Journey in Arunachal Pradesh

When you surpass the natural contours of Bomdila, you enter the mainstays of Himalayas. And just before the roads climb past the 10k feet mark, they go down, into the ravines of Tenga river, across the shoulder of the lesser Himalayas. And there lies the town of Dirang, the last bastion before Tawang and the shivering deserts of Tibet. Air is thicker, but colder. Traces of snowy winds from Tibet nuzzle my cheeks as I pass into this town, serene as the morning and picturesquely laid across the Tenga Valley. Here two different vales merge, and their confluence creates a place that looks like its held in a bowl encrusted with mountains.

 

Bomdila Heights

Here the slopes become gentler, the recklessness of earlier mounts gives way to behemoths who softly straddle the land. It is a very cozy place. And I caught my first glimpse of snow as well. Shining brightly against the rising sun, illuminating the profile of Sela pass, it does suck out your breath. Never have I seen such height. The vertices makes you strain your eyes. The thing is, even though Kashmir valley and portions of Himachal may be higher, the relative way by which our mind measures, makes this place seem higher. If you don’t get what I am saying then lite, this segment of my blabber does not matter, nil, go and do your work….

 

Bomdila

Because so did I. 

Task: to deliver contents, both man and machine and launch Airtel network for the first time in Dirang.

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 <Redacted>

All config done, and then at 2 AM, there was light. The entire town was lit with the radiant beams of 900 MHz of microwaves. Dirang was live on Airtel network.<Redacted>

There is something mystical about seeing your handiwork affecting people. Hearing voice which is now being carried over a network you set up is distilled happiness. An odd remark by a shopkeeper made me realise this grave depth: 

Me: Okay cool, now you can call anywhere in India and the world.

Her: I can call anyone?

Me: Yes, anyone you wish..

Her: Good, now I will call Modi and tell him to do development here.

Me: <laugh, and then realise that this is actually possible>

Her: Good Good, <walks away>

<curtains>

People are wonderful, in Arunachal especially. I haven’t heard such fluidic Hindi spoken anywhere in India. This version is not the mongrel beast created by swarthy mouths across the undulating plateaus of peninsular India. This is the distilled purity of.. well … distilled water, with words littered like gems in the air. It truly enraptures your ears and makes you want to speak in the purer dialect as well. Now the discerning reader may wonder, why does the frontier province lay claim to perfect vocation of Hindi? The story behind this goes like this: in this tribal (closed community) belt, local mother tongues change every 10 kilometers. The only way for the people across tribes to communicate is through a language taught in schools, a language alien to all tongues thus impartial to all tribes. This was the Hindi that government chose to teach India. Thus with no outer influences. This language remained pure. This is not so a farfetched a solution. We do adopt English on a larger scale across India. Here Hindi serves the purpose.

Dirang

But it was time to return. I exit Bomdila approach and lo and behold, the great height of the roads give me a glimpse of plains of Assam. It is a smudge, but, still visible to my eye. The return journey is as thrilling as the ongoing one. Now my eyes feast upon the road descending and sky no longer remains as my goal. The river in ravine is my idol now. The river jostles for space, rocks and vegetation try to hold their own while the human settlements and roads fight back with dykes and dams; valley scrimp on space, and the compactness shows.

 

Approach to Bomdila

This place makes you mellow. Life looks easy, worries are only for shorter terms and nature is at its prettiest. It is a place worth visiting, worth experiencing, it gives you a glimpse of life, life at your calmest. No rush, no annual review, live and help others live.

Winds drop, warm air breathes into my lungs as I pass over Brahmaputra again, this time hued yellow and red as the sun enters its setting phase. But I rush on into the night. The place fades into nostalgia. But I feel fresh. Bring on the next phase North East, I am ready! Guwahati, I am back!

Me and Driver

Over River Brahmaputra