A Few Trips to the Village

A view from the road to Fulertal from Silchar, Assam

More pictures of my wife’s home village of Fulertal, where we’ve made quite a few trips recently due to some pressing family matters. You can see how I’m resorting to posting a one-liner with lots of pictures just to keep the blog alive. That’ll explain how busy (not to mention grumpy) I’ve become at work.


The Barak River flanking Fulertal, with the new bridge completed. This is the village’s public bath and swimming pool, in non monsoon times (when the water's cleaner)


Justin and his cousins Kunal (right) and Akash or Chhandam in Mizo (left)


Justin resting by a neighbour’s house of wood & mud, Fulertal


Justin having a swell time at his grandmother’s house with mom, aunt and cousin sis, Sonia looking on


The Shiv Mandir (Shiv Temple) opposite Anu’s mother’s house


A closer view of the Shiv Mandir, note the inscriptions on the temple walls and entrance are in the Manipuri script as the temple is under Manipuri jurisdiction


The Mukam (tomb I think, nobody told me the exact meaning) beside the Shiv Temple. The inscription in English says Baba Longarshah, must be some Islamic Sufi saint’s name. The rest of the inscriptions are in Bengali, the local lingua franca. It’s a popular shrine among the Muslims in the region and surprisingly also among the Hindu residents of the adjoining Nepali village. Just shows the diversity of the place. We will typically visit the Shiv Mandir, and right after that, the Mukam, to place candles and incense on the steps of the tomb


The entrance to the Mukam, which I call the Shrine of the Chain, as there is a chain nailed to a tree nearby, which devotees will try to hit with a stone after making a wish. The trick is that you have to hit it with your first throw and you have to close your eyes while throwing


Anu & Justin at the Mukam, which is now decorated with chains painted gold, a recent addition. I guess the tomb caretakers finally realised the significance of that tiny chain on the tree


Amrita having a go at hitting the chain, she hit it after err... 5 times that time, so I guess it’s hard luck with her wish