"The Braided River" by Samrat Choudhury embarks on an enthralling travelogue, tracing the course of the Brahmaputra river, from the McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh, along the contested India-China border, down through Assam, and finally merging with the Ganga near the legendary Goalando ghat in Bangladesh. This captivating journey navigates diverse landscapes, epochs, and complexities, offering a tapestry of experiences that are by turns profound, humorous, daring, and enlightening.
In this remarkable narrative, journalist Samrat Choudhury embarks on a quest to follow the river's intricately braided path. His expedition unfolds from the river's entry point in Tibet, traversing the Indian terrain, until it converges with the Ganga, adjacent to Bangladesh's most prominent red-light district.
Choudhury's expedition unravels encounters with enigmatic Indian operatives, an unexpected stint in a cement truck courtesy of soldiers, visits to a sanctuary for young rhino and elephant orphans in Kaziranga, and a series of leaps from river islet to riverside settlement while engaging with locals. The mosaic of these interactions embellishes a narrative interwoven with the historical context of the India-China border emergence in Arunachal Pradesh, the evolution of the Assamese identity – a topic of significant contemporary pertinence due to the National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act – and the ecological predicaments engendered by impending dam projects.
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