Eastern Rhapsody

A cultural renaissance is afoot in India's northeastern flank. Myriad sounds, colours and flavours are wafting out of the churning, and travelling to the rest of India and beyond 

- Rekha Dixit

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has a strong northeast connection—his wardrobe. If clothes maketh the man, then Asa Kazingmei, 34, certainly has a big role in the creation of the star’s persona. Those denim and leather jackets that Salman dons while appearing on stage have all been designed by this Tangkhul Naga boy from Ukhrul in Manipur. It is said that once the star went shopping abroad, but ended up buying nothing, because he felt that “Asa makes them better”.

Asa’s success story started from impoverished beginnings in a remote corner of the country. Even back then, Asa seldom wore a garment that he had not modified himself. He was still studying at a fashion institute in Mumbai when he was spotted by Khan’s designer Ashley Rebello, who asked him to make a few jackets for the star for his film, London Dreams (2009). Ever since, there is scarcely a stage appearance Khan makes without easing himself into one of Asa’s creations.

Asa belongs to a generation that is changing the narrative of the northeast in India, bringing about a renaissance in that distant flank of the country. It is a generation that has created a sensory explosion in India, bringing out the sounds, colours, language and flavours of the Seven Sisters to the rest of India and beyond. A generation that is slowly changing set stereotypes about its people as it becomes the cultural ambassadors of its homeland.