How do you walk from this side to that? Connecting people with their friends, their livelihoods, their education, a bridge — often an overused metaphor — is the only tool as essential to a walker as feet.
In the Northeast region of India, bridges are the lifeline of the people. There are suspension bridges, wooden bridges, bamboo bridges and even natural root bridges, which the villagers fashion by weaving together ficus roots, to cross rivers and streams. Children use them to get to school every day. Men and women use them to reach markets where they buy and sell goods. They are, quite simply, essential for day-to-day survival.
For the lay visitor, these bridges are vantage points from which one can comfortably take in the breathtaking beauty of the rivers and the mountains. These images, collected over several years, serve as a reminder of both the beauty and the danger that nature poses.
Ritu Raj Konwar