengteng constituency. 
12:02 pm

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 23 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	9	10	19
Mizo National Front +	0	3	3
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

11:58 am  Congress wins all first nine results and leads in 17 other constituencies.  
 
11:43 am  Aizawl East - II Lalsawta (congress) won against Sailothanga of MNF. 

11:50 am

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 22 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	9	9	18
Mizo National Front +	0	3	3
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

11:44 am

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 22 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	8	10	18
Mizo National Front +	0	3	3
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

11:43 am  Mizo National Front candidate Lalrinawma leading in Tuikum.

11:31 am  Dr. K Beichhua MDA (MNF) defeats sitting MLA and former Mizoram Industry Minister S. Hiato by around 200 vote.

11:28 am

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 22 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	7	10	17
Mizo National Front +	0	4	4
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

11:27 am  R L Pianmawia (Cong) wins in Tuivawl. 
 

11:23 am  Lungleì south : INC heavyweight S. Laldingliana Elected. 

11:20 am  CM Lal Thanhawla of Congress defeats MDA's C. Lalramzuava in Serchhip reserved constituency.

11:19 am  State Minister H. Rohluna defeats MDA's L. Thangmawia in Lengteng reserved constituency

11:16 am

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 22 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	5	12	17
Mizo National Front +	0	4	4
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

11:14 am

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 22 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	3	13	16
Mizo National Front +	0	5	5
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

11:06 am

Lalsawta (Cong) leads in Aizawl East-I I
Tt Zothansanga (Cong) leads in Champhai North
Lalrobiaka (Cong) leads in Dampa
Lalrinmawia Ralte (Cong) leads in Hachhek
Lal Thanhawla (Cong) leads in Hrangturzo
Cramhluna (MNF) leads in Lawngtlai West
L Thangmawia (MNF) leads in Lengteng
Joseph Lalhimpuia (Cong) leads in Lunglei East
S Laldingliana (Cong) leads in Lunglei South
Dr R Lalthangliana (MNF) leads in Lunglei West
John Rotluangliana (Cong) leads in Mamit
Hiphei (Cong) leads in Palak
Dr K Beichhua (MNF) leads in Saiha
Lal Thanhawla (Cong) leads in Serchhip
John Siamkunga (Cong) wins in South Tuipui
Lalmalsawmi (MNF) leads in Tawi
Lalrinliana Sailo (Cong) leads in Tuichang
Buddha Dhan Chakma (Cong) wins in Tuichawng
Er Lalrinawma (MNF) leads in Tuikum
Joseph L Ralte (ZNP) leads in Tuirial
R L Pianmawia (Cong) leads in Tuivawl
11:05 am

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 16 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	2	11	13
Mizo National Front +	0	6	6
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

11:00 am

Expecting a comfortable majority in Mizoram: Chief Minister Thanhawla

 

10:57 am

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 15 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	2	10	12
Mizo National Front+	0	5	5

10:52 am

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 15 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	1	12	13
Mizo National Front+	0	2	2

10:51 am MNF+ Leading in 5 seats, Congress leading in 12 seats, ZNP leading in 1 seat
 
10:49 am 

Mizoram Result Status
Status Known For 16 out of 40 Constituencies
Party	Won	Leading	Total
Indian National Congress	1	11	12
Mizo National Front +	0	3	3
Zoram Nationalist Party	0	1	1

10:40 am Congress candidate John Siamkunga declared elected from South Tuipui

10:38 am MNF+ Leading in 3 seats, Congress leading in 14 seats, ZNP leading in 1 seat

10:31 am MNF+ Leading in 3 seats, Congress leading in 14 seats.

9:31 am MNF+ Leading in 2 seats, Congress leading in 6 seats. 

9: 30 am Lalrinmawia Ralte (Cong) leads in Hachhek

9:22 am R Lalzirliana (Cong) leads in Tawi.
 
9:20 am MNF Leading in 1 seat, MDF leading 1 seat Congress leading in 4 seats.

