Each day passes like the day before 
but night is never the same
when the world goes silent
my heart speaks alone
screaming without a sound 
lie in a corner unknown to the world
the heart turns heavy like the clouds in the sky
and drops of prayer slides down my cheek
making me helpless all the night
sometime the strongest in morning are to cry all night
this tears in me not my weakness
but existence of love and pain in my heart
if these tears could build a way to heaven
I would walk alone to bring you back
though an ocean I cried
but am thankful to those tears
because our love has never died

When I mentioned the word “BARS” in the title, most of us might have thought this article to be about the experiences in prison. But I have thought to use this word for a place that means a lot to me in my life. It is not a place for criminals but a place for someone who often misuses the freedom that they have in their life. This is about my experience in the Rehabilitation Center, which changed my perspective on life. There are a series of events that I will discuss in this article on the days I have spent in the Rehabilitation center. Hundreds of books and articles have been published on the experiences in Prison, but I think this is one of the most untouched experiences that people will ever share with someone. 4 years passed, but remembering those days still makes my eyes filled with tears. 

I still remember waking up early morning after a friend of mine informed me that a few people arrived at my home and that I would be finally able to meet my love for whom I waited 6 months. I jumped off my bed took bath and dressed up in the hope of meeting her. I rushed to meet those people who were supposed to take me to meet her. Now, let me tell you briefly about the background of what I have written here. I was in love with a girl during my college days for 2 years and unfortunately, she stopped contacting me saying that she no longer loves me. But I was not ready to accept it and wanted to meet her to know the truth, assuming that it must be a conspiracy by her parents or my parents against our relationship. I got into habits of drinking alcohol and smoking weed, but I couldn`t get relief from the suffering I had inside. One night I got into an argument with my parents for not allowing me to meet my love, which resulted in to fight with the people I loved the most. The next day I woke up with a hope to meet my love, but I ended up in a Rehabilitation centre. 

The day I went to the Rehabilitation Centre

It was a cold morning; I was informed that a few people had come to take me to meet my love. I jumped into the vehicle and was very happy. But soon I figured out that I was taken on the wrong path. On questioning them, they informed me that she was waiting for me in a place. I believed in them and sat quietly and curious to meet her. It was not too late when the vehicle entered a random house and they asked me to come out of the vehicle. I was very confused to see some youths and also some adult people looking at me with curiosity. I entered the house and suddenly, the main gate of the house along with the main gate of the campus was locked from the inside. It didn`t take long to realize that something was wrong with me. I ran and tried to break the lock with my hand and injured myself in the process. Then the security guards arrived and picked me up to the room, which was not easy since I resisted and got into a fight with them. Suddenly, an injection was put into my body and I fell unconscious. I remember waking up at night in a bed and everyone was looking at me, I asked where my love was. They answered that I was in the Rehabilitation center and I needed to stay there for now. I became helpless and tried to escape the campus but I couldn`t walk properly since the anesthesia was injected into my body. 

Life inside Rehabilitation Centre

There are many events in my experience at the rehabilitation center, but I will discuss a few here. Days passed, and I was given a bed with a kit of daily-use materials just like anyone else there. I remember crying all night for a week, but soon I fit myself into the space there. We became a family with different backgrounds. Every night we used to play carom and watch a cricket match on TV. I used to wait for the evening snacks, which changed every day and waited for the Sunday for chicken dinner. I started finding happiness with the limited resources I had. I was also given a pen and a notebook knowing that I love to write, where I used to write poetries. There were different people on the campus with different backgrounds; some were drug addicts, while others were mentally ill. However, I couldn`t find which category I was because I felt that I was fine with some abnormal behaviors. I questioned myself every night if love is a crime. I used to count the days as every night passed. I could see new members joining us and also a few leaving us. With time I got a few good friends, with whom I used to share my story and they too share their stories. 

Crazy addiction in Rehabilitation Centre

I remember fighting with a boy there after an argument during a carom match. I hit him so hard that he started bleeding and later I felt regret for the incident. After a few days, he became my close friend. One night I saw him using a plastic bag with petrol inside to get high. He asked me to try and with curiosity, I tried. I was very happy because I was already addicted to alcohol and weed before. The next day, I got addicted to petrol. We used to steal petrol from a bike parked on the campus and used plastic bags to get high. After a few days, we got caught and were punished.

Escape attempt at night

I realized the value of freedom I had outside. I think this changed my life. I had only a few people around and a pen and paper. Every time someone gets released from the Rehabilitation centre our eyes get filled with tears since we became like a family. I used to look outside the window and see the birds flying high and used to pen some poetry on paper. As days passed, I started realizing the truth of life. The rehabilitation center was a place where I had given the most of my time to myself. Self-realization helped me to know myself better than before. One night I decided to escape from the campus with one of my friends. We made a hole in the washroom to flee but we were caught. I think it was one of the worst experiences for me in the Rehabilitation Centre.

