Guest Post: Rahul Jain

My manager and a passionate advocate of 'The Art of Living',  Rahul was on a trip to Arunachal Pradesh for a couple of weeks on an AOL mission(more on it shortly). He is back now and a changed person. In this post, he talks about his experience there, the political complications and the wide gap between the seeming and the actual in the beautiful state. Brace yourself for an enchanting read which will leave you high with utter awe! Thanks a ton Rahul, for taking the pain of making this post for me and my friends.

Two weeks in Arunachal Pradesh … and what an experience!!  I was there as part of my TTC project … and here’s my account:

Article 370 applies to Arunachal (as it does to Jammu & Kashmir), which means no one from outside can buy land in Arunachal … and the locals don’t need to pay tax. 

China has multiple interests in the Kashmir-Tibet-Arunachal-Sikkim region … (1) China forcefully occupied Tibet in 1951, which had been an independent and autonomous region since the 12th century.  With Tibet in its pocket, China controls the waters of Brahmaputra, Sutlej and Indus.  (2) In the 1962 Indo-China war, China pulverized India, and entered deep into our territory.  They later withdrew from Arunachal, but they kept Aksai Chin … This is the part of Kashmir under Chinese control.  Aksai Chin is strategically important for Beijing as it is its only link to Tibet.  (3) China also claims that Arunachal is its territory, unlawfully occupied by India.  For 2 reasons – it may barter Arunachal for official control of Aksai Chin; or if it gets Arunachal, then it has greater control of Brahmaputra waters (Siang and Kameng rivers in Arunachal are big tributaries to Brahmaputra). 

China is building international pressure and opinion about Tibet and Arunachal.  Meanwhile our MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has been caught on the wrong foot on several occasions … first by not being strong / vocal about Aksai Chin, next with Tibet, and now by being a silent witness to loss of territory in Arunachal …

The border between China and Arunachal is a joke … there’s no check on the Indian side, and the Chinese allow free passage to Arunachal locals and their own citizens … you just need to look Chinky, and you have free passage both ways.  And guess what – the rest of India requires an “Inner Line Permit” to enter Arunachal … it’s like requiring a visa to enter your own country!  So I got a permit with 1 month validity before I could enter Arunachal. 

There’s very little infrastructure on the Indian side … narrow un-tarred roads (if at all), bare minimum transport, barely anything … contrast this with the Chinese side - 4 lane highways coming right to the border, Dams and hydro-electric projects, retail shops …

Arunachal locals call themselves tribals, but boy are they modern!  Since very little is available on the Indian side, and since the border is open to them, they just walk over to the Chinese side … buy the latest jeans, skirts, fashion accessories, electronics, food – all at Chinese rates – and walk right back in.  I had gone to Jullang village with my TTC buddy Jayant … I saw very modest, shanty looking houses made of bamboo.  The outer walls are made of Bamboo skin … just 2-3 mm thick … built like a net … with holes in it.  In winters when there’s fog outside, there’s fog inside the house too!  It just moves in through the holes in the bamboo net.  My friend Jayant, who spent most of Nov and Dec in one such hut, used to have fog in his room every morning … and he’d have to take bath in 4-5 Deg C cold water!  Some steel.   

Anyway, coming back to my visit to Jullang village … I go there and see these shanty looking bamboo huts, and as we step inside … it’s a sight … most of the old folks are dressed in their native dress, but many youngsters are dressed in fashionable clothes … girls wearing short denim skirts / tight jeans and fashionable tops.  And they call themselves tribals!!  Jayant and I were wearing kurta-pyjama, and we looked like villagers. 

Arunachalis are short in height … and shorter in temper.  They eat meat morning, noon and night.  And they drink their local liquor – Apoomb – made of rice – morning, noon and night.  The men drink, the women drink, they even give it to their children … as young as 2 years old!  Ask them why, and they’ll tell you – it’s so cold here … with all the holes in the bamboo net walls … with the fog moving into the house, drinking ain’t a matter of luxury, it’s a question of survival … Well, all I can say is that all the meat and liquor makes them rather short tempered and unpredictable.  Many tribal men carry the Dao, which is a 2 feet long iron machete (much like a flat and straight sword) with a bamboo handle.  The Dao is kept in a bamboo sheath, hanging across the shoulder.  One edge of the iron blade is very sharp and the other edge is thick and blunt to give weight to the weapon.  If a tribal gets into an altercation with you, it won’t take him long to draw out the Dao, and it won’t take him long to use it either.  With all the meat power behind it, the first blow, very likely, is a death blow.  No kidding.  When 2 tribals get into a fight, the first thing they say to each other is “let this fight remain between us, let it not go to our families” … bcos at least one of them will get seriously injured or will die.  It’s quite the law of the jungle. 

Officially, crime rate is low … but hey, the Dao fights don’t get reported to the police. 

In the main market of Itanagar, called “Ganga market”, I saw a most disgusting sight … heaps of dead rats and silk worms being sold … to be cooked and eaten … apparently they were “fresh” catch.  Arunachalis speak Hindi … and at heart they are Indian … but their temper and their food habits are definitely not. 

