Enchanting Northeast . Assam - Meghalaya.

I must have been eight or ten years old when my father took us to the very popular english movie, Hatari. He usually took us to english movies. The sound of Music, Those magnificent men in their flying machines, Italian job, Laurel and Hardy flicks, and animal movies like Hatari, The Drums Of Destiny, Born free, Charlie the lonesome Cougar ( from which I drew lots of material for the animal stories which I made up for my children) are a few which I fondly remember. The theaters Imperial, Plaza, Liberty, Rex, Lido and Galaxy of Bangalore almost always ran english movies and they had their own character. Unlike the singularly uniform (and boring) Inox and E square.

Coming to Hatari, needless to say we were extremely thrilled with the movie and I think my fascination towards wildlife began there. I loved everyone of the animal movies but the scene which is etched in my brain forever is the Rhino chase in Hatari. The Rhinoceros seemed to be the very symbol of raw power and ferocity and I loved the scene where it attacks the jeep on the run. I had felt very sad when it was caught at last. Whenever we went to Mysore (which was quite often) and visited the Chamarajendra Zoo (compulsory on every visit) I spent a considerable time in front of the Rhino enclosure but the animals in the enclosure seemed very docile and lacked the spirit of the Hatari hero. I expected them to attack the caretaker at least when he hit them with a stick to make them get out of his way but they just kept munching the grass without even shaking their heads at him let alone attack him with the horn!

It was only much later in life that I heard about the Kaziranga. I can’t remember where I read about it first. Might be the National Geographic. And when I read that there were hundreds of Rhinos which roamed carefree all over the forest I had a desire deep inside me, to go there and see them. In Kaziranga I was imagining the rhinos of Hatari.

I spent the first half of my life in Bangalore not more than two hundred kilometers from the famous Bandipur and Nagarahole wildlife sanctuaries and I have not been there till date. (for all my love for wildlife and talk about them!). I am more of an armchair wildlife enthusiast!   Kaziranga was more than three thousand kilometers! I never thought that I would actually go there sometime. I would not have, had my cousine not got his posting in Missamaari, Assam.  

Missamaari army base is little more than a hundred kilometers from Kaziranga and my cousine has been there for three years. I had a sincere and loving invitation from the couple to visit them, had experienced their hospitality earlier - which was very tempting - but had not made up my mind. This January he said that he is likely to be shifted shortly and that he may not be posted in Assam again. That brought a sense of urgency to my long pending kaziranga dream  and we fixed a date and booked our tickets.

Since we were flying till Guwahati and then going by road to Missamaari, my cousine urged us to visit Shillong, which is about two hours by road from Guwahati, before reaching his place.  And that is how I ended up in two of the most beautiful states I have ever visited, Meghalaya and Assam. Since I am not capable of describing them in words, I will just post the photographs (more than what you can comfortably bear) and I am sure they will certainly do a better job.

Surroundings of the army station near Guwahati where we stayed over night. Swampy  region which would have been better off left to itself but encroached up on by civilisation for commercial benefits. 

Shillong - probabaly once beautiful hill station presently afflicted by over population and un planned construction. Beautiful narrow winding roads (if you see them in decade old pictures) but a nightmare to traverse in peak traffic. Took about forty five minutes to cover four kilometers.  

Aha, now you have left Shillong behind and is on the way to Mawlynnong, the cleanest village in Asia. The roadside scene makes you feel like jumping out of the car and run towards the hills!

That is what exactly I did here! Ran up to the patch of cultivated green field seen at a distance.

I had to look closely to identify the source of a mewing sound which I heard. I don't know if it was a domestic cat or a jungle cat/cub. I was not sure.  And if it were a cub and the mother was anywhere around, I was in trouble. Since my love for wildlife does not extend to getting  close with them and having a feel of their teeth and nails, I quietly walked back! 

The seventy kilometre route was full of such exhilarating scenes. Sometimes the clouds engulfed everything and you never saw the valley.  

Our driver was extremely confident about his knowledge of the village roads till he saw this falls which he had never seen before on the way to the cleanest village. Since he was not sure if the government recently started this to attract more tourists, he grudgingly accepted that he might have taken a wrong turn and turned back. We enjoyed the wrong turn nevertheless! 

Water from the falls flowing towards Bangladesh, which is quite close. 

Mawlynnong - The cleanest village in Asia. The few lanes starting in all directions from the parking lot do look absolutely clean but due to the drizzle, I could not walk along them up to the end and confirm. I assume they are and three cheers to the occupants. But not to the visitors some of whom can't resist an urge to spit irrespective of the status of the place they are in. 

Living root bridge. Called so because the hanging roots of the two adjacent trees have entangled themselves creating a bridge across the beautiful stream.  It was lunch time and since most of Meghalaya sustains itself on beef and pork we had not found anything to eat.  The kiosks in root bridge provided the much appreciated plantains and biscuits. 

Another enchanting scene. We decided that this would be the last stop because if we stopped more, there was no chance of us reaching Missaamari that day. 

Missamari army base  is part of a reserve forest and animals like this wild elephant still consider the base, their home. Yes, you need a keen eye sight to locate the elephant. It is to the right of the tree in the middle.

The majestic 'mahaaraj' as it is known, close up. Courtesy one of the JCOs. 

Getting up at four in the morning and driving hundred kilometres is worth if you could get a sight like this. Kaziranga Bio diversity park. A very small section of the forest is open to public who can see it from an elephant back or a jeep. And the rhinos here also are  not much different from the ones I saw in the Mysore zoo! They are sort of semi wild and are probably used to the humans invading their privacy and taking pictures like this. 

The other side of the water body is beyond the reach of visitors. The black dots that you see there are Bisons. 

One needs an experienced eye to locate an animal in the wild. I could not see this wild boar which was twenty feet away from an elephant back till our guide pointed it to me. I am sure it is not easy to locate it in the picture too, thanks to my expertise as a photographer. It is the black smudge in the middle. 

Our people need to be educated about forest etiquette. They talk and laugh aloud and call out to their friends on other elephants. No difference being a part of a 'baraat' party heading into the wedding hall and being a part of a party heading into the forest! 

Kaziranga in the end was a mixed feeling. I was glad that I could see a part of it at least and need not resort to imaginations in future, but it was not as i had expected. In fact I feel that I could have seen  kaziranga  better, if I had walked along the national highway running next to the park with a good binocular in hand. 

This is another forest range called Nameri. Forms one bank of the river Bor Dikorai. The options to see the forest is through a three hour trek or a one and a half hour ride on a rafter, which is a very pleasant experience. 

I am fascinated by many things in life and a very strong fascination is for anything in uniform. I was very keen on joining the army but believe me, my fitness came in the way. Well, that is a story by itself. The gist is that I could not get in. I would have loved just to roam around the army base for five days but there wasn't enough time. I utilised the last morning for a long walk stretching into almost all corners of the base taking pictures. Missamaari is an army base and photography is prohibited. (According to the instructions painted on the board near the gate, a mobile phone with built in camera can not be taken inside! Army would do better to rouse itself from sleep!) I would have posted many of them but my host was a bit wary about my camera and my posts. So, I thought that I would respect his sentiments but make an exception as far as the forest bit and road is concerned. 

An unforgettable trip ended with a long walk along the clean roads of the army base on a refreshing morning - while keeping a watch for the permanent residents the 'Maharaaj' and his friends!