Patricia Mukhim is currently the Editor of The Shillong Times, one of North East India's oldest newspaper and most widely circulated in the State of Meghalaya. Mukhim started her journey as a teacher but has always been a rights activist and has also served on the National Security Advisory Board. She is the recipient of several media awards including the Padmashri in 2000. She is an astute observer on the socio-ecomomic and political issues of India's North East and its varied conflicts and writes columns for several news portals on issues related to the region.