C Ngunlianchunga (Cong) leads in Lawngtlai West
L Thangmawia (MNF) leads in Lengteng
Pp Thawla (MDF) leads in Palak
S Hiato (Cong) leads in Saiha
Buddha Dhan Chakma (Cong) leads in Tuichawng
R L Pianmawia (Cong) leads in Tuivawl

 
9:19 am MNF+ Leading in 2 seats, Congress leading in 4 seats.
9:18 am MNF+ Leads in 2 seats, Congress in 2 seats.
 
9:17 am Doordarshan seems to be the only one interested in Mizoram election results today.

9:15 am MNF+ Leads in 2 seats, Congress in 1 seat.


9:10 am A total of 142 candidates which includes six women are contesting in the Mizoram election. 6 women candidates contesting - one each from the Congress and the MDA, three belonging to the BJP and one independent. Mizoram is the only state in India where women voters outnumber men by 9,806 in the state of 690,860

9:05 am Bruised Congress looks for some good news from Mizoram

Counting beings in Mizoram with 40 seats up for grabs

9:00 am The results would reveal if four-time Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla faced anti-incumbency this time


08:50 am And it's Madam Gandhi birthday today. Will Mizoram come as a gift to her or another debacle?


08:45 am Is Mizoram part of India?? No TV showing any results....


08:40 am "The counting of ballots would be done across eight districts from 8 a.m. Monday. Postal ballots would be counted first, followed by the votes recorded in EVMs (electronic voting machines)," an official of the state election department told reporters.

 

08:35 am

The MNF, which ruled the state for 10 years till 2008, is the principal opposition party.

08:34 am

During the last assembly elections held December 2008, the Congress won 32 seats, the MNF three and the MDF one. The MPC and ZNP got two seats each.

08:25 am

Counting of votes cast in elections to the Mizoram assembly began at 8 am, officials said.

08:23 am

Of the 40 assembly seats, 39 are reserved for tribals and one is for general category.

08:22 am

BJP has little base in the state, Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) and the Nationalist Congress Party also contested, fielding candidates on many seats.

08:22 am

The main poll battle in the mountainous state is between the ruling Congress and opposition coalition Mizoram Democratic Alliance, comprising the MNF, Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) and Maraland Democratic Front (MDF), all regional and local parties.

08:22 am

Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, also the state Congress chief, is contesting from two constituencies - Serchhip, his home turf, and neighbouring Hrangturzo - while opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) chief Zoramthanga is trying his electoral fortunes from Tuipui East, bordering Myanmar.

08:13 am

"The counting of ballots would be done across eight districts from 8 a.m. Monday. Postal ballots would be counted first, followed by the votes recorded in EVMs (electronic voting machines)," an official of the state election department told reporters.

08:12 am

Over 81% of the total of 690,860 voters exercised their franchise across the state to elect a new 40-member assembly and government.

08:12 am

he fate of the Congress government in Mizoram will be known when votes polled for the assembly elections held November 25 are counted today.

Mizoram Set To Enter India's Archaeological Map

By ADAM HALLIDAY

The giant menhirs, have been the subject of speculation and awe in the state (IE Photo)

Aizawl, Dec 9 : Mizoram is set to enter India's archaeological map for the first time as the Ministry of Culture issues a preliminary notification that seeks to declare a 9000 sq.m site that hosts 200 stone menhirs embossed with images of humans, animals and hunting scenes and several caves as a site of national importance. 

The giant menhirs, many taller than a man, have been the subject of speculation and awe in the state, and locals in nearby Vangchhia village in eastern Champhai district have informally sought to protect them all this while, christening it "Kawtchhuah Ropui" (The Great Gateway) and preventing the siphoning off of the relics.

The Mizoram Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) had been spearheading a campaign to allot these formal conservation for the past three years now, working with the Archaeological Survey of India and arranging for three visits to the site by ASI expert.
"All the states of the Indian union are now on the archaeological map of the country. Mizoram has till date not had an entry in this map, and now we will hopefully be represented," said P Rohmingthanga, convener of INTACH's Mizoram chapter and retired IAS officer, adding the menhirs are believed to have been erected either in the 14th or 15th centuries AD.

