4,000 people returning to NE India?

Assam's been making the news for the past few weeks, and I suppose I should add my two cents.

It's not unusual to see conflict in this restive part of India (I might have to dedicate another post to my penchant for choosing 'restive' parts of the world to visit.). This time, it's a conflict between Bodos (pronounced 'Boros') and Muslim Bengalis in the district of Kokrajhar, to the west of Guwahati. The BBC gives an explanation for the violence here: What lies behind Assam violence?

The Bodos themselves have been fighting for a separate state, called 'Bodoland' which includes Kokrajhar district and a few neighbouring districts. One of my Bodo friends said that some people feel the need for statehood because to give them greater autonomy to protect their language and culture from such 'invaders'. The problem is, while there are many recent migrants coming from Bangladesh, there are also many of these so-called 'invaders' are actually Bengalis who've lived for generations in Assam. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if there are any official figures.

From the perspective of the Bodos though, there is much anxiety over the loss of their own cultural identity. They feel like the Indian (and state) government has failed and continues to fail to provide adequate protection. This has then led to a call, certainly by more extreme separatists, for a state that is ethnically (and linguistically) 'pure'. Their attacks on Muslim Bangladeshis is seen simply asserting ownership over their own 'land'. This is not an uncommon phenomenon among ethnic groups in NE India, and inter-ethnic conflict abounds: just last January there were major clashes between Garos and Rabhas on the Assam-Meghalaya border.

The situation in Kokrajhar is still pretty tense, and my Bodo friends say there's still a curfew being imposed there. New clashes in Northeast India as tension mounts


However, what I find remarkable about this latest conflict is that the violence has 'spilled over' into other parts of India. But rather than an inter-ethnic conflict, it's been transformed into an inter-religious one. Last week in Mumbai, there were protests by Muslims who view the attacks as targeting Muslims. Unfortunately these protests turned violent, and 2 people died: 23 people booked for Mumbai violence

Now, there's reports of a mass exodus of North-easterners from Bangalore, with people receiving text messages saying that people from NE India (especially people who look more East Asian / 'Mongolian', although 'ethnic Assamese' look like most other mainland Indians to me) are being targeted and attacked.

Amid attack fears, people from NE flee Bangalore
Thousands flee violence threats in Indian city of Bangalore

One story that has emerged is that of a Tibetan student was attacked in Mysore, though it's unclear if this has anything to do with the violence in NE India. It just seems like madness right now, with 4,000 people just uprooting themselves from Bangalore to come back to Assam overnight.

I can understand people want to come back to their families, but I hope that the panic dies down soon and people are able to return to Bangalore and other parts of India, especially if they have friends and work to go back to.

(Disclaimer: This post is based on information I have read and heard, and is certainly imperfect as it is. Any other opinions and comments are more than welcome.)

Pokhara visit

It's been a few weeks since I was actually there, but thought I'd post some pretty pictures from my short visit to Pokhora.

One thing my friend mentioned, was that it rains more in Pokhora than it does in Kathmandu. And it was probably wasn't the best time to visit Pokhora, right in the middle of the monsoon. A few friends recommended paragliding there, but I think that's more a dry season activity.

It rained everyday we there, but one afternoon the clouds parted to give a few stunning views of Lake Fewa.







We also managed to rent a row boat and go on the lake for a swim.

Now, you don't want to swim along the lake's shores because of pollution, but in the middle of the lake, the water's pretty clean. Most locals will be able tell you where the paani is raamro for swimming.



For expats, Pokhora's a nice relaxing getaway from Kathmandu. I suppose if I was in Kathmandu long enough, I'd like to get away now and then. Although, compared to other places I've been in South Asia, Kathmandu still feel pretty relaxing to me!

