Distinctly different - Mizoram and Manipur

Mizoram

In a spacial context - Mizoram hangs underneath Assam, Tripura, and Manipur it is separated from Bangladesh by the Mizo hills and to the east rests Myanmar. This was only a brief and limited visit to two fascinating and remote places, both worth a longer and more extensive exploration.

The haze was from shifting cultivation referred to as jhum or jhoom - the annual burning of forest land for planting. The new land is created by burning. It is used for various crops for two to three years and revisited after about seven years. The heavy smoky air and loss of forest cover are two big climate and environmental issues. New innovative solutions need to come to the rescue.

Aizawl (eye-saw) the capital of Mizoram refers to a type of turmeric that grows there. It is a densely packed city climbing up and down the steeply sloping hills and valleys; dangerously perched on landslip prone soils and a fault line.

There are numerous churches in Aizawl - most are Presbyterian, but there are other types that I saw including Baptist, Pentecost, 7th Day Adventist, and Catholic. I read that more than 90% of the people are Christian.

With cramped housing and little space for expansion on the steep hills, it makes for roads that are very narrow and difficult to navigate.

Unlike mainland India, the Northeast's proximity to Myanmar and China gives them access to cheap Chinese goods.

There are many small bazaars in the city. This one happened to be near our hotel and easy to visit on foot.

In the busy roadside markets, many jhoom agriculture products are found. For me, most items were unfamiliar vegetables and tree products with a few of the familiar bananas, pumpkins, and beans.
The long beans are from trees that grow in the hills. They seemed very popular among shoppers.

These beans, zawngtah, are very hard on the outside. When cooked they have a softer middle where the seeds are and a strange smell for a first time sampler. They are also called stink beans, usually served with some fermented items like soybean, bamboo, or fish.

Other leaves and greens were packed into banana leaf packages in the local market. I tried several food items but not sure I sampled these.

Another by-product of jhoom farming is the abundant growth of bamboo.
The Mizo people make high-quality rattan furniture and bamboo blinds. 

The city does have a sense of modern developments that are not necessarily connected to the church. The beauty contestants show quite of bit of their bodies and the presence of AIDS awareness signs up and down the roads indicate a certain religious rebellion and greater influence of outside pressures.

Heading out of crowded Aizawl the sprawl stops abruptly and the countryside starts. There are very few large villages. Only 29 km from Aizawl is Reiek, having a small tourist park and lots of turmeric. The community also has a safety forest that is not used for slash and burn.

Along the way we bought pineapples. The honor system of payment seems to work. Other cash crops grown are rubber, oil palm, bamboo, dragonfruits, tea, and some coffee.

The newly burned forest was being cleared a farmer that we visited. First, he collects wood for use at home.

Then jhoom planting begins - here is corn is the first crop.

Near this farm was a new type of farming that is more permanent - it won't be burned because they are planting coffee trees. New types of permanent high-value crops might help decrease jhoom practice.

With a large family to feed it is hard to say if coffee will be popular. This woman had five children all under the age of 8. Many women we spoke to said they cannon stop jhoom cultivation as it is part of their culture and it was an emotional topic for them.

Turmeric is a very popular crop - a solar dryer and processing mill have been made in Reiek.


These bags hold turmeric starters for farmers to collect and plant. With turmeric use increasing as a health product they will likely have plenty to sell.



Meeting two ministers - present Chief Minister of Mizoram and Ex-Chief Minister. The Chief Minister's wife, Lal Riliani gave me a lovely hand embroidered shawl.

Above in the middle is the current Minister Lal Thanhawla and the rest of our group. Below is the Ex-Chief Minister, Zoramthanga, that we happened to bump into at the airport. Very interesting Mizo history regarding both men.

Manipur

It is right above to Mizoram but it takes a flight back to Assam to get there - forget about driving because it takes longer and is more dangerous. Imphal is the capital of Manipur. Myanmar is the longest border on the east, Nagaland to the north, Assam to the west, and a small bit of Mizoram on the southern. Imphal is very different from Aizawl. It has wide roads and spreads out across the valley with the Imphal river running through it.