Co-convener Rinsanga, also a retired IAS officer, said further studies on the site will likely throw more light on the history of the tribes that make up the Mizo people, whose migration into what is presently Mizoram and surrounding areas is shrouded in mystery because of an absence of written evidence.

Historians have till now relied on tales passed on by word of mouth, such as songs and stories, and empirical evidences presented by the spread of tribes that now make up the Mizo community. Ethnic Mizos are found in present-day Myanmar, Manipur, southern Assam, Tripura and even Bangladesh.  
"The Great Gateway may either add a huge amount to what we already know of our ancestor's migration into this land, or tell us entirely new things as well," he said.

What makes these menhirs extraordinary is not just the intricate embossing, said retired history professor J V Hluna, but that they are erected in a place where there are no rocky patches from which to extract the rocks from, meaning these rocks were ferried from far away, probably from near the Tiau river that serves as the Indo-Myanmar boundary.

According to historian and former Joint Director of Mizoram's Art and Culture Department C Laitanga, the embossed figures on the menhirs resemble to the traditional practices and way of living of pre-modern Mizos.

"The main human image on the mehirs has a large feather tucked into a band on his head, which signifies glory even in old Mizo society. Then the spear that he carries resembles the large, specially crafted spears Mizos used to hunt bisons with. The line of humans may signify slaves or enemies killed in raids and battles, and the wild animals seem to signify the hunting tradition through which Mizo warriors attained glory and reverence," he explained.

Mizoram Polls Counting Today, Hung Assembly Projected

Aizawl, Dec 9 :  Counting of votes for the 40 assembly seats of Mizoram will begin at 8 am on Monday amidst tight security.

Nearly 82 percent, a record number, had casted their votes in the state assembly elections.

The poll battle is mainly between the ruling Congress and the alliance of Mizo National Front and Mizo People's Conference who have formed the Mizoram Democratic Alliance.

Chief Minsiter Lalthanhawla is facing anti-incumbency this time, say political experts.

This poll will decide the fate of 142 candidates, including six women and many independents.

Political parties have expressed their happiness over the heavy turnout of voters and peaceful elections.

The opposition Mizoram Democratic Alliance is a coalition comprising Mizo National Front (MNF), Mizoram People's Conference and Maraland Democratic Front, all regional and local parties.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has little base in the state, Zoram Nationalist Party and the Nationalist Congress Party are also separately contesting the state elections, fielding candidates in many seats.

Of the 40 assembly seats, 39 are reserved for tribals. One seat is for the general category.

With a population of 10.91 lakh, Mizoram is the only state in India where women voters outnumber men by 9,806 in the total of 690,860. In all, there are 350,333 women voters against 340,527 males.

Altogether 1,126 polling stations were set up across the state to hold the elections. Mizoram shares borders with Myanmar (404 km) and Bangladesh (318 km).

A newly-designed device -- Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) which confirms to a voter that his or her vote was cast as wished -- was "used in 10 of the 40 assembly segments of Mizoram", an election official said.

This is the first time that this device has been used in any general election in the country.

Even though there is no major security threat from separatist outfits and Mizoram remained peaceful during the month-long electioneering, around 7,000 para-military, state and other security personnel were deployed to ensure free and fair polls in the state.

Christian- and tribal-dominated Mizoram witnessed peaceful campaigning under the close watch of the powerful church-controlled Mizoram People's Forum (MPF), a non-government election watchdog.

Mizoram Police chief Amulya Patnaik is hopeful that the counting process will pass off peacefully.

Monday's counting will decide the political fortunes of Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, his eleven cabinet colleagues, Mizoram Women's Congress chief Tlangthanmawii and former chief minister and MNF president Zoramthanga.

Lal Thanhawla, also state Congress chief, is contesting from two constituencies -Serchhip, his home turf, and neighbouring Hrangturzo - and opposition MNF chief Zoramthanga is trying his electoral fortunes from Tuipui East, bordering Myanmar.

The Mizoram poll was earlier scheduled for Dec 4 and the counting of votes was scheduled for Dec 8.

But the ECI rescheduled the dates following the request of the church and the local political parties to allow the voters to go to church Sunday and to celebrate a local festival.

