Last vacations, I visited Arunachal Pradesh. For those who don’t know, it’s an Indian state, one of the seven north-eastern states.

I had been to north-east once more, long ago (1999, I guess). My memories of that trip include picturesque landscapes, a bit about handicrafts and information on places to see. The visit last vacation was more enlightening. This time, there was someone from that place to guide me.

I won’t post pictures of the trip here. Neither is this a travelogue. This is about more serious stuff.

Watch this video on Arunachal Pradesh. It says, referring to the Taj Mahal, Marine Drive, Qutub Minar, Bollywood etc. as ‘this is the India everyone knows of.’ How true! Most of Indians don’t even know the names of all north-eastern states. Those who know capital cities of a few of them boast around, proclaiming their knowledge.

But the fact is, people do live there. They may realize that they are ‘unknown’, they may ‘look’ different, but they know that they are Indians. Unable to distinguish between them, rest of India calls them chinkis. The mere fact that they look different results in discrimination and violence against them.

How many of us are aware that Arunachal Pradesh is called ‘Land of the Rising Sun’? Of course, everyone knows of Kerala as ‘Spice Garden.’ Everyone is aware about the Kashmir issue, even having personal opinions about it, but do they know about the tussle between India and China regarding Tawang (a town bordering Indian and China)?

These people don’t have much of documented history, for they moved to India in not-so-distant past. Yet, they have very developed heritage with them. People talk about the rich and varied culture of India. But they totally miss the varied culture of these north-eastern states. There are innumerable tribes settled here. It may sound exaggerated, but there are more than a hundred tribes in Arunachal Pradesh itself! Each of these with its own customs and celebrations. That makes some culture! Still, they are hidden.

Many people will be surprised to know that the official languages of these states are Hindi and English, instead of some regional language. Doesn’t this establish them a part of India? Yet, the problem of being ‘unknown’ doesn’t seem to end.

It’s true that these people dress differently. Women never wear a sari (they have a tunic kind of home made cloth, which again differs across tribes). I feel this should be admired and respected as a culture.

Like the rest of India, students from these regions move to other parts of India. Let’s hope that with this, the difference that exists dies soon. After all, an Arunachali lad is as pleased as any other Indian when India wins a cricket world cup!