Andrej's India Visit, December 2013

Introduction

I don’t usually use quotes in whatever I write, well, I just prefer to think on my own. But this time I’m going to start with what I read in Lonely planet about a place I was about to visit:

“There aren’t all that many places left in the world where the maps may as well have blank spaces on them, snowcapped mountains remain unnamed and unclimbed, forests are filled with creatures that scientists have yet to lay eyes upon and hill tops are crowned with unmolested tribal villages, but northeast India is one such place.” – Lonely Planet, India

So I ask myself, how can that be, we live in the world of explorers and scientists that want to research every single detail on the planet. The reason for this unknown place being still so authentic is manifold. First of all, up to this year, the area was closed for general public. It was very hard to step foot into this part of India if you were not a native. The northeast India is filled with rebels on one side and national army on the other. In Manipur, army has a right to shoot on sight based solely on suspicion. This year however, they have come to an agreement for a ceasefire and the states are finally open for foreigners. Still, the foreign ministry of Slovenia advises against all travels to Manipur, especially Imphal. Another reason for this region being still so authentic is that it’s a part of India. The explorers prefer to visit new countries and research them, and India is quickly dismissed as being researched enough already. So they focus on other countries, the more remote Asian countries and of course Africa. A third reason that I can think of is that people here are not really concerned about making the region publicized. Who knows about Manipur, the land of jewels? Who knows about Assam, except for the tea? Most of the tea drinkers have no clue where the name comes from. Many people know that the coldest place on Earth is Siberia, but how many know that the wettest (most rain) is in Meghalaya? How many people know that Manipur contains the only floating natural park in the world and the world’s hottest chili? These reasons should be more than enough to have the region majorly publicized even if it was not possible to visit it as a tourist.

Unfortunately, my trip was far from long enough to get to experience all of this. However, I had a great introduction and have definitely developed interest to come back and spend more time here. I was on a trip to Imphal to attend a wedding in a Thadou Kuki tribe village in Manipur. It can hardly get more authentic than this, so I was obviously extremely excited about the whole week that I was to spend in Manipur and learn about such a remote a culture.

Thadou Kuki is a Tibeto Burman tribe that speaks its own language. It has 250 thousand people in India and another 150 thousand spread in the neighboring countries of Myanmar and Bangladesh. It’s a hill tribe and it’s over a 1000 years old with a long and strict culture. Their race in no way resembles mainland Indians, but look a lot more like Southeast Asians, a Mongoloid race. They had their own gods but converted to Christianity in the last century. Official language in Manipur is Meitei, so each Thadou Kuki tribesman also speaks Meitei. Add also Hindi and English, the official national languages, to get 4 that every tribesman speaks already as a child. People want to be modern but have to live according to their possibilities. They have electricity, even the remote village on a hilltop that’s only accessible by a three hour walk has electricity. They may be poor and stuck in this part of the world, but they seem advanced and extremely capable. Due to unclean water, their food is always boiled and offered together with rice and the hottest chili in the world that grows in Manipur. They only drink tea, which is very sweet - sugar used to be expensive, spending it on a guest is a sign of hospitality. There is no sign of prejudice towards anything, especially not something as different as a white man coming to meet their tribe. People were genuinely interested to meet me and talk to me and I could sense no hint of hostility of not belonging there, even though I was probably the first white man they ever saw outside of their television. I could really feel they accepted me as one of their own and that made it possible for me to really experience a tribal life.

December 5, Day 1 - Flight to Delhi

It’s always exciting to wait for the plane that takes you to a country to which you’ve never been before. Even more so if the new experience is not the only reason for the travel but is combined with a few others to which you attribute even more importance. In my case, visiting India and the unexplored area of the northeast meant acquainting with Josephine’s home; the country and its people, her tribe and their culture, and most importantly, her family and her parents.  The main reason remained the wedding of Philip, Josephine’s brother, but we knew that the ceremony was just an excuse to actually come and get to finally experience what I have to experience before moving any further into the relationship. So the waiting time was trying to invite the excitement, which hardly had any space to develop into anxiety due to a very good flight connection with a small layover in Istanbul.