During the last assembly elections of December 2008, the Congress won 32 seats, the MNF three and the MDF one. The MPC and ZNP got two seats each.

The MNF, which ruled the state for 10 years till 2008, is the principal opposition party.

Opium Cultivation in Northeast Rings Alarm Bells

Guwahati, Dec 9 : The illicit cultivation of opium in the northeast is on the rise and experts at a seminar here called for drawing up of strategies by the enforcement agencies to arrest the menace.

"The prevalence of opium production and abuse is rising alarmingly in states such as Manipur and Nagaland as more and more people in remote areas are taking up the cultivation as a means of livelihood and also for their own consumption," said Devendra Dutt, secretary of the Institute of Narcotics Studies and Analysis (INSA) while attending a seminar in Guwahati on Saturday. A survey on narcotics by the INSA at two border districts of Arunachal Pradesh -Anjaw and Lohit -has revealed that cultivation of opium is widespread as is addiction to the drug among people there.

An overwhelming 90 per cent of the villages in Anjaw had all families cultivating opium, while in Lohit, the corresponding figure was 63 per cent.

INSA, in collaboration with Don Bosco Institute, Guwahati, organized a three-day seminar on 'Drugs in the North East: Searching for Truth and Solutions'. The seminar was attended by delegates from various states and international participants who discussed the extent and prevalence of all kinds of drug abuse in the region, illicit cultivation of opium, production and trafficking in the region.

The discussion also took into account the developments taking place elsewhere in the world. Delegates from abroad shared their experiences in European and Latin American countries, which have endorsed a 'four pillars' policy - prevention, therapy, harm reduction and policing.

Silence and serenity in India

By Michael Snyder

Villagers begin the first stages of the rice harvest near the village of Hong in the remote Ziro Valley in the Northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Photo: Michael Snyder

New Delhi - When the music ended, the valley fell silent. In the last weeks of September, the monsoon rains had largely receded, but elephantine clouds continued to pour over the hillsides, drifting close overhead and dropping dramatic shadows across the golden paddies carpeting the valley floor. Cupped like so much still water in the upraised hands of the Himalayas, the Ziro Valley had returned, once again, to its customary quiet.

Over the previous three days, the second Ziro Festival of Music – one of the newest additions to India’s rapidly expanding festival circuit – had brought some 1 200 people to the valley. They’d travelled from across the neighbouring Seven Sister states of the remote north-east, and from India’s big cities, to Arunachal Pradesh, the sparsely populated hill state that bursts from the plains and tea plantations of Assam and rises toward the Tibetan plateau.

Like all the artists and journalists who attended the festival, I arrived by road from Guwahati, the nearest major city with an airport. The drive – I would describe it as harrowing, but that seems like an exaggeration, albeit a mild one – took 18 hours, beginning along the flat banks of the Brahmaputra River and continuing, in its final 100km, along pockmarked switchbacks that hugged the contours of the hillsides as they rose through subtropical jungle toward the gentle alpine hills that enclose Ziro.

The lack of infrastructure, and the travel permits required to enter the state because of its disputed northern border with China, make getting to Arunachal complex, which has kept the state well off the grid. In its small way, the festival has begun to put Ziro on the map, but like most of Arunachal and the north-east, this remains tribal territory: amazingly diverse, virtually unexplored and beautiful beyond all reason.

Ziro, for instance, is home to the Apatani tribe, one of 26 major tribes (there are more than 100 sub-tribes) that make up Arunachal’s minuscule population. With just 1.4 million people spread over 82 880 square kilometres of jungle-covered hills, alpine valleys and snow-capped mountains, Arunachal has the lowest population density of any state in India. Yet follow the single road that heads north out of Ziro, first climbing through pine forest before dropping suddenly into a deeper valley lush with bananas and primeval fern trees, and you enter an entirely different tribal zone, with different styles of housing, different festivals, a different language.

After the Ziro festival, Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley – two former members of Sonic Youth who played the last show – held a news conference. “This is beyond what we thought we’d come to India for,” Ranaldo said of Ziro. And it’s true: most travellers associate India with drama – with chaos, riotous colours and the constant possibility of transcendence and disaster. Ziro bestows a calm that feels like absolution.

