Celebrating Obama, Arunachal Pradesh.

pix:Sunset in the backdrop of Dibang Valley Jungle Camp

I think it was after 6pm on the 5th of November, 2008, Helmut suddenly appeared out of the dark and said ‘any news about Obama, guys’. We were six travellers, the famous German travel writer couple Renate & Stefan Loose, and the Malaysian couple from the legendary Singhasana lodge: Marina & Donald, travelling singly were Helmut & Sylvie from the German travel house Aerticket & I. All five of us relaxing in the veranda of Dibang Valley Jungle Camp after the wonderful excursion to Myodia Pass, looked at each other’s face. There was hardly any electricity or telephone connection in this out of the world place, the nearest internet booth would be a day away. Mukut, the camp in-charge confirmed, ‘Rajda, sometimes you do get a weak signal in the BSNL mobile connection’. I immediately took out my laptop and mobile, and felt at that moment, as if that was the most important thing that the world was looking forward to. Fortunately, I could connect to the internet through a very weak signal in that candle light and through the Google search downloaded the first news and read it aloud to the others like a radio news

History as Obama elected America's first black president
36 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Barack Obama on Wednesday faces up to the daunting task of forging the change he has promised after Americans emphatically elected him as their country's first black president.

Before I could read this first line everyone broke into a loud cheer, breaking the silence of the jungles louder than the Hoolock Gibbons did every morning. Everyone was hugging each other madly. I continued again

"Tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama told a euphoric crowd of 240,000 tearful supporters late Tuesday after defeating Republican John McCain.
Obama, 47, will be inaugurated the 44th US president on January 20, 2009, and inherit an economy mired in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a nuclear showdown with Iran.

We did not want to wait so long and discussed why not from today, as there will be lot of changes in the world by then, I still continued

"The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep, we may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," Obama said in his hometown of Chicago.
"I promise you -- we as a people will get there."
Television networks projected Obama's win over McCain after Senator Obama solidified traditional Democratic states and cut deep into the Republican territory which his rival needed to control to win the White House.
Obama's win was greeted with euphoria across the United States and reverberated around the world.
New York's Times Square exploded in joy at a moment of healing for America's racial scars and a crowd gathered outside the White House. In Kenya, where Obama's father was born, President Mwai Kibaki called his win "momentous."
Democrats also made huge strides in Congress, and will hold an unshakeable monopoly in power in Washington after a rare generational and political realignment.
After a bilious campaign, McCain was gracious in defeat, and noted that his election was a moment to cherish for African Americans.
"The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love," he said.
"Though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours," he told a crowd of supporters in Phoenix in his home state of Arizona.
President George W. Bush who has steered his country through eight turbulent years also congratulated Obama.
"Mr President-elect, congratulations to you," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino quoted the president as saying in a phone call to Obama.
"What an awesome night for you, your family and your supporters. Laura and I called to congratulate you and your good bride."
Obama's inauguration will complete a stunning ascent to the pinnacle of US and global politics from national obscurity just four years ago and close an eight year era of turbulence under President George W. Bush.
Obama is promising to renew bruised ties with US allies, and to engage some of the most fierce US foes like Iran and North Korea. He has vowed to tackle climate change and provide health care to all Americans.
His presidency also marks a stunning social shift, with Obama, the son of Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, the first African American president of a nation still riven by racial divides.
Forty-five years after civil rights icon Martin Luther King laid out his "dream" of racial equality, Obama's election broke new barriers and may have helped heal the moral wounds left by slavery and the US civil war.
When he launched his campaign on a chilly day in Illinois in February 2007, Obama forged a mantra of change which powered him throughout the longest, most costly US presidential campaign in history.
Early on on Tuesday he captured the state of Pennsylvania, the key battleground which McCain needed to win to keep his long-shot hopes of victory alive.
And in a sweet moment for Democrats, he also seized the midwestern battleground states of Ohio, Iowa and Indiana as well as the southwestern state of New Mexico, all states won by Bush in 2004 to close out McCain's possible route towards the White House.
McCain had argued Obama was too inexperienced to be US commander in chief and would pursue "socialist" redistribution policies that would leave the economy mired in recession.
McCain, 72, an Arizona senator, would have been the oldest man ever inaugurated for a first term in the White House.
Obama gave early notice of the way the night would unfold by capturing the key northeastern state of Pennsylvania -- McCain's best hope of winning a Democratic state and stopping his rival from claiming the White House.
He later added Ohio, the decisive state which swept Bush to victory in 2004 and another Republican state, Virginia, which had not voted Democrat since 1964. He also won Florida, ground zero of the 2000 recount debacle.
So far he had won 28 states including the district of Columbia for 349 electoral votes.
McCain had won 20 states but had not broken out of the Republican heartland and the south for 159 electoral votes.
In the Senate, Democrats wrested control of five seats including in the traditionally Republican state of Virginia, followed by New Hampshire, North Carolina and New Mexico, reaching a 56 seat majority in the 100-seat chamber.
Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell clung on in Kentucky, meaning Democrats were unlikely to win the 60 seats they need in the 100-seat chamber needed to frustrate Republican obstruction tactics.
Senate races in Alaska, Minnesota, Georgia and Oregon however were still too close to call.
Democrats also won 20 seats in the House of Representatives, solidifying their majority to 251 against 171 of the Republicans. Six House races were still too close to call as of 1000 GMT.

