I had been to Assam a couple of times before, but not to other parts of the North East. This time, both by train- a vistadome compartment, no less, and road, managed to travel to Dimapur and Kohima, both in Nagaland. Also found a Golf course near Jorhat, called Kaziranga Golf Course/Resort. Worth going to again, some day. It is owned by one Mr. Barooah, reminding me of two colleagues, Ekalavya and Prerona Baruah from NMIMS at Bangalore. Also ate duck for the first time- like a cross between mutton and chicken.
We were trying to promote our MBA programs and also tie up for other activities, such as Entrepreneurship training. Or corporate training programs. Met the ONGC ED, and a dynamic edu-entrepreneur, among others. A minister also, and an MLA from Nagaland. Very positive, all of them, including the director of NIT at Dimapur, Nagaland.
During my summer internship, in 1983, I first went to Assam, all the way to Tinsukia near Dibrugarh. And stayed there for 3-4 days to survey some plywood manufacturers for my employer, Widia. This was an amazing experience. My first foray into the North East. It was green. Lots of wooden homes were built on stilts to stay safe from flood water, I am guessing. Very welcoming people, and simple food available at the roadside eateries.. dal, rice and a vegetable, accompanied by a green chili.
I went by shared transport of any kind that I could find, and visited some places with exotic names like Margherita and Doom Dooma, as part of my job.
Later, I visited IIT Guwahati once, and loved the campus. Not the humidity, though. Also went and saw the Bramhaputra river at a spot nearby. In between, we did go for some admission work at Guwahati.
My first flight ever was from the first trip too- Dibrugarh to Kolkata.
