It is one of the world's most popular honeymoon destinations, a picture perfect archipelago dotting the Indian Ocean, where the rich and famous from all corners of the world come holidaying. It is where the first ripple effects of Barack Obama's war-cry - change - have washed ashore. And it's not the Wall Street. 'Change' has swept across the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. It is a country poised on the brink of a regime change with almost two out of three Maldivians voting against Asia's longest ruling dictator Mamoon Abdul Gayoom in the first ever democratic election on October 8. This has forced Mr Gayoom to face a presidential run-off on October 28 against a pro-democracy activist, Mr Mohammed Nasheed, a man the police have locked up in jail at least a dozen times during the dictator's 30-year-long reign. Some 800 km off the tip of India, the Maldives have gone through a sea-change in the past four years. The road to...

It's party times, folks Elections, in Mizoram, feels a bit like a party. Rock concerts, church meetings on Sunday, elections meetings with audiences in their Sunday best, leaders trying to connect with the people at their homes, with a little bit of alcohol thrown in here and there in the dry state.

On the ground, There are three main political players in the state - the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), the main opposition Congress party, and the recently floated United Democratic Alliance (UDA). The UDA is a three-party alliance of the Mizoram People's Conference (MPC), the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNF) and a fast growing farmers' association, the Zoram Kuthnathawktu Pawl (ZKP). Twenty-three MNF legislators and the lone Mara Democratic Front (MDF) member now support Chief Minister Zoramthanga's government. A three-cornered contest is expected in almost all the 40 seats. ...

Bamboo = Ballot
About 6 months back, it was disaster in the making. 'Mautam' was threatening, in some places, already happening. Because Melocanna baccifera was flowering.

And when it flowers, it usually wreaks havoc. Experts say that it flowers synchronously - once every 48 years, that's some respite. Because the rats love it when it flowers - the rich protein content in the fruit of the wild speices of bamboo, locally known as 'Mautam' (Famine), increases the rats' reproductive power, and, when they are done with the fruits, the rats turn their attention to farmers' crops, mostly rice. The last time the bamboo flowered in Mizoram, bringing a plague of rats, was in 1958. The resultant famine provoked a 20-year guerrilla war between the disgruntled Mizo people and the government in New Delhi. Rats decimated paddy fields across the region, leading to severe food shortages. New...

Israel, via Aizwal So, finally, elections are on their way. Delhi, Chattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram. Where? Oh, err, Mizoram. As a 'learned' colleague had conveniently chosen to forget, like many others, Mizoram happens to be the most peaceful state amidst the many conflicts of North-East, sometimes of India.

Ain't that a bit nostalgic. Of course, it is. 11 deaths in a bomb blast in Imphal fails to make the ticker-cut on Indian television, despite the morning cup of tea or the ONGC that fuels our car trace their origins mostly back to North-East. It takes some elderly women to strip for the cameras to make a beeline. But that's beyond the mosaic. Still, Mizoram remains beautiful. Was there recently, the jottings are mostly like a stream, from the subconscious. Interspersed with a generous dose of videos and pictures.