New territory new SIM

People in NE India often refer to the rest of India as the 'mainland'. It didn't take long for the feeling that I was is in different country to sink in, especially when I landed at Guwahati Airport to find that my recently purchased Airtel sim card from Delhi no longer worked. Clearly, reports that sim cards from elsewhere in India worked in Assam had been greatly exaggerated.

Of course, the last time I was here, I bought two sim cards - one from Kerala and one from Shillong in Meghalaya. Both didn't work in Assam. On the other hand, the one from Shillong worked fine here in Nagaland and so I assumed it was just an Assam thing.

Wrong again. The Airtel sim card I got from Delhi is no good throughout the NE, Nagaland included, which meant I had to buy a new sim card (which only works in the NE). The lady at the Airtel office close to my hotel informed me I needed a copy of my passport, identity card, proof of residence (she assumed I was an Indian citizen) and 4 passport photos. Of course, all I had at hand was a copy of my passport, visa and 3 passport photos - most places make an exception for foreigners regarding the proof of residence, but they don't get many foreigners passing through here.

So what to do? Somehow, by surprising her by the fact that I had travelled here alone, that I was here for a whole month, that I was here for the Hornbill Festival, and that I had Sema and Angami friends, and that I knew some Sema / Sumi (one of her colleagues was from the main Sema town Zunheboto) the woman at the office let me have a sim card that had already been activated under someone's name! No need for all that paperwork, just a brand new sim and as much credit as I was willing to pay.

And now I have a working phone again.