the abode of clouds - part 2

Shillong, if not Meghalaya is going crazy about this guy called Amit Paul who is on Indian Idol (I happened to watch a show in which he was singing, he seemed to be a very good singer). There were hoardings and banners all over the place exhorting the locals to vote for him. I even read a newspaper article asking people to vote. It lamented that a guy from Darjeeling was ahead of Amit Paul by 2 lakh votes (I think). The banners carried a message to the singer – “be Indian idol and make north east proud”, god save this country!! I don't know the final outcome of the show, I don't watch it.

On the second last day I managed to finish my work by around two and set out to see the local sights. I went to this place called Shillong peak a few kilometers outside the town. It is supposed to afford a very good view of the city. Unfortunately it was very cloudy and I managed to see nothing. Next I saw Elephant Falls. A nice waterfall, but the water downstream is kind of dirty – it has been made to go slow to create a tiny pool to facilitate boating, which no longer seems to take place anyway. I also saw a cathedral, a golf course and a lake called Ward’s Lake after this guy who got it built. My taxi driver (a local this time) was complaining that he had recently lost in the quarterfinals of a caroms tournament. Then he kind of surprised me by saying that last time he had won the tournament (I have absolutely no idea about the tournament). This guy seemed to follow the aforementioned television show quite avidly. Cherrapunji is supposedly a great place to visit. But the catch is that anybody wanting to go there will have to devote a day for the visit. When he dropped me off at my hotel, I gave him a tip of Rs 20. He said in a rueful voice that he was expecting it to be 50, so I had to increase it by 30 rupees!!

Coming back to Guwahati, there were traffic jams at one or two places, possibly caused because of the traffic being held up to facilitate some neta’s cavalcade. It is probably time for the courts to take notice of the discomfort caused to normal citizens whenever a VIP uses the same road as they are and to do something about this. On the return flight I actually saw rain fall from the clouds. Watching this from a plane was a novel experience. One or two people to who I told about my trip were of the opinion I have a great job. To anybody else who thinks I do, I must say the same thing I said to them – the grass is always greener on the other side!! Khublai, my reader for having read this!

the abode of clouds - part 1

Kum no? That is Khasi for ‘how are you?’ I visited Shillong around August 22nd on some official work. I flew down to Guwahati from Kolkata and then took a taxi to Shillong. It was the first time I had ever gotten onto an ATR. It’s a pretty small plane, though the ride was not as uncomfortable as I had expected it to be. Alliance Air (Indian airlines) needs to seriously do something about its air hostesses. They look thoroughly de-motivated to begin with. But the worst part is that they might de-motivate people from ever flying again with the carrier. There seemed to be present only the bare minimum amount of courtesy required to be shown to a fellow human being. Ask them something and the look they give you will make you regret your asking!!

Guess which vehicle was my taxi? A Santro!! The taxi guy was quite talkative. In his opinion if India is put under martial law after removing all the politicians, it will be a much better place. He had a good opinion about the army. Of the police though, he was pretty critical. And yes, he does not believe in seat belts. If you need to bolt out of a vehicle that has just run off the road, and down the hill, a seat belt will restrain you – that was his logic. He talked about the poor non-Assamese being killed in Assam. The general impression one I got was that he was slightly against the well-to-do part of the population. En route to Shillong there is this place called Bada Paani. It is actually a hydel power project. But the vistas there are simply stunning. There is an area just outside Guwahati which is the border between Assam and Meghalaya. The border at this place is actually the road. On one side of the road it is Meghalaya and on the other it is Assam. At one point on this road, along the Meghalaya side you will find a line of liquor shops and none on the Assam side. A little further off towards Shillong, there is a temple which is supposedly modeled along the lines of the one in Tirupati of Lord Venkateswara.

Inside Shillong the local taxis are almost all Maruti 800s, the first time I ever saw this. Unless you reserve one for your use, these taxis operate on a sharing basis. One day I had to stay back at the site till after 10 in the night. I called up my hotel to ask about dinner and found out that its restaurant had closed at 9.30 itself. I roamed about futilely on the roads near my hotel till about 10.30 to find something to eat. I came back to my room thinking that I was to go hungry that night. Luckily I had a fruit juice packet in my suitcase and also was able to persuade a waiter to provide me with some toast. The town goes to sleep very early. By around 10, everything is closed down, no traffic, no open shops, nothing.

(to be concluded in the next blog)