Crazy Trio: Our sudden trip to Manali--- published in Momspresso

 Crazy Trio: Our sudden trip to Manali

We — I, my husband and son — are one crazy traveller trio. We love to plan instantly and just venture out on a trip. It could be inside the city or someplace far away. And some of our most memorable trips happened just at the snap of a finger. Sharing one such instance.

Once, on a Tuesday night, our son announced that Thursday and Friday were holidays that week and Saturday and Sunday he had no school, which meant four days of holidays at a stretch. He rued he would be bored at home without his school friends. I and Nil (my husband) looked at each other and we all went to sleep. Next morning I drove my son to school as usual.

When I returned after dropping him, we were casually discussing that we could have planned a short trip as there was a long weekend ahead. And Nil immediately exclaimed, “Let’s go to Manali”! Without wasting any time, he checked availability of AC deluxe buses but everything was booked. We didn’t want to drive down as it was a 14-hour journey and the roads were bad. Some seats were, however, left on ordinary, non-AC state roadways buses. He asked me if I was ready to take the risk on an ordinary bus but cautioned that the journey won’t be comfortable at all. I don’t remember the last time I had travelled on one such bus. Summer was blazing at 45-46 degrees Celsius but the crazy traveller inside me said ‘yes’.

We booked a hotel as looking for one after reaching the spot would have been a hassle in a peak tourist week. We just had two hours in hand before picking up our son from school. We stashed three backpacks with minimum clothes and essentials. We ordered lunch and also packed dinner as we were not sure where the bus would stop at night. Our son was surprisingly shocked to hear our plan when we picked him up but was all game for it as he had inherited our craziness. He switched to travel gear and had lunch inside the car as there was hardly any time left to go to our apartment. We parked the car in the campus and boarded the cab that was waiting for us. It took an hour to reach the ISBT, just in time to board the bus — which was not exactly the kind one would want for a 14-hour journey during a scorching summer.

Finally, we were seated in the non-AC bus, which was almost like an oven. For our son, it was his first such experience as we always drove, booked a cab or took a plane or train. Needlessly to say, the journey was not so comfortable but we killed our time by observing all sorts of people and how they behave differently in a journey— and gulping down gallons of water.

After half-a-dozen traffic jams that delayed our journey by a couple of hours, we reached Manali on a chilly morning. We were shivering as we just had thin shawls to cover ourselves. The live day temperature was 16 degrees a day earlier and so we didn’t take any heavy woollens. But we forgot that weather changes very frequently on hills. We walked briskly to the hotel to warm up. On reaching our room, the view of the mountains from our window made us forget all our tiredness of the previous night’s journey and rejuvenated us.

We freshened up, had breakfast and quickly walked to the famous Mall Road, which was at a walking distance. The first thing to do was buy woollen jackets as we didn’t want to fall ill because of the icy chill. The sharp contrast from Delhi’s heat wave made us feel the cold even more. We walked to the Beas river side and spent some time there for the customary travel photo shoot. We, however, could not touch the waters as restrictions were in place in Manali to avoid accidents. This was unlike years before when we visited the hill station for our honeymoon. When we could feel the cool waters and sit on the rocks. A lot of constructions have taken place. Manali has grown but also lost a lot of green cover in the process.

As it was a holiday week, there was a mad rush of tourists who were seen busy booking taxis for other locales at a distance from Manali. But we had gone to relax there for two days. Our routine was loitering around the river side, eco-park, Mall Road and back to the hotel. Enjoying ice-cream, golgappas, rolls, pakoras and whatever lip-smacking gastronomous delicacies tempted our eyes. We thought we could indulge now and detox after returning home. And finally it was Saturday evening and we were again in another non-AC bus, heading back to the heat of Delhi. But this time it was better because the weather was quite cool till Punjab. We reached Delhi early Sunday morning and on Monday, we were back to our daily grind — all charged up after the short trip.

We stayed put at Manali but if you love to explore every corner of the exotic hill station, you can visit these places — Hadimba Temple, Solang Valley, Old Manali, Manali Gompa, Hampta Pass, Manikaran, Jogini Waterfalls, Great Himalayan National Park, Rohtang Pass, Bhrigu Lake, Manu Temple, etc.

Solang Valley is a side valley, at the top of the Kullu Valley, 14 km northwest of Manali, on the way to Rohtang Pass, which is on the way to Leh.