Women from throughout the state's central districts travel to Ziro on government stipends to refine their skills before going home to teach classes in their villages.

THE WASHINGTON POST

The scriptures of the earliest Tibetan Buddhist sect describe seven sacred beyul, or hidden valleys, a concept that led James Hilton, in his 1933 novel, Lost Horizon, to create the mythical Himalayan utopia of Shangri-La. That’s a name that gets bandied around a lot by tourism ministries and enthusiastic tourists alike. Kashmir, Swat and Hunza have been described as tragic Shangri-Las lost to the ravages of war. Bhutan, with its famous Gross National Happiness index, long history of isolation and highly restrictive travel policies, is sometimes described as the last Shangri-La.

Before leaving for Arunachal, I heard several people describe it as yet another one: the seventh beyul, exquisitely preserved, sublime in its isolation.

I was, of course, sceptical. But then, I hadn’t yet seen Ziro.

Shri Buga Bullo and his wife, Yagyang, live in a village called Hong. Inside their home, the tightly woven bamboo walls blocked out the brilliant sun that had warmed the Ziro Valley to an unusually hot 32°C. Like all traditional houses here, the Bullos’ home centres on a communal fireplace and a hanging three-tiered rack that held skewers of drying meat, firewood and, on top, a massive sheet of fat and skin from a pig, petrified and preserved over decades by the constant smoke from the fire below.

Like the dozens of horned mithun skulls stacked in the corner (mithun is an indigenous, semi-domesticated bull), collected from ceremonial sacrifices performed over many years, the slab of fat is a sign of prosperity.

Buga crouched on one side of the fire with a century-old silver pipe clamped between his withered lips and chatted in the local Apatani dialect with Tajo Michi, who has led tours around the north-east for the past nine years. (He goes by Christopher for the convenience of foreign tourists, and for the past two years has run his own agency, Northeast Holiday Tour & Travels.

Women weave traditional textiles of the Adi tribe from a neighboring region of Arunachal Pradesh at the Handicrafts Emporium just outside the center of Hapoli town in the Ziro Valley.

THE WASHINGTON POST

On the far side of the fire, Yagyang prepared a metal pitcher of rice beer, a milky, sweet-sour drink brewed in nearly every house in the valley. Like many women of her age (which is indeterminate; birthdays are neither marked nor celebrated among the Apatani), Yagyang wears the nose plugs and facial tattoos that distinguish the local women from those of neighbouring tribes: a single blue line from the forehead to the tip of the nose and five separate lines running from the lower lip to the chin.

The origin of these tattoos is obscure. The common story goes that they were designed to disfigure the Apatani women, who were otherwise so beautiful that men from the surrounding tribes would raid the valley to kidnap them. Koj Mama, the president of the Arunachal Pradesh Birding Club and director of Brahmaputra Tours, said this was almost certainly an invention.

As Tajo, Koj and I drank our rice beer, Buga stood – bent forward nearly 90º, his topknot held at his forehead by a long reed – to retrieve a jar of Apatani salt for us to eat with the drink. The fine black powder is made from the evaporated liquids pressed out of a locally grown grass. It’s vegetal, briny flavour, infused with the metallic tang of iodine, gives the final kick to a local delicacy known as pike pilla, a simple stew made from smoked pork or mithun skin.

Unlike neighbouring tribes that have long practised a nomadic style of shifting cultivation (called jhum), the Apatani have been settled in the valley since their prehistoric migration from the north, giving them the opportunity to develop uniquely sophisticated agricultural and craft techniques.

The wet paddies that line the valley floor, for instance, double as fisheries for small freshwater fish, which are either dried and fermented for chutneys or steamed in a hollow stalk of bamboo sealed with leaves and placed in the hot coals of an open fire. This preparation, called sudu, is also commonly used for chicken, liver, eggs and rice. Canny guides like Tajo and Koj – all highly attuned to global trends – will make a point of telling you that the food here is entirely local and organic, an understatement if ever I’ve heard one.

