Reporting on
ASER live from Arunachal
Pradesh
ITANAGAR - Ronald Abraham
Walking uphill for 5 km, helping colleagues cross a
dangerously swaying rope-bridge over the fast-flowing Siang River,
visiting a tea factory on the way, and finally meeting the
smiling children of Ramsing Village in Upper Siang District - this
was just another day for us in
Arunachal Pradesh. We are here to train the ASER 2007 volunteers.
I am part of a 7 member team that is travelling through
out Arunachal Pradesh for this
year's survey. As I write this, Sakshi and Indrajeet are training in
Dibang Valley. Ashok and Shruti are on their way to Tawang (a
disrict more picturesque than Kashmir valley!). Zerah is the control
man from Guwahati. And Bijan accompanied me in earlier travels.
I have a confession to make. I came to
Arunachal with two main
thoughts - firstly, I was very excited to see remote areas of the
Northeast. Secondly, I didn't understand why so many people and
resources were being assigned to
Arunachal Pradesh, which has less than one percent of the
Indian population. While, the first thought was spot on (!), I was
wrong about the second. In Pasighat, our district coordinator, Tobom
asked me, "many times when I visit Delhi on work, I am made to feel
like a foriegner, as if I don't belong to India. Us Arunachalis are
true patriots, why are we treated like this?" I couldn't say much
then, but when I pondered over his words that night, I realised why
it is important that every single state and every single district of
India be equally represented.
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