One can enjoy open valleys of meadows, cobalt blue skies and spectacular vistas. It is a great melange of nature surrounded by the heavenly ranges of Himalayas.

During summers, tourists enjoy adventure activities such as paragliding, zorbing, camping, rock climbing and gondola ride among others while in winters, the valley turns into a snow territory with exciting snow sports such as skiing and snowboarding.

Hamta Pass is a corridor in the Himalayas, between Chandra Valley in Lahaul and Kullu valley. The pass is named after Hamta Village, below Sethan village.

Hampta Pass is located on the Pir Panjal Range and a trekker scales the maximum altitude of about 14,000 feet on their way to the pass. The pass has a journey of river crossings and lush-green meadows with pine and deodar forests.

Manikaran is located in the Parvati Valley on river Parvati, northeast of Bhuntar in Kullu District. A pilgrimage centre for both Hindus and Sikhs, it is known as a land where two different Gods live together. Located just 79.3 km from Manali, the town houses the pious shrine of Sri Gurunanak Dev called Gurudwara Manikaran Sahib. According to legend, while traveling amid the Himalayas, Guru Nanak Dev’s disciples were hungry and there was no food. Guru Ji sent his friend, Bhai Mardana, to collect food for the langar.

Many people donated food but the only problem was that there was no fire to cook. Then Guru Nanak Dev lifted a rock and a hot spring appeared from the place on which the food was cooked later. The hot spring still exists and the Sikhs cook food using the holy water.

If you are looking for a serene spot, Jogini Falls is a must visit. Just 3 km from Manali city centre, the falls offer a short trek through wild orchards, small creeks and pine woods. With many small shrines at the base of this waterfall, Jogini is considered sacred by the locals. The white cascading beauty on the rocks is just amazing.

The Great Himalayan National Park is located in Kullu region and is spread over 1,171 km. Altitudes range between 1500 and 6000 m. The great alpine grasslands with dense pine and deodar forests hide wild creatures of the Himalayas.

The park houses some endangered species — 1,000 plants, 209 species of birds and 31 species of mammals. The snow leopard is the apex predator of the park. Tourists can indulge in hiking and camping in the allowed zones of the park.

Rohtang Pass is a high mountain pass on the eastern end of the Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas, around 51 km from Manali. It connects Kullu Valley with Lahaul and Spiti. The pass offers access to Lahaul and Spiti in summers.

Due to immense snowfall, the pass remains closed during winters from November-end. Tourists can also enjoy thrilling adventures such as skiing, paragliding and trekking.

To protect the delicate beauty of the pass, alpine ecosystem and small creeks, the Government has restricted overcrowding by o tourists.

Bhrigu Lake is located in Kullu district at an elevation of around 4,300 metres. It is located to the east of Rohtang Pass and at the base of Bhrigu peak. Known for trekking trails, the lake is surrounded by snow-clad peaks on all sides.

According to folklore, Maharishi Bhrigu used to meditate here. This is why the lake is rendered sacred. Even when the temperature goes down to sub-zero, the lake never freezes completely.

The locals also believe that all Gods and Goddesses come down from heaven to take a dip in this holy lake.

While returning, we spotted a lot of brisk construction of some mega projects along the highway, which is like a double-edged sword. While development is necessary, it has its flip side too, which we can see in the form of flash floods and landslides. I just hope God saves the region from nature’s fury. Places such as Manali are losing its charm because of overcrowding and over tourism. Personally, I feel there should be a cap on the number of tourists during peak season to save the place and to restore its charm and beauty.

Crazy Trio: Our sudden trip to Manali

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Top tourist destinations to explore in Assam: published in momspresso

 

What to explore in Assam

My friends in Delhi often ask me which places in Assam they should visit to have a best feel of the state and its culture. To cater to their wishes, and many such other people who would want to visit the Northeast but stop short because of lack of information, I thought of writing on the major attractions of Assam.

Guwahati, the capital city of Assam, is the gateway to the north-east. In Guwahati itself—which is surrounded by hills on three sides and the might Brahmaputra river flowing by—you have lots to see. Even if you are on an official tour to the city, you can find some time and do a quick explore.

First let’s talk about the capital city. You can reach Guwahati by train from any state capital and other major cities, or you can take a flight.

*The famous Kamakhya temple, a Shaktipeeth dedicated to the mother goddess Kamakhya, is located on the Nilachal hills, which overlook Guwahati and the river Brahmaputra. It’s a breath-taking sight which you will remember for your life.

