BUMLA PASS, ARUNACHAL PRADESH
Before earthquake, was green valley with village, animals, many families. Grandfather said first they mourned what was lost. Then they saw beauty in what was created.
Pemba’s weathered face tells the story of 45 years lived at altitudes where most people struggle to breathe, guiding travelers through landscapes that shift between breathtaking beauty and life-threatening danger. His connection to Madhuri Lake runs deeper than professional guiding—it’s personal geography written in family memory.
He inherited this work reluctantly. “Father was porter for military during 1962 war, then became guide when border opened to civilians. I wanted to study engineering in Guwahati, but family needed someone who knew mountains and could speak multiple languages.”
That resistance transformed into calling through witnessing transformation. “First time I brought tourists to earthquake lake in 1995, they just wanted photos of pretty water. But grandfather was with me, and he started telling story of village that drowned. Watching their faces change—that’s when I understood my real job.”
His knowledge extends beyond route finding to emotional archaeology. “Earthquake didn’t just change geography—it changed people. Survivors had to learn new ways of grieving, new ways of finding beauty, new ways of calling a place home.”
He’s guided everyone from military officials to Bollywood film crews, but his most meaningful work involves helping visitors understand the human cost behind scenic beauty. “Beautiful lake was someone’s home, someone’s childhood, someone’s burial ground. Tourism is fine, but remembering is responsibility.”
His own relationship with the lake reflects the complexity of living with transformed landscape. “Sometimes I see beauty, sometimes I see loss. Both feelings true. Learning to hold both at same time—that’s what grandfather taught me about surviving change.”
When natural disasters strike other parts of India, families from the region often consult Pemba about resilience. “Mountains teach that destruction and creation are same force. Earthquake took village but gave lake. Understanding this doesn’t remove sadness, just adds perspective.”
Some guides show places. Pemba shows how communities survive when places disappear and reappear in new forms.
– Zara