The Successionist Movement

nderlying their flair for presentation is a confidence that comes from growing up in a tolerant culture. "I could leave my house wearing shorts, no one would look at me," says Poornima Devi, a nurse from Imphal, who will soon be relocating to Arizona. Angeline agrees: "I would be safe going to the local market in a skirt anywhere in the Northeast." It is a confidence that affects much more than how these young people dress. "I hire girls from all the Seven Sisters," says Tarsilio Nataloni, owner of Flavours restaurant in Delhi, referring to the Northeastern states. "They have no questions about whether they should work, whether they can be out at night—none of this baloney in their brains."

This independence of spirit is also a reminder of the success of female education in the Northeast. "There is a very strong tradition of gender equality both in the plains and in the hills," points out Hazarika. "Both education and tradition have had a role in building the capacity of women." The Seven Sisters rank high on statistics relating to women's educational attainment, literacy and participation in the labour force. Along with Kerala, they have the lowest levels of gender disparity in rural education in the country.

While the confidence of Northeastern women is clearly more than skin-deep, they also have advantages on the surface. To foreign visitors and clueless Indians, their faces have the allure of the international—Singapore or Hong Kong, rather than Kohima or Aizawl. "They have a sort of Thai-Chinese look, which is in vogue now," laughs Hazarika. A sprinkling of Northeastern faces around the place helps to create a cosmopolitan ambience—a tactic no employer will confess to using, but some do admit to seeing it at work. "With event management companies, the new trend is to have Northeastern women as hostesses, for that subliminal effect," says Grover. "Even if there's no work, they receive guests at the door and lead them to a table."