Exploring India’s Northeast

It’s the region few foreign or even Indian tourists visit—the northeast, bounded by China (Tibet) and Bhutan to the north and Bangladesh to the south. Cut off from the Bay of Bengal by the partition of British India, a narrow strip of land connects the so-called “chicken’s neck” to the rest of the country, or what locals sometimes call “mainland India.” The northeast has not shared in the economic boom of other regions, and remains mostly agricultural, but offers diverse landscapes and cultures. In Assam, David Mould travels along the wide valley of the Brahmaputra to the Hindu monasteries of Majuli Island and the fortresses and palaces of the Ahom empire, then heads south into the hills of Meghalaya—to the colonial hill station of Shillong, the “Scotland of the East,” and to Cherrapunjee, whose claim to fame is that it is “the wettest place in the world.”  

David Mould, Ph.D. is a writer, journalist, historian, and consultant. He is Professor Emeritus of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University, has traveled widely in Asia and southern Africa. Born in the UK, he worked as a newspaper and TV journalist before moving to the US in 1978. His travel essays and articles have been published in Newsweek, Christian Science Monitor, Times Higher Education, History News Network and other print and online outlets. His books include Postcards from the Borderlands (Open Books, 2020), and Postcards from Stanland: Journeys in Central Asia (Ohio University Press, 2016), and Monsoon Postcards: Indian Ocean Journeys (Ohio University Press, 2019).