A cultural immersion programme that brought together chefs, creators, and cultural practitioners in Meghalaya last week has opened the door to similar experiences across the Northeast, with Arunachal Pradesh emerging as a potential next destination.
The Seeti 2.0 programme, held from March 26 to 31 in and around Shillong, was designed not as a conventional food or tourism event, but as a curated, experience-led engagement with the region's food systems, craft traditions, landscapes, and everyday community life.
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Over five days, participants — including restaurateurs, media voices, artisans, and tastemakers — moved through a series of immersive experiences ranging from shared meals to local market visits and direct interactions with artisan communities.
The programme engaged with cultures across the Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo communities, allowing participants to understand indigenous ingredients and traditions in their natural, everyday context rather than through a curated tourism lens.
The organisers spent nearly a year shaping the Meghalaya edition, identifying locations, building community relationships, and selecting participants capable of carrying these stories to wider audiences.
Seeti Movement co-founder Sid Mewara said the programme successfully brought together a collective of 50 voices with a combined digital and traditional media reach running into the tens of millions.
"Their real-time storytelling is just the beginning; as they return home, they transition from visitors to lifelong advocates," Mewara said.
Beyond the event itself, the organisers plan to document the Meghalaya experience through a long-format documentary, aiming to extend Seeti's reach to global audiences over time.
"This narrative will be further immortalised in a long-format documentary, ensuring the Seeti engagements continue to grow exponentially across global audiences," Mewara added.
With conversations now turning toward Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of the Northeast, the Seeti model appears poised to grow into a regional movement — one built around cultural immersion rather than conventional tourism.