Guwahati June 3: itsmynortheast.com, northeast India’s first dedicated cultural and positive human interest story based site was launched today in a function at the Guwahati press club. The site is the brainchild of former journalist and a student of the Gauhati University, Rupkamal Sarma. Explaining the concept and objective of the site, Sarma said, “I wanted to present the ‘other side’ of the story of Northeast India. For far too long, the image and portrayal of Northeast India has remained that of a region which has only floods and militancy as its USP. The rest of the nation has been deprived of looking at Northeast India in a positive light. Living outside the state for so many years, we have had to answer many weird, funny and sometimes angering questions about Northeast India. It is high time we cleared up some of those misconceptions. There is too much focus on negativity in mainstream media and thus I felt the need for an alternative. This is the digital age. So what better platform could be there than a website which gives freedom to use all tools and can be easily accessed by anyone sitting in any corner of the world.”

“We are known as the seven sisters and one brother but we do not know much about each other and in fact we view each other with suspicion. It is time we learnt about each other and also presented ourselves to the world in a positive manner. This website will be different from existing sites till date as it intends to serve as a chronicle and an online knowledge house for the future, a repository of genuine, accurate information for Northeast India and also a storehouse for fast dying traditions. Everything on the site will have a journalistic sense and will be well researched articles.”

Inaugurating the site, eminent scholar of Geography, Dr Mohammed Taher, said, “Since ages, Northeast India has remained ignored and unknown to the world. The outside world sees the Northeast as a region of floods, earthquakes, terror and violence. Now there is this initiative to showcase the rich culture and nature of this region to the world in the form of this website. This initiative of Rupkamal Sarma is indeed commendable and we hope that through this website people will see Northeast India in new light.” Enumerating on what could be further done, eminent linguist and scholar, Dr Lilabati Saikia Bora said, “It is hoped that the website will get support from the people. It is indeed heartening to see that focus is being laid on dying traditions and culture. In the context of Assam, special focus could be laid on things like the Namghar culture and the institution of Yasoda sabha.”

The site will have audio, video and written content which will be free to read initially but content may not be copied from the site and used elsewhere without permission. The site will have four categories of cuisine, travel, personalities and features. “Initially, we will update the articles every 2 months. I would like to sincerely appeal to the people who can make a difference to contribute to make the site a success”, said Sarma.

Rupkamal Sarma (Phone No. 8011693461, Email: mail@itsmynortheast.com/ rupkamalsarma@gmail.com) previously worked as a journalist with the Indian Express group, The Sakal media group and the Times of India group.