*Umananda, the smallest inhabited river islet in the middle of Brahmaputra, is a must visit. You can reach there by boat or a state-run ferry. The 15-minute ride through the rocking waters of the mighty Brahmaputra is just incredible. The green and quiet surroundings of the temple are a haven for nature lovers and music to the ears.

*If you are a water lover, then you should visit Deepor Beel, a Ramsar site located to the south-west of Guwahati. It is a permanent freshwater lake, in a former channel of the Brahmaputra, to the south of the main river, a fresh water wetland and home to migratory birds. The state government has plans to develop boat houses to attract more tourists.

Ropeway over Brahmaputra

*The next spot is India’s longest ropeway built over the Brahmaputra. It provides a spectacular view of the river. From Kachari Ghat on the south banks, you can take the ropeway to North Guwahati and spend quality time on the other side of the river. You can visit the Doul Govinda Temple, dedicated to Lord Krishna on the northern banks, on the foothills of Chandra Bharati hill at Rajaduar.

*There are a few river cruises on the river from where you can enjoy the sunset or have dinner, enjoying the ride that will make you forget all your stress and worries.

If you have more time, you can visit the Assam State Museum, Guwahati Zoo, Guwahati Planetarium, ISKCON temple, Nabagraha temple, Srimanta Shankardeva Kalashetra, Guwahati War Memorial, Sukreshwar temple, again on the banks of the Brahmaputra, and the Basistha Ashram on the city outskirts, bordering Meghalaya, where there is a beautiful waterfall and a stream.

*You can visit the Chandubi Lake, a sprawling natural lake located in the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council, Kamrup district, at a distance of 64 kilometres from Guwahati. Cabs are available from Guwahati to the lake that was formed after an earthquake.

Chandubi Lake

You can enjoy the beautiful tea gardens and the raw jungles on the way and the culture and life of the villagers. There are resorts on the other side of the lake. Visitors can opt for fishing in the lake. The lake administrators also offer provisions to go rowing in the calm waters.

*Haflong: To explore Haflong, you can take Vistadome train from Guwahati to Haflong. You can stay for a few hours and return on the same evening by the same train. If you stay there, you can visit the Haflong Lake, where you can enjoy boating and the picturesque surroundings. You can also visit Maibang and Jatinga, the valley of birds.

*Kaziranga: You can take a bus or book a cab from Guwahati to reach the Kaziranga National Park. Spread across the floodplains of the Brahmaputra, its forests, wetlands and grasslands are home to one-horned rhinoceroses, elephants and tigers. Ganges river dolphins are also found in the park’s waters. It is visited by many rare migratory birds and gray pelicans roost. You can try elephant safari or jeep safari. One night is enough to explore the national park if you are short on time. You can also try the Brahmaputra cruise for a different perspective of the Kaziranga.

*Manas National Park: This UNESCO heritage site is a tiger and elephant reserve, where you can go for a safari and enjoy on the banks of the Manas River. You can also visit Bogamati near the river Barnadi.

*Sualkuchi: Also called 'Manchester of East' it is a small village that displays the culture and traditions of Assam. The weaving village is known for its skills and craftsmanship for producing one of the best kinds of silk, and you can buy the fabric at a much lesser price than cities. Don’t forget to visit the nearby banks of Brahmaputra in the evening to calm your mind. If you love spiritual places, you can visit Hatisatra, a monastery dedicated to Lord Krishna, Sidheswar Devalaya, Ganesh Bigrah temple, Hayagriva Madhava Temple at Hajo.

*Majuli: It is the largest riverine island in the world. Enjoy the unspoilt water bodies and village life in Majuli, visit different satras (monasteries). Do visit Tengapania, located on the banks of the Brahmaputra, a popular picnic spot of the region and a major attraction for tourists. Do visit the Thengal manor—a lovely Assamese bungalow with a vintage charm— in nearby Jorhat. And the tea belt in upper Assam, which offers a lush green landscape.

*Dhola Sadiya bridge: Have a spectacular view of the Brahmaputra river from the Dhola Sadiya Bridge or the Bhupen Hazarika Setu, the longest river bridge in India that serves as a major link between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The Dibru Saikhowa national park, home to wild horses, is not far off.

 *Panimur waterfall is located in Umrangso of Dima Hasao district of Assam in the North Cachar hills. It is called the Niagara of Assam as it has a stunning resemblance. The view of the beautiful Kopili river water hitting the rocks finally gushing down is breath-taking.

