Mizoram, September 22 Aizawl Churachandpur (Sony)
Director: Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar; Cinematographer: Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar
Duration: 00:13:33; Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1; Hue: 45.492; Saturation: 0.091; Lightness: 0.342; Volume: 0.187; Cuts per Minute: 31.935
Summary: Mizoram has some of the most stunning cloud patterns that we have ever come across. Coming up the winding hilly roads into Aizawl from Silchar we could see clouds of various shapes, ball room dancing in an otherwise clear moon lit sky. Smaller clouds would shimmy and shine and dance circles around the larger ones. Far in the distance we could see a large dark obese cloud moving in to take over the dance floor. Streaks of lightning would bounce about its insides and show off its size to the rest of the clouds. The lightning would begin and end inside the cloud and highlight and accentuate its curves. The other clouds either bolted or joined in to add to the mass. It seemed like a political party out on a recruitment drive and a public show of strength. At the end quite like the party, it went on by without sharing even a drop of water.
Every day there was new story up in the skies, and every day it would begin the same way. Every morning and evening the clouds would take over the valleys and rise up into the skies, tickling us ever so little as they passed on by.
We wanted to get to Manipur, but there was an Economic blockade on. Manipur is undoubtedly one of the most politically complex spaces in the country. There are numerous political parties and even more heavily armed ‘underground armies’ each with their own distinct ideology. Every now and then one of these underground armies or ug’s as they are called, will block all the highways and bomb or burn any vehicle that tries to come in or out of Manipur. So an otherwise 3-5 hour journey from Aizawl in Mizoram to Churachandpur in Manipur took us nearly 50 hours. Many Tata sumos got together and made a convoy and took these really old British mud roads and smuggled us in. this was just after the rainy season so the roads would get really slushy and the cars will get stuck every few hundred meters. At which point everyone in all the cars will get out and push the vehicles. We would leave at about 4 in the morning and come to a halt at some restaurant by 4 in the evening. We would eat and then wait for the restaurant to close by about 8 and then clear the tables and sleep in the restaurant and then head out again at 4 in the morning. Since these vehicles were the only lifeline to Manipur, besides passengers these vehicles would also carry Potatoes, Onions, Lpg cylinders, and a can or two of diesel for their return.
This was the first time we were encountering so many guns, so obviously we were more than a little scared. A journalist friend had had a terrible experience here because of having a camera on him, so we avoided filming as much as possible. Most of the footage here is from the Mizo hills, before we actually entered into Manipur.
Mizoram/September 22 Aizawl Churachandpur/Sony/PRIVATE/AVCHD/BDMV/STREAM/00000.MTS
Quarry
Aizawl, Mizoram
Lightning
Mizoram/September 22 Aizawl Churachandpur/Sony/PRIVATE/AVCHD/BDMV/STREAM/00001.MTS
Lightning
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Lightning
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Driving shots on way to Manipur
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Driving shots on way to Manipur
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Driving shots on way to Manipur
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Driving shots on way to Manipur
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Driving shots on way to Manipur
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Driving shots on way to Manipur
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Whole group pulling out vehicle
Leech
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Leech
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Cars stuck in mud
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Cars stuck in mud
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Cars stuck in mud
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Cars stuck in mud
Mizoram/September 22 Aizawl Churachandpur/Sony/PRIVATE/AVCHD/BDMV/STREAM/00017.MTS
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