A two-and-a-half-hour flight from New Delhi to Aizawl crosses Bangladesh before reaching Mizoram. Only IndiGo operates a commercial flight on the route, a monopoly which ends up making travel comparatively difficult and expensive.Mizoram, a land of hills, river gorges and dense bamboo forests, was historically known as the Lushai Hills under British rule. Its history and politics have been deeply shaped by the Mautam, the periodic flowering of bamboo.Every five decades or so, bamboo flowers simultaneously, producing large quantities of seeds that trigger a sharp rise in the rodent population. Once the seeds are exhausted, rats swarm agricultural fields and destroy crops and stored grain. The 1958 Mautam famine devastated communities across the region.Relief efforts organised by Pu Laldenga initially formed the Mizo National Famine Front, which later became the Mizo National Front (MNF). On March 1, 1966, the MNF launched the armed Operation Jericho.In Lunglei, insurgents attacked an Assam Rifles garrison, aided by former Mizo personnel of the Indian military who had joined the MNF. The Indian armed forces launched a counter-offensive, including forced village regrouping.The conflict continued for years, with MNF cadres operating from the borderlands and receiving weapons, funding and sanctuary from Pakistan. The 1971 Liberation War disrupted these bases.The conflict eventually ended with the 1986 Mizo Peace Accord between Laldenga and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Mizoram became a full state in 1987, with Article 371G providing special constitutional protections for Mizo customary laws, religious and social practices, and land rights.Today, the state faces different challenges, including porous borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar, narcotics trafficking and political tensions involving minority Chakma communities. Yet Mizoram retains a strong sense of identity, shaped by its history, geography and demand for autonomy within the Indian Union.Football is an all-time favourite hobby in Mizoram.Stilt houses are seen in the Chattogram Hill Tracts of the border area of Rangamati in Bangladesh.Public era buildings in Mizoram often have British-era portraits.The Tropic of Cancer passes through Mirsac in Mizoram.Infants are carried on their mothers’ back – a common sight in the Northeast hills.Pu Zathanvunga (left), nephew of legendary Mizo leader Pu Laldenga with his younger brother. The two were in the team which launched Operation Jericho.The Assam Rifles in Mizoram.A Mizo home.The roads to the Bangladesh border are treacherous, with landslides and inhospitable conditions affecting many. Snakebites and malaria deaths frequently make news.Assam Rifles men posted in Mizoram to guard the Myanmar border pose with seized arms.Breakfast hour featuring rice with pork, at a Mizo kitchen.All photos are by Shome Basu.