A Burning Lake

                                             Photograph@Arijit Sen and Tomba--All Rights Reserved

From 1984 development promises have engulfed Loktak lake in Manipur--one of the largest freshwater lakes in India. First came a hydel project and now the government wants to evict fisherfolk to save the lake. Photograph taken by Tomba on location during the filming in November 2012. A short Loktake Video Report 

Madness and a road project

                                                               Photograph@Arijit Sen and Tomba--All Rights Reserved


I was travelling in the Tousem subdivision of Tamenglong district of Manipur. A young and probably mad IAS officer has decided to involve his community and build a road that connects people of the Zeliangrong community and gets them closer. That was our story. This photograph was clicked in the remote Phoklong village in Tousem. The village elders from the Zemi Naga tribe were eagerly waiting for us, the visitors.

                                                               Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved

Fifty Years After A War

                                                                  Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

This year we travelled extensively in Arunachal Pradesh for a news documentary on 50 years of the 1962 Sino-Indian war. This photograph was taken at the Sela Pass. A link to the report. 1962: Lest We Forget

Assam Violence

                                        Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved


Last month violence in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District in Assam has left 400,000 people homeless and at least 57 dead. We travelled to some of the villages that have been burnt by mobs. It presents a picture of horror and helplessness. Despite promises and assurances no one knows how long it will take to rebuild homes and rebuild lives.

Transcript and Link of a CNN-IBN video report: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/amidst-ruins-hope-survives-in-kokrajhar/275792-3-251.html

This is a link to the news documentary on the violence: Assam: Split Wide Open

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

On the reporting road

                                                      Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

Back in Northeast bureau and back to travelling and reporting. This photograph was taken in Manipur by my friend Tomba. With me in this photo is Mukut, Sunzu and Taton. Link to the election report. Manipur: The Angry State

Around Oxford

Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

Noticed this at a corner in Woodstock