Chandy releases Army's pictorial tribute to northeast

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A three-volume work on rich and diverse culture and social life of the Northeastern region of India was released by chief minister Oommen Chandy in the presence of Chief of Army Staff General V K Singh at Pangode Military Station on Tuesday.
The Army-commissioned three-set pictorial work, Northeast Trilogy, co-authored by Kunal Verma and Dipti Bhalla, has been conceived as tribute to the bio-diversity, cultural vibrancy and anthropological richness of the entire Northeastern region.
General V K Singh said that the book had a great deal of relevance to the Malayalis as more and more people form the North East were finding employment in the state. "We decided that the book must be launched in cities where the NE people are working. The book is written in simple narrative and contains breathtaking pictures. I am going to request the Centre to request the states to translate the book into all local languages so that more people could understand the North East culture."
"It took three years to complete the book. It has only historical references of the Army, but the armed forces were very helpful in completing the project," said Kunal Verma. The first volume of the trilogy, 'East of Khangchendzonga', takes the reader through Sikkim, North Bengal, Assam, and Meghalaya. The second volume , 'Brahma's Creation', is devoted entirely to Arunachal and explores 14 of the state's 16 districts, from the plains to the pristine Himalayas.
The remaining two districts are covered in Volume III of the trilogy, 'Children of the Dawn', together with Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, and Mizoram.
Chief minister Oommen Chandy appreciated the Army's effort to culturally connect the exotic North East with the 'God's Own Country' and said Kerala's awareness about the North Eastern states was sketchy. Major General Amit Sharma, General Officer Commanding, 54 Division, Lieutenant General AK Singh, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Army Command and Lt. General SH Kulkarni, GOC 21 Core attended the function.
General V K Singh was in the state capital on a two-day visit along with his wife. They visited Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple and also Pazhvangadi Ganapathy Temple, which is managed by the Madras Regiment, on Tuesday morning.