They enjoy the best of both worlds – China gives them free entry … so they can buy clothes, electronics and other stuff real cheap … and the Indian govt gives them special protection, so they don’t pay taxes … and now listen to this: When an election happens in Andhra Pradesh, I’m told, a liquor bottle and Rs 200 reaches every house.  When an election happens in Arunachal, a Maruti 800 car, or its equivalent money reaches every house.  With such largesse, where’s the need to work? … one of the reasons why Arunachalis don’t want to be a part of China … bcos the Chinese Communist govt will make them work!

From where do all those Maruti cars come from?  The answer lies in India’s annual budget … Arunachal has a huge land area, but a very small population – just 12 lakh.  In fact Arunachal has the biggest land area among all north-east states (even bigger than Assam), but the lowest population.  Every annual budget, Arunachal gets a disproportionately high budget allocation.  In return Arunachal pays nothing back.  There are no industries, so there’s no way for the central govt to collect taxes … and remember locals are exempt from tax anyway.  The high budget allocation has to go somewhere … majority of it goes into the pockets of corrupt politicians and babus, and a smaller fraction, when distributed among a small population, is still big money per family. 

Everybody’s happy with the status quo …

- China continues to build military installations and infrastructure on its side, meanwhile India is sleeping.  China also has a long-term plan to control the waters of mighty Himalayan rivers. 

- The Congress party keeps winning all the elections, its politicians keep siphoning off majority of Arunachal budget every year. 

- The locals keep getting free money from corrupt Congress politicians … and they buy their essentials cheap from China. 

- Meanwhile Sonia Gandhi keeps working on her agenda silently – to convert all of Arunachal to Christianity (much like Mizoram)

The only loser is India and the Indian tax payer … If Sonia Gandhi’s puppet – Mr Spineless Prime Minister (some still call him “Mr brilliant finance minister”) - has enough sense, he’s do something to tap tourism and natural resources in Arunachal.  If hydro-electric projects are setup in Arunachal, it can provide electricity to entire north-east and have surplus for the rest of India … Siang and Kameng are mighty rivers in their own right.  Also surplus water can be used for agriculture.  Tourism has huge potential … and can bring revenue to the state and the center … if only we had good roads and transport in Arunachal.

Otherwise sooner or later, China will walk in … divert the waters of Brahmaputra, Siang, Kameng, Sutlej, Indus … and 25 – 30% of Indians will be left high and dry.  Literally.  Consider this - with all the 4 lane highways that China has built right up to the border, they can deploy their army within hours.  On the other hand, every Indian battalion will have to walk 4 days to reach the Tawang / Siang / Kameng / Dibang border.   

I sometimes wonder if it’s only some Divine power that holds India together …

I’m told the other agenda China has (apart from control of water) is to Balkanize India.  They want to split India into 20-30 pieces, so that we’re not a threat to them economically or militarily.  Read this interesting article, which though not an official version … but it’ll give u some idea of what the Chinese may be thinking … I tell you I don’t trust the Chinese.

Anyway … enough political commentary …

So we were in Arunachal for 2 weeks … our mission was (1) to reach out to maximum people, (2) to create a sense of friendship and camaraderie between the locals (tribals) and the rest of India, (3) to teach Yoga and Sudarshan Kriya to as many people as possible, and (4) to gather maximum people for the visit of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of Art of Living. 

So 6 people from my TTC batch land there.  3 of them were in Arunachal since Nov 2009 … I and two others came over for just 2 weeks.  We had some local support … and with their help, we were able to conduct Sudarshan Kriya & Yoga courses for 700+ people.  On 19-Feb-2010, there was a grand function in Itanagar titled “Harmony in Diversity”.  It had a musical ensemble and a fusion dance that presented 15 different dance forms of India fused in one sequence (dance forms of all 7 north east states were represented, and so were Bharatnatyam, Mohiniattam, Kathak, Bhandga, etc).  A little less than 5000 people had gathered for the function … our target was 10,000 … so we could achieve only 50% of our target.  His Holiness gave an inspiring talk, which was very well received by the locals … everybody was on their feet, clapping and dancing at the end.  His Holiness also conducted a 20 minute meditation midway through the function, which was also very well received by everyone. 

Considering that the population of Arunachal is just 12 Lakh … we thought 5000 was a good number for starters.

It doesn’t end here … Art of Living will continue doing grass-roots work in Arunachal.  Art of Living is opening a number of Ayurvedic clinics (too many health problems with all the meat consumption), and will continue to teach Yoga and the powerful Sudarshan Kriya to the locals.  Meanwhile His Holiness had met the chief minister and the governer, and hopefully they listen to his suggestions about developing tourism in the state … this will bring revenue for sure, it will also build better bonds between the Arunachalis and the rest of India!

And now I’m back in Bangalore … keep thinking what a learning experience I had!!!  Meanwhile 2 of my TTC buddies who’ve been there since Nov will continue for another 2-3 months … before the rains begin, and bring everything to a grinding halt.  I so admire Jayant and Dona and Geetha for their grit and determination … for the selfless social service work they are carrying out.  I so admire them because they got results in alien territory!!!  For 2 weeks, I was just a little helping hand …

Vahe Guruji da Khalsa, Vahe Guruji di Fateh!

In service,
Rahul

PS – to be fair to Arunachalis … it does take time to win their trust … but once you’ve won their trust, they’ll stand by you in life and death.