Meet the Locals
(thomas;2023-June-25)
Do not forget to check our photo galleries of people we met while on the road.
A definite highlight of this trip was meeting the locals. A good way of describing them may be this: take one part mainland Hindu (but a laid-back version) and one part Nepal, take two parts Tibet and two parts Bhutan, take three parts Myanmar, add some Chinese and Thai to spice things up, throw it all into a melting pot, let it stew for a while (while stirring vigorously)… and you get the people of India's north east, a real kaleidoscope of races and religions. They are MUCH more laid-back and a lot less "in-your-face" than in mainland India; they are also invariably more friendly and welcoming.
They certainly don't see many Western tourists round there: we have seen fewer than 10 firangi in almost two months, most of them in Imphal or in Arunachal Pradesh. Even in the bigger towns people stop, turn heads and stare: they are often fascinated by what for them seems to be a rare apparition. In Kohima (capital of Nagaland) the fact that a German called Thomas was in town was well-known to children in streets far beyond the neighbourhood we stayed in; in Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), people whispered, when they saw us, that these must be the French and German tourists. People would invite us to tea or a snack, shopkeepers would not accept money for stuff we wanted to buy... an amazing experience and completely unlike anything we'd ever experienced in mainland India (but did in Syria).
Assam and Tripura are the two states with the strongest Hindu background (and a certain "Indian" feel) but as already mentioned they feel a lot more relaxed and easy-going than the rest of India. The other states are a mix of various local tribes, some big, others just a tiny number. Almost all of the people there are of Tibetan-Mongolian or Burmese or China-Thai origin (or of course any possible mix of those). So in Manipur and Nagaland we sometimes felt very strongly reminded of Myanmar (both for the looks of people and also their clothing) whereas large parts of Arunachal Pradesh would not look out of place in Nepal or Tibet. And while all states we visited are interesting, we felt especially drawn to Tripura and Nagaland, as the people there were exceptionally friendly, even for north eastern standards (OTOH the Nagas can't stand their neighbours to the south, the Manipuris, at all). One other notable difference between the north eastern states and "proper" India is that in the latter almost every middle-class person (men and women alike) above, say 25 years or so, carries a certain (and sometimes impressive) belly around (and is proud of it… it shows they have more than enough money for food). Not so in the north east where people (even well-off people) are in general in much better shape (literally).
Here are a few portraits of people we met along the road:
- The Dharmanagar Boys
- The Dancing Queens of Agartala
- Lakshmi in Imphal
- Ali in Kohima
- The Shaman of Hari
- The Archers of Tawang
Have you checked our photo galleries of people we met while on the road?
Want to read more? Go back to Why India needs a big BRO or go on to The Dharmanagar Boys or go up to Blog
$updated from: Blog.htxt Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:04:39 trvl2 (By Vero and Thomas Lauer)$