I took my notebook & pen to write, then out of sheer laziness threw them away.

I was a 25 something, bespectacled, lean guy next door. Some one you could spot very easily. With a job that paid enough to sustain & a coterie of friends, complacency had set in ; giving way to a minor belly protrusion which I would term as cushy job syndrome.

Undoubtedly, there were a lot of aspirations, lot of wishes to be fulfilled but they say a typical college pass out doesn't need much to be happy. A good salary, home & ideal friends. It's enough !

On a sunny day in November, my manager called me up & told me " We have an assignment in north east India. Plan your travel to Guwahati."

Guwahati is the capital of Assam, a state in north east India.

I rarely refused any assignment(I still don't!) & a chance to visit north eastern region was something I could never decline.

I frantically started packing things up with an excitement that comes with the thought of flying for the first time!

Guwahati is a different place, a metropolis of the north east India. So along with a few spots that can boast of usual city like hustle bustle, there are few serene places.

Back at office, I was busy updating my current city on Facebook, where through the corner of my eye, I could see my local superior looking at me as if hatching a vicious plan !

"Can you please come in to the meeting room?" A gentle voice asked me.

Inside the room there was a rough, hand-made outline of 6 states of the north east with few cities shown in red dots. I felt like a commando to be briefed for a secret operation.

"So," my senior spoke, "you need to perform the testing procedure in the states of Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal, Manipur & Meghalaya. One city each in Assam & Meghalaya, five locations in Tripura, two in Manipur & 2 in Arunachal. You already have the equipment, please start tomorrow & keep reporting the progress to me"

I was stunned. I was given a task of visiting 13 cities in 5 diverse states in 26 days, doing a job I was no expert in.

A field job in telecommunications may take you to wild places. Some of the places where towers are installed can be eerie. I had never visited 5 Indian states in 25 years of my life,now I had to visit 5 in 25 days!!

I was scheduled to visit Kohima, the capital of the state of Nagaland the very next day. So I called up the local field engineer who assured me of a fine hotel to stay.
Sensing adventure, I hopped into a 0645 hrs. Rajdhani express train that covers 400km between Guwahati & the Naga state of Dimapur in around 4 hours.

Dimapur is an Indian army base with a major strike corps located there.

Dimapur railway station


The journey was a typical train one, offering a good view of crops & fields, most special being the view of sunrise !

The sunrise

Still, it's nothing as compared to the 84km. Dimapur-Kohima route which offers breathtaking views of the valley on one side & the beautiful Dhanasiri river on the other.

The blue river water visible through thickets

"Erected" in public interest, haha, I have a dirty mind


Most fascinating is the air filled with sweet smell of pineapple. Heaven !!

Saw pineapple fields for the first time!


After reaching Dimapur railway station, me, along with few kg. of equipment, took a shared cab & jostled for space with 2 other guys who appeared to be chirpy.


One of them happened to be a local, so we just exchanged numbers. I rarely talk to strangers ; but maybe it was the air filled with so much of happiness that we talked throughout the way.

The cab dropped us at the Kohima city cab centre, from where intra city cabs run. The 3 of us parted ways & I got into a new cab to reach hotel.
I let the taxi driver talk to the local guy from my company. It was much easier than me understanding an unknown route first & then explaining it to a random taxi driver who knew neither English nor Hindi.

After taking various turns, I was ultimately told to alight , as the destination had been reached, according to the 2 people on call.

I took the phone back from driver & told the local guy, "Ok, here I see a big tower, in front of it is a mental hospital & we are middle of a jungle. Ok, this is the site where I am supposed to work. Fine, now tell me where the hotel is. We'll start working tomorrow"

To this, he answered in a low tone - "Sir hotel to nahi hai" (Sir, there is no hotel available).

I said " Whaaatttttt????? "
There are moments when you really want the other person to retract from what he is saying. This was one of them.

Here I was, travelled 500km. since morning, with no place to stay & no option to go back as it's a landslide prone area, standing inside an unknown jungle, with a lonely mental hospital in front with equipment weighing approximately  half of my body weight & a driver who was in a hurry to go back.

For a person who never even thought of traveling to North East, staying in a Naga jungle overnight is scary & believe me, it was scary.

I racked through my brains. A local guy had given me his mobile number en route to Kohima.

Yesssssss....!!! This was my only hope. But still, ten things could go wrong.Maybe he doesn't pick up & even if he picks up, will he really help me, a complete stranger? Enough of thinking !!
I immediately called up.

"Hello", voice on the other side of the phone said.

"Hello, Vinod?", "Yes".

"Hi, I am Ajay, remember me? We met in afternoon."

I explained my situation to him & asked if he could arrange some hotel, lodge or anything where I could spend the night.

Hornbill festival is a big festival in Nagaland.





A Hornbill hut


It's the time when the state gets highest number of tourists, who usually book hotels much in advance. So if you are planning to visit Kohima in first week of December, make sure you contact the hotel at least 3 months in advance.

I learnt this the hard way.

Vinod couldn't arrange anything, so finally said 3 words that eventually saved my life - "Tu ghar aaja ( You just come over to my home)".

Kohima city map

 
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