All the places have connectivity from Guwahati through buses and cabs. It’s better to visit the state from September to March. You can also visit other state capitals of the north-east from Guwahati and enjoy the hospitality and warmth of the people. 

Top tourist destinations to explore in Assam

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Top destinations in Assam 

Want to improve your English? Don’t depend too much on writing apps --East Mojo

Published on East Mojo in April 12, 2022

Want to improve your English? Don’t be over-dependent on writing apps

The jury is still out on the efficacy of grammar-checkers. While some feel there’s no harm in using them, there is unanimity in one fact — if you want to improve your English, you have to get your basics right

Most of you must have noticed the writing and grammar suggestions your email composer or word processor offers when you start typing a mail. These are just two examples of the myriad of English writing apps available out there—offering services such as grammar-check, spell-check, writing styles, and vocabulary and syntax suggestions.

Some may find them irritating but there are many who firmly believe or are even confident that these apps would help them improve their English language skills and grammar.

So the million-dollar question is — do these apps really help and if so, to what extent? Experts say while they may help you detect typos and errors, or even offer alternatives and suggestions, you won’t really get your English grammar and language right unless you are thorough with your Wren and Martin and well-read at the same time.

Learning a language doesn’t happen in one day; it’s a process. The more you read and write, the more refined will be your language skills, the experts say.

Then there are others who feel there are people who may not be strong in the English language and so there is nothing wrong if they use such a facility to correct their mails and communication.

All experts are, however, unanimous in stating that over-dependence on these apps won’t do any good.

Sajni Mukherji, a former Professor of English at Jadavpur University, finds such apps irritating and prefers to stay away from them.

“I am conservative and don’t believe in the efficacy of these apps, which automatically without my asking correct my spellings as I send messages or write letters on the phone. And it is usually wrong because they are assuming something and I want to say something completely different,” Mukherji says.

“I would rather do it myself because I think my English is good enough for grammar or spelling or for rearrangement of a sentence. I think I can do it much quicker and better myself.”

Mukherji says such suggestions obstruct the flow of writing when you want to write a creative piece. “I think ‘O good Lord’, I didn’t say that, so why is it saying that? I get very angry and so frankly I don’t like spell or grammar check by apps on phone or computer. I prefer to do it myself.”

Some well-known apps are Gammarly, ProWritingAid, Linguix, Writer.com, Beewriter, Scribendi, WhiteSmoke, Sapling, Slick Write, After The Deadline, Hemmingway, etc.

Grammarly is used for checking grammar and plagiarism. It offers numerous writing styles, suggestions for grammar, vocabulary and syntax.

At the same time, Mukherji feels such apps could be useful for people who have a problem with writing in English or with spellings and so on.

Mukherji thinks these apps are too mechanical and the best way to make sure that one doesn’t make mistakes in grammar or spelling is to read a lot of good books so that there is much less likelihood of making any mistakes.

“I have taught for so many years. When I found somebody making too many spelling mistakes, I would say to him/her ‘I want you to read one chapter of something very carefully and I will ask you the spellings afterwards.’ I pressed upon them that they have to read carefully and keep their eyes wide open so that they don't make spelling mistakes.”

Mukherji says if somebody corrects her grammar, then she would want to know the reason why he or she corrected it. “And usually it’s not the reason that convinces me. But I guess if people need it, they need it, that’s their requirement. I don’t want to say don’t use them at all. But I wouldn’t and I won’t recommend them to people either,” Mukherji said.

How reliable are such apps?

ProWritingAid says it checks grammar, readability and plagiarism-related issues. It offers a detailed report on all grammar errors, runs a readability analysis, allows you to test how easy it is to read and understand your draft and provides a thesaurus for word suggestions.

KV Sridhar (Pops), Global Chief Creative Officer, Nihilent Hypercollective at Nihilent Limited, feels it is okay to use them if they make your work faster. But when it comes to professional writing, one has to learn the language from the beginning.

 “Technology provides you with clues to check grammar, spelling, etc. It is far more accepted today in any word document. We have been using it for a very long time. The predictive nature of computer intelligence allows you to type even WhatsApp messages with a bit of prediction. Today 90% of Wikipedia is not done by human beings but by bots. So technology is helping people. But I am not talking about professional writers,” said Sridhar.

