Lal Cha from North-East...
It was very early morning and I was waiting alone in a private bus stand in Guwahati. I had just come from Tawang, but had reached the town at 3:30 am and it wasn't possible to go home then. Initially just waited on the road and once the waiting area opened at 5, waited inside.
I had made a couple of Assamese friends in the Sumo on my way from Tezpur and the three of us were waiting together. There was this guy outside selling Lal Cha. Lal Cha is basically lemon tea without milk and its quite amazing. It was just 2 bucks and very hot and I had many a steaming cups, which was a treat on a cold winter morning.
Inside, there was a special stall for buses going to Manipur and I inquired about traveling there. The guy on the booth was extremely friendly and tried selling me the tickets for the next bus itself (in fact he was also ready to make the inner line permit, then and there only)...and only I know how much I wanted to give in. But I had been warned and warned and warned again by everyone about my safety there! I had come so close to saying yes...
So odd...its a part of India, but so unsafe that its recommended that you don't go there! But why would anyone want to kill me, I am doing nothing? And I guess that's where the problem lies...we fail to understand. Its easy to look at things only in our own way and miss the other person's perspective. And maybe this is exactly what happened there...and still happening. We fail to belong to others' world and still try to make it our own. Whats the right thing for us may not be the right thing for others...and sadly this does not even cross our minds. For us our right is The Right! But what do they get from our right? Loads of unwanted guests...even people like me, who just want to see a beautiful place, experience a beautiful culture and then go back never to return. What do I give to a land that I claim to be my own? Nothing...
Am having Lal Cha after a long time in office right now as there is no milk...am glad I am, because it took me back to that chilly morning in Assam and the Lal Cha on the road! I am uncomfortable and disturbed, but am I ready for action...am I ready to stand by something that I believe so passionately that I would do anything for that?
