Time Travels Ltd.

Dedicated to Kris who like a beautiful chorus of a bird filled our hearts with joy and left us yearning to hear more. God bless you with peace                                                          In the Presence of Light There is a crowd in the banks Gathered before a thick fog to thank the one who sustains The Dhansiri river runs its course down with the gravity of nature The dawn is here  It appears like a chariot drawn by pink and crimson horses Young and brazen forward she comes baring her breasts The oil lamps burn on top of baskets filled with offer   And the trucks wheel up to the sand mines to carry their load of civilization Some Women take a bold dip into the cold river  With their prayers to perform an ancient ritual Steadfast to their abstinence and fasting That starte...

                       Sabitri Heisnam (LEFT)  in the play 'Pebbet' at Northeastern Hill University Shillong,  Meghalaya             Ima:  A verse in dedication of Ima Sabitri Devi The harmony of humanity in her lips Ima swirled like magic A child like playfulness springs her toes Ima brought us warmth and surprise Offering us her harvest of joy We must be selfish not to understand Ima’s love Tightfisted to embrace the language of the heart The cacophonic insanity of our virulent civilization has drowned her melody Ima, oh Ima, weep no more I shall awake free from this memoir of terror To kiss the harmony on your lips To welcome this morning that shall be no man’s property

March 2014 We arrived at the New Tinsukia Station on the 20 th of this month. Manoj who is my sister in law’s husband was accompanying me to the one and half day trip to Sadiya in the Eastern Upper Assam district of Tinsukia. Manoj has relatives living in Sadiya. He was taking me to the Gurung settlements of Pathi Pathar and Gurung Basti in Chapakhowa town of Sadiya. After travelling for more than three hours on the kuccha road we arrived at the Saikhowa ghat at the bank of the Brahmaputra. A fifteen minute sail on the ferry with a heavy load of passengers and goods got us on the opposite bank where a relay bus was waiting to take us to the town of Chapakhowa. Awaiting departure at the Saikhowa Ghat in Sadiya , Assam The Gurungs I encountered in Sadiya had all the anthropological DNA of the Gurungs I had encountered in Lamjung Nepal. Yet, at the same time they had developed other unique cultural traits different from the Gurungs of Ghalegaon and Ghanpokhara in Lamj...