Off The Beaten Track

There’s a long bamboo table. On it, wicker baskets and a big bundle of jungle grass. Around it, men and women dressed in traditional tribal attire; bright beads on their hair, as well as slung across their shoulders. Taking turns, they explain the elaborate process of transforming grass into clothes, using equipment like a spinning wheel and a manual loom. We are at Rima Village, a remote hamlet tucked into the hills of Arunachal Pradesh, home to the Tikhab tribes. 

“It is the first time tourists have arrived in this little village,” says Kavya Saxena, co-creator of the Pluc.tv show NH-13, holding a folded piece of beige cloth. Her fingers test its durability. Her eyes light up at having uncovered some of the secrets of this quaint haven. The village folk too seem happy to welcome tourists. They express this with the sonorous clanging of the gong and generous sharing of all the knowledge they have acquired from their forefathers. “The Tikhab tribes make all their clothes from scratch and, what's more, is that this fabric doesn't age. The more you wash, the softer it gets,” says Saxena, an HR manager turned social entrepreneur who is also India’s exclusive rural content creator, with a focus on cultural heritage and the craft landscape. 

Astonishingly,  neither a Google map nor a highway sign will direct you towards these cultural oases that are featured on NH 13. The under-ten-minute travel show that shines a spotlight on little-known gems in India’s North Eastern frontier- their customs, folk tales, cuisine and utterly fascinating history, is hosted on Pluc.TV. 

“New premium shows are being launched on Pluc.TV every week. We have 125 such shows like NH-13,” says Tamseel Hussain, founder of Pluc.tv, a company that was founded in 2017 and today comprises 500,000 users, 32,000 creators 7,000+ published stories and 120+ shows in 12 languages that have reached over 500 million people worldwide. “Creators in India–almost 99.9% are troubled by big tech algorithms and are not able to drive value out of their content. This is where Pluc steps in. Our vision is to build a world where anyone can monetise early through storytelling and original content,” he adds. 

While the first episode of NH13 takes its viewers on a journey through Rima Village, the second episode takes the viewer to Arunachal Pradesh’s Kambu village where everyone; guests, family and friends even infants are all welcomed with a fermented rice drink, Apong. As we follow the team across the rickety rope bridge into Kambu, where the hospitality flows as freely as their culture, we are reminded of the joy in life’s little things. Through intimate portrayals of the people it encounters, the show succeeds in tugging at the inherent desire for connection in all of us.  The nuanced details of the simple way of life create a kind of longing that can be quelled only by hitting the road or playing the next episode. 

While NH 13 is not necessarily best enjoyed in a binge, the show’s editing is energetic and makes for easy watching. In the third episode, we see Kavya and Srigandh, along with a convoy of off-roaders and four-wheel-drives, claw their way up the slopes of Tawang. “If you do not travel, it means you are not living,” Saxena says midway through the road trip, leaning onto the steel railing of the bridge. Prayer flags flutter in the nippy mountain air as if nodding in agreement. “Human beings have always moved from one place to another, traversed through jungles, valleys, and mountains. And travelling makes you very adaptive,” she says. 

A visual treat, NH-13 is created with care and enthusiasm, evident in its clever editing and engaging pace. Apart from Saxena and many more creators who have worked on bringing the stories from Arunachal to life, Pluc’s team behind the show includes Devesh Chopra and Shamita Harsh, who have explored topics surrounding social justice, politics, art, and food previously through Pluc, and Srigandh, a budding automotive journalist. ``Driving on beautiful meandering roads, interacting with the local tribes, relishing local food, celebrating unique cultures, all of this while being a part of Pluc's captivating storytelling…it has been a life-changing experience,” says Srigandh.  

Made with an intimate yet respectful lens, this is a travel series which breathes fresh air into the genre. The season finale which was aired earlier this month gives you more reasons to plan a trip to the land of dawn-lit mountains, Arunachal Pradesh. 

A travel show should be able to give you not only the sights and sounds of a place but also a sense of how you might interact with it. This series, which takes the road less travelled, offers just that.