Patricia Mukhim is Editor, The Shillong Times published since 1945 from Meghalaya’s capital of Shillong. She has been a long-standing columnist having written articles since 1987 on issues of India’s North East - a region comprising seven states which is very little understood outside of itself. Before taking on the mantle of editorship in 2008, Patricia has been a gender activist and authored a book – “Waiting for an Equal World,” which looks at gender relations in India’s North East. Patricia demystifies the myth that women enjoy a charmed life in matrilineal Meghalaya - a much romanticized notion. Amongst the many awards she has been conferred are the Chameli Devi Jain Award for outstanding women media person in 1996 and the Padmashri in 2000.