Walking to the gate the look of the people rescaled from the usual mix of all races at any international airport into a more congested type of Indian people. The sound of Hindi and the Indian accent of English started to materialize the idea of the country into the real world. However, that small tribe that I’m intending to experience is far from this mainline stream of people and it made me wonder if India is the only country in the world that so many different races can call home at the same time. Surely China has many people but all of them look Chinese; Russia has two types in general, the European side and the Asian side; USA is a mix of people from all over the world but only the Native Americans can call it home; India on the other hand contains Arabs and Hindus as the main groups but also all the scheduled tribes and their respective races. Thadou-Kuki is a Sino-Tibetan race which by appearance has no connection to India. But all that thinking was to have its proper explanation in the days to come.

Boarding the plane brought another surprise; the row 15 being the low number did not mean that my seat is in the front of the economy class, it meant that I was for some reason upgraded to business class. The amenities of the business class can make the trip so much more enjoyable and it did so with providing electricity, wireless internet, better food and a very comfortable seat. However, Turkish airlines are trying hard to make it to the top, so all of that minus some extra comfort could also be available in economy class. Who knows, but I will probably find that out on the way back. Obviously, the excitement of having an intercontinental flight in a business class seat was immediately shouted out to the world with the use of social media. Josephine hardly believed when I sent her a message from 30,000 feet in the air. And it surely is an extraordinary feeling to be able to do that too. We talked for almost the whole flight which stole even more sleep and rest for the following few days. It was almost as she was with me flying on that plane; she even got to choose my food from the menu and received the pictures of the delicious meal I got in business class of the worlds’ best airline catering. We eventually realized we should take at least an hour or two to rest if we want to be able to survive the first day of sightseeing in Delhi.

Clearing the customs brought the first real experience with a regular Indian. Looking very strict and calm at the same time, the customs officer appeared as if he lives for his job only and is nothing more than a machine. A gesture of a tap of his fingers on the table meant that I was to approach the counter. I gave him my papers and he robotically checked the validity of the information and stamped my passport with an approval. Without a word or without any other form of contact established he already focused on his next custom evaluation. This experience already showed a sign of how people here fight to survive and do not care for much else. After the passport check I got my luggage and walked out of the baggage claim area towards the arrival lobby where I got to see a tiny female dressed in black leggings with a white sweater casually waving at me. We met like people that are together all the time and meet after a few days of staying apart – very casual with a hint of contained excitement. We walked outside to wait for our taxi which brought us to the hotel we had booked before. Since the plane arrived at 5AM and the check in time is 12AM, we decided to pay another half day extra to get the room immediately. We used that well with getting another 2 hours of sleep.

December 6, Day 2 - Delhi

Qutub Minar, New Delhi

Waking up a bit after 8AM gave us plenty of time to explore Delhi so we were in no hurry. Being in a new country and in its capital I wanted to walk around a bit first and have breakfast outside. The area that we stayed in is called Pahar Ganj and it’s supposed to be the dirtiest and the poorest area of whole Delhi. It’s also a perfect place to see the poverty of India and the way the lower castes live. I got excited over the little restaurants and I managed to convince Josephine to eat breakfast in one of them that said Assamese food but proved to just have main Indian selection without any Assamese specialties. Nevertheless it was something completely new to me and on top of that very cheap. The cuisine is peculiar enough to never know what you eat even though you see it clearly. It’s always a mix of vegetables, meat and spices that are served separately together with a certain type of bread. We paid less than 100 rupees for both of us to get full and have tea.

Rajghat- Mahatma Gandhi's resting
place

After our breakfast I wanted to walk around the streets of Delhi for a morning walk. Josephine, looking like

India Gate

an annoyed tourist, protested and wanted to drive around only. We managed to agree that we will make a short walking trip to the Main Bazaar and then get back to the hotel and get ready for the real sightseeing. The streets of Pahar Ganj were very dirty, the roads uneven and full of people and sleeping dogs. Nevertheless, cars and rickshaws persistently tried to find their way to move through this confusion ceaselessly honking away at everyone and everything. It occurred to me that people there must actually enjoy living in such conditions, since it would not take much to get those roads clean and set up some traffic rules. Josephine couldn’t take it anymore and she convinced me to take a rickshaw back to the hotel.

