Flashback to 2012. Hundreds of panic-stricken Northeasterners were fleeing the city not paying heed to the appeals to stay put in Bengaluru. The rumours of violence against their community, flying thick and fast had got the better of them. The railway stations and trains were unable to accommodate them in such large numbers. The unfortunate episode is now referred to as an exodus.
Cut to 2015. Rini Ralte has just wound up her successful Northeast Christmas Food Festival at the Holy Ghost Church on Davis Road. Ants store in Indiranagar, showcasing handlooms and crafts of the northeast is upbeat about its eighth anniversary. After retailing online for three years Jonali Saikia Khasnabis finally started a physical store — done up with bamboo and teakwood panels — to sell her unique saris woven in the Northeast, mekhla sadors (Assamese variation of sari), stoles and scares, sarongs, garments, home textiles etc. Then Meghanath Singh founded Giskaa, an e-commerce store selling all things eco-friendly and Northeastern.
What does this convey — a growing interest among Bengalureans in Northeast culture or an effort by the people from Seven Sisters to reach out to the city? Well, a bit of both. “Lot of people don’t know about our culture and unless people know about it, how would the misconceptions go? The idea is to educate people and raise awareness through right kind of promotion of our products,” says Meghanath, who quit his corporate job to start Giskaa in 2014 with Surchand Wahengbam and Ratheesh Elayat.
In 2012 when the infamous exodus was taking its toll on people, Meghanath was out of town.
“I have been living in Bangalore for last 14 years and never felt out of place. Lot of people were calling me in panic and I told them not to be scared and come and stay at my place in HSR Layout. When I returned, my house was full of people. I told them they are misinformed.”
Giskaa sells everything from textiles and home décor to personal care, jewellery and accessories and all of it is eco-friendly. Recycled pearls, non-violent Eri silk, water reed hand bags and baskets and guess what?
“60 per cent of our transactions are done from Bangalore,” says Meghanath, who hails from Manipur.
To cater to people down south and anyone who appreciated its extraordinary weaves, Jonali combined the two to dish out unique saris. “Every woman is a weaver and every house has a loom but still our weaves haven’t become mainstream and this was one of the reasons behind starting Heeya,” says the young entrepreneur. An Assamese living in the city for last 15 years, she feels the situation has improved considerably. “There is a growing awareness about Northeast people, ways of life and culture through various programmes, organised by Northeasterners. There also have been sensitization programmes etc. This has made the Northeast accessible and not exotic,” adds Jonali.
For that you have people like Rini Ralte to thank. A Mizo, she is a professor at United Theological College in the city. She also heads Northeast Solidarity, a group that took shape post exodus. The outfit aims to address the problems of the community living in Bengaluru. “We are working at three levels — monthly meetings with Police Commissioner, neighbourhood meetings with police station and working with Bangalore Traffic Police. I am a traffic warden myself and I have to say the city police has been very generous in its support but still we have a long way to go. We are still asked if we eat dog,” says Ralte.
But Ralte hasn’t lost hope and going beyond the ‘existing problems’ to bring Northeasterners, locals and non-locals together and know each other better through cultural interventions. The second edition of the Northeast Christmas Food Festival was a step in this direction. “More than 5000 people came to the festival and the research done by the students of Kristu Jayanti College students revealed that 65 per cent of them were Bangaloreans, 30 per cent Northeasterners and five per cent foreigners. Food can be a uniting factor, so the purpose of the food festival is peace, national integrity and above all it is about sharing,” Ralte informs us.
Johnson Rajkumar, assistant professor in the Department of Mass Communication, St. Joseph’s College of Arts and Science, is gearing for the ninth edition of ‘Footprints’. The annual affair by St. Joseph's College gives a platform for the students of the Northeast and Tibet to showcase their rich heritage. “Northeast is not one state. They are seven states and just so many tribes in each state that even we Northeasterners don’t know about. The idea is of course to raise awareness about our culture to others but also create familiarity and bonhomie amongst ourselves. Local students and non-locals, anybody can participate in these events ranging from debates, talks, music performances, dance which are held through the day,” says Johnson.
