By Aiborlang Nongsiej
In the early days, visitors named Shillong the ‘Scotland of the East’. The beauty of the hills, its cleanliness and the favourable climate is similar to that of Scotland. Hence this moniker! Shillong is also known as the educational hub of the Northeast and this is illustrated by the number of students coming from different states of Northeast India for higher studies. Having travelled to most states of the Northeast and talking to different people I find that they speak highly of Shillong for its achievements in different fields such as education and cleanliness. The city is peaceful and conducive for students to study and excel in their academic careers. In fact, a student from outside the state said, ‘Three years I was in Shillong, not even once did I experience a curfew or a bandh except for a few days when there was a problem at the Harijan Colony. Above all, it is a peaceful city.’
It is indeed agonising to see the present situation of Shillong when compared to those glorious days of the past. We have heard narratives about the wonderful days and the beauty of Shillong from many people particularly from those outside the state and from foreigners who visited Shillong in the past. But what do we see now in the city of Shillong? Drug suppliers and drug addicts are increasing, traffic jams which delay our travel; the rivers of the city are dirty, roads, drains and footpaths are full of plastics and garbage. Above all, crimes are increasing due to the proliferation of drug addicts in the city. Several cases of killing and robbery due to the effect of drugs have been reported. Hence, where is the glory of Shillong? The climate was pleasant in the past but it is now getting very humid. It is high time to take up afforestation measures and to stop deforestation in areas outside the city. It is also shocking to see the low literacy rate of Meghalaya compared to other states in Northeast. The irony is that students from all the states rush to Shillong for higher education the people of Meghalaya are not making use of the educational opportunities. Speaking with few individuals from a village which is a little distance away from the city was very disappointing. People have stopped going to school and there was not even a single educated person in the whole village. The village is still in poverty and backwardness in many fields due to lack of education.
The city of Shillong is becoming dirtier by the day. I remember those past few days when heavy rains caused flooding and damaged many areas in the city. Rivers around Shillong carry with them plastics and garbage. Unfortunately plastics are stuck in many places when the water level is down. Let us not blame anyone about the dirty city instead let us blame ourselves for not respecting mother earth. A few days ago I was travelling in a local taxi with a student from one of the famous schools in Shillong. The student was consuming junk food and later threw the plastic container out of the car. I asked him why he did that. Surprisingly the student looked at me angrily and asked me, “Who are you to teach me?” This is a simple example of why our city is becoming dirtier. Personally I feel that our schools and teachers are not taking sufficient steps to train the students to keep the environment clean. I had visited a number of schools in the city and found that though the school campus is clean, outside the school gate things are completely different. A number of educational institutions have big sign boards that say ‘Plastic Free Zone or Tobacco Free Zone’ but do we really impose these rules on our students? Thus, I agree with the saying ‘I was born intelligent but education ruined me’. In my opinion, real education is respecting mother earth and keeping it clean.
Personally I appreciate the initiative taken by ‘The Shillong Times’ in celebrating its platinum jubilee with the theme ‘Keeping the Environment Clean’. Certainly this is a big contribution by an important newspaper in the state to create awareness about the importance of cleanliness and mother earth. I am sure that Shillong was completely different and very clean when the newspaper began its publication 75 years ago. Now the danger of pollution is increasing every day. Hence the newspaper with a duty towards professional journalism is also reporting the effects of pollution in the city and has come out with the theme ‘Clean Environment’ as a year-long agenda.
The rivers around the city such as ‘Umshyrpi’ and ‘Wah Umkhrah’ which at one time were places for fishing and leisure spots are now dumping spaces and all drains in the city are connected to these rivers. Moreover, even the septic tanks also empty into these rivers. Where then is beauty and cleanliness of Shillong?
Staying outside the state for few years, I feel sorry for my own people, who are unaware of the value of Shillong insofar as beauty and cleanliness is concerned. People from other states long to buy land in Shillong and build a house here. Shillong is blessed with good climate and beauty; the summer is not too hot and the winter bearable. In my conversation with a gentleman he said ‘You are blessed to be living in Shillong. Alas! local people don’t realise this! The other day as I was travelling through NEIGRIHMS Hospital a gentleman told me that many places in those areas of New Shillong are bought by other states such as Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and many non-local individuals. I am sure that many are aware of the New Shillong while our own people have no vision for the future. I am afraid that very soon the locals are going to rent a house from non-locals. I am also shocked at how the Government and the village authorities have given NOC to purchase land in their jurisdiction. People are quick to see the advantage of having a piece of land in Shillong while the local government and the people are not aware of the evil of land alienation. The question is how many Meghalayans purchase land in other North-eastern states and how difficult is it to get an NOC? The glory of Shillong will be lost if we don’t take care of our heritage.
It is interesting that we the Khasis are fighting for recognition of the Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, but many Khasi youth in Shillong today converse to each other in English not in Khasi. Of course, I am not saying that we should speak in Khasi when non-Khasis are part of the group. But in my experience I found that we feel proud to speak to each other in English rather than in Khasi even if both are Khasis. In this case we should learn from the Mizo people who are very proud to speak in their own language to each other. Yet their literacy rate is one of the highest in India. Therefore, it is high time to develop our language in Education as well as in conversation if we want it to be recognised in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, as the Khasi Authors’ Society (KAS) have been demanding in the past few days. Hence let us become another Soso Tham if we want our language to be accepted in the Eighth Schedule.
Lastly, let us remember that Shillong is one of the most blessed places in the Northeast and the city is in need of our cooperation for making it better and cleaner. I appreciate the East Khasi Hills Police too for taking the initiative to keep the city clean by imposing a law and fine against littering on the road sides. I also believe it is a good step to keep the city clean by using proper places for the call of nature. Finally I urge all readers to take this issue seriously for better and cleaner Shillong or else its glory will be lost forever.