We stayed at the Imphal Classic Hotel - a 1970's design with a lovely rose garden. There is still a king of Manipur. The moat that surrounds the old palace ruins of Kangla is in the middle of the city and has historical and religious significance to the Manipuris.The Japanese fought several battles against the British Indian forces in Manipur. There are monuments to recognize the number of fallen soldiers on both sides. Today Japanese families still visit the cemetery where their relatives are buried. I recommend reading the history of Manipur and Mizoram.


Here the numbers of Hindus vs Christians are about half and half. The people in the low lands are mostly Hindu and in the hills Christian.


This Krishna temple near Imphal airport was very decorative. Inside was the life story and life-like statue of the seated founder, Swami Prabhupada.

The famous all women's bazaar, Ima Keithel, was the next big attraction in Imphal. Only women are allowed to sell items in the bazaar. It was a huge building with clothing on one side and food, baskets, metal, and dry goods on the other side.


It is said that the women's only bazaar is unique and the origin dates back 500 years. The colorful cloth lungis worn by women were stacked on many counters. It is wrapped like a lungi with a colorful silk or cotton drape over the shoulder or around the waist. Women are very powerful in Manipur and men are afraid of the power of the lungi they wear. It is called a Phanik.


In Manipur as in Mizoram, they were buying lots of the long stinky beans and bamboo shoots.

Everyone was out shopping because the next day was Manipur New Year. It was so crowded and all the sellers were busy with sales.

Manipuris' love to eat fish. Lots of the fish were so fresh they were struggling in the open air with gills pulsing and bodies thrashing.
The woman in the bright pink sweater was selling snake fish and eels. They were also wriggling around in a pot with about 1cm of water.

Dried fish were plentiful but people seemed to prefer fresh fish. These ladies did not have as many customers.
In between the shopping chaos, we visited the Annual Indian Science Congress and watched a bit of their cultural performance. Manipuri's have a very rich culture for singing, dancing, and music.

Loktak Lake

A huge spreading body of shallow water with floating masses of mixed grasses and plants called "phumdis". It is the largest body of freshwater in Northeast India. It is used for hydropower, irrigation, and drinking water. It was designated as a Ramsar site in 1990.
The water, however, has become quite polluted from two large rivers that flow through the Imphal valley with effluents from the city. It is estimated that over 100,000 people live next to the lake. Pressure from human activities and seven river valley hydroelectric projects are altering the hydrology of the wetlands and the biodiversity of the lake.
Many fishermen and women make their living from the lake.

There are several fishing methods, one is to cut the phumdis into round circles, line it with nets, and stock it with fish. Another is to place bamboo fishing poles in the floating vegetation with a small battery light at the end of night fishing.

Nets are also used to haul in tiny fish from the shallow areas.

Some fishing families have moved onto the lake, building temporary houses. They are also visited by tourist boats that charge by the hour for a ride on the lake.

We had a lovely sunset with a huge cloud on the horizon.

This is an unaltered plant mass located in the Keibul Lamjao National Park, the only floating National Park in the world.

This is the home of the endangered Sangai deer, also called Eld's deer, brow-antlered deer, and dancing deer. At one point in 1955, the population was at extinction numbers, only 14 were counted in a 1977 census. The national park provided protection and there are 260 deer from the last census in 2016.

We stood on a hilltop just after sunrise to see the Sangai deer. They are very shy and stood quite far away. I managed a couple of photos but with the distance and haze from recent burnings, it was not a good shot. There is an antlered male above and a female below. The female had a baby but it was not in the photo.

A Red-spot Jezebel butterfly was posing on a bottle brush tree.
At the park, we saw a Chestnut-tailed Starling, again in a bottle brush tree.

Next to the restaurant at our hotel, we spotted a blue crested lizard, Calotes mystaceus, on a tree close to the lake.

Eco-tourism and nature education will be necessary for this young boy's generation to restore the lake and protect it.

We hope that there will be many more sunrises in such a lovely place.