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Independence day at Sanis |
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15 August. Independence Day. Sanis. |
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Today seemed just like any other day. There was the usual (43) settling of minor cases, the giving out of passes, the chat to headmen and school-teachers. A teacher wanted to do a training course in agriculture, another had just returned from a weaving centre and wanted to buy a handloom... As we quietly talked, the Indian scene was distant and unreal. There the crowds were gathering in the towns, pulling down Union Jacks, hoisting Indian flags and indulging in excited celebrations. Here there was no excitement, but only the vast hills and forests that have taken no notice of the coming or going of any ruling power. |
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In the evening the mist rose and the grey Turneresque landscape gradually faded into the white clouds. After dark we watched the lightning flashing regularly over the hills, just as one watches the regular flash of a lighthouse from a seaside promenade. Far down in the plains, the crowds would now be watching the fireworks and illuminations. But in the Naga Hills, the calm is slightly sinister. It is as if we are sitting waiting for a storm. |
