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!