Meghalaya is a land of political contradictions. One of the most peaceful states in the North-East, only one chief minister has had a full term in office in Meghalaya's 41-year history. Meghalaya is a woman-dominated traditional society, but the outgoing assembly had only one lady MLA!Rediff.com's Archana Masih reports from Shillong on the election in arguably India's most politically unstable state.
The Maha Kumbh, considered to be the largest religious gathering on earth, will begin at the Sangam in Allahabad from January 14. Photographer Rajesh Karkera and Archana Masih capture the scenes from the ghat in the run-up to the religious festival that is the pinnacle of many spiritual dreams.
'It shows the signs of a weak government to avoid the heat from Afzal Guru that they carried out Ajmal Kasab's hanging in secrecy,' says IPS officer-turned-activist Y P Singh.
'Since the rotors of a helicopter rotate at very high RPMs, if they hit an obstacle -- for example a tree, wire or pole, the result is catastrophic.'
'The senior army leadership has no interest in reconciling with Imran Khan, and no interest in seeing him return to power.'
The small, sweet village of Mawlynnong is not only beautifully clean, but has a character that will win your heart.
No, they are not politicians, bureaucrats or film stars, but a group of young singers who can stir the rusted chords of your soul with the power of their voice. Ladies and gentlemen... the Shillong Chamber Choir...
'The bedrock of the armed force is discipline. An indisciplined armed force is not only undesirable, it is extremely dangerous,' says Lieutenant General B T Pandit (retd).
"I have 27 missed calls during the time I've been speaking to you! Here if you don't answer the phone, there is every chance a party member will tell you 'Because you didn't answer my phone I'm leaving your party.'" Archana Masih reports on how a graduate of the prestigious Wharton Business School fits into the unusual landscape of North-East politics.
'We had become buffoons with Lalu. If you were a Bihari you were seen as a buffoon -- that has changed. Now there's a pride in being Bihari.' Archana Masih reports on the changes in Bihar.
The man who wrote two of the 20th century's greatest novels, Animal Farm and 1984, was born in Motihari. But few come to the sleepy Bihar town seeking George Orwell.
'The economic crisis hit us from nowhere. No one saw it coming.'
In Gujarat, the system is such that even if Narendra Modi is not there, the growth will continue. But in a place like Bihar it is different, it will still matter who is the CEO of the state,' says social scientist-economist Dr Shaibal Gupta.
'Hatred increases with every killing.' 'It sets one family against another.' 'The sooner it is stopped, the better.'
A new house, an inverter for electricity and a scooty are the material things Sushil Kumar has acquired from his prize money. But what he misses most is his cycle. Archana Masih meets the first winner of Rs 5 crores on KBC at his home in Motihari, Bihar.
From the torch, to the gas cylinder, to the sewing machine, to a whistle, to a camera... Uttarakhand's Independent candidates are in the fray with some interesting election symbols.
No journey can give you a taste of the Indian landscape like train travel. Rajesh Karkera and Archana Masih capture vignettes on one such long journey through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The house in Allahabad where Amitabh Bachchan lived in many, many, years before he became THE SUPERSTAR.
Conrad Sangma, 35, Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Meghalaya assembly that goes to the polls on Saturday, explains the need for a fresh approach to solve the problem of insurgency in the state, the reasons for the lack of women in state politics and the need for cultural exchanges between the North-East and the rest of India.
Lady officers in the Indian Air Force have become trendsetters, carving a prominent place for themselves in diverse IAF stations across the country. This year, for the first time, the IAF contingent was led by a young lady officer at the Republic Day parade. Rediff.com's Archana Masih meets some dynamic IAF lady officers who make India proud.
'The BJP's real weapons are Hindutva, organisation and finance.'
'These incidents of indiscipline in army units are happening with increased frequency which is a dangerous trend and is a wake up call for the senior leadership of the armed forces,' says Lieutenant General D B Shekatkar (retd).
Lieutenant General Kuldip Singh Brar (retired), who has been on the hit-list of Khalistan separatists since 1984, survived an attempt on his life in London last year. The general tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih what it is to live a life under threat and how he has not let that cow him down.
'There is only one common feature between Gorbachev and Putin.' 'They are both patriots, and both try to save Russia and make it great.' 'But in very, very, different ways.'
'China doesn't want to settle the boundary dispute because that gives them a reason to pick a fight with India.'
'Everybody of a certain age wanted to write like Rushdie and so did I but I wouldn't want being hunted around the world. I am sure even Rushdie wouldn't want that life, says Pakistani Writer Mohammed Hanif.
Reema Kaur is one of the students on strike for nearly three months at the FTII. The Delhi resident feels the campus that had been a cocoon for her in the last three years has turned into a revolution ground demanding change -- and she is happy to be a part of it.
The village in Maharashtra has continuously sent soldiers to the Army since World War I. Every other person you meet is a soldier or a retired soldier or is aspiring to be a soldier.
Captain Shiva Chouhan is the first woman army officer to be deployed at 15,632 feet in the Siachen Glacier. 'It has been a memorable journey,' says the 25-year-old who has gone where no women officer has gone before.
'...despite not being ideologically aligned with a vast section of the people of the north east.' 'But the results in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya show that no party, including the BJP, can say that it has really done well.'
A year after her husband Mukesh died in a bomb blast in Mumbai, Sheela Seth and her nine-year-old son Mohit confront grief and an uncertain future, reports Archana Masih.
'All hydropower projects in the Himalayan region must be stopped.' 'Joshimath is not alone.'
'Mr Badal wanted to talk to a member of the Gandhi family to bring about some sort of rapprochement between the Akalis and the Congress which were the two major parties at that time.'
'He will be remembered for his simplicity and for taking up the cause of the labourers with great passion.'
'As we reach 2022 we are creating a very new, different India where the Citizenship Amendment Act will be passed, NRC will be pushed through, Article 370 scrapped...'
'This trip will solidify India's understanding of the new kind of world leadership Obama wishes to achieve, one very different from that of George W Bush,' says Professor William Chafe.
Honorary Captain Bana Singh won the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest ranking gallantry award, for recapturing a Pakistani post on the Siachen Glacier. Living a retired life in a quiet village in Jammu & Kashmir, he makes you feel that his act of phenomenal courage was part of a soldier's day at work.
Far from civilian populations, facing the onslaught of weather, terrain and a hostile neighbour lurking in the distance, the band of young men at the Indian Air Force's most strategic radar location near the Line of Control say life is hard, but they would not have had it any other way.
'On the LAC, China can undertake military action at any place with much fewer resources. It can do 'salami slicing'.'
