I think I am in real danger of becoming a real blogger. Not only did I begin to think it has been too long since my last post, I even began to imagine that people might be interested in my personal account of things I have to say - and observe, I'm writing this entirely in the first person. It's all I-me-myself. Yay! I'm a blogger now!
It's been a month away from Mumbai, and the internet. This post comes to you from a cybercafe in Shillong, Meghalaya. After a few days spent working on my own writing at home, I began eventually to go out and meet people.
This morning I met arguably the coolest politician in the country, and the one I admire most. His name is RG Lyngdoh. He's known around here as Bob. Bob, a distant senior from my school, used to be songwriter and percussionist for Shillong's most famous band, the Great Society. He then became founder member of a blues band called Mojo - and it was a damn good band, too. Somewhere along the line he decided to get himself an MBA and off he went to XLRI. I don't know how he got into politics but suddenly he was Home Minister. He's the guy who ended the militancy in this place. He's also the only minister I know who has a tattoo.
The dude has written a book, fiction. It's called 'Who the cap fits'. If you find it, read it. There are few more readable accounts of militancy in the Northeast - it's racy. It is also well informed. Few people have more of an insight into the matter than Bob.
He's now working on a festival called the Roots Festival to bring the peoples of the Northeast together. He hopes to be able to project the more positive facets of the region to the outside world. Which is why I'm writing this post - to remind you guys and gals that this place may have its faults, but it has some great qualities, too.
5 comments:
Kool to hear about Bob. It was music to my ears when i heard about Great Society ... whose music we grew up with as kids in the neighbouring state of Assam. keep writing.
~ Mojo XL'95
it also produces some nice people .. and some excellent footballers (who are always nice people)
cool article. I've linked to it on my xlblog http://kimelody.blogspot.com Hope you don't mind.
At the North Eastern Indian Investment Conference in New York, Bob was the coolest Minister representative. He was the only one able to get people's attention getting across his point using overlooked facts and humor. All the others were so monotonous and so boring that people actually dozed off.Bob was trying to get people interested in Shillong as an IT destination.He gave me "who the cap fits".It is the first time I was able to understand insurgency in North East India. No one could have described it better and through more than one perspective.
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