Yoga classes every evening

Every evening we used to have yoga classes, which most of us used to skip citing various reasons to watch cricket on TV or play carom. I have met people with drug addicts who starve for drugs every night and also people who are mentally ill. Everyone was starving for freedom after all. I also missed my parents and started realizing how much my parents matter to me. My notebook was filled within a month with poetries and daily dairy writings. Every night after dinner we used to have medication and then go to sleep. But I used to hold the medicine in my mouth and later spit it in anger just like many others there. 

Release from Rehabilitation Centre

I remember the day when my parents visited me after 3 months; I ran and hugged my father. But when I looked back, I could see the faces with eyes filled with tears behind the bars. Today, when I remember my days in the Rehabilitation center, my eyes fill with tears because that place means a lot to me. It changed the way I look at my life. I think this piece of life depends on how we look at it. Today I feel that I needed to stay in the Rehabilitation centre else I wouldn`t have been alive today. I think the importance of freedom is only understood when we are locked within a small space with limited resources. We often expect more and more in our lives ignoring what we already have and often regret losing what we already had in our life. 

I think the Rehabilitation Centre is not just a barren house with limited resources but it can change someone like me and many others. Often ignored and unspoken but I chose to speak and share since it might change some other lives. In the age when we are so much connected, we often forget to connect to ourselves. I think it was my perspective that was shaped there which changed the quality of my life.

The implementation of the Act East Policy in the North Eastern region of India can initiate various possibilities unlocking the gateway to the South Asian Countries. Connectivity will act as an essential element in the Act East Policy. This policy is considered to be an upgraded version of the Look East Policy. It is a diplomatic initiative to promote economic, strategic, and cultural relations with the Asia – Pacific region at various levels. It can be observed that the issues of the North Eastern part of India have always been less highlighted. The North Eastern region has shared cultural history with some of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries and this act will play a vital role in fostering people-to-people contact resulting in people`s diplomacy.

India`s economic growth and Chinese dominance in the region will act as a challenge for the act. This act shall help in connecting the North East with the mainstream of India since the hilly terrains and high seismicity has made this region one of the least networked in terms of transport. The implementation of the act will enhance the Geo-political relations of India with south Asian countries with the North East acting as its gateway. This will affect the involvement and presence of India beyond. The Act East Policy brings security cooperation of India with the east Asian countries. North East will act as an essential component of India`s foreign policy resulting in the foremost beneficiary and the most important performer in the policy. The act will be very beneficial in bringing stability and security to North East India. The international relation with south Asian countries will help in countering the illegal activities and anti-national elements in the region. The social behavior of the North East region will be influenced by the act in various aspects resulting in an integrated society. The potential of North East India has been driven accordingly through the act to meet the longing demands of the North East. The border issues of North Eastern states including international border issues of the east will be an essential part of the act. It shall help in curbing the increasing impact of China in the ASEAN region. The Act East Policy will be beneficial for every state of North East India from economic stability to social stability resulting in mass development of the region. It can be observed that the government is relying on Culture, Connectivity, and Commerce to develop better relations with ASEAN countries, where the North Eastern part will also act as a Geo-political laboratory. 

The evolution of the Look East Policy to the Act East Policy has been very effective to make suitable policy changes to cope with the changing economic and security situations in the region. I think the effective implementation of the policy from every dimension is necessary for the region to go beyond the narrative of isolation. I think the government should explore and figure out the possibilities of the region to deliver the benefits of the act in the North Eastern part of India. Along with domestic efforts, the involvement of other nations shall fuel up the development process of the North Eastern region. Implementation of the act can help solve various key problems in the North Eastern part of India. I think that evolution of the policy is crucial according to the time and strategic implementation is necessary for North East India. The government should look that the policies help in the development of the indigenous culture of the region since the people of the region are deeply connected to the roots of their culture.

Assam Border dispute with neighboring states is not a new issue but it has been a repeated issue since its independence. We must look at the history of the formation of the various states of North Eastern part of India to understand the issue in depth. If we look back it can be observed that few present states of North East were part of Assam pre-independence and most of the activities of the Assam border disputes are observed with those states. There are various dimensions of this issue and we shall discuss some of them in this article. Politically the border areas have been a topic of debate for a decade and similarly, illegal activities are mostly observed in the border areas of Assam connecting to the neighboring states. The border areas are considered to be remote areas and it is observed that the region is not well developed just like the other regions. According to my analysis, it is not a matter of the two states but a force that is always acting to provoke the issue almost every month. If we look at the data of the Assam border dispute, we can figure out the frequency of the events and the organizations organizing activities on the issue. Various regional organizations including some of the political parties of Assam attempt to put a political face to this social issue and they highlight the issue ahead of the Assam election. Assam Border Dispute with neighboring states has been a vital issue in the political and social history of Assam. The idea of regionalism has been manipulated by certain forces of the North East and it provokes the common people to share hate speech against their sister states. I think the border areas need more attention since they are much more sensitive than any other region of the state. Even if we look at the smuggling and illegal trafficking activities in Assam, we will find its network with the neighboring states and the border areas acts as the hotspot for such activities. Much more research work is necessary on the border areas of Assam including interstate and international borders too since history demands it. It can be observed that a force in Assam is actively working on the partition of present Assam too.

