A big thumbs up to all those daring warriors of Sumo travelers from Dimapur to Mon on 28/03/07. What an exciting journey that was... 17 hours without a break passing through 5 districts of Nagaland. Especially our lone lady warrior and the old man (70+) need special kudos for enduring the harsh terrain of Nagaland.
What started as a dull and expected tiring journey was greeted with full of surprises. It came as a complete surprise as we reached Nagaland Gate when the Police told us that there was a bandh in Assam called in by the Adivasis and that we could not go beyond the gate. We negotiated with the police as well as our man behind the wheel to go ahead... but before they could reply we saw vehicles coming from Assam with broken windshields. With no alternative, we turned back to the counter and discussed the steps to be taken next.
Almost all the passengers were proudly reading one or the other leading newspaper trying to see whether it mentioned the bandh ... some revising again and even some going through the Ads section thinking that the news item might be hidden somewhere there, but then nothing was mentioned about it ... so sad, but that’s how updated we are! It was finally decided that we would travel via Kohima, Wokha and Mokokchung provided we cough up some extra moolah.
With the matter settled our journey began, everyone showing that if you can do it, I too can. For some it was tiring but for some it was exciting as it was the first time that they were traveling through these districts. But the real surprise came when we began our journey from Tuli (Mokokchung) to Naginimora (Mon) ... The road was so bad that I thought we were travelling through a paddy field.
Inside the Sumo sitting at the choir row, as we were tossed right and left, up and down, I received my enlightenment... that I was not Mr. India material! With the extra weight that I was carrying, I received teeth gnashing stern look from my co-warriors (read it with laughter).
Jokes apart, as we travelled through the paddy field (no pun intended) I remembered reading an article in a local daily in the morning with the caption “People best judge of our achievement: Rio”.
Is this the achievement we are talking about... a paddy field kind of road which links the lifeline between two districts? Is our present government’s intoxicated slogan “Pro People Govt” confined within the state’s commercial hub and the state capital? As we reached Wakching (Mon) we saw some road medaling work.
I was excited reprimanding myself of my earlier thought. But the cynic in me started asking “Is this the sign of bells ringing preparing for the next innings”?
Having said these, I still admire the old man who sat throughout the journey silently showing us the strength of a true warrior.
Temjen Jamir, Social Worker
