Across the Chicken Neck by human rights activist and lawyer Nandita Haksar is a travel book with a very substantial difference. Even as Haksar and her husband Sebastian Hongray drive across the Chicken Neck, that sliver of land that connects the Northeast to the rest of India, visiting Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, the Indo-Bhutan border, what Haksar is doing is deconstructing the northeastern smile, as it were. Haksar writes: for most people in the northeast, the smile is a weapon of defence, a mask for their anger, their disappointments, their embarrassments, even their pain.
In a straightforward, reflective account unleavened by humour or throwaway statements, Haksar highlights the state of mind and the state of living of the Northeast somewhat like a collective (non)Gaulish village holding out against the might of the Indian state.
It’s with a feeling of shame that one realises one knows so little about the Northeast. Haksar tells us about Arunachal’s Mishmis who threatened to secede to China if they got no salt; the ancient ties the region has with Tibet, China, Myanmar, Bangladesh; of a lovely lake named Sally; the links between Thailand and the Tai Phakey community in Assam; the Donyi-Polo religion of the Tani tribes; states with --- get this--- 13 people per square kilometer; the many faces of insurgency and the reasons for that insurgency (Haksar makes no bones about where her sympathies lie, and it is certainly not with the state).
In the absence of an overarching vision for the development of the northeast, states Haksar, each community has been left to fight for its own physical and cultural survival. And that about sums up this tragic situation.
This was the paisa vasool passage for me.
Raman Shreshta’s grandfather founded the Rachna Bookshop but it remained neglected until Raman decided to work full- time on it. The store is beautiful, spacious and full of light. I am impressed by the range of book it has in stock… `Do people read all these books,`` I ask, amazed.
``People don’t,`` Raman informs me,` `but I do.``
Such a rewarding read, despite the editing errors that crop up here and there.