LHAKPA TSERING IS A LEGEND IN THESE parts. He is a two-time Raid de Himalaya (India’s premier motor rally) champion, driving a vehicle meant to tackle the difficult terrain. When you ask him which vehicle he uses back home in Itanagar over a pint of beer, he casually responds, “Alto!” much to the amusement of the people glued to his stories of epic daredevilry.

He is also one of the founding members of the Orange Festival of Adventure and Music’s off-roading extravaganza, the JK Tyre Orange 4x4 Fury, held annually in the lower Dibang valley of Arunachal Pradesh. And while major cities in India (read New Delhi) struggle to bring international musicians to perform owing to numerous bureaucratic wrangles, in just its third year, they pulled offthe unthinkable, bringing on board Swedish guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen to headline the festival that ran over December 15-18.

There was a quiet confidence in Tsering’s voice when he said, “We invited Malmsteen to our home, not to a city.” The troop of journalists that had descended for the festival had all endured a gruelling drive to reach Dambuk, where the festival was held. The off-roading event, organised by JK Tyre, was already underway, flagged off by Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu in the presence of some 700 folk dancers from the region. A metalled road gave way to a dirt trail, which finally opened into lush green fields and was surrounded by mountains and little else.