Mongolian sweetheart

I'm used to certain labels like 'Asian', 'East Asian' or even 'Oriental' (when I'm in the UK) in contrast to 'South Asian'. But it was only when I first came to South Asia that I realised that I was actually Mongolian. In fact, 'Mongolians' are everywhere in East Asia. Chinese people are 'Mongolian'. Japanese people are 'Mongolian'. Tibetans are 'Mongolian'. Mongolians I can only assume, are also 'Mongolian'.

According to a friend in South Asia, 'Mongolians' are quite popular. One of the hosts on Indian Idol was a guy of Chinese origin, Chang Meiyang, who was born in India. The same friend even suggested I create an online profile and call myself 'Mongolian sweetheart' (hence the title of this post). As far as I can tell, what separates 'Mongolians' from 'Indian' people is the shape of their eyes (almond shaped) and their fair complexion. And given how many skin-lightening products there are here, there are many people in South Asia who want to look white.

But what fascinates me is the actual term 'Mongolian'. I'm no expert on the history of race theory, but it seems to correspond strongly with the idea of a 'Mongoloid race' which is now viewed as an obsolete racial classification label and really isn't mentioned anymore in popular discourse in the West. (There is also the historical use of the term 'Mongoloid' to designate people with Down's syndrome.) I'm also not sure if people here would use the term 'Mongolian' for Malay or Burmese people, i.e. people of darker complexion.

Of course one might argue that the term 'Mongolian' in South Asia is simply a substitute for 'East Asian' or 'Oriental'. What surprises me though is that many people who do identify as 'Mongolian' here do believe that their ancestors came from Mongolia. I was told that someone in Nagaland working on the genealogy of his tribe said that in order to get to the real origin of the tribe, they needed to go to Mongolia. Now, I'm not sure if he thought his ancestors came with the Mongol invasions of Burma or if they migrated south at an earlier stage.

For the moment, I suppose there's nothing much I can do but embrace the term. I do wonder how Mongolian neo-Nazis (yes, they do exist) would feel about Chinese people being called 'Mongolian'.

Learn Chinese in Nepal

As I mentioned in my last post, I've noticed a proliferation of Chinese signs in Nepal since my last visit here 2 years ago.

I've also noticed a number of Nepalis speaking Chinese. And there are a number of options to learn Chinese here - though from what I've been told it's usually taught by Nepalis who've worked and lived in China. Just look at this photo below:

 

While I do believe it's necessary to develop an identity in another language that you're learning (especially if you're trying to join a language community), I find it odd for a language school to say they'll give you an identity (assuming "Get your Identity by being touch with Us." means just that).

The Chinese could be translated as such:
"Hurry up!
Chinese classes have started.
Don't miss out on this chance.
Hurry up and join us."

Looking at the Chinese writing, one thing that suggests to me that it wasn't written by a native Chinese speaker is that the first character in the third line should be 别 ('don't), but the person has written the left hand side part of the character as 男, not 另.

Back in Nepal

It's been 2 years, but I'm back in Nepal! It also means I'm back to updating the blog.

This time I'm back at the height of the monsoon. It's been raining pretty much everyday since I arrived. I just spent the last 3 days with some friends in Pokhora, which I'm told is in a particularly rainy part of the country. Although we didn't manage to go paragliding, at the suggestion of some other friends, we did rent a rowboat and go on the lake for a swim.

One thing I've noticed in Nepal is the higher frequency of signs in Chinese, compared even to two years ago. Here are two signs I noticed on the main shopping street in Lakeside, Pokhora (where most tourists hang out).

The thing to note here, is that the Chinese reads, "我爱尼泊尔" which means "I love Nepal".
 

And this sign reads "我爱博卡拉" which means "I love Pokhora". As random as the quote in English right below it.
 

Auto accidents in Dimapur

Accidents involving autos / auto rickshaws occur quite frequently in Dimapur, from what I've seen in the papers. Most seem to involve alcohol consumption, so I'm not surprised. Of course, I'm always amazed that not more accidents occur (in Dimapur and in India in general), despite the apparent chaos on the road.

On Republic Day this year, after the end of the 36 hour bandh, I was sitting in my bed watching TV when I heard a crash from the street around 8,30pm.

