Sweet Dreams
North-East India- nature’s nest at her best:
The lofty mountainous towns of Tawang and Ziro tucked away from the humdrum and hullabaloo of life and nestled in the Eastern Himalayas in Arunachal with its fluttering prayer flags and sacred chants from the Buddhists monasteries reverberating the silent tranquil valleys, cymbal sounds from the rain-bearing clouds that germinate rivulets and waterfalls debouching from the Meghalaya plateau and the vast pristine sylvan plains interspersed by the majestic Brahmaputra and its tributaries, North-East India is truly a ‘paradise unexplored’, a terra incognita.
The Eastern Himalayas echo the enchanting music of the gurgling streams as the wildflowers and orchids of the valleys of Arunachal Pradesh bloom and bask. Assam is not only synonymous with its cha-bagan (tea-gardens) but is also a haven for wild animals and endemic and migratory birds. The milky-white river of clouds in Meghalaya makes it the wettest monsoon belt on planet earth. The cascading water-falls, placid turquoise lakes, the limestone caves with its stalactites and stalagmites and monoliths and megaliths tell tales of Khasi lore. The colonial era of the British Raj is still visible in erstwhile East India’s summer capital Shillong. Renowned for the head-hunting warrior tribes, Nagaland is under the touristy map for the World War II Cemetery and the annual Hornbill Festival held in early December. The floating islands of Loktak Lake in Manipur, the lilting Cheraw (bamboo dance) of Mizoram, the palaces, temples and monasteries of Tripura web a unique and vibrant ethno-cultural mosaic called North-East India. The region is also a storehouse of rich biodiversity which makes it a hidden pearl of nature. The fairs and festivals and the different local cuisine of the various ethnic-tribes dotting the region is an added flavour.
Nature is the best sculptor and North-East India is a microcosm of it. Come, escape from the regular hustle and bustle of city life and seek the cool and soothing comforts in nature’s virgin crib, where the earth is still a shade greener and the sky a clear blue hue. Explore North-East India and leave your footprints behind in the wilderness . . .