Bamboolands…Mizoram in the winter of 2008
Boat with Mizo couple negotiating the Tlawng River north of Aizawl
This winter we journeyed through India to visit our extended family in Mizoram. This small Indian state with a meager population of under a million people occupies a unique position on the physical and cultural frontier of the Indian subcontinent. Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts and Burma’s Chin Hills surround two thirds of the state while Mizoram is linked to India through its border with Assam, Tripura & Manipur. The terrain is rugged and unforgiving to casual exploration. Ethnically Mizos share closer affinity with South East rather than South Asia. They are mostly Christian and literacy rates are the 2nd highest in India after Kerala. Perhaps most interestingly, there is virtually no class or caste difference amongst Mizos! Separatist movements mar the neighboring states but Mizoram is free of significant insurgency. Mizos enjoy autonomy and protection of their culture while still remaining comfortably within the Indian union. The state enjoys a sense of peace that is rare in this little-known region of India.
Haze over Bangladesh with Mizoram under clear skies. Published by NASA's Earth Observatory from the MODIS sattelite while we were in Aizawl.
Sunrise from the Chanmari neighborhood in Aizawl
Woman selling used clothes in Aizawal's market
Clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) at Aizawl Zoological Park.
Adult female Hoolock gibbon (Bunopithecus hoolock) at the Aizawl Zoological Park
Orchids lying discarded beside a fresh road cut near Hmuifang.
Red silk cotton tree (Bombax ceiba) north of Sirchip.
Looking east from Hmuifang at dawn, showing an idyllic home and a distant cloud bank in a valley (a phenomena known as romei in Mizo)
Winter light in degraded montane evergreen forest at Hmuifang.
Hello,
We have published one of the pictures of this post at lawrkhawm.com – a social news site focused on news, pictures, and videos from Mizoram
Best,
Jimmy
Jimmy
2009-03-06 at 5:08 am
Hi Ian,
You can find some animals of mizoram here. http://www.mizenvis.nic.in
Say hi to the family
Love you all
Kuka
Kuka
2009-03-06 at 10:20 am
Its so nice to read that there are still some peaceful places left n earth! I really love that last picture of yours. Why do you say “degraded”, though?
flowergirl
2009-03-10 at 2:43 am
read your “Far Corner -Aizawl is distant, cool and utterly different from any other hill station in the country.” in the Outlook Traveller via misual.com which led me to google this blog.
Interest reading thanks.
Vanlal Duhsaka
2009-04-15 at 1:01 am
fantastic pictures….
himachal
2010-02-23 at 10:43 am
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