Ramachandra Guha: In Mizoram’s community spirit, many lessons for ‘mainland India’

Last month, I spent several stimulating days in Mizoram. I had some knowledge of the state’s political history, met numerous Mizos in the course of my life, but never visited the state before.

I flew first to Guwahati, where I caught up with some old friends, gloried in my sightings of the Brah­maputra, and spoke on Gandhi to the teachers and students of the university. On the flight to Aizawl, I had naturally opted for a window seat. I watched with a growing sense of anticipation as the plane breached the white line of the clouds and flew perilously close to the hills before making a very assured landing. At the airport, I was made to fill out an “Inner Line Permit”, an archaic relic of the British raj which – at least for Indian citizens – is long past its sell-by date.

A passenger train is a better way to see the countryside than an aeroplane; but a car is perhaps an even better way still. The drive from Lengpui Airport to the state capital, Aizawl, took an hour and a half, long enough to get a sense of the landscape.The shape of the hills reminded me of the sub-Himalayan district, thenin Uttar...

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