History has proven that the formation of new states has resulted in a clash between the parental and new states. On the other hand, we can also find the rising Christianity in North East and the building of Churches that have been observed across the border regions of Assam, as reported by the local people. I think proper fencing or putting boundaries is not the solution to end the border dispute of Assam with the neighboring states. We should work on eliminating the anti-national force that is still active to provoke the issue between the two states. In a week we will find at least a single border dispute, may it be Assam- Meghalaya, Assam- Mizoram or Assam- Arunachal, or Assam- Nagaland. Monitoring the border activities of Assam is very important to track the force acting on the issue. It has been observed that propaganda is shaped to separate North East from an integral part of India and we can connect it to this issue. 

Often North East is full of diverse cultures, languages and traditions and this diversity has been considered a weapon by the  anti- national force to divide the North East. I think awareness activities are necessary for the people living within the border regions so that unity is found in diversity. The local of the Border region plays a vital role in forming the base of the propaganda which is initiated by the anti-national force. So, I would like to conclude this article by suggesting survey, implementation of development projects, awareness camps and finally monitoring the activities within the border and activities on the issue within the state too.

In our life we meet various faces and only few among them lasts as the time pass. We often find a reason to blame them for not being loyal to us but have we ever thought if we were loyal to them. It takes a lot of energy, time and emotions to build a relationship but it takes only a second to break it. I think the energy we put in building relationships is not equivalent to the energy we invest to keep it alive. The fact is the moment we have a relationship, we often give birth to expectations and definitely the opposite ones does the same. Relationship is just like the oil and water and we often put our energy in mixing up both of these meaninglessly instead we could have put some energy to balance it so that the oil and water can flow smoothly. None in this world is perfect for us until we find the equilibrium state of adjustment in a relationship. No matter if it`s business relationship, personal relationship or any other, it follows the same principal. In my life i have met various faces and lost most of them.

Following the social behavior i was tend to believe that the relationships ended because the opposite were not loyal to me. I think the same might have been the situation for them towards me. So, i think building relationships and ending up blaming each other is not the solution for a healthy society. If we will look at the social behavior of villages less affected by westernization, we will definitely find childish behavior among the villagers, of fighting a day and joining up the another day. We often criticize looking at the people of villages that they neither have any self respect since they fight a day and join another day and mark it as a childish behavior but have we missed something. If we analyze the social behavior of city and a village, we will definitely find village to be much more healthy socially than any cities because of the unity among the people. Its always have been this unity that has shaped a society and a nation too. Also if we talk about healthy Geo social behavior than its very necessary. It can be observed that a force or an idea has been put in the veins of the social system to keep the people divided from each other. Specially talking about our nation, our culture has been known for it`s unity in diversity but diversity starts from the moment of creation or birth. As the science says that none of the people is identical with different pattern of DNA similarly it`s easy to find differences among two things or beings and than divide them. Dividing is not a healthy practice for the social system and neither building a new home, new boundaries, new state or nation is a solution for a better livelihood. Being a human we are a social animal dependent upon the social behavior. So, i think much more effort on developing the social behavior is necessary for a better society.

 It can be observed that the process of division is easy but the process of union has been tough. As a human we have a tendency to find new kind of relationships without caring about if we can keep it alive. The base of social behavior starts at home from family. We can see that even a family can`t stand together as the time passes leading to birth of of a new root of family killing the old family tree. This is the reason our nation has lost its base root of the entire society. We find ourselves divided and alone most of the time but without looking back we tend to move forward building new relationships thinking to be the solution of the problem. But the solution lies back in the time. Population has been increasing in the society with entry of new faces in our life but it does not make any sense until we learn to keep the relationships alive, since new families, new friend circles are born but we are not yet mature enough to handle something we created loosing the base root of our own family tree. Relationships are not created by god but by us and it`s our responsibility to handle it. This entire process is just dividing the society and most of us have not looked into this issue. We often see few people as our world and rest as the garbage in our life but life does not work by choosing the right people around instead learning to sacrifice the ego and adjust to the social system around. We often find ourselves lonely in this vast world tired of building relationships and ending up broken. The problem lies within us not with the world, as a human we first need to understand the human system and how it works. Relationship is not about fulfilling your needs but its about adjusting with an another diverse being on the path of life. The decision is yours, either you choose to walk alone or walk with someone but remember you will never find a right person for you in your entire life since everyone is diverse in nature and none is identical. 

The force or idea that acts in our mind directly affects the social system around us so i think we need to change our idea or way of thinking about relationships. I have said several times, its easy to break a relationship but it takes a whole lot of time and energy to build it. I am tired of loosing people around me and so think you too, this is leading us to a divided society that weakens the social system and the nation too. Various organizations and NGO s are working on uniting the class, religion, caste of the nation but i think its necessary to unite a family too. There are diverse ideas in family too from person to person, so instead to establishing each others idea we can have a mutual understanding and adjust to protect any relationships starting from the family.