I come from a region which was once considered a hotbed of insurgency. Practically speaking, it is still considered the same. I’m from the Northeast, an integral part of India which was never given an equal share in the national media’s bulletin.
When I was 17, I choose to speak out for the region. I saw less participation from the Northeast in national media, and this made me take up something I never liked – writing. The only things you can seemingly hear from the media about the Northeast are: ambush, floods, ethnic clashes and political crises. This gives a very negative picture of the region – and maybe because of this, people have a negative picture in their mind whenever they hear anything about the Northeast.
In 2016, after finishing my class 12 exams, I had to take a year’s gap due to some personal problem. During the one year, I took up something which was not my cup of tea. During my school days, I used to run away from writing because of my poor writing skills. But in that one year, something changed me and I’m thankful for my decision. After seeing the negligence of the national media towards the Northeast, I thought that I should take up writing like a gun to tell the world about this beautiful region in India.
I choose to write about the burning issues which were never given a slot in the bulletin of the national news channels or never made it to the front page of a national daily. One of my first stories on YKA was about the attack on a child in a school near Guwahati. The story was shared by many. In that story, I dug deep into the incident and bought out something which the national media or local media never did. Being a 17-year-old, I told the stories from the multiple perspectives of the parties concerned, and I also spoke about the follow-up to these stories.
From then, I never looked back. From questioning the authorities to seeking justice for someone, I started liking the gun which I once hated the most.
Nowadays, honestly speaking, writing gives me an inner pleasure – and whenever I write something, I feel proud of myself. Once I was afraid of writing a sentence, thinking what others would say; now, I can write a 700-word piece in less than an hour.
The Northeast has a lot of stories which the other parts of India may not have, but sadly, no importance is given to us. The reason why I choose to write about the Northeast is because I want the region to be connected with the rest of India. I want a connection between the Northeast and the rest of India which seems to be lost currently. I want my fellow Indians to know about us and give us a chance to host them. I want to tell the world that we don’t have negativity in the region as is often shown by Indian media.
In 2017, when I took up Media Studies, I had to come down to Bengaluru. Despite being over 2,000 kilometres away from the region, I didn’t stop writing about the issues of the region. I got a different picture of the Northeast when I came down here, and this forced me to continue writing. In the next 5 years, I can see lots of young writers like me writing about the region – and platforms like YKA will be highly beneficial for them.
The young generation from the Northeast who have some interest in writing should start doing it right away because, in next five years, stories and news from the Northeast will be in huge demand across the globe. During the little time I devoted to writing, I have learned that people really want to know about the region and it’s our duty to give them ample, relevant information.
Stories from the Northeast will be soon taken in the PrimeTime of a news channel or will soon be making it to the front page of a national daily. Till then, I won’t stop writing about my region. I’m hopeful that many young writers like me will join in this work to build a healthy bridge between the Northeast and rest of India.
Dear national media, I hope that you’ll soon consider us to be an integral part of India.