A lot of content today is written by machine and not by human beings and so taking the help of technology is accepted now. “Earlier, if you didn’t know how to form a sentence, or a sentence was grammatically wrong, people used to curse you and correct it. Today, even in newspapers or spoken English if the grammar is wrong, people forgive them,” Sridhar says.

Today, even if something is not written in proper English, it is accepted but earlier it was not the same.

“On Twitter, famous people or celebrities write using auto correct. Earlier, grammar Nazis used to spot mistakes. It was quite a rage. The old school people from, say, Hindu and Statesman, who subscribe to the right language, used to get annoyed by celebrities not writing in the proper language. It was quite a phenomenon then but later they gave up because in the ocean of words, which is moving so quickly, nobody can hold anything.”

All these apps, including Microsoft Word, give spell check, grammar, and predictive writing indication, which help you do your job a little better and quicker, Sridhar explained. He thinks it’s far more advisable to run a grammar and spell check in a piece of content or article than going through it alphabet by alphabet, word by word or sentence by sentence as we are living in a LIVE world.

“In a way you can call it laziness or incompetence. But on the other side it is agility, convenience and precision. You may make mistakes but computers don’t. Often if you don’t set the language, whether it is British English or American English you may face inconsistency in the way you spell or frame sentences or use certain words. But if you set all your parameters right and take the help of any of these tools, its fine for me. It is okay to take the help of technology to do anything better. It is always a good thing,” said Sridhar.  

But to learn the language and to frame sentences to express your ideas better; you have to learn it from the beginning, from school.

“If you are a professional writer, you have to be extra cautious and should know the language well. Learn it properly, and then take the help of technology because the pace at which you are working today is much faster then what it used to be 20 or 30 years ago,” added Sridhar.

Elaborating on his argument, Sridhar said that today if a person doesn’t respond on WhatsApp, you wonder what happened and within two seconds you move on. It is the same with Twitter, where three minutes is the time to respond. If a company or brand doesn’t respond within three minutes, a brand or company is not excused.

Choice of words on the computer will be a little advanced and appropriate words help you to express your thoughts better or the personality of your writing style. And this is where technology helps. “You just need to use it wisely and judiciously,” Sridhar says.

Sridhar says human voice is coming in a big way and who knows tomorrow spoken English would be converted into proper English by the computer and sent across, which is fine because you need to express your thoughts.

Thoughts and ideas are far more important than the play of words, he says. “Responding quicker is far more important than writing proper English. If auto correct can correct two or three things, it is fine. Running a grammar check before sending a mail to someone in a split second is far more appreciative than not sending or sending it the next day,” Sridhar said.

Linguix is said to be an AI-based writing assistant and a grammar checker tool that helps you to check real-time errors. It provides alerts and recommendations for grammar and punctuation. It allows you to copy-paste your existing text and provides alternative words and phrases and spelling corrections. It eliminates poor phrase and sentence structures and typos.

Benita Sen, a journalist, editor, children's author and creative writing teacher, feels such apps are shortcuts. “If you want to learn the grammar, is there any shortcut to learning the rules and then using them? I doubt that. Unless you learn correct usage, you will be app-dependent for far longer than you need to be. I advise my students to read books on grammar. My favourite is, Eats Shoots and Leaves.”  

But don’t these suggestions hamper the spontaneity of a writer? “It would not hamper the flow of thoughts if you decide to write come what may, and then put the completed piece through the checker,” added Sen.

If you are bound to use some app, do some research about its veracity. “I would do some background research if I have to fall back on an app. I have been teaching creative writing to students in India and abroad. I would not suggest that my students trust any app blindly. If the app makes a suggestion, look up the context of the suggestion before incorporating it. Nuances may be lost if we leave all our writing to AI,” added Sen.

The Writer.com grammar corrector tool claims it helps keep content quality consistent by providing brand-specific feedback. It enables you to build a custom style guide. You can check the content according to your company’s style guide and enable you to turn on/off different types of writing suggestions.

These artificial intelligence-based grammar-checking apps come in handy in finding missing articles or punctuations or errors but one should never be over-dependent on them — definitely not to learn and improve English or grammar, feels Nilutpal Thakur, a senior journalist.

Many such apps make unnecessary suggestions, and so it’s not good to follow them blindly, he says.

“These are not learning tools, they are reviewers. Anyway, a review suggested may or may not be always correct because they are based on algorithms and artificial intelligence. They do not recognise complex sentences and those with multiple clauses. They may suggest alternative sentences and words that may have different, nuanced meanings,” Thakur added.

