Nagaland - a name that conjures images of misty mountains, colorfully dressed natives and the famous Naga shawls. This eastern state of India is also among its smallest. The region has witnessed agitation and violence in the late 1950' when the original residents of the land agitated and fought bitter battles to gain statehood and separation from the state of Assam - which was obtained by them in 1963 but the border disputes continue.

Last week, the news 'Lost Map of Nagaland' was at first mistaken by me as the release of a new film - probably the Indian remake of an Indiana Jones movie. The fact that the central government and the Government of Assam, who are the custodians of the Maps of the State of Nagaland, have nonchalantly reported the loss of the original maps drawn in 1963 came as a shocker.

Inter state border disputes are probably raging in almost every country around the world. What gives this border dispute a new flavor is the brazen and indiscriminate power yielded by something geospatial - just lose the maps (unfortunately for Nagaland, the maps probably are?/were paper maps!!!). It's as easy as that...