At the Government Craft Emporium, housed in a creaky colonial bungalow in the village of Salang, craftspeople from the surrounding region receive stipends to come and improve their skills, weaving the traditional geometric shawls and gales (a type of sarong) of the Apatani, Nyishi and Adi tribes. Wander through the compound, and you’ll see a woman from the Buddhist Monpa tribe in the state’s north-west tying small woollen carpets, a blacksmith crafting tribal machetes and a carpenter fashioning all manner of objects out of bamboo. Some of these craftsmen stay permanently at the centre, while others return to their home villages to pass the skill along. At the mporium store, the final products are sold at shockingly low prices, as little as 450 rupees (about R70) for a handwoven gale.

In about four hours, you can walk the road that loops between the villages skirting the edge of the valley floor, and in a day or so you can complete the trail through the dense forest just above. You can linger in the villages themselves, walking beneath the tall ceremonial wooden masts known as babos left from the myoko festival held every March – part of the prevailing sun-and-moon worship tradition – and past old women sifting millet and rice on their front porches.

On my last evening, after a brief sunset hike into the forest between Hong and Hari villages, Tajo and I stopped at a house to sample another brew of rice beer and a potent (though barely potable) distilled rice liquor. We ate skewers of beef taken straight from the smoking rack and thrown into the coals.

At another house, we ate fish sudu and hot chutneys, and at the end of the night we returned to my own home-stay in a traditional bamboo house back in Hong, where the owner, Tom, made arrangements for my onward journey the next day.

After a long day, I fell fast asleep on a bamboo pallet to the conspicuous sound of absolutely nothing.

“There’s nothing to see here,” Tajo Nido (another Tajo) told me a day later. We sat on the porch of his aunt’s bamboo hut, built on stilts on a forested hillside looking out over the crests of the surrounding mountains and the sparse wooden and bamboo houses that make up the village of Raga. Home makes us blind.

But then, of course, Tajo is right to some extent: there really isn’t anything to see in Raga, if we’re using “see” to mean “do”. Two hours north of Ziro, Raga sits at a lower elevation, but from its hilltop perch it overlooks the surrounding range of mountains, the kind that hint at higher ones just over the next ragged line embossed upon the sky.

The few visitors who pass through here usually do so en route to the town of Daporijo, in the neighbouring district of Upper Subansiri.

I myself came here for no particular reason, save for the fact I didn’t have quite enough time to go anywhere else and wanted, after five days in Ziro, to see something of Arunachal’s diversity.

The Nyishi tribe living just outside Ziro bears certain similarities to the Apatani: both tribes, like many in Arunachal’s central swathe, are still primarily animist (although the recent arrival ofmissionaries from the evangelical state of Mizoram to the south has begun to change that); both tribes subsist almost entirely on agriculture; both tribes prepare food using similar ingredients, though the Nyishi make greater use of tropical plants such as banana flower and lack ingredients such as Apatani salt.

Yet the structure of the place, the style of the houses, the character of the people and the landscape, lends Raga a different personality.

If Ziro has minimal infrastructure for visitors, then Raga has none. The people who took me around did so out of generosity, a special trait that, throughout the largely unvisited north-east, remains remarkably untainted by the cynicism that can at times make travelling in other parts of India so frustrating.

I spent my first evening in Raga at Tajo’s home near the market in the town centre, where the next day I sampled another homemade rice brew in a ramshackle house near a mechanic’s garage. At the family home, Tajo’s stepmother poured us fresh millet wine, sweet and warm and only beginning its fermentation. I used a machete to help Tajo gut the small fish that had come in that day from Ziro, and narrowly avoided losing my left hand.

The next evening, Topu Banor, the 19-year-old son of a local folk musician, took me on a short walk from the Circuit House (a simple government accommodation opened only on days when visitors come through, and usually reserved for local dignitaries) to the top of the hill overlooking the town. We walked in the waning afternoon along a muddy road built a couple of years earlier with government funds, Topu told me, but neither completed nor put into use.

It’s a typical story of negligence that reflects Arunachal’s ongoing battle against its almost impossible topography and immense distance from India's centres of power. It also reflects the sense of alienation that remains, also kind of miraculously, tempered by the delirious optimism that has become India’s trademark in the 21st century. “In five years, Raga will be a developed town,” Topu boasted. Perhaps. Time, too, tends to be flexible out here.

