Aizawl Diaries: Drum Beats, Mist, and Midnight Rumors
the first thing i noticed stepping off the bus in aizawl was the smell of wet pine and diesel mixed together like some weird local perfume. i’d just rolled in from silchar after a gig with a local indie band, my snare drum strapped to the back like a weird security blanket. the numbers 1278008 and 1356669973? no idea what they mean, but they kept flashing in my head like a broken metronome. maybe it was the altitude messing with my brain.
anyway, i checked the weather on my phone and it's *21.93°c right now, feels like 20.99°c, and the humidity's sitting at 31%. perfect for drumming outside without sweating through your shirt. i just checked and it's crisp and cool there right now, hope you like that kind of thing.
i ended up staying at a tiny guesthouse run by a guy named rohit who claimed he used to tour with a gospel choir. he told me over black tea that the best jam sessions happen after 11pm near zodin square. someone told me that the cops don't really care as long as you keep it acoustic. so that's where i headed.
aizawl's streets are steep like san francisco but with more stray dogs and fewer tech bros. i dragged my kit up a narrow alley and found a group of guys already set up with a djembe, a battered guitar, and what looked like a tin can with strings. we played until our fingers went numb. someone passed around a bottle of rice beer that tasted like fermented apology.
overheard gossip: i heard that the best momos in town are sold out of a cart near the state museum, but only after 8pm. also, someone told me that the guy who runs the cart used to be a session bassist in kolkata. i didn't fact-check, but the momos were fire.
if you get bored, silchar and imphal are just a short drive away, though the roads will make you question your life choices. aizawl itself is enough for a few days unless you're into trekking, in which case the nearby durtlang hills will eat your legs but reward you with views that make instagram filters pointless.
would i come back? absolutely. the people, the pace, the weird musical energy-it's not polished, but that's the point. sometimes the best gigs happen in places you can't pronounce after three drinks.
for more on what to do in mizoram*, check out tripadvisor's aizawl guide or yelp's local eats. and if you're into offbeat travel, this blog about northeast india has some solid tips.
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