Three different nationalities, everyone burst in joy and we celebrated the evening with all that we had with the rest of the camp people. We were in this exploratory trip of the East Himalaya covering places and people in remote Northeast India. None of this information is available in the regular travel maps and guide books. After a late night party in the jungle, it was really impossible to wake up the next day early morning and get into the planned activity, but we had no other option then to manage. For the next few days of the trip, we all discussed about the coming of Obama as a new hope for one world in peace and not in pieces.

Kaziranga, Community cultures

THE RHYTHM OF THE GRASSLANDSKaziranga was declared as a game sanctuary in 1905. The name was inherited from the Karbi word Kazi and Ronga, meaning boy and girl. Today, it is not only a world heritage site, but has no match in the world.

Hundreds and thousands of visitors from around the globe visit Kaziranga. One of the primary economical resource is tourism, but a major share of the ownership in this economy lies with the people who do not belong to the villages around Kaziranga. This lack of participation and share of the villages around in and around Kaziranga in the economy from tourism in the park makes it vulnerable to several anti-conservation activities routed through these villages, taking opportunity of the poor economic conditions.

However, in the past some good community participation efforts were made by Wild Grass, which inspite of not being in the prime location of Kaziranga as per the present tourism development, have remained the most popular infrastructure among western visitors because of the local community involvement. It should be mentioned here that even in the worst political disturbance in Assam, Wils Grass in Kaziranga managed to attract tourists.

The next effort came around five years back with the endogenous tourism project (ETP), being launched by Government of India, Department of Tourism in collaboration with UNDP. Amongst, the several rural sites, they chose the village of Durgapur, close to the main tourist hub hub of Kaziranga, known as Kohra. The District Collector (DC) of Golaghat and a local NGO, NEST being the implementing agencies. The main reasons for choosing this village was its proximity to Kohra, being next to the National Highway and being a part of the typical assamese society. Most of the first ETP sites were chosen nationally considering its easy connectivity and a comparatively socially well to do community to enable sure success.

Other than tourism, the other economic activities are dependent on the proximity to the National Highway, like easy supply of agriculture produce and locally run enterprises on the road side. Tea also supports the economy of the area, but has reached stagnancy and engages a huge work force who do not belong to the forest villages. The forest dwelling villagers mainly belong to the Karbi and Missing communities.

Quite recently, Help Tourism has been considered as the resource organization for community motivation, product identification and packaging for the rural tourism projects or ETP sites in East and Northeast India. This is completely a voluntary exercise being undertaken by Help Tourism, considering its mission to spread the ‘community tourism movement’. This gave me the opportunity to visit Durgapur in Kaziranga twice officially. The first with Mayura from UNDP and the second is with my colleague, Asit.

Trip reportPresently, the National Highway between Jaklabandha and Bokaghat runs almost through the northern bounderies of the Park. It has been planned for all practical reasons of conservation, that the Prime Minister’s East West four lane expressway will avoid this alignment and connect Jaklabandha and Bokaghat. This means a fall in local economy and increase of human pressures on the Park. The only sustainable tool which should be planned with immediate effect is to consider the area between Jaklabandha and Bokaghat be declared as the ‘ECOTOURISM ZONE’. Bokaghat can then become the tourism hub and the activities may be planned to include natural and cultural heritage. The wildlife experience, tea tourism experience, Karbi experience, Missing experience, Assamese experience and the river experience may be considered for long stay activities. Considering, the need, Help Tourism has already started initiating dialogues at several levels.
There was a time when the riverways were a major means of transport, and the River Brahmaputra was the life line. With all the rivers meeting Brahmaputra, it formed a big network. One such river in the east of Kaziranga is Dhansiri River. Two small villages, one belonging to the Missing community and the other belonging to the Assamese community existed next to each other, at a place where Dhansiri met Brahmaputra. Then there was a big flood, which forced the Assamese village to shift near the highway in 1959, known as Durgapur. The Missing village known as Dhuba Ati continued to remain where it was, on the easternmost boundary of the park next to Agratoli range, getting water logged for more than three months during the monsoon season, along with the park.

DurgapurFor the last five years work has been carrying on in Durgapur in hardware and software development in tourism as per the guidelines from UNDP and Government of India, Department of Tourism. After the last visit, a tourism day package has been finalized to be launched on 27th September, 2008 on the ‘World Tourism Day’. The package will be based on a number of minimum five visiting tourists or their price equivalent. The package price will be around Rs.500.00 per visitor. The time will be between 11am to 2 pm, when the tourists are lacking activities. The details will be as follows-
Welcome at the gate,
The Namghar experience,
The rock theatre show,
Community lunch,
Visit handicraft families and
The farewell.

