Lines on the map

Border stories, we know well enough, aren't always light-hearted like this encounter of mine. Borders can be bloody

The road to Dawki is rough and patchy. The low-floating clouds of Meghalaya have decided not to accompany us on this route, where men and machines are busy ravaging the limestone-rich mountains. Big chunks of once lush peaks are being scooped out and the stones loaded on to trucks waiting on the dusty road. These trucks will head to the Bangladesh border, on which Dawki sits. Time after time the courts have flagged this wonton plundering but the mining and quarrying continues.

It’s not a sight I had expected to come across on what was to be a pleasant journey