21st DECEMBER 2014 Day 1: Kamakhya Darshan Kamakhya Temple is one of the major Sakti Peeths in the country and among the most important symbol of power. We were personally intrigued by the survival of an ancient tradition that defines Hinduism- i.e. Animal Sacrifice.  Sacrifice is seen as a selfless act of ‘grand’ for well wishes earned by the devotees. In ancient traditions it was seen as a divine contract binding the devotee and the goddess for the fulfilment of wishes.  Guwahati has always been a hot shot destination for the believers of the ‘Shakti Cult’. Every year believers of the tantric clan visit Maa Kamakhya, seeking blessings from the goddess of fertility. The temple today in fact stands as a landmark location where faith, fear and belief juxtapose each other in the name of religion. The uniqueness of the temple can surely be established by the fact that it’s located on the spot where the female reproductive organ of ‘Sati’ fell after her body ...

Just a few days back the national capital of India celebrated the North East Festival with an objective of connecting people and lives. Residents of Delhi and NCR joined hands to celebrate the uniqueness of the North Eastern part of India, showcased the immense talent and potential of the region and strongly condemned the feeling of alienation which the residents of this part of India always complain of. Barely days after such a noble initiative, a very established electronic music festival of India, Sunburn shared a poster on Facebook promoting their flagship event Sunburn Goa. The creative of this post depicted vibes travelling from all over ‘India’ and heading towards Goa. Find the creative here:  http://goo.gl/Y7lySB But there seems to be little difference of opinion as to how the map of India looks like to the organizers of the festival as they have cropped out the entire North Eastern part of the country. Isn’t this a little outrageous or rather insulting to t...

If you are someone, who prefers reading a review before watching a movie, then please don’t do so for Priyanka Chopra starrer  Mary Kom. This is not a movie review, but rather a feature/opinion piece on this brilliant attempt by debutant director Omung Kumar. Why I refrain from calling this a review is because reviews should be analytical and factual, not biased. And what our media houses do is marketing. To be honest, I will be very biased when I write about it, and I have every reason to be. One, I am a sports fanatic; second I am from North East. I guess that explains it all. The best thing about the movie is definitely the optimism it portrays (at least for me). Manipur is a region which in a way is very troubled for quite some time now. From AFSPA to local insurgent problems, the state has seen it all. So when we depict a story of someone from such a region, who beating all odds made a name in their own fields; it becomes very important to highlight the negativ...

One very fine evening I was sitting alongside this Gujarati friend of mine at Hauz Khas Village over a cup of tea when all of a sudden she said, “Over the time I have become very fond of Assamese people.” I smiled as she continued, “Previously I believed…” and before she could continue her statement I interrupted; “Previously you believed that we all were into ourselves and we don’t like to talk to other people.” With a faint smile she said, yes. I recently completed three years of stay in Delhi. From my two years of higher secondary schooling to the first year of graduation. Though compared to the decades old Assamese residents of the capital, three is just nothing, yet three years of my student experience is here is bold enough to confirm and establish certain facts which at least I feel are somewhat our draw back. This friend of mine from Uttarakhand asked me one day, “Amlan, tell me the reason why people of the North East feel neglected?” I took a minute to think and began. ...