Humayun's Tomb

We then changed our clothes and got ready for the sightseeing. This rickshaw guy wanted to give us a complete tour of Delhi and spice it up with a price for tourists. What else could we expect, we both look like tourists. But Josephine is no regular tourist, she’s a feisty girl from Manipur that lives in Delhi and speaks Hindi. I got excited cause I always knew what’s coming when they start talking about the price. She always got mad and yelled at them so that they would give us a regular if not even cheaper price than the locals. The rickshaw then agreed for a smaller price and he gave us a ride to some of the bigger sights in Delhi, like Red Fort, Humayun’s tomb, Gandhi’s grave, Lodi gardens and Qutb Minar. Apart from Gandhi’s grave, everything looked very Arab and thus very magnificent. Unfortunately the gardens are not as well preserved as they would be in for example France, which would make those sights even more stunning. The other less pleasant experiences while sightseeing included the difference in price for Josephine and me – for each sight I paid 250 rupees and she paid 10 rupees – and the numerous vendors trying to sell their junk, who at the sight of a western man saw an opportunity to somehow get rich and immediately started to beg to buy stuff from them and walking around with me until I got into a rickshaw for the next sight.

Scrumptious Nepali lunch at
Yeti restaurant

We finished our sightseeing tour with making a favor to the rickshaw driver to drive us to a shop where he gets provision if he brings customers. He asked us to stay in there for at least 15 minutes so we figured I should just buy some gifts for back home and the time would not be spent in vain. By the time we finished shopping we already got really hungry and Josephine told the rickshaw to take us to a village that contains a very good Nepali restaurant where she often eats. After getting full it was time for us to go back to the hotel. The ride back was a bit longer since we were far away from the central Delhi and the lack of sleep was getting to us. I could barely keep Josephine from falling into a deep coma-like sleep from which she’s impossible to get awakened. We got another two hours of sleep in the hotel.

By the end of this second nap on the first day it was 9PM and I figured we could go to some bar for a beer and maybe a snack. Pahar Ganj is a great area for that and we quickly found a place to get what we needed. Again the price was cheap and the beer was a perfect way to wrap up this so interesting and long first day in India.

December 7, Day 3 - Agra

My first night in India was again a short one. We had to wake up early to catch a train to Agra. The train ride flew by real fast, mostly because I was dead asleep as soon as we found our seats. There was actually a food service on the train which I barely saw when I momentarily opened my eyes, but I didn’t really eat anything. I woke up a bit before reaching our destination and I felt like I actually got enough sleep to last another day of sightseeing.

At the Taj

Coming from the train station there were already so many taxi and rickshaw drivers offering a ride to Taj Mahal. Josephine led us to a prepaid taxi booth which is said to be the best option to not get cheated. After crossing the first gate, Josephine wanted to take another rickshaw to make the last kilometer, but I insisted we walk instead. That was my first opportunity to spot wild monkeys on the side of the road, and they were everywhere. There were also some camel carriages which surprised me a bit, since I didn’t know there would be camels. We arrived at the entrance, and again, my ticket was priced very high while Josephine got hers for almost free. There were many Indians around the entrance trying to convince us we need a tour guide and that we’re in luck, cause they know so much about Taj Mahal. There was no reason to fall for this trick, I read enough about the history of the place and Josephine knows everything in details for her big exam. The most important part being that Taj Mahal was built as a tomb for Shah Jahan’s third wife when she died giving birth to her 14th child. I remember watching a show called “An Idiot Abroad” where Karl, when introduced to the place, makes a very interesting observation that people don’t just make such beautiful and huge tombs in grievance of their wives, especially not if that was his third wife, and that he must have done something very wrong and feel extremely guilty to build such a thing. The point, even though interesting, probably holds some truth that will never be known to the general public and stayed in the 17th century as a secret of that great Mughal emperor. In any case, the building really is magnificent, made out of white marble and full of Qu’ran scriptures all over the facade. That and Humayun’s tomb were definitely my favorite monuments in India, both constructed in a very Islamic type.