Many experts explained that people who use these apps do not actually get to the bottom of why artificial intelligence may have suggested a change. So they tend to blindly correct a sentence without understanding their mistake and forget about it the next moment. And this is not helpful because they are not learning from their mistakes.

So if you want to be a better writer in English, learn the language from the beginning and read more because no app can help you much, besides finding errors here or a typo there.  

 The writer is an independent journalist and video content creator based in Delhi-NCR. Runs a YouTube channel Think Positive: Live Healthy. 

Want to improve your English? Don’t depend too much on writing apps 

 

India’s mainstream entertainment scene & the rarely seen northeast faces--- East Mojo

 

Published in East Mojo on March 21, 2022

Why northeast faces are rare in India’s mainstream entertainment scene

Spotting a northeasterner in Hindi cinema, ads or OTT is like looking for needle in a haystack. Though things are changing for good, a lot more needs to be done

There is no dearth of good movies and actors from the northeast but even then, there is not much representation of the region in mainstream Indian movies, television and even ads. Northeast language films are also mostly missing from leading OTT platforms. And although things are changing gradually and slowly, it is a long road ahead, feel cine makers from the region.

In recent times, besides a few examples such as Andrea Tariang in Pink, Karma Takapa in the Amazon Prime Series ‘The Last Hour’ or Chum Darang in ‘Badhaai Do’ — and names such as Seema Biswas and Adil Hussain — one hardly encounters a character or actor from the northeast in popular Indian entertainment.

The movie 'Mary Kom', based on the life of the ace boxer from Manipur, would have looked more convincing had there been a face from the northeast instead of Priyanka Chopra, though Chopra did a good job.

“Mainstream Hindi cinema, unfortunately, follows the logic of ‘saleability’ over ‘credibility’. That is why in the film Mary Kom, an actress was cast who looks nothing like an ethnic northeastern person of what is known as ‘Mongoloid’ or ‘Asian’ features,” said Utpal Borpujari, a journalist turned filmmaker.

Borpujari said it is like a White actor playing Nelson Mandela, however great the actor may be, while pointing out that these issues are more minutely followed even in an extremely commercial industry such as Hollywood though.

“A good film will pass the test of time with any actor, even newbies, and a mainstream film can also become a big box office success if it can engage with the viewers in some way no matter if it stars a known name or not (and vice versa, a film with a huge star cast can be a super flop — and there are examples galore),” said Borpujari.

Borpujari has made documentaries such as ‘Mayong: Myth/Reality’, ‘Songs of the Blue Hills’, ‘Soccer Queens of Rani’, ‘For a Durbar of the People,’ feature-length documentary ‘Memories of a Forgotten War’, a children's film in Assamese ‘Ishu’ and others.

Director and writer Ahsan Muzid feels if biopic films such as Mary Kom or Milkha Singh are made with the commercial aspect in mind, they can’t do proper justice.

“Mary Kom couldn’t be screened in Manipur as Hindi films were not allowed there. If you have seen ‘Aśoka’, they have hardly done any research on the dress, structural, architectural details of those times,” said Muzid, the maker of ‘Sonam ...the fortunate one’, which was the first dialect feature film from Arunachal Pradesh, and Assamese film ‘Pokhilar Pakhi’ (Wings of Butterfly). He also produced a doc-feature, “…and ripples, not waves” and produced, directed documentaries and telefilms for Doordarshan.

Little representation on TV, ads

Colors TV had launched a TV show titled ‘Nima Denzongpa’, starring Assamese actor Surabhi Das in the lead role, putting the spotlight on the struggles of a northeastern girl named Nima, who moved from her village in Sikkim to Mumbai for her love.

Initially, the serial’s aim was to highlight the racial discrimination subjected to people from the northeast in mainstream cities. But the show later lost track, turning into a saas-bahu saga.

“As for TV serials, more often than not, they lose track of the initial idea, hence it's not surprising. However, in the OTT space, we see serious efforts to cast actors who look the part, and here the so-called star system has bitten the dust as we have seen in the case of shows like Pataal Lok,” said Borpujari.

A few years ago, reality show ‘Roadies’ was shot in various locations across the northeast; places which mainland Indians had never seen before. The season's theme song 'Jajabor', in Assamese and Hindi, was a collaboration between singer Papon and Raghu.

