Tora Agarwala
Tora covers the Northeast for The Indian Express. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @toramatix
Articles By Tora Agarwala
Northeast India Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 HIGHLIGHTS: BJP leads in Assam with 9 of 14 seats
Northeast India Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 HIGHLIGHTS from Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram and Meghalaya: As per the trends, BJP has taken a considerable lead in Assam.
Families in food: The Guwahati bakery whose cheese straws are said to have wowed Nehru
Guwahati’s oldest bakery introduced the city to a wide range of fresh breads, cakes and cookies.
From Along-Dolong to Ukulli-mukuli: this man is documenting indigenous games of Northeast tribes
They might not be as popular as football and cricket. But in remote areas of Assam, a thriving culture of indigenous games has existed for years— marked by ingenuity and played by children and adults alike. Now one man is on mission to document them all.
The Axone story: a film dishes out a different take on a familiar Northeastern experience
Axone follows a day in the life of a group of Northeasterners in Delhi through a wedding, a feast, a landlord-tenant clash — and in them all, the quintessential Northeastern experience in the big city.
Assam’s colonial police stations are getting restored more than a century after they were built
Almost eight decades after a band of freedom fighters died trying to hoist the Tricolour in three police stations in Assam, the colonial heritage structures — the oldest built in 1902 — are being restored by the government.
Mizoram HSLC results 2019: Daughter of a vegetable seller tops with 97.2%
A student of the St Joseph Higher Secondary School, Aizawl, Lalrinnungi scored 100 in her favourite subject, Science, 97 in Mathematics and Mizo, 98 in Social Sciences and — in her words — “poorest in English”. She scored 94.
After keeping Guwahati on edge for almost a day, Maharaj is back in the forest
Despite the hullabaloo, the elephant did not react or harm anyone. After an 18-hour-long rescue operation, it is now back in Amchang Wildlife sanctuary, with the forest authorities monitoring it for the next 48 hours.
‘Who are the Brus?’ Two teens use Instagram to document the ancient tribe
The Bru tribe seeped into national consciousness last year when a historic repatriation agreement attempted to rehabilitate nearly 32,000 Brus living in refugee camps in Tripura. But an Instagram handle, run by two teenagers from Agartala, argues that there’s more to the Bru identity.
A record restoration project aims at releasing thousand Assamese songs online this month
Through April and May, there will be a thousand songs from Assam — many which face the risk of fading into oblivion — released on Youtube by Jyoti Chitraban Studio’s Digital Archive department.
Assam: A death, and in this corner, the snuffed hope of citizenship Bill
In the run-up to the April 23 voting, no big politician has mentioned Amrit Das’s death. While civil society and activists have been questioning this silence, Amrit’s family is resigned. All they want are “shanti” and “respect”.
Meet Upamanyu Hazarika, striving to be the voice of the ‘khilonjiya’ in Assam this election
Hazarika is fighting this election independently by making illegal infiltration — an electoral issue that has dominated Assam for decades now — his main campaign peg.
Assam: As Citizenship Bill polarises Barak Valley, BJP, Modi make strides
The Centre’s proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill may have faced opposition elsewhere in Assam, but here in Barak Valley, with its Hindu migrants, it has only boosted support for the BJP. As has the NRC — the belief here is that the BJP will stand by the Hindu names that fall foul of the NRC list.
Priyanka Gandhi first stop outside UP is Silchar; raps BJP bid to ‘destroy Constitution’
Criticising the BJP for what she said was the party's bid to "destroy the Constitution of India", Priyanka Gandhi said: “The BJP manifesto has no space for different cultures and religions.
I am happy but fear remains: Wife of Manipuri journalist freed after detention under NSA
Journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem was booked for making derogatory remarks against the N Biren Singh-led state BJP government in a Facebook video last November.
Don’t be fooled: Behind the dry wit, Nagaland Youtube channel has serious poll warning
It’s a formula that shot them to viral fame two years ago. This election season, the Dimapur-based Youtube channel, Dreamz Unlimited, is back to tell you, in their signature style, to exercise your right to vote.
Seema, the untold story of how Tezpur rose to defend itself from the Chinese
In his new film, Seema — The Untold Story, National Award-winning filmmaker Hiren Bora pays a tribute to his hometown Tezpur, by evoking a pivotal moment in the town’s history: when it was almost taken over by China in 1962
This election season, Assam’s kids have some different demands from politicians
In Assam, future voters, as young as 12, are not shying away from voicing their demands this Lok Sabha election.
In Assam, turtles are breeding again — in temple ponds
The caretaker of a 500-year-old temple in Assam is the man-on-the-ground at the state’s only turtle conservation project.
Assam film on transgenders draws ire from the state’s transgender community
The 90-minute film called Outcast tells the story of Assam’s transgender community through the voice of a 16-year-old, who leaves his village to join a gharana.
As AGP joins hands with BJP again, many in Assam feel betrayed
There was hope that AGP would become relevant again, now the youth are not sure.
