Survival moves

                                                           Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved

After Jorhat we travelled to Imphal, the capital of the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. The state has 42, 116 people who are HIV+. Manipur is quite close to Burma. The porous border with Burma and proximity to the infamous Golden Triangle drug route ensures drugs are easily available in Manipur. Add to that a life stifled under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Many intravenous drug users in Manipur struggle to survive in this state. Leading the battle for survival is the Manipur Network of Positive People. Formed in 1997, currently it has 2000 members who are countering fear, ignorance, social stigma and helping build a community based organisation. It is not an easy job to say the least. We had visited MNP+ in 2007. When we were there in December 2012, it was our second visit after five years.

Bus to Burma

                                                                               Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

Just returned from an official Burma trip. Nay Pi Taw, the capital, looks like a ghost city. Almost no people in the capital. Just huge hotels and malls stare at you from all corners. And huge roads. Yangon, the original capital city, could probably pass off as Calcutta in the 40s. And Aung San Suu Kyi, whom I met in a Yangon press conference, is magnetic. Hope to revisit soon and with a proper TV crew. As for this visit, it was just my camera and I.
Link to the CNN-IBN blogpost: http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/flyingtrapeze/148/63591/how-india-missed-the-burma-bus.html