The Northeast Trilogy

The Northeast Trilogy is a set of three books that act as a window into a region that is virtually unknown – this is true not just for the rest of the country but also our people within the Northeast who know little or nothing about each other. With almost 2300 photographs illustrating the books, the scope of the project has been quite unprecedented and the books have been most highly acclaimed by critics. Three years in the making, this elaborately illustrated series on the Northeast brings to the fore the sheer delight of exploring the remotest corners of India. The first volume encompassing Sikkim, North Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya (East of Kangchendzonga) weaves geography with history, myths of origin with daily life, religion with culture and breathtaking photography with illuminating text. The resultant rich harvest of images stay with us as a landscape, a people, a region… Volume 2 (Brahma’s Creation) aims at demystifying and understanding what is one of the most challenging areas of the country. The Great Himalayan Wall that separates India from Tibet culminates in Arunachal Pradesh on its eastern extremity. With heights extending up to 23,000 ft, this is a land of vast rocky expanses, glaciers and icy rivers. The upper reaches dominated by Lamaistic Buddhism give way to the many shades of tribal animism in the middle zone and Theravada Buddhism and Hinduism in the foothills. The area is drained by one of the world’s most majestic river systems – the Brahmaputra. Volume 3 (Children of the Dawn) Starts from the eastern flank of Arunachal, the north-south chain of the Naga Patkai hills extends south into Nagaland and Manipur before linking up with the Chaifil Tlang and the Uiphum Tlang ranges in Mizoram and tapering off into the Chin and Arakan Yoma. Like the Eastern Himalaya, this region too was considered to be a natural barrier, separating the region from Southeast Asia. In the final volume, the authors start their journey from Tirap and Changlang in Arunachal. As we move south, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram come alive in their respective splendor. As a part of the first phase, we have printed and circulated approximately 7,000 sets of the books within the Armed Forces. For the officers and men of the Army, it is imperative that they have an understanding of the people they are dealing with. The books were formally launched on the 15th of January and copies were presented to Her Excellency the President and the Hon’ble Prime Minister. Special ‘launches’ were then held in some other parts of the country – by the Army Chief in Hyderabad, His Excellency the Governor of Mahrashtra (former Governor of Nagaland) launched it in Mumbai, while the Chief Minister of Kerala did the honours in Thiruvananthapuram. Similar events were also held in Kolkata and Chennai. The response in all these centres was overwhelming. In June 2013 the second edition of the Trilogy (3,000 sets) has been printed with customized editions for the Assam Valley School (Tezpur), St Paul’s Darjeeling, Pathways World School (Gurgaon), Mann Public School (New Delhi) and Pinegrove School (Kasauli). Our endeavor is to target the families through the children so that as a people, we have a greater understanding of our fellow countrymen. A third edition is being planned for later in the year (annexure 2).