Not much is different when it comes to advertisements, which hardly show any character from the northeast. A recent exception was an ad by WhatsApp ‘Message Privately,’ which shows a Tamil-speaking family's efforts to learn Assamese in order to help their daughter-in-law feel more at ease. Such ads with a northeast face are very rare.

But filmmaker Nicholas Kharkongor—who made his directorial debut with ‘Fair and Lowly’, and made feature films such as ‘Mantra’ and the much-acclaimed ‘Axone’—is very positive and feels things are changing for good. “I have seen a lot more ads on TV or YouTube with northeastern faces then it used to be earlier. Like a bunch of friends with a northeasterner, and I feel it’s a good thing.”

Kharkongor says nowadays, he doesn’t feel it becomes necessary to explain that this is not a foreigner but from our own country and this means there is acceptance. “Of course, more needs to be done but we are in the right direction. Even in the fashion world, a lot of northeast models can be seen.  We just hope things will get better.”

Removed from mainland but getting closer

Once a KBC promo showed a participant from the northeast sitting on the hotseat — at which point a cutaway shows a few young men watching on TV, who quip, “Arrey, yeh hotseat tak pahunch gayi!”

The girl, when asked the question, ‘Kohima is a part of which country?’, and given the options of India, Bhutan, Nepal and China, opts to use the audience poll lifeline. Thereafter, when Amitabh Bachchan announces the audience poll results with “100% logon ne kaha, India,” and asks her, “Yeh baat toh sabhi jaante hain,” the contestant replies, “Jaante sab hain, par maante kitne hain?”

The ad irked a government official who filed a complaint with the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) against the promo, demanding that it be taken off air, as it could create controversy.

But the BCCC found nothing objectionable in it; the trailer was highlighting the problem that northeastern people faced, and was a step in the right direction.

Kharkongor explained how we all have to remember that historically and culturally, the northeast has been aloof from the rest of India. “Assam has had the largest association with the subcontinent of India since pre-independence times. But if we look at the Naga Hills, the Lushai Hills, they had absolutely no association, these were just unreachable land. It’s only after 1947 that things have changed,” Kharkongor said.

“Cable television happened in the late ’80s, internet in the ’90s. Social media and internet are all recent phenomena and brought places closer. Before that, everything was removed, everything was about what was happening in Delhi or Bombay,” Kharkongor added.

According to Muzid, India’s northeast is a distinct geographic, cultural, political and administrative entity. Assamese cinema was the first to achieve a separate identity when it started its journey with Jyoti Prasad Agarwala’s ‘Joymoti’ in 1935, he said.

When ‘Sonam’ attained double triumphs at the 37th International Film Festival of India 2006 in Goa, and in Competitive Section and Indian Panorama; one famous pictorial magazine mentioned the film as from Himachal Pradesh instead of Arunachal Pradesh, Muzid said. “In spite of several email correspondence, the correction was not done. It reflects the ignorance about our region in other parts of the country and that’s why sometimes the people feel alienated.”

Almost absent from OTT

There are good movies from other regional languages such as Malayalam, Tamil, etc., on popular OTT platforms but one can’t find good northeast language movies in this space. The Assamese acclaimed movie 'Aamis' was initially available only on moviesaints.com. After a long time, it was available on SonyLiv.

Acknowledging the limited presence of Assamese or other northeastern language films on OTT, Borpujari said it is really unfortunate that streaming platforms are falling prey to the numbers game in a lopsided way.

“Yes, the OTTs need hit shows and films to sustain, but given that the virtual space is a very democratic space, there is a possibility of getting good ‘business’ out of a film in a language which is ‘smaller’ in terms of population speaking it.”

If the OTTs acquire, say an Assamese film, and does not promote it well, it gets drowned in the ocean of content, Borpujari explained. “So, if I don't know that a particular film exists on a particular OTT, I won't find it in and since viewers wanting to watch good films across languages won't find it, it would not be viewed, and thus it would give rise to the logic that films in such languages don't have enough viewers. Thus, acquisition of such films gets stopped.”

Borpujari said it happens with even films like, say ‘Disciple’ or ‘Soni’ or ‘Meel Patthar’, which are on Netflix but because of the algorithm, they would never get displayed in any of the panels. “It's a chicken 'n' egg situation really and unfortunately. That is why we need more platforms like MovieSaints to give space to Indie cinema in various languages, provided these platforms are marketed well among the discerning viewers,” he said.