After Taj Mahal we bought a few souvenirs and had some Indian lunch, after which we wanted to visit the Agra fort which was a few kilometers further away. It took all my efforts to convince Josephine to walk through the streets of Agra instead of taking a rickshaw and she got very angry with me because Agra streets are very dirty and dangerous. In any case, that’s exactly what I wanted to see and what she wanted to hide. Surviving a bit of a quarrel that followed the discussion I got to see and take some pictures of those dirty streets of Agra until we reached Agra fort. We went all around it at first, following an extremely dirty and smelly canal surrounding the fort. We had to go inside for a better view of the fort and it got me thinking why they don’t do anything about the waste all around the fort, surely they could keep it at least tolerable. I guess they want to show off the interior only, which is quite a shame, since the building is quite big and has an impressive view of Taj Mahal and some decent gardens inside. Too bad the view of Taj Mahal is hindered by thick walls and at the same time bothered by tons of waste in the canal just below the viewpoint.

When we were done walking through the fort, we figured we have another 4 hours to kill before we can go back to the train station and we tried finding a hotel where we could stay for those few hours. A rickshaw took us to a nearby hotel where they offered to give us a room for the full night price, which we refused and just sat at a restaurant instead. We ordered a snack and some beer, Josephine had an imported one and me a strong Indian Kingfisher. After finishing the first round, she got very much into a mood for drinking more and we kept ordering those strong Kingfishers which she said before she dislikes a lot and are way too strong for her. She got very drunk and verbalized all her doubts about our relationship in the next two hours to come. I bared with her realizing it’s necessary to listen without complaining and just surviving the so needed want to let it out. Unfortunately, by the time we were to go back to the train station, she was completely smashed. I paid for the beers and ordered a rickshaw to the train station where we sat down on a bench near a vendor. Soon after, she threw up over the bench and under the vendor’s stall and I had to take her to the bathroom to clean up. India being a very sexist country, did not take it lightly that a man walks into women’s bathroom, but she just brushed off the complainers with a loud yell of “Could you just give us some privacy?!” I played along and helped her clean, after which it was already time to find the right train. Asking a few people around I managed to spot the train and the right coach with carrying Josephine around. Our seats were preassigned but one was already taken. I made Josephine sit down and I was standing next to her for some time, until she threw up once again. At that point, we went to the dirty on-train bathroom and tried to finish off the leftover alcoholic venom inside her body. After coming back, we actually managed to sit down and we got a lot of curious looks from everyone around us. There were also some guys looking at me as if they were jealous that I have a drunk girl in my hands. I dare not think what that look meant, but they would probably use this opportunity in a lot different way than I did. I bought some water and made her drink all the time even though she was trying to sleep. It was long four hours of third class Indian train ride and I was really happy when we reached Delhi train station again. At that point, Josephine completely woke up and seemed very sober, embarrassed of her behavior and very grateful for me taking care of her. She said she was in a way relieved that she vomited out all the accumulated doubts and annoyance about certain things she had been holding inside of her her. At that point, I knew it was all worth it and all ended well. We took a rickshaw back home and fell asleep as soon as possible.

December 8, Day 4 - First day in Imphal

The Himalayan ranges
as seen from the window seat

The day that we flew to Imphal was already my fourth day in a row that I was to wake up extremely early. First to get to the plane to India, then getting off the plane from India and touring Delhi, then catching the train to Agra and see Taj Mahal, now catching the plane to Imphal. We landed around noon and first thing was to register as a foreigner. This was not like the usual passport check but more like a friendly hello of some people that randomly sat at a nearby desk without any particular signs, noticing a white person walking by and politely asked him to show them his passport. I was registered as care of Josephine Kipgen, so now it was official, she has to take care of me and not let me roam around Imphal on my own, since it can be very dangerous. Her two brothers came to pick us up at the airport, which is only a few kilometers away from Imphal. We drove to Lambulane, where they live in an apartment with a narrow entrance. However, the apartment looks grand from the inside and it’s big enough to accommodate the whole family together with four dogs. 
I got to meet both of her parents and they were both very nice. Josephine tried to scare me and tell me her

Imphal

dad can be very protective, but I couldn’t even imagine him being nicer than he was. He wanted to show me around Imphal and we went outside and into his car to go to the war cemetery. We were accompanied by three army men with machine guns which are his personal guards that never leave him. I was not sure whether to feel safe or not, but I just went with the flow. The cemetery was locked but Mr. Kipgen just had to nod to his guards and they arranged for a doorkeeper to come and unlock the doors. I could feel how much this man means in his hometown and in the region already by the first few hours I spent with him. After the cemetery we drove to the stadium because he wanted to show me where I can train. So this man, highly important in Manipur, took the time and his guards, only to show me the stadium. Clearly, I was impressed. After that, we went back to their apartment and had dinner. I got to taste some Manipuri and some Thadou food, together with rice of course. After that, we sat down in the living room and had a welcoming get-to-knowy conversation with both of the parents. I really felt welcome in their home and I was glad that the whole trip started without any reason to worry about, except all the guns everywhere of course. Soon after, I went to the hotel and fell asleep very early.

