Arunachal Pradesh-Hidden Land- M Dai

ARUNACHAL PRADESH. THE HIDDEN LAND. By Mamang Dai. Many colour and b/w photos, maps, sketches, 2009. (Penguin enterprise, New Delhi, Rs. 1800).

The author of this book is a civil servant and journalist who lives in Itanagar, capital of Arunachal Pradesh. So in a way this is a book on the land by an insider. The perspective of a person living in the area and the one who researches from books is always different and here we see a personal approach to the area. Author covers various legends of the land, like ‘Myths of creation’, ‘The way of Donyi-Polo’ and ‘The Story of the beginning of the world’ – all as seen from an Arunachali’s eyes. There are excellent pictures and narration of the travels. However one point I would not agree that this is a Hidden Land as the areas she has covered are usual areas which are covered by many tourists and visitors. Far deep inside the jungles lies another Arunachal which is a true hidden land. However, this book will re-kindle interest in this beautiful land and provide a different kind of information to a visitor.

HARISH KAPADIA