Assam

Not very well known to the outside world, even most Indians for that matter. Most would relate to tea, some to the gas and a whole host of people to the insurgency and the fact that it is an unsafe place to work in. I happened to be there for a few days and did travel behind guwahati. Assam today is home today to multiple cultures - the Ahoms - now largely restricted to districts north and east of guwahati, indian bengalis and immigrant bengalis - whether people like it or not - and of course the bodos and many more. One of the most beautiful places we still have but home to some of the poorest areas in the world.

On day two i travelled towards Nagaon, earlier known as Nowgong. One of the oldest districts of India and very populous. Curiously called the district of 3 C's - Chicken, children and cases, by the British, it continues with the rise in population, poverty and paddy. Hojai, a sub-divisional headquarters and now staking claim to district status is the base for most paddy growing areas. This year, a drought has been declared in most parts of india, Assam was one of the first states - you travel across Nagaon - you will see anything but drought like conditions - rains have been delayed, but wherever farmers have access to irrigation - they have managed. It is important to distinguish and understand the various kinds of drought, hydrological, meteorological and agricultural - it has been brilliantly defined by P Sainath in his book 'Everybody loves a good drought".

A recent article in the Hindustan Times titled 'A hole in the piggy bank" http://www.hindustantimes.com/A-hole-in-the-piggy-bank/H1-Article1-446936.aspx refers to it. More than the government finding ways out of it, hardworking, intelligent and opportunity-spotting and resource-smart farmers have taken course to digging tubewells - yes water is available at less than 40 feet in most areas and lifting it through multiple sources to irrigate their lands. This is the most democratic form of water access - no dependence on large dams which displace people -never get constructed and always deliver less than they promise, later than they promise.

Nagoan has a population density more than two times the national average - probably on the higher side as immigrants from Bangladesh keep pouring in, though many are outraged and many want to take advantage whether by the so called appeasement of the minority or by taking a hardliner stance of how we are a Hindu nation. Neither sees the fact that people coming in are escaping impossible and back-snapping conditions in Bangladesh and given an opportunity would toil like mad to improve conditions. The cheap domestic help that we get in Delhi are often Bangladeshi immigrants. To use that to clean our homes of all garbage, but not to forget to treat them like garbage is normal. Forget nations, this violates all that is human. The US welcoming software professionals is probably one of the great things that have happened to Indian middle class - but to welcome hardworking bangladeshi peasants to increase our grain output is a strict no-no.

Talking of agriculture and peasants - a recent BBC study has shown that India's water use is unsustainable - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8197287.stm?lsf . To many people in Western Countries and even most of urban india, what is hidden is that this phenomenon is restricted to two and a half states, Punjab, Haryana, and parts of Rajasthan. Of course this is also partly due to Green Revolution which is credited to saving millions of people from dying in India. Coincidentally, Norman Borlaug, the father of green revolution passed away last week. Read this http://www.reason.com/news/show/27665.html - and you will probably given a choice say it was worth ti. yes when it started nobody thought of the potentially disastrous environmental consequences that it could have and the effects of which are playing out now. but we need to move on right - no point sitting on our ass and debating whether that was tight or wrong and what should have been done. Read this article by R Gopalkrishanan tata Sons to understand the problems we have been facing over how we have failed to increase production of pulses as per demand and some of you have kept asking me why the price of pulses have been going through the roof. At this rate it will go through the sky. Imagine Canadian farmers are getting subsidies so that you and i get to eat dal. What a joke. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/India-needs-a-pulses-revolution/articleshow/5035613.cms

Simple some of the world's largest reserves of water are sitting unutilised in Eastern UP, Bihar, Orissa, Chattisgarh, MP, West Bengal and Assam. Enabling farmers to utilise these resources is the best way forward as we need more food and at the same time productivity is tapering off in areas like Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh which have fed us for decades. Importing a few million Bangladeshi farmers to till the untilled lands is not necessarily a bad idea when you look at it now. Think of this and we will return to the debate as we move on.

Assam is a fascinatingly beautiful place. We travel on NH 37 which is from Sreerampur (on the border of West Bengal and Assam) to Tinsukhia. Thanks to Airtel, we remain connected and so can check on text messages, receive calls and sometimes even receive emails - to hell with the farmer - http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/airtel-aims-for-full-assam-highway-coverage/293479/ As you travel along NH 37, see NH 40 branch off to shillong. Winding up the roads along well forested hills. The hills have teak, sal and lac trees. Hidden among these and known only to the trained eye is the tree Agar. Botanists call it Aquillaria Agallocha Roxb. manufacturers call it Agaru, traders call it profit, the poor call it survival, the common man simply calls it agar. To know more about it read here http://nagaon.nic.in/agar.htm .

it has also given birth to a political party - the AUDF which now has an MP from Dhubri - Badruddin Ajmal and 10 of the 126 MLAs in Assam's legislature are from this party. Founder of AUDF, Maulana Ajmal is known to have made his fortunes from extracting perfume from this tree. For the typical urban indian, you would connect with increasing muslims by illegal immigration being the single factor behind ajmal's success. Traders I met in Hojai town were universal in praising Ajmal and his philanthrophic ways - the biggest achievement was the construction of the magnificent Haji Abdul Majid Memorial (HAMM) Hospital and Research Centre at Hojai. The magnificent Haji Abdul Majid Memorial (HAMM) Hospital and Research Centre at Hojai which has treated more than 1.5 million people, 80% of them got the hospital's services for free. Read more about Ajmal here - http://www.twocircles.net/2009aug30/scent_success_political_maulana.html.

What is common between Ajmal and Laxmi Orang? Who is laxmi orang - an adivasi girl, a daily labourer earning 40 rupees a day had travelled 258 km from her village to the State capital for the first time to take part in a rally by the All- Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) to demand Scheduled Tribe status for the adivasis of Assam. What happened - she was stripped naked and brutally assaulted by a violent mob in broad daylight. She was given a ticket by AUDF - though later she had to withdraw as she was just 18 and you need to be 25 to contest Lok Sabha elections. Wonder why? But coming back to what is common - both minorities - and i am not using this terms in the usual manner - for me anyone and everyone is a minority in some way - be it a lefthander or a marginalised farmer or a upcoming cricketer with no backing. All are part of a growing minority - actually a majority in numbers - but a minority because they are unable to exercise their basic rights - since the powers to be forge to shut them out. We play ball by turning a blind eye. Read more about Laxmi Orang - http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-15141.html - of course you can call Ajmal and AUDF opportunistic - i would probably agree - but i think one needs to be opportunistic and capitalise on the slightest chance that one gets to make a point - for the world to be a better place to live in - for you and me.

I alternated between huge expanses of green paddy and creeper clad trees. The overcast sky threatened but didn't rain. Kids selling fish on the road is common. A sumo doubles up as a NRHM ambulance - wonder when these places would get proper basic health services forget ambulances. We suffered the conversion of the NH to a four lane in the hope that we will travel better in the future as always. We passed small fog clad hills and in the foreground smoke emitting chimneys. Children, sheep and cows jostling for space as most of it are taken up by road rollers and concrete mixers.

Nagaon also has most of the Kaziranga national park in its geography. Home to the great one horned rhino, it celebrated its centenary, four years back. Wish i could have made it up to the rhinos - but something new for next time and hopefully you will read about them here.

what better way than to end with an attempt at a haiku -

creeper-clad trees

misty hills
paddy fields