December 9, Day 5 - Bethsaida Village

This was my first day in India when I was able to get some sleep and I sure did get enough of it. I had an Indian Airtel sim card and an old phone, so I was able to communicate with Josephine well. It was three days before the wedding, so we went to check out the wedding venue which was a village football ground turning purple and white. We were to help with the ground since there were too many stones and weeds. I got a knife and started pulling off weeds and picking stones. Locals there were very surprised that a white man can work too and I got a lot of curious stares and people suddenly started to want to get to know me. I was introduced to many and was told that they expected a regular ‘sap’ (that’s how they refer to a white man in Thadou, but the word actually means ‘ruler’, which comes from the times when they were ruled by the British) not being able to participate in any of their tribal activities. I further proved them wrong when I was eating with them just like they do and drinking tea with them and using some of the words I learned before I even got to Manipur. 

It’s safe to say they were as excited to have me there as I was to be there. Josephine also showed me around the village, which was a land bought by her father and turned into a village. Mr. Choungpu Kipgen let his land for free to many of the Thadou-Kukis and they were able to build a small houses in the village and grow some vegetables in their gardens. The village roads are motorable and asphaltized, unlike most of the other village roads which are just dirt roads. The family itself is building a very beautiful looking house overlooking the whole village and also the valley. There is also a huge garden with all kinds of fruits and vegetables growing, as well as a big cage for two slow lorises they found in the forest. All in all, it was a new experience of a modern tribal village coupled with chaotic wedding preparations. When it got dark, the work stopped and we talked a bit about our future plans before going back. We agreed on a trip to Loktak the next day and on hiking to an even more remote mountainous village the day after the wedding. There were also some talks about checking out a Burmese village Tamu, but that needed a permission from the government, which Mr. Kipgen was trying to take care of. The last thing we talked about was a visit to a rebel camp, which was an excited and a scary thought at the same time, but I wondered if there’s enough time to do all of this. After these talks we went back to Imphal and I kidnapped Josephine for a dinner date in my hotel. We had a lovely evening before another night of good sleep.

December 10, Day 6 - Loktak

In the morning, I took a taxi from Classic hotel to Old Lambulane, an hour before our scheduled departure to the Loktak lake. We waited a bit longer for Sasang, Josephine’s cousin, to join us on the trip. The ride was not too long, a bit over an hour with a stop in Moirang before reaching the Keibul Lamjao National Park. The entrance fee was again lower for locals and higher for foreigners, but we all got to pay the local fee. We also got a guide that joined us and we went inside the national park with our car. When we reached the Loktak lake, we got into a canoe and our guide took us deeper inside the park. The lake is the largest freshwater lake in India the national park is actually the only floating park in the world; it consists of a huge body of water topped by floating plants called phumdis. The plants are so thick that some lighter animals can even walk on it and the park is famous also for its indigenous endangered deer Sangai also called the Dancing Deer.

Unfortunately, we could not see any, the guide said that some local kids were too loud and scared the deer away. It was also not the best season for deer spotting and I was told to come back in March or April. The whole experience of the floating lake was very unique indeed, one thing is that it’s one of a kind in the world, but it’s also far from tourism, so it’s still in its primal natural stage, uncorrupted and preserved. After the canoe ride we climbed to the viewpoint where we got to see the vast land that the floating park covers, it was all that the eye could see. We then got out of the park and drove further along where the Loktak lake where there are less phumdis and more lotuses. We rented a boat there and took a pleasant 15 minute boat ride among the lotuses with waterdrops on them. Our driver was too scared to join us on the boat so he waited for us from the shore. We then drove to an island with a viewpoint of this side of the lake and tried to get lunch there. Unfortunately, the restaurant was not yet open for business, but we got to enjoy the great view of the phumdi circles on the lake which actually constituted floating small natural islands made out of weed where the lake people live. It was then time already to drive back to Imphal and get some rest for the next few days to come.