Even Rima Das’ work came into limelight following the selection of her film Village Rockstar as an official entry for India to the Oscars in 2018. The Assamese film that came out in 2017 is one of the few native language films now available on Netflix. Das single-handedly has written, directed, produced and edited the film.

Kharkongor’s directorial venture in Hindi ‘Axone’, now on Netflix, introduced the pungent cuisine from the northeast to the world but at the same time intelligently told the story of the people from the region often facing casual racism in metros.

Character sensitisation is important

When it comes to films, there needs to be lot of sensitisation with directors, casting directors, producers or people at the helm, to be aware about the whole process of casting, Kharkongor said.

“Across the world, things are being worked out to have a department that looks at cultivating diversity and inclusion in the work place. Sensitisation is happening globally across the corporate sector and other sectors. The same needs to be done in the Indian film industry in a small way at least,” Kharkongor said.

Elaborating further, Kharkongor said attention needs to be given on even small characters in a story. “Suppose, a story is written around Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar. So the protagonist here has to be shown as a north Indian. Besides the lead, there are lot of characters. But the minute details of those characters are not given importance at all.”

Giving an example, Kharkongor said if the hero goes to a shop or to a government office and meets an officer, in the script they only write ‘a government officer or a shopkeeper’ and give no other details, which is in a way lazy and dangerous thinking at one level.

“They will always show a north Indian middle-aged man as a shopkeeper or government officer. Why not a woman, or a physically disabled person, or a person from the northeast or a person with different sexual orientation? That is where things need to be changed to change people’s perception at a larger level. Details of each character should be looked after and this way you can make the film pan-India,” he said.

Kharkongor said if different types of people who are also good actors are cast each time, they will offer different things to a work place and at the same time it won’t make any difference or compromise the storyline. “Then it becomes responsible filmmaking and can bring a big change and make a difference in society. The more of these faces we see in the media, there will be more inclusivity in this country. The beautiful thing about art is that it changes things at a subconscious level.”

Very few northeast faces in national scene

There are only a few well-known actors from the region such as Seema Biswas or Adil Hussain in mainstream cinema.

Filmmaker Anshuman Barua, who made ‘Door’, a film based on the insurgency problem in Assam, said we are ourselves to blame for this as very few people from the northeast tend to go out of their comfort zone. He also made a Hindi remake of ‘Dr Bezbarua’, a popular Assamese movie of the 1960s made by his uncle Brajen Barua.

“We can't blame the film industry if we ourselves are not available. Danny Denzongpa, Adil Hussain, Zubeen, Papon, Joi and the Late Bhupen Hazarika in earlier times had done some stupendous work in Mumbai and other places outside of NE. When you first step into Mumbai, the city tends to overwhelm you, but if one can negotiate the initial days, then it is a city of dreams. This holds true for all sectors — corporate, film, music, banking, services or manufacturing,” said Barua.

Muzid feels certain things are not fair for northeast cinema and questioned why only one movie from Assam is entered in the Indian Panorama segment at The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) when other languages get more opportunities. “I would say it is harming the future of Assamese and other northeast cinema.”

Muzid is not happy with how things work at the Indian Panorama and National Film Awards. “Now even commercial cinema has entered the Panorama section, which was exclusively for art house films earlier.”

Talking about why Indie films don’t work when compared to commercial movies with a big star cast, Muzid shared a personal experience about how a prominent Bollywood producer told him why Sonam’s music was good but “it won’t work commercially since it was not made by any big composer.”

Muzid said the same producer, who made many award-winning art house movies, told him that he stopped doing such films as in India only commercial films and big star cast movies work. Muzid said the producer told him that if he gave the film ‘Sonam’ to his market exploring team, they would reject it because it doesn’t have any star cast or commercial value. “He asked me to direct a low budget film like ‘Bheja Fry’ in Mumbai under his banner. It was not my cup of tea so I did not take the opportunity as I make regional movies only.”     

Muzid thinks it’s sad that in India, cinema means Mumbai and the South's commercial industry. Financial support is a very important point, so can’t filmmakers of the region form a strong, united lobby? “In commercial movies, money comes from multiple sides. Unfortunately northeast has no billionaire and corporate house and the government is also always not supportive to promote art house movies.”

The writer is an independent journalist and video content creator based in Delhi-NCR. Runs a YouTube channel Think Positive: Live Healthy. 

 

India’s mainstream entertainment scene & the rarely seen northeast faces