ITANAGAR EXOTICA – HEALING RAIN

DR SUDHAKAR NATARAJAN
DEPUTY COMMANDANT
INDO TIBETAN BORDER POLICE
SHQ, NE-I, ITANAGAR

All the staid personalities are advised to visit Itanagar between Oct to April, when the weather remains pleasant but for those who like to take life as it comes, this historic capital city is best visited during the peak of the rainy season when the expression raining cats-and-dogs, takes an entirely new dimension. Come to Itanagar during the rains and enjoy the pitter-patter of the musical drops on sloping corrugated roofs. If you are an insomniac, then Itanagar during the rains is preferable to sedatives. The monotonous drumming of the rain would make you sleep like a baby. Throw away all your anxiolytics, sedatives and tranquilisers, come to Itanagar, detoxify your system and wallow in deep undisturbed slumber. Dozing off to a seamless and dreamless slumber at mid-noon to the beat of the rain on the roof is what mother nature prescribes for the type-A jet-set Delhiwalas who live life without knowing what pleasure an uninterrupted daytime siesta can give. It literally acts as a balm to the injured soul. Life-giving rain drops would infuse the visitor with life.
In Delhi the rain brings along with it dissolved sulphur dioxide and other pollutants, but Itanagar is bestowed with pristine quality rain water. The rain here is known to heal many of the skin afflictions, which are a common in city-dwellers. It you want to cleanse your epidermis then a carefree walk in the rain is what the doctor has prescribed. When the naturally pure rain water of Itanagar touches your skin, it is more healing than all the Kerala Ayurvedic therapies and Beauty Parlour skin treatments put togetner. That is why the skin of Arunachalees is so clear and flawless. The rain here is a free beauty regimen. Come have a walk in the pouring Arunachal rain, for a natural whole body massage and detoxification.
A fifteen day stay in Arunachal during the rains will recharge your body and will make it resilient enough to take-on the tough life at Delhi and other metros. Proper deep sleep during the day, long walks in the rains and a deeper slumber at night would do wonders to your battered body.
Another detoxification therapy practiced by the locals is to collect the pure rain water and drink it. It is said that the Arunachal rain is quiet different since it has certain micronutrients that enhance tissue repair. I will not be surprised to find some enterprising chap bottling the Arunachal rain water and selling it . This would certainly give Bisreli Mountain Water a run for its money. This bottle rain water concept is yet to catch up. But once someone starts it, there would be no stopping it. The international bottle water brands like Evian would set up a Arunachal Rain Water bottling plant if they come to know of this fact. The world over only mountain spring water is bottled and sold. The bottled rain water concept is still unexplored.
It is just a matter of time before these little known facts about Arunchal Pradesh would be known to Indian and international traveler and this would take the global tourist circuit by storm.
Heal your body and soul. Walk in the rains with clouds at your feet and just sleep. Feel the rain and heal the poor battered soul. This is ‘soul-food’ , Arunachalee style!!
The writer is a Deputy Commandant in Indo Tibetan Border Police.