There’s something very refreshing and uplifting about being in Shillong. It’s like a “homecoming” experience every time I visit the place. Umiam lake (Barapani) greets visitors with its calm blue-green waters, surrounded by majestic pine trees, and great winding roads. It’s a breath taking view and exhilarating experience money cannot buy!
My earliest memory of Shillong is riding in a white fiat (NLK 808) driven by my dad, and heading toward Police Bazar. We stayed in Prakash Hotel in Laimukhra and later shifted to the Shillong Club. My brother was already studying in St. Edmunds School and I was to be admitted in Pine Mount School, in class KG. Even after I graduated from school and left Shillong, I always considered Shillong as my dream destination, and also longed to settle down here someday. When friends from the mainland wanted to visit the north east, I was always proud to recommend Shillong. Everything about Shillong – the natural landscape and incomparable beauty, educated and urbane people, brilliant roads, interesting places to hang out and dine – is truly a delight!
Many people who’ve grown up in Shillong and left for other/greener pastures (even to the ends of the world) cannot really claim to have “outgrown” Shillong in the psychic sense. The word Shillong or vivid memories associated with life here keep appearing in literary writings (to name one, Arundhati Roy’s book, God of small things), paintings and other creative works. This makes one realize that the artist (painter, novelist, poet) may have, at one point of time in life, perhaps in childhood, had been associated with Shillong. There’s certain nostalgia about “growing up” in Shillong in one’s early foundational years.
I have friends living in the metros and abroad who make it a point to visit Shillong each time they come to the north east or the country. They grew up here and at one corner of their hearts, still hold out a candle for Shillong. Many of them may not necessarily dream of returning to Shillong permanently, but they definitely choose Shillong as the destination to chill out and have a really cool vacation.
Of course, Shillong has now become really crowded. It’s like an oasis for the north east, and thousands of people see it as the ultimate educational destination. The roads are jam packed with vehicles, making it simpler to just walk than be caught in traffic, sometimes for hours! The Shillong-Guwahati road which takes 2 to 3 hours to cover, may now take even up to 6 to 9 hours during the worst traffic congestions!
Compared to many cities in the north east, shillong has “assimilated” various cultures into its fold. Despite small communal clashes (locals vs. Bengalis, locals vs. Nepalis etc.), the people are more or less tolerant and even politely accepting of “outsiders.” Bangladeshi refugees are filtering into Shillong, but this pattern still cannot come close to the threat of “mianization” that Dimapur faces. Nagaland’s slip-up has been in the area of politics – of viewing the illegal migrants from Bangladesh as “vote banks” and also as convenient substitutes for a poor (almost negligent or even none existent) local work culture.
The Welsh missionaries brought Christianity (Presbyterianism) into Meghalaya. History tells us that the Welsh were unable to mass convert the locals or even uproot them completely from their “pagan” traditions and cultural practices. As such, indigenous religion continues to flourish; and as Folklorist Desmond Kharmawphlang observes, people who still follow indigenous religion have prospered tremendously and have made a niche for themselves in all walks of life. In Nagaland by contrast, the American Baptist missionaries played a big role in mass conversion of the animist Nagas, and side by side destroyed a lot of good traditional practices, rare artifacts and practical world views that sustained the Nagas for centuries. The traditional Naga way of life was radically replaced by a kind of socio-religious Christianity, and of course modern education came in. The influence of an alien culture such as westernization, which is essentially “Americanism” seeped in too. For an indigenous group of people, this was bound to cause identity confusion to some extent.
In comparison, as Folklorist Desmond notes, the educated people of Meghalaya right from the colonial, pre-independence era, have produced a vast body of literature based on their culture, tradition and history, which till today provides a continuity with their roots and assertion of people’s indispensible identity. As such, they know where they are going, and where they have come from; and there is no distracting conflict, whether political or otherwise, in their land. Indeed, what a blessing!
Even as a student, I noticed that in Shillong a huge body of the middle-class is educated and uniformly well-off, that is, the distinction between the various economic classes is not too obvious unlike in my own state. And right up to recent times, their society was never seen as economically or socially imbalanced, except now that a new affluent class of private entrepreneurs is fast emerging. Still, Shillong is such a place that it gives each person (whether local or outsider) a fair chance to acquire quality education, set up businesses or to just have a “life” of one’s choice. A relative of mine, totally unschooled, straight from the village but determined to make an honest and decent living in Shillong is running a student hostel successfully for many years now. Another acquaintance whose life partner is a musician, says that although she’s a non-Khasi, Shillong is her “home” because it gives her space to be herself. People can lead unconventional and alternative, even eccentric lifestyles (of artists and musicians) without raising eye-brows. It’s true, people here mind their own business.
Moreover, no one would dare creep on you for illegal “tax” collections. Elsewhere in the region, business people often face untold frustrations due to tax harassments from multiple underground factions.
What I admire about the teachers in Shillong’s educational institutions is their modesty and sense of appropriateness in dress, manners, student discipline and expectation. In certain parts of the region, one may even see teachers (who are supposed to be role models) parading in high fashion western clothing, deflecting impressionable students from their lessons. In Shillong it was/is the traditional jainsem and the dhara; a garment bound to elicit respect in an academic setting.
Despite my boundless applause for Shillong, there are others who insist that Shillong is an “unreal, fairy-tale land,” and that people here are too complacent in this “tiny be-all-universe” that they do not see or know much beyond their private boundaries. A college lecturer from Shillong, Eric Nongkynrieh, did agree that the city used to be a “sleepy little town” few years back. But it has now woken up to a bustling competitive spirit with the rest of the world; and yet at the back of their minds, people still miss the “old idyllic Shillong.”
For visitors like me, there’s always something to do or explore in Shillong. In my recent visit (May 2011), I went for “sight-seeing” with my friends to Bara Bazar! We also went to NEHU to interact with some teaching staff; and we completely relished the local cuisine in a little shop on campus. We hired a taxi in the torrential downpour and went to Ri Kynjai for a spin. It was a total paradise by the lake, a straight 5-star resort! Since a small pot of tea (2 cups) there cost Rs 250/- + 20% tax, we decided to opt for “garam chai” on the road side! Such experiences are memory-making.
Shillong may be an unreal, fairy-tale world but writers like me would cho
ose to dream on and never wake up from that “infantile infatuation” with it. At heart I’m a true Shillong girl and will never outgrow my love for the land or the people. The yearning to invest some blissful years of my life in Shillong continues, and I hope the universe will conspire in my favor (to use Paulo Coelho’s words) and truly make it happen, very soon. This perfectly idyllic land of the mystic clouds is definitely my pick!
(Written By: Susan Waten, HAWA, Dimapur)
