Life of a Truly Unknown Indian: A Northeasterner's Tortuous Journey

By UPENDRA C BARO

I was born in a remote village in Northeast India when the country was on the verge of Independence. My parents and forebears of all the people of my native and neighbouring Boro villages were born Hindus. Thus I am a born Hindu like any other Hindus but unlike a few who decided to embrace Christianity, mostly during the colonial days. Back then, the entire Northeast, left behind by the British in its pristine state, was yet to enter into the mainstream consciousness of the country. Even decades after Independence, the region remained virtually untouched, hidden behind the shadow of rest of India, as if on its dark side. Consequently, people like me, belonging to an indigenous community, became so many unrecognisable and unknown Indians even within India, let alone outside the country.
I had never felt anything amiss or special about my background until I joined the Indian Foreign Service, left my home state and stepped out in the heart of mainland India and the world beyond. It was then that my distinctive background started playing some seriocomic tricks on me. My Hindu-ness was taken with a pinch of salt by many uninitiated Indians within and outside the country and I was often taken for a Chinese, or a Japanese or an Indonesian, anyone but an Indian How I navigated these challenges is the story I want to tell in this book. Nobody can imagine where and how I had started and how I arrived here where I find myself today. No guessing, just turn the pages and take a peek

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DR757VHX
• ISBN13: 9798304298438
• Release Date: December 2024
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"