It has been a dream to witness the publishing of a journal in St. Stephen’s College on the north-east Indian culture and life, written by Stephanians for the Stephanians and beyond.For that reason, I am thrilled to have been a part of the historical launch of St. Stephen’s very own North-East Society and to have met people who shared this dream with me, whose collective support and enthusiasm made room for more ambitions to be met.
The idea had always been there, what was required was a portal through which the journal would be published and even before the society had been formally launched, talks regarding the journal had already been doing rounds and there has been a continuous effort ever since to ensure the first edition of our Annual Journal would be successful, with the hope that every edition will surpass the previous one in quality and impact.
One task that was unique and daunting to the first editorial team of the Annual Journal was the naming of the journal. Aware of how important a responsibility this was, what ensued were days of suggestions and discussions.
What we were certain of from day one was with regards to the language in which the journal was to be named. As much as we would have loved to stick to our roots and not adopt a foreign language, we were very well aware of the linguistic plurality that existed not just between states but within states as well and in order to not alienate any community within this broad region we were convinced that English as a language was to be used to represent the journal.
With respect to its name, at long last we finally came down to one single image in our minds, something that had always fascinated me as well: orchids. After debating over the legitimacy of this particular flower in the light of singularly representing North-East as a whole, which being no easy task, we were convinced of it being an apt representation and hence why our Annual Journal has thus been named ORCHID, for both representative as well as symbolic reasons: Our Journal was to be an orchid unto your hands, an orchid as a token of our love and as a gift from us to you.
For those wondering why this flower is representative of the region as a whole, despite the great diversity that exists, here’s a little piece of geographical information for you.
According to the Indian Journal of Hill Farming, the North-East Indian region as a whole supports 50% of the total flora of the subcontinent and of the 1331 species of orchids found in India, North-East sustains around 856 of them. Out of these, 34 species are among the threatened plants of India and 85 species are endemic (they are not found anywhere else) to this region and not just to the region but also endemic to the home states where they are found. Orchids are found in all the 8 states of North-East India:
There are around 622 species of orchids found in Arunachal Pradesh alone, the highest number in any state, followed by Sikkim with 543 species and Meghalaya with 389 species. Assam accounts for 290 species, Nagaland for 246, Mizoram for 234, Manipur for 215 and Tripura for 66.
Referring to a study done by Kumaria and Tandon in 2007, the journal also goes on to claim that orchids in fact evolved in North-East India and it is easily the most visible vegetation of the region.
And it is for all these reasons, the Annual Journal of the newly launched North-East Society has been named after this flower.
Here’s hoping the journal will live up to its name by being a rare, beautiful creation unique to its home ground and will be treasured by whosoever reads it.
The St. Stephen’s North-East Society proudly presents the first edition of its Annual Journal, Orchid
Lina Poumai
Editor in Chief Head of the Literary Department St. Stephen’s North-East Society
ORCHID 