Looking out, I saw an auto had been T-boned by a Gypsy (at least I think that's what it was).


A crowd gathered around quite quickly. Some guys pushed the auto a little bit in order to let the few cars plying the road circumvent the accident site. In the absence of trained paramedics, I saw two guys haul the driver out of the auto and carry him away, his arms around their shoulders (a big no-no if you're in Australia, but necessary in places where you can't expect paramedics to arrive in time). I couldn't see what condition he was in. Thankfully, there didn't appear to be any passengers in the auto at the time.



By 9.15pm (45 min after the crash), a truck arrived to tow the vehicle away. I was actually quite impressed by how quickly it came.

I'm not sure what happened afterwards. I don't recall seeing any mention of it in the local papers, which sometimes report on traffic accidents. Maybe someone might know more about this?

Getting from Dimapur to Kohima / Getting around Dimapur

I have to admit, it's been almost two weeks since my last post and I'm currently in Singapore. The thing is, I lost internet connectivity my last few days in Nagaland because the top-up I paid for at the Reliance office the week before never went through *grrrr* (I paid for it, but my credit was never topped up). I then had an extremely full-on week in Guwahati at the NEILS 7 conference, which I will blog about soon.

What I was wanted to talk about in my last post before leaving Nagaland was how one gets around Dimapur.

Here's the exit from the Dimapur Railway station, as seen from the opposite side of the car park. Anyone entering the state by train will come out from this exit.


If you're looking to go to Kohima, walk straight out the exit. Close to the other side of the car park, you should see a stand for shared taxis to your left. There's a counter with a sign that reads 'All Nagaland Taxi Association' (or something like that) that sells tickets up for Rs 200 a person. You'll get a seat number assigned to you. If it's seat no. 1, you're next to the driver. The other three numbers mean the back row.

Whether you look local or not, if you're carrying luggage, you're sure to be approached by touts offering rides to Kohima for the same price or slightly less. They're not usually too dodgy - the main reason these guys don't go through the ticket counter is because there's a limit of 4 passengers if they go through the ticket counter. Otherwise, they can squeeze in a 5th person in the front row next to the driver. And maybe even a 6th person at the back... That's probably why I prefer buying a ticket at the counter, because I know I'll have more space.

If you're staying in Dimapur and need to get to your hotel, your best bet is to catch an auto rickshaw, or 'auto' as they are commonly known in this part of the world. You can see a few of them parked outside the station in the photo above. Just tell the driver where you're going and ask for the fare. The word for 'fare' is bhara or bara (since most people don't produce the breathy stop) and 'how much' is kiman. I tend to say Bara kiman?, though I don't know if that's good Nagamese or not.

One convenient thing about Nagaland (and in other parts of the NE) is that the drivers will often respond with the English numbers. Most locals would also struggle to count in Hindi or Assamese, except maybe in multiples of 5 or 10.

What I notice about Dimapur as well, is the lack of big buses, which you see all over in Kohima. Instead, you see autos plying up and down fixed routes, often with signs showing the areas they are allowed to travel in.

From the railway station, you will see autos with the sign 'TOWN AREA', which is pretty straight forward, except if you're like me and haven't quite figured out what the town boundaries are. I expect Hong Kong market and City Tower would fall under this category. Another sign you might find on an auto around the railway station is 'RLY GATE TO CMD' (see the photo in this Nagaland Post article). It took me a while to figure this one out, but it stands for 'Railway (Station) to Chumukedima' - Chumukedima is the last little village before the checkpoint if you're heading from Dimapur to Kohima.

If you want an auto all to yourself, tell the driver 'hire', state your destination and ask for the fare. You don't always have to say 'hire' - for instance, it should be obvious if you're coming out of the railway station with all your luggage that you want the auto all to yourself.

Finally, if you're travelling around in a shared auto, don't forget the magic word to make the driver stop and let you down: 'SIDE!'