The Hornbill Headgears

One country 02 states, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. One river 02 names, Kameng and Jia Bhareli. One continuous habitat 02 Tiger Reserves, Pakke and Nameri. One language spoken by 16 different communities. This is the language of ‘conservation’ spoken by 16 different communities living around Pakke and Nameri Tiger Reserves at the recently completed ‘Pakke-Nameri Conservation and Peace Carnival’, from Pakke Jungle Camp at Seijosa in East Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh to Ban Theatre in Tezpur in Assam.

Imagine who took the initiative, the Nyishi community Gaon Burras. The Nyishis and conservation, the ones who wear Hornbill beak headgears, everyone laughed at us as if we were joking. Community conservation at Pakke Tiger Reserve, initiated by the DFO, Tana Tapi, ADCF, now Field Director, along with some National Wildlife NGOs by getting together the Nyishi Gao Burhas (Village Heads) into an organization called Ghora Abhe Society, who in turn organized locally led conservation by their community to save this extraordinary Tiger Habitat. Help Tourism was invited here to boost the process and they added community based ecotourism infrastructure to the initiative, ‘the Pakke Jungle Camp’.

The dynamics were perfect, but in isolation. The work of Ghora Abhe Society was being appreciated nationally and internationally, but there was hardly any news or awareness or initiative locally in the neighbourhood. The 02 partners in ecotourism, Ghora Abhe and Help Tourism sat with the Field Director of Pakke Tiger Reserve and discussed that it will be impossible to sustain conservation if the similar dynamics is not set in continuing Nameri Tiger Reserve. The several community leaders of different communities around Nameri Tiger Reserve were invited for a preliminary meeting to Pakke and convinced to participate in community based conservation. To do the first awareness program, a carnival for peace and conservation was planned. 

The once isolated community, Nyishis, fierce hunting community referred to as ‘Dafla’ by the neighbours in Assam, now took the responsibility to lead habitat conservation and wildlife protection in the region, infact they took the ownership on conservation. This is not strange, conservation was always in their gene, only that we cannot interpret this with our modern sense of conservation. They always lived as a part of nature, ate out nature, built shelter out of nature, got their clothing out of nature and lived the most sustainable lifestyle in isolation. We wanted to make them global, they appeared before the world in their hornbill headgears and we shouted that they were killing hornbills to make headgears. We often consider Hornbills to Tigers, as the king representative in their respective categories, birds and mammals. The Nyishis wear this as their headgear to show the world that they belong to an extremely diverse habitat, which they have lived with for time unknown and where hornbills are abundant. We have, through our greed destroyed these entire habitats and act as pro-conservation people from our un-natural homes and offices. The English could not make them a part of their industrial revolution and termed them TRIBALS. 

The time for us has come to be TRIBALS, to be a part of the natural system beyond borders, and not trying to exploit nature, each for our own selfish interest. If we have created some infrastructure, let us all blend it with the biodiversity forces locally and convert ourselves to the religion of BIODIVINITY. Come and train with the TRIBALS in their traditions. 

The support for the rally was provided in a big way at Tezpur by Nature’s Beckon, an Assam based NGO, pioneers in the field of community based conservation and presently extends hands to some Northeast states and West Bengal.  

Wet ‘n’ Wild, NH 52-Rangiya Division

July 04, 2011: National Highways (NH) are some of the major tourism connectivity highlights of India and being controlled by one organization, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), it would be wonderful if they published good maps showing all post offices and sub-post offices their road covers with highlights of markets, even the weekday ones (haat). All NHs in India are stories individually to a traveller (Yatri) and following them could make a resource globally. Please try and send your inputs on a National Highway to initiate this resource bank for travellers.

I have always found the NH-52 quite interesting, mainly the divisional headquarters, Rangiya in Assam, on the North bank of River Brahmaputra, near the Assam’s capital city of Guwahati. As per the records NH-52 covers 314 kms in Assam and its extension NH-52A covers 22 kms in Arunachal Pradesh and 09 kms in Assam. I remember as a child that Rangiya was quite a happening place as this was a major train terminal, from where you could go a little ahead and ferry across the Mighty Brahmaputra to Pandu Railway station on the Guwahati side or take an extension to Tezpur. Now I have heard that a metre gauge railway extension goes almost upto Passighat in Arunachal Pradesh. The building of the roads and bridges in Northeast India in the past few years have provided convenience to the common people and traveller and we still see that work is continuing.

Other than the NH-52, there is an extension road from Rangiya connecting Samdrup Dzongkhar (also spelt as Samdrup Jonkhar) in Bhutan. Other than Phuentsholing, which is the largest official pass between India and Bhutan, this is the second one. As a traveller, authentic experience and understanding of Bhutan will only happen if someone starts from Phuentsholing and ends in Samdrup Dzonkhar, criss-crossing through Paro, Thimphu,  WangdiPhodrang, Bumthang, Tashigrang. There are other passes like Samchi, Sarpang, Gelephu, Gnanglang etc which also needs to be opened immediately for tourism purpose only to confirm peace and prosperity of the people on both sides of the border. 

This gate of Bhutan is about 50 kms from Rangiya and 100 kms from Guwahati, and though the road conditions are getting much better (a small part of about 20kms still needs to be completed), it takes close to 04 hours from Guwahati because of the bad traffic. After Rangiya, as far as I remember the next big place is Tamalpur, then Kumarikata and finally to the last Indian destination Darrang Mela, which even a few years back was known as Mela Bazaar, Darrang, with dense elephant forests, extending into the hills of Samdrup Dzongkhar.

On my travel on NH-52, one change that I have observed in the agriculture pattern this time that there was quite a dominance of Jute (now almost mature), which was only common to lower Assam and North Bengal.  The monsoons being a bit late the rice transplant and ploughing for paddy is carrying on full swing now. The rickshaws have pulled their long hoods for protection from rains. I crossed an elephant stopping vehicles on the highway asking for alms, this reminded me of the recently completed meeting of the ‘Shivsagar Elephant Owners’ Association’, the first of its kind that I have come across. This will be a good platform to discuss the proper rehabilitation or function of the domestic elephants, which is more than 1200 in Northeast alone. This will also be an opportunity to re-establish the man-elephant culture of India’s Northeast for tourism.

The NH-52, which is often referred to as the North Bank Road alignment is interesting for tourists for its connectivity to sites like Orang National Park, Nameri Tiger Reserve and Pakke Tiger Reserve in the wildlife interest and then we have the Heritage town of Tezpur, often referred to as Sonitpur in the Mahabharata, the Madan Kamdev complex, which I suppose needs better display and interpretation. Also the legendary Ghats (local jetties) should be revived with their stories. I shall remain grateful if someone sends their stories and experiences on the Ghats. I am certain that there are more for a road in Northeast, I shall try and bring them to you one by one.