December 11, Day 7 - Wedding Preparations

For the next three days, we were all going to be based in Bethsaida, so I packed up and waited for Josephine to come and pick me up. She was an hour and a half late, but it didn’t matter much, there was not much for me to do the whole day. I was mostly talking walks up and down the village and checking out the latest preparations. The wedding area was getting very beautiful, already dressed in the happy white and purple colors. Young girls were shaping flowers and ferns to decorate the stage and Benny, the event manager of major events in Manipur, was supervising the setup of the sound system and the huge speakers, where I got to help as well. Further up the village there were cows and pigs slaughtered and cut into small pieces getting ready for the wedding lunch. I got to see men and women using huge meat cleavers to get the meat ready while live pigs were tied up and lying on the ground waiting to be processed next. A bit disturbing sight for someone that usually skips all this food processing and gets a cooked meal only. 

I met huge amounts of new people all over the village from each section of the preparations. When meeting some of the older village ladies, I heard some words in Thadou that I was able to comprehend but it took me a few seconds to repeat them in my head to actually translate them. So it took me a few seconds to recognize what “Choungpu achanu ajidipa ahe” meant - “He is Choungpu’s daughter’s future husband.” I got a bit confused but also I realized that people were accepting me way more than I would dare to think before I got there. I also got a bit scared that it might be inappropriate to have such gossip going around the village without confirming any of it with Josephine’s parents, which I also clearly pointed out at the end of my stay in Manipur. They were as usual very friendly and completely understood the situation. At the end of the day when it got dark already, the official wedding photographer John Monsang came and he was to be my sleep buddy for the next two days. Me, John and Josephine drove down to Sekmai to get some beers and some whiskey and went into a small shed by the village house, started a fire, and had a cosy social gathering. I even got to taste some of the local hard liquor called Sekmai. It was strong but tasted good, so I drank a bit too much. After getting slightly intoxicated we knew very well we also need to get some rest for the next day’s wedding ceremony. Me and John had a bed prepared from two mattresses lumped together side by side on the floor of the kitchen inside the new house and some blankets for each of us to use.

December 12, Day 8 - The Wedding

With Mr. & Mrs. Kipgen

Already when waking up, there was huge chaos everywhere. Last minute preparations followed by dressing up and putting make up. There was a guy dressed as a girl that was trying to hit on me all the time, he was supposed to do Parmawii’s make up. Parmawii, the bride, was asking me if the make up was good, but I didn’t know what to say, so I just said she looks good. But the reality was that she was in no way satisfied with the way she looked and I have to say that she really did have way too much make up on. Josephine and her mom realized that and without being nice like me, took the situation into their own hands and redid her face. Parmawii then looked a lot better and preparations were starting to close up. Josephine was dressed up in a Thadou ponve, which is a tribal skirt, and a modern purple shirt, with lots of make up and 15 cm heels, looking even hotter than usual. 

The wedding guests

With the groom

All the men, including me, had a suit with a purple tie and orchid boutonnieres. It was time to greet the people coming to the ceremony, so the Kipgen family stood by the entrance to shake the hands of some 3000 guests. I was observing Josephine and her family from the distance and Josephine kept looking in my direction and shyly waving at me with a slight smile on her face. She seemed happy and at peace. I joined her for a bit and then we walked inside the already started ceremony. She took my hand and took me to our seats among the groom’s side. Now that was a daring move, I got to sit among the groom’s relatives. I said to myself, hopefully she knows what she’s doing, and if she is, then it’s a very good sign. The ceremony was very beautiful and as Mr. Kipgen later on put it, very solemn. It was a Christian wedding so it didn’t last too long. During the vows and the prayer of the pastor, I saw Mr. Kipgen cry of happiness. It was a very moving sight. After the exchange of rings and the prayers, there were a few speeches and at the end, Mr. Kipgen also sang two songs that he dedicated to the newlywed couple. This was my first wedding I’ve ever seen and it can hardly be surpassed in its beauty and grandeur.

