saw the map today

in a related incident, i saw the map of the north east and i then realized that my earlier claims of having visited itanagar and thus, one of the easternmost points in the country can now be revised to my current destination. it is so close to the border, that i get goospimples.

we(my collegue)-mind the spelling, and i started thinking about how it must be for the states even down under, tripura and mizoram, which are connected to the country only thru assam, which itself is pretty much cut-off.

we stopped near some tea gardens on the way to one of the industrial sites we were going to, and there were women picking tea over there. somehow, i think we have romanticized the whole thing. there isint anything very great about people picking tea. sure, they have baskets on the head and all that, but hell, they are just normal women.

apart from that, there was a red alert sounded a few days back in this area. the army has been reinforced and there is going to be a flushing of the militants in the area. (somehow, i am not at all comfortable with the word flushing). the militants, mainly the ULFA, have lately resorted to extortion from the tea gardens, rich merchants and the like to get along. rumour has it that the local commander of the ULFA has over rs.500 crores from such activites. you can raise a decent militia in that amount. but nobody is really bothered. now, however, the govt. is taking action and wants to close the chapter on these chaps. whose wrong and who is right, is anybody's guess, but i guess you just have to align yourself to what the media says, what?!