Jan 27, 2026
A captain at club level and a national-team mainstay, he represents the Northeast’s transition from a feeder region to a leadership centre in Indian football. His success has redirected scouting toward Mizoram, normalised the presence of players from the region at the sport’s highest level
Lovlina Borgohain’s influence extends far beyond the ring. Emerging from a remote corner of Assam, she overturned geography, gender and expectation to win an Olympic medal. Her bronze at Tokyo did more than add to India’s tally, it altered the imagination of what is possible for women from the margins.
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is an influential voice from the Northeast because she transformed a marginalised region’s sporting promise into global credibility. By turning personal adversity into Olympic-level success, she shifted national attention toward Manipur as a cradle of elite sport, inspired a generation of young athletes—especially women
Arunoday Saha helped anchor Tripura’s intellectual and cultural stature through decades of work in education and literature. As the first vice-chancellor of Tripura University after its elevation to a central university, he guided the institution’s emergence as a regional centre for higher learning and research.
Omi Gurung is influential because he positioned Sikkim, and the wider Northeast, at the forefront of India’s sustainable fashion conversation. Popularly known as the “Green Man of Sikkim,” he fused design with environmental activism, proving that fashion can be ethical, locally rooted, and globally relevant.
From Ri Kynjai and The Centre Point to Shillong Lajong FC and NorthEast United FC, Sawyan has quietly woven tourism, hospitality, and football into Meghalaya’s growth narrative. As a sports administrator, he helped shape Shillong into a feeder for professional football
In Nagaland’s turbulent public life, Neidonuo Angami helped turn women’s collective action into a stabilising force. As a co-founder of the Naga Mothers’ Association, she pushed society to confront addiction, violence, and cycles of bloodshed, most memorably through the “Shed No More Blood” campaign
Rima Das redefined how Assam appears in world cinema. Village Rockstars announced her as a global independent voice, earning international acclaim and an Oscar submission.
Mamang Dai is a poet, novelist, and journalist whose work has shaped contemporary writing from the Northeast. Her essays and reportage, alongside her poetry and fiction, engage closely with Arunachal Pradesh’s cultural memory, fragile ecology, and contested histories
Patricia Mukhim has long fused sharp reportage with unapologetic commentary on governance, rights, and gender in Meghalaya. Her columns and public interventions have positioned her as a vigilant sentry for the hill state, compelling politicians, bureaucrats, and civil society alike to reckon with questions they would rather avoid.
Papon is Assam’s most recognisable cultural export to Bollywood. With a devoted home audience and national visibility, he has carried Assamese and northeastern musical traditions onto global stages.
Adil Hussain carries Assam and northeast onto international screens. With awards across borders and roles spanning art-house to mainstream cinema, he commands cultural influence.
Ranjit Barthakur is a trusted interlocutor between power and capital. Chief ministers turn to him to court investors, quietly and effectively. Through the Balipara Foundation, he has also shaped environmental discourse in the Eastern Himalayas.
A former Ranji wicketkeeper-batsman from Guwahati, Saikia occupies a rare intersection of law, politics and sport. As Assam’s AG, he is the state’s top legal voice. As BCCI secretary, he helps run India’s most powerful sporting body.
Justice Gogoi’s influence lies less in formal office than in moral and institutional authority. As the first from northeast to head India’s judiciary, he remains a point of reference for politicians and judges alike.