Dhuba AtiIn addition to the Assamese cultural experience, Dhuba Ati village has been identified for the Missing cultural experience. Help Tourism in collaboration with NEST has identified a local Missing NGO, ‘DAGRAB Ecotourism and Eco-development Society’ to run the tourism activities next to the Agratoli range. The package is yet to be decided as the work over here started only after my first visit and the product has been identified after the second visit. A survey was done during both visits, the first visit was mainly for community meeting & motivation, and the second was field survey & discussion with the Range Officer of the Agratoli range of the park has also been consulted during the second visit. The upcoming tourist lodge near the range office should be considered of being managed by this active Missing youth group in the NGO. The details will be available from the 1st of November, 2008. The activities being under consideration for the upcoming season are as follows
Boat trip to the Dolphin habitat,
Dhuba Ati village trail to explore the local culture and traditions
The Missing community feast.

The Karbi ExperienceIt was quite encouraging to find the Karbi Along Autonomous Council was making the huge tourist village, the infrastructure was under construction. This for certain will be the hub for the Karbi experience, if handled in the right way with the help of the Karbi community.
It is high time, when the state should act to bring about a concrete co-ordination between all the positive developments taking place under the joint effort of the Tourism and Forest Ministries. This action now will help to fill the gap as ecotourism being the tool for sustainable development, mainly during the crisis when the traffic will be diverted to the new express highway.

The gateway to East Himalaya

DARJEELING NEGLECT

Tourism proposal for Darjeeling Hills

The Darjeeling Hills were developed as a tourism destination and retreat by the British during their tenure in India. Along with this, the most important part was the management of nature through forestry and tea plantations. This was almost a sustainable development with several local people gaining livelihood in the process. With beautiful landscapes and happy communities, Darjeeling became the ‘Queen of Hills’. In the process, the Darjeeling Hills produced master craftsmen, horticulture and floriculture entrepreneurs, dairy farm experts, printing specialists etc, all the best in the country, and ofcourse with the support of the Government.

With the apathy of the Government since Independence (where Darjeeling had a major role), the development of the hills fell apart, and even much later entrants like Sikkim performed better because of Government interest. This forced a skill drain from Darjeeling to the newly formed states because of better opportunities from the Governments in those places. The same stands for ‘tourism’ in Darjeeling.

Tourism is always about ‘better places for people to live and visit’. If a local person has to wake up in the morning only to queue up for a bucket of water for the family to wash, how do we expect that the tourists will have a pleasant visit. Several infrastructures, other than Darjeeling and Kalimpong towns were open to visitors which included Tea Estates, Cinchona plantations, Forest Bungalows, etc like Mongpu, Takdah, Pedong, Sonada, etc destinations. In the post Independence period everything was concentrated around Darjeeling and Kalimpong, and mismanagement pushed these destinations to the end. It is only in the nineties, when there was an increase in local empowerment, some destinations emerged with private initiatives.

In today’s changing scenario, the Northeastern states surrounding the Darjeeling Hills, are gaining on their tourism popularity by using the brand name of Darjeeling. Whereas, area wise the Darjeeling Hills have a much bigger population and much less funds for development in comparison to the neighbouring Northeastern states. This exercise is suicidal as Darjeeling Hills needs to be considered in the same pattern of development like the Northeastern states because of its geographical location, terrain and people, or else the rhythm of the development will be disrupted.

We know that the eight Northeastern states have been considered for ‘LTC’ travellers all by air, which amounts to atleast 3 crore travellers from the country from the Government of India offices, PSUs and Undertakings. If Darjeeling Hills are not included in the list, how will the region develop?

Several finance and tax opportunities for tourism projects are being flooded in the Northeastern states through several ministries, including DONER, if Darjeeling is excluded from these facilities, where will the region stand?

Several crore of funds are being spent for the Northeastern states tourism promotion, with several images being from Darjeeling Hills, but none of the promotions mentions the name of Darjeeling which is the brand for the region.

Several crore of Rupees are being spent for infrastructure development of tourism in Northeast, facilities which are also vital for the local inhabitants, with Darjeeling not being included the experience of the tourists is uneven.

The handicrafts and handlooms of the Northeastern states are given heavy financial and skill development boost and also an opportunity to travel to several parts of the country and world at the cost being borne by the Government, why is it not the same for the craftsmen from Darjeeling Hills?

When the first round of Endogenous Tourism projects (village tourism) projects were launched by the Govt of India, Department of Tourism and UNDP, there were two projects for destinations close to Kolkata, but none for the Darjeeling Hills, where it would have been successful.

There should not be a moment wasted in considering the facilities of the Darjeeling Hills at par with the Northeastern states to actually value the rhythm of development in the region.

Raj Basu, 9733000444, actraj@gmail.com.