Planning for yearly vacations had become quite a routine activity for us. Having membership of a popular Holiday resort chain meant that we invariably ended up choosing a destination where they had a resort. But this time we were determined to try something different. Kerala was quickly rejected because the above reason and as we had been there a few times. Hampi was a hot choice for me, especially after having helped my daughter in researching for a project on Hampi. But that got shot down by the kids (no surprise). Finally, we narrowed down on North East. It was a destination none of us had visited. Well, technically I had been to Guwahati some 25 years back but remembered almost none of it. My familiarity with the region was limited to a few stereo-types. Terms such as ‘Seven Sisters’, ‘Cherrapunji – world’s wettest place’ and Kaziranga (thanks to the Geography books) and some other negative terms such as “neglected states” and "disturbed areas" (thanks to news
