Nowhere have I seen so many spectacular sunsets as in the North East of India. Nowhere else do they occur with such predictable regularity and as often as here. Only a soul dead person will ignore or be unmoved by them.
(⇧Lofty vertical and billowing Cumulus clouds over which hover Cirrostratus, crowded in by wind ruffled Altocumulus with Nimbostratus (I think) at their base. A common sight from May to September in Assam. Viewed from Mohmiri Watch tower near Bagori, Kaziranga with some bheels in the foreground.)
(⇧ Flooded Kaziranga with lifting clouds promising respite that evening. These fisher folk will continue for a few hours more at their labour.)
(⇧Monsoon dusk at Guwahati. No light makes the sight both grim and charming. Umananda island is in the middle of the picture.)
(⇧The Mighty Brahmaputra near Pan Bazar, Guwahati.)
(⇧ An approaching evening storm at one of the several ferry points between Chowkham and Tezu in Lohit district of Arunachal. That was two decades ago. Now there's a bridge that robs one of uncertainties and excitement but makes life infinitely easier for everyone. My friends Abhyokta Horma, Bikash Kar and Pyngrope having warm tea.)
(⇧ From Hawa (Wind) Point on the way to Hayuliyang from Tezu. The declining sun's light avoiding some cumulus and stratus clouds glints off the Lohit as it enters the Assam Plain.)
(⇧ And where there are clouds and rain there's got to be a rainbow sometimes. The last ferry chugs its lonely way across the Lohit in fading light beyond Chowkham. There is a bridge here now.)
(⇧ A stirring view of the Tatakuti peaks on the Indo-China border beyond Walong in Anjaw district. Taken in a benign winter evening when luminous Cumuli and Cirrostratus dark clouds entertain and not threaten.)
( A contrasting coloured mass of clouds, seen from Nongthymai, Shillong:
⇑ The one above is looking north to the valley of the Mighty Brahmaputra.
⇩ The one below is of Upper Shillong at twilight in late autumn. About here the warm sea winds from Bay of Bengal carried across Bangladesh meet the cooler winds blown down from the snowy ramp of the Arunachal Himalaya and create this technicolour feast. )
(⇧Sheep wool or Altocumulus Stratus clouds over Baruni Hill near Imphal, Manipur at sunrise.)
(⇧Winter sunrise outside the squash court in 101 Area of Upper Shillong.)
(⇧ And before the Expressway tempted people to speed past such peaceful sunset scenes, there were always knots of people who had time to stand and stare. Umiam reservoir on the GS Road, Meghalaya.)
(⇧Wind ruffled high Cumolonimbus with Stratocumulus (I think) at the base. Particles in the atmosphere and the slanting sun's angle enhance colours here. Lohit river between earth and sky. Normally speaking- very beautiful.
⇩Near Jangalgarh, Naogaon on the AT Road.)
(⇑A delightful view of towering Cumulonimbus clouds from Pangsau Pass in Changlang district of Arunachal. That lake is Shingbwiyang in Hukawng, Sagaing, Myanmar.)
While all these tossing and tumbling clouds of immense proportions and sublime magnificence spin vast and varied shapes and colours, down below on earth the fading light paints splendid glittering scenes.
(⇧ Near Pallel on the Imphal - Moreh Road in late August. Freshly transplanted paddy gleams with a lambent light. High in the sky all manner of clouds dance and glide.)
(⇧ Below Hundung on the way to Ukhrul, Manipur.)
(⇧ And the same field moments later. As the sun weaves its way past clouds a contrasting display of light and shade appears on earth.)
(⇧ At Neamati Ghat ferries huddle after their day's work is done. In the background is a chapori- island- one of many that are formed by the silt in the Mighty Brahmaputra.)
(⇧ And when the waters of the Mighty Brahmaputra are swollen with rains people stand on its flooded banks to fish for their evening meal. ⇩)
(⇧ A bullock cart crosses the Borgaung bridge in the North Bank. In the background are the blue hills between Sagalee and Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh. Above are Cirostratus clouds and some lower ones too.)
(⇧ During the 3 or 4 floods that the Mighty Brahmaputra has every monsoon hedges, shrubs and trees are swept away by erosion. More damage is done by receding waters than by advancing ones. Amidst plenty of water this farmer has to get his supply from the swollen river near Tatimari few kilometres to the east of bustling Guwahati.)
(⇧ In the days before the AT Road was converted into an Expressway, such pretty scenes as fish nets drying, could be seen in plenty. This was taken just after Bura pahar before Kanchanjuri.)
(⇧ An April 1985 photo taken from the Tezpur Circuit House just as the setting sun had broken through a low level layer of Nimbostratus.)
(⇧ Finally- a sunset without clouds. From near Maijan Tea Estate a bit to the east of Dibrugarh.)
