By- Taniya Khangembam
Being informed as a land of unity in diversity, India is a unique country and there’s a belief system in saying by Mahatma Gandhi, “Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the rest of our civilization.” The land of a single mother has multi-location ranging from the Himalayas to the Northern plains to the Indian Desert to Peninsular Plateau to Coastal Plains and Islands. The gigantic geographic features, eventually lead to multi-culture in which every member of the region should acquire its knowledge as a part of nationality. The entire 28 states and 8 Union Territories excel in different aspects to create a better whole nation. Northeast India comprises the states of seven sisters: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and a brother called Sikkim. These eight members share their borders with exotic countries such as Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and China; this is one of the reasons for having mongoloid features in NE India.
Tea cultivation, oil resources, and one-horned Rhinos make Assam a famous state not only in the country but worldwide. Besides lagging in developmental activities as compared to other metro cities, the capital city of Assam, Guwahati is the gateway to the Northeast and one of the fastest emerging metro cities. Bihu dance along with the world’s largest river known as Majuli resides in this state. Arunachal Pradesh, the land of the dawn-lit Sun has 26 tribes and more than 100 sub-tribes. It attracts Botanists as it is known as the Orchid State of India. The word ‘ Dancing Deer’ is practically found in the state of Manipur as ‘Sangai’, one of the endangered species. The only natural floating island of Loktak Lake in Manipur is the only one in the world which is made by masses of vegetation known as Phumdis. Apart from this, the only women’s market in the world and Sirui Lily are unforgettable substances of Manipur. Meghalaya is a land of Matriarchy where women have been given a higher status for upbringing within the society and the world’s wettest place, Mawsynram is found here. Mizoram the land of the hill people is the place of Bamboo Dance. Nagaland is known as the Land of Warriors for its braveness and is still famous for its outstanding performance during World War II. Tripura is famous for Ujanta Palace, jute cultivation, and many architectural styles. Sikkim is a host to Kanchenjunga, the highest peak in India. The stories of the Teesta river and Tsomga lake have attracted a lot of tourists to Sikkim.
Knowing the distinctive features of Northeast India realized that the rest of the country also shines brilliantly in their way. Some of the mentionable areas are the importance of agriculture in Punjab, the uniqueness of Delhi’s architecture, the significant features of Kerela’s sex ratio, the smartness of Bangalore’s IT companies, the sunset of Kanyakumari, Darjeeling of West Bengal, the lovely tribes of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, the coolness of Manali, the Chipko movement of Uttarakhand and many more.
Pleasing the significance of Rabindranath Tagore’s saying: “If God had so wished, he would have made all Indians speak with one language… the unity of India has been and shall always be a unity in diversity”; every Indian is a must to restore and learn from each of their uniqueness as a family. The states must learn and share. The vibrant scenarios of Northeast India where the rest of the Indians can learn hails in the factors( a) Gender Equality : Northeast Indian states are at the top level of child sex ratio as well as the importance of matrilineal is found within the region (b) Women Empowerment : the states are well groomed about the importance of financial independence among women and education is given for both the genders similarly ( c) Benevolent Characters : the people of the regions are friendly in nature and kind to their community members as well as to the others (d) Spirituality of Animism and Nature Worshippers : the people of the region are attached more to the importance of nature along with the conservation of mother earth (e) Gateway to Economic Development : the states like Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh shares their borders with foreign countries- they are the gateway to Act East Policy of India and will be the greatest trade route with South-East Asian Countries (f) Sense of Belongingness : the people of the region have community feelings instead of individual livelihood, they help each other within their own village and is quite important to them since time immemorial to protect themselves against their enemies (g) Melting Pot of Ethnicity : the region has around 65 million and about 400 ethnic groups (h) Unbounded Hospitality, one is sure to be wondered by the warm welcoming and hospitality in Northeast India (i) Caste Less Society : the region of the northeast do not give importance on the hierarchical division within the people in the region (j) Way of Music : Shillong is known as the Rock Capital of India, almost every person in NE India can sing or play an instrument (k) Rich Culture : the culture of Northeast Indian states are mentionable in the areas of handloom & handicrafts also the colourful foods.
Just as importantly, the rest of the country blooms beautifully but differently from Northeast India. Some of them can be jotted down from the facts of – (a) Employment Opportunities: metro cities of the country are generating a huge amount of employment opportunities as compared to the Northeast region (b) Development of the Central Economy: a few of the rest of the countries are contributing economically such as from giant IT techs in Bengaluru, agricultural products from Punjab (c)Faster Public Works: roads and transportation, as well as urban developments, are more concerned mainly in South India and Northeast India lags behind it (d) Notorious Celebrities: the advancement in films, as well as artists, is more seen from other states of the country but there are fewer participants of artists or film awards from Northeast India. Having said that it doesn’t mean there are fewer artists in the northeast but there’s a lack of advancement and upliftment in the field of theatre (e) Sustainable Development: Kerala being the most developed region of the nation has widely formulated the importance of sustainable development. It represents a state of the highest respect for women in terms of empowering education and finances.
It is to be enlightened by Jane Elliot’s saying, “We don’t need a melting pot in this country, folks. We need a salad bowl. In a salad bowl, you put in different things. You want the vegetables- the lettuce, the cucumbers, the onions, the green peppers- to maintain their identity. You appreciate differences.
There’s no way to overestimate the importance of learning from our sisters and brothers of the country. When we are open to learning from others, we benefit from their experience as well as our own and we can inherit their wisdom and knowledge. Indians must exchange their unique roles, collaborate, and show empathetic kindness to each other. Acquiring knowledge of each other helps the whole nation grow emotionally, avoid making further mistakes, and can often help with our decision-making.
Jawaharlal Nehru says that Indian unity is not something imposed from the outside but rather, “It was something deeper and within its fold, the widest tolerance of belief and custom was practiced and every variety acknowledged and even encouraged.” As India is a rising economic powerhouse and nuclear-armed state, it is known as one of the important regional powers in the United Nations. It is because India stands in unity besides having a lot of dissimilarities within the boundaries of the region. Another charming fact is about being the largest democratic country in the world, India stands and learns together for the betterment of the present generation as well as the upcoming generation to know and show the importance of having human rights values along with liberal sentiment.
We must believe in the saying, “We may have different religions, different languages, different coloured skin, but we all belong to one human race” by Kofi Annan. Despite all the differences learning the features from others and giving the features from us which are unknown to them should be emphasized to bring our nation on top of the world. We will indeed meet any person who knows something that we don’t know and the key to uniting the pieces of mind is to learn from each other.
(****The writer is currently pursuing BA (Sociology) at Assam down town University)
