India, Dec. 29 -- I was all of 25 years old and assigned to report on the first Christmas scheduled to be celebrated near the administrative capital at Naharlagun. On Monday, December 25, 1978, the quiet hamlet of Lekhi village, near Naharlagun, became the unlikely stage for a historic moment-the first official Christmas celebration in Arunachal Pradesh. What began as a modest gathering of faith unfolded under constant risk, yet it remains remembered as a seed of resilience that grew into a tradition across the frontier state.

As usual, also in the weeks before Christmas, the Harmutty mission near the Banderdewa border gate became a lifeline for tribesmen from Arunachal. Many of them walked for days through forests and hills, carrying bu...