{"id":5147,"date":"2017-08-30T09:53:53","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T08:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/?p=5147"},"modified":"2017-08-30T09:53:53","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T08:53:53","slug":"journey-assam-guwahati-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/journey-assam-guwahati-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"JOURNEY TO ASSAM: GUWAHATI PART 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sign in Haflong, Guwahati<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

There’s something wonderfully hedonistic about an alarm that goes off at 5am and you lie in bed for another hour in that half dream-like state. \u00a0This is India; and lateness is a fine art that requires a last minute scrabbling for the prize – a seat on the bus or train; meeting a friend in a chaotic, busy city; frantically looking for an internet hotspot at the airport to confirm a flight.<\/p>\n

So my wife is off to the train station. \u00a0One hour late! \u00a0Not that it matters. \u00a0She’s meeting her brother and his wife and a sister coming on the Delhi express which is two hours late.<\/p>\n

Today is chilly and misty. \u00a0We’re in Guwahati, the capital of the state of Assam in the north east of India. \u00a0The flat has been lent to us by Sadhana, a childhood friend of my wife’s. \u00a0Sadhana heads a team in the precisely named DIRECTORATE OF WELFARE AND SCHEDULED CASTES and lives with her husband on the other side of the city.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sadhana outside her office<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I spend some time relaxing and reading\u00a0India in Slow Motion\u00a0<\/em>by Mark Tully, the BBC correspondent for India. \u00a0Someone described his broadcasts as sounding as if he were speaking from a phone box in the middle of a busy city with the hum of traffic and horns sounding in the background. \u00a0The chapter I’m reading is about Sufism, Islamic mysticism expressed in dance and rituals. \u00a0A pity there is the split now amongst so many adherents of the religion.<\/p>\n

My wife brings the family back from the station and they quickly settle in to the spare room, a rather dark and dank affair as it hasn’t been lived in for some time.<\/p>\n

Time to go for a wander in the town, we leave the house and board a bus which takes us to the outskirts of the city. \u00a0Walking around, we come across the Science Museum, surprisingly neat and tidy with lots of experiments for the the kids to play with inside the building. \u00a0Nothing really sophisticated is there but the attempt to engage children in scientific practice is well thought-out.<\/p>\n

Outside is a medicinal, aromatic herbal garden with all kinds of plants in neat beds. \u00a0Signposts indicate their Latin and local names as well as their efficacy for treating various ailments. \u00a0Doubt is cast when I see that some are purported to cure leprosy and cancer, though who knows what truths lurk in local lore.<\/p>\n

We aim to return before we leave, yet knowing that road leads on to road we doubt that we will ever come back.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sign in Haflong, Guwahati There’s something wonderfully hedonistic about an alarm that goes off at 5am and you lie in bed for another hour in that half dream-like state. \u00a0This is India; and lateness is a fine art that requires a last minute scrabbling for the prize – a seat on the bus or train; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[162,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-personal-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJOURNEY TO ASSAM: GUWAHATI PART 2 - Many Roads<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/journey-assam-guwahati-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Albert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/journey-assam-guwahati-part-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/journey-assam-guwahati-part-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Albert\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d65113da84d62fbc945e6ee35f823e2a\"},\"headline\":\"JOURNEY TO ASSAM: GUWAHATI PART 2\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-30T08:53:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/journey-assam-guwahati-part-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":452,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/journey-assam-guwahati-part-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/shun-300x225.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"Personal Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/journey-assam-guwahati-part-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/journey-assam-guwahati-part-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bodhicharya.org\\\/manyroads\\\/journey-assam-guwahati-part-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"JOURNEY TO ASSAM: GUWAHATI PART 2 - 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