After the ceremony we took a few pictures with Josephine’s family and with Philip and Parmawii. This was followed by a gourmet lunch and I was able to show off my Thadou eating habits and Josephine was very amused by me eating with my hands. After the lunch we had a bit of a rest and then there was a social event starting at the same venue as the wedding. The event was started by a few speeches, which included me as well. I was introduced as a soon to be their brother from Yugoslavia. In many occasions, this could come out as an insult, but I was more than surprised when I heard the man say it, as I have no idea how they connected Slovenia and Yugoslavia unless they actually knew the places from before. 

I thanked the crowd for their hospitality and making me feel like one of their own before rushing off the

stage. Unfortunately I didn’t know I’d have a speech, otherwise I would have prepared a lot better and said some more. After me, it was Josephine’s time for speech and she explained how we know each other and wished the new husband and groom a lot of happiness in their marriage, all in Thadou. After that, people started playing music and singing. It was fascinating, they didn’t need to hire any bands like we would, they organised a whole concert with themselves singing all night. Mr. Kipgen was singing the most out of them all and he really had an amazing voice and enjoyed the evening so much. You could really see he was a happy man that day. In the middle of the concert, we went down to Sekmai again with John to get a few more beers and retired to our shed to get some private socializing again. This time there were more people around us and more people wanted to meet me, so the shed soon became very crowded. I decided to not drink much because I can’t take alcohol every day. Soon, my eyes started to hurt very badly due to smoke emitting from the fire and I could barely see, so I decided it was time to call it a night. We went to sleep again on the floor of the kitchen.

December 13, Day 9 - Khongkhaijang

Getting ready for the 3-hour hike

 I was getting a bit afraid that we would not get to go to that remote mountain village hike, but when I woke up, there were many that wanted to join us. So we gathered up a bunch of people, waited for our guide, and started our hike. It was a bit late already and the guide said we probably can’t make it to the village because it’s a three hour hike and we have to get back before the sundown. I realized that the pace was very slow and that he’s most probably right, so I just went with the flow and took it easy and tried to enjoy the pristine nature of Manipur hills. Josephine eventually got really tired and couldn’t really keep up anymore with the rest of the group, but we found a vine and used it as a rope for me to pull her and help her hike. We managed to advance faster than the rest of the group and everyone was really surprised at the amount of energy and stamina I have. I realized that some still took me as a modern city boy that can’t do anything but once again I proved them wrong. Obviously, being a sportsman, I have a lot of strength in me. Besides, Slovenes are well known for such activities and I could not let our reputation  down, no matter how little known it is in this part of the world. 

a little resident of the village

the village pony

They also gave me a sword which was to be used for plants obstructing our way and it was a new experience to walk like that through the woods. Josephine was so unused of hiking that she doesn’t even know what nettle is and that it can sting you. When she got stung, she cried as if she got poisoned and I got a good laugh out of that, since I myself had many experiences with stinging nettle from my youth. When we almost reached the top, we stopped and waited for the others to join us before walking into the village. It was an interesting sight, full of young children busy doing their work, spread in four houses, with maybe two adults among all of them. These children were actually doing housework and picking up branches from trees and carrying them around, fetching water and all of that. They looked very strong and had incredible survival skills. We were offered some very sweet tea which meant we are welcome in the house. It was said that the amount of sugar put into the tea is proportional to how welcome you are. I was surprised to see that they even had electricity up there. So remote, but still so much connected to the world. I gave the lady of the house 500 rupees which made her very much excited.

the view on the way 

with the village kids

After taking some more pictures of the village, we had to hurry up to get down to Bethsaida before the night

caught us. We managed to get back right in time, tired and ready to go home back to Imphal. In the meantime, John took some wedding photos in the nature with Philip and Parmawii. He wanted to take some of me and Josephine as well, but we returned too late. We then said goodbye to John and drove back to Imphal, where we had another dinner in Classic hotel. I needed some European food, so I ordered some pasta. This was the first time I went out of the living customs of the locals and had a European dinner. It was actually pretty good which is kinda surprising for such a place that has barely any tourists.

