The
tiny Maruti 800 labours up the winding roads of Kohima. It is Sunday and most
of the city is closed. Beautiful people dressed in their best emerge out of the
lanes after the mass at the churches. We are making our way to the top of
Aradura Hill. Few hours ago, the train from Delhi has brought me to Dimapur, a railway station, to my surprise is in Nagaland!
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| The Beautiful Northeast |
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| The Catholic Cathedral in Kohima Nagaland |
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| Cherry Blossom Delight in Kohima |
Kohima
is the first stop in my maiden visit to the beautiful Northeast. Few more
twists and turns and we are at the soaring Catholic Cathedral. Up here, away
from the bustle of the growing city, I am in a state of bliss. Northeast brings
the first surprise when I see the jewel like pink flowers adorning the tall
trees. These are the Cherry Blossoms popularly known as Sakura flowers in
Japan. Here on the hill, the tranquility is in total contrast to the times
when the fiercest battles of WWII were fought between British Indian and
Japanese troops. The Cathedral was built
by the Japanese people to honour all the brave soldiers who died here. Just
beyond, on the edge of the hill with the city spread out below, I am treated to
a spectacular sunset.
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| Sunset View of Kohima from The Catholic Cathedral |
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| The orderly streets of Kohima Nagaland |
The
next day, I head out into the city. Today is a working day and the vehicles line up the city's meandering roads. The traffic is however disciplined and is restricted to
single lanes from opposite sides with the empty middle lane reserved for
emergency and security forces vehicles. Yes, presence of forces is a constant
hope that things will soon get better.
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| The immaculate Kohima War Cemetery maintained by CWGC (Commonwealth Graves Commission), Garrison Hill, Kohima, Nagaland |
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| Cherry Blossom at Kohima War Cemetery. The battles fought here in Kohima and Imphal between British India and Japan are regarded as the Greatest Battles of Britain in World War II |
We
turn off the main road to arrive at another serene oasis called the Garrison
Hill. This is the Kohima War Cemetery which is the final resting place of more
than 1420 Commonwealth soldiers including 330 Indians who died during the
Kohima Siege in the spring of 1944. Walking among the immaculately maintained
gravestones and reading the moving inscriptions on the graves of mostly young
brave men is heart rending. Today the soothing blanket of green grass and
flowers seem to comfort the traumatised souls. The WWII memorial is another
reminder of the futility of war.
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| A performance at the Hornbill Festival, Kisama Nagaland |
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| A Naga Tribe in their finery at the Hornbill Festival |
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| I will call them colour coordinated sisters - at the Hornbill Festival Kisama |
In
the afternoon, I leave for the nearby Naga Heritage Village of Kisama where the
annual Hornbill Festival takes place in the first week of December when all the
tribes of Nagaland come together to showcase Nagaland’s culture and beautiful
diversity. For a week, the stadium and the adjoining area in the village turns into a carnival as hordes of locals and tourists descend to savour the colours and taste of Northeast India.
After
soaking in the culture of Nagaland, it is time to visit the famous Kaziranga
National Park home to the Great One-horned Rhinoceros. I catch a train from
Dimapur to Jorhat in Assam. There are buses available at Jorhat that go to
Kohora. Kohara is the base to explore Kaziranga and has hotels and resorts to
suit all budgets.
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| Some Rhino Sighting in Kaziranga National Park, Assam |
Next
morning, it is time for jungle safari. This is tea country of Assam and the road
leading to the Western Range of the Sanctuary is lined with glistening tea
gardens. Soon we are bouncing along in the bountiful jungles of Kaziranga. In
the distance, through the tall grass I am able to see the rhinoceroses munching
in the abundant grasslands and wading in the swamps created by Brahmaputra. The
driver and the guard are experts and help spot elephants, wild buffaloes and
birds too.
Refreshed
with culture and wildlife, it is time to head out to Scotland of the East. Catching
a bus to outskirts of Guwahati, I take a shared taxi to Shillong, the capital
of Meghalaya.
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| The Lovely Umiam Lake, Shillong |
The
name Shillong conjures up images of waterfalls, dew fresh meadows, lakes and
beautiful people. On the way, I stop-over to take a quick look at the Umium
Lake. In Shillong, Police Bazaar is the
nerve centre and home to hotels and shops. It seems the whole town has
descended here on a chilly winter afternoon. I walk the streets enjoying the
views and getting smitten with the sharply dressed pretty girls of Shillong.
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| The flowery wonderland called Mawlynnong, Meghalaya |
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| The Cleanest Village in Asia - Mawlynnong in Meghalaya |
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| The Living Root Bridge at Village Riwai, Meghalaya |
The
Meghalaya Tourism office runs day-trip buses to attractions around Shillong. I
take the opportunity to visit Cherrapunji hoping to get wet but it is as dry as
Marathwada in the winters. Anyway, Cherrapunji has lost the tag of wettest place in India to its neighbour of Mawsynram. I duck through the Mauwsmai Caves with hanging staglacites, and enjoy
the Seven Sisters and Nohsngithiang waterfalls. The next day, I cross a river
on a living root bridge formed by training roots of trees that spans the entire
breadth of the river. Nearby, I am in a flower wonderland called Mawlynnong
which is Asia’s Cleanest Village. Walking through the flowery lanes, I wondered
why we can’t make our cities this clean.
It
has been a wonderful trip. Getting to know the friendly and beautiful people of
Northeast has been a revelation. The trip has introduced me to Northeast. In
the coming years we hope to get to know each other even more.
A
version of the story appeared in the August 2016 issue of NRI Achievers magazine
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