As we neared the top of the hill, the clouds and mist so typical in the Land of Dawn-Lit Mountains (the almost too poetic translation of Arunachal Pradesh) had lowered over the faces of the hills, like the cataracts beginning to creep over Buga Bullo’s ageless eyes. Drops of water left the tall grasses along the roadside wet as Topu led me towards a small field on the final rise, stubbled with corn stalks.

“You haven’t been here, no?” he asked.

“No,” I said, as he pushed forward through the damp grass.

In the previous days, I had seen places and views that were more perfect, more calming in their pastoral beauty, yet looking out again over a hallucinogenic swirl of hills and clouds and forest, fading through grey towards purple-black night, I couldn’t dispute what he said next as he led the way forward with a small, bashful laugh: “Come. I will show you heaven.” – The Washington Post

l Snyder is a freelance writer based in Mumbai and a contributing editor to Architectural Digest India.

 

If You Go...

GETTING THERE

Jet Airways flies to Guwahati in Assam, the nearest major airport to Arunachal Pradesh, from Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Buses run regularly from Guwahati to Itanagar (from about $9 (R91), nine to 11 hours), where Jeep connection is available to Ziro (about $8, five to seven hours). Private vehicles can also be arranged from Guwahati directly to Ziro, starting at around $40.

Protected Area Permits, required for all foreign visitors travelling to Arunachal Pradesh, can be arranged in person at the Arunachal tourism office in New Delhi or, more conveniently, through a guide or tour operator.

Permits for 30 days cost $50, plus an additional handling fee if booked through an agent or operator.

 

WHERE TO STAY AND EAT

Ziro Valley Resort

Biiri Village, Ziro

Comfortable and charming, if a bit creaky, and a 15-minute walk from Hong village. Restaurant offers decent renditions of North Indian and Indian Chinese dishes as well as alcoholic beverages. Double rooms from $25 a night.

 

Siiro Resort

Siiro Village, Ziro

siiroresort.com

A bulky new building made of logs and rough stone, set at the southern edge of the valley. The restaurant here serves no alcohol. Double rooms from $25.

 

Home stays

There are eight home-stays spread across five villages in the valley, six in concrete houses with modern amenities, two in traditional bamboo houses.

They provide traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner and are best arranged through local guides (see below). Rooms from $11 a night, with food.

 

WHAT TO DO

Government Craft Emporium

Route 229, Hapoli

In a compound of colonial-style bungalows just outside central Hapoli on the main road leading to Old Ziro. Monday-Friday, 9.30am to 12.30pm and 2.30pm to 4pm.

 

Northeast Holiday Tour & Travels

Christopher (Tajo) Michi offers customised guided trips for foreign travellers throughout Arunachal and the north-east.

Tours including transport, hotel accommodation, food, guide and travel permits from $150 per night for two. E-mail: northeast-holiday@gmx.us.

 

Brahmaputra Tours

www.brahmaputra-tours.com

Guide Koj Mama offers itineraries covering various regions of Arunachal Pradesh and the surrounding north-eastern states. As president of the Arunachal Pradesh Birding Club, he is a particularly good choice if you’re interested in the region’s unique flora and fauna.

Tours including transport, hotel accommodation, food, guide and travel permits from $180 per night for two.

 

INFORMATION

www.arunachaltourism.com

Nelson Mandela: Famous Quotes

RIP Madiba...

On his ideals (1964 trial)

"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for. But, my lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

On becoming an anti-apartheid leader

'I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities and a thousand unremembered moments produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people. There was no particular day on which I said, Henceforth I will devote myself to the liberation of my people; instead, I simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise.'

On revenge

 'You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.'

On leadership

'The first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself... Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.'

On racism

'No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.'

On hatred

''As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.'

On life's challenges

'After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.'

On courage

''I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.'

On resentment

'Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.'

On doing the right thing

'We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.'

On communication

'If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.'

On changing the world

'Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.'

On prison

'It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.'

On freedom

'To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.'

On hope

'It always seems impossible until it's done.'