December 14, Day 10 - The Rebel Camp

We realized we would not have enough time to make it to the Burmese border town, but we did manage to arrange a meeting with the rebels. Mr. Kipgen is from the same tribal clan as their leader and as per kinship norms, the rebel leader treats him as a brother figure. In that way, we were given permission to check it out. We first stopped by Bethsaida which was on the way to Natheljang, where Camp Ebenezer, home of the Kuki National Front, is located. The rebel camp fights for independency of Kukiland, which is a land of Kukis in Manipur. At the time, they were on ceasefire with the government, receiving money as a bribe to not cause riot. The guy that showed us around was a very friendly guy, showing us the whole camp, which was kind of scary, because all the people inside the camp had machine guns. I have never even held a gun in my hand before and after the tour of the camp, they were excited to see me try shooting a machine gun. I hesitated for quite a bit but they were so excited that it seemed rude to decline. So we went down to the shooting range and one of the rebels went to prepare our target. I was given a machine gun and they explained how to hold it and how to shoot, turning off the safety. I tried to aim at the target, but I had no clue what I was doing, so I just tried and pulled the trigger aiming somewhat in the right direction. The pushback was heavy, I did not expect it to be so strong. It got me thinking how strong those guys must be that can ceaselessly shoot with machine guns. After the machine gun, they also gave me a pistol to try. That felt so easy compared to the machine gun and pulling the trigger did not cause as much pushback. I quickly returned the guns and thanked them for the experience. At the end I gave the leader 5000 rupees which was meant for the rebel camp from Mr. Kipgen as a thanking present. I said “cha nadon nadi”, which meant that the money was for some tea. The whole thing was another new experience for me, got me thinking a lot for the next few hours on the way back to Imphal.

After coming back to Imphal we went to Ima bazaar to pick up some ghost chillies and to see the biggest female market in southeast Asia. I also found a bookstore where I got a few books on the Manipuri language and culture. While walking around, we got stopped by some military looking guy and Josephine almost yelled at him that I have a permission to be here and he should stop bugging us. I didn’t quite understand what happened, but apparently he was trying to play a smart ass and make me look suspicious just because I’m white. We returned to Old Lambulane soon after.

The last evening of my stay we spent with Josephine’s parents, talking about my visit and our future plans. We explained that we will probably visit each other again and Mrs. Kipgen said that they like to see Josephine travel the world. We did not explicitly say what exactly we are planning but the tone of the conversation was favorable to understand that we have a green light for further developing our relationship. When I was about to start the conversation of our concrete plans, we got interrupted by Josephine’s uncle and aunt Singsit, so we were not able to finish the conversation. Mr. Singsit is a pastor and a very respectable guy with which we continued to have a pleasant chat. We ended up the evening with him wishing me to become Slovenian president some day. I did tell him that’s the last thing I’d want to be, but I appreciated the gesture and its deeper meaning. I was then taken back to the hotel and fell asleep for the last time in Classic hotel.

December 15, Day 11 - Leaving India

There was not much to this last day. We woke up in the morning, finished up the packing, went to the airport and left for Delhi. Mrs. Kipgen hugged me for goodbye and Mr. Kipgen wanted to speak to me over the phone again after we were checked in for the flight. So much attention I was getting from her parents, I could not really think they would disapprove of me in any way anymore. Still however, Josephine remains doubtful and apprehensive of what her dad will say and how he would react. In any case, the Manipur trip ended up with a flight back to Delhi and I really could not be more satisfied than I was. I came for the wedding, to get to know her parents, to get to know her culture and to experience Manipur; and I got to that in the best way possible. It felt like I got a taste of everything and I was accepted well everywhere. Apart from the military and guns, I felt safe everywhere, and I was very grateful for such an amazing experience which does not happen to just anyone. It seemed like I’m one of the rare non locals that got to see all of this and it really does feel special.

After landing in Delhi we took a taxi back to the same hotel in Pahar Ganj and a rickshaw to the Connaught Place. I found a bookstore where I bought a few cheap but great books. Then we walked around to see if there’s a good movie playing, but we decided to go to a Mexican restaurant instead. I ate an Indian meal inside a Mexican restaurant in New Delhi. Seemed a bit out of place, but the food was good. We went to sleep soon because we had to wake up early to catch my flight. In India, you cannot enter the airport without a ticket, so me and Josephine had to say goodbye before going inside the terminal. It was not so difficult because we planned to see each other again in a month or so.