Road Trip!

If you’re someone from Shillong or even if you are planning a trip here, I’m pretty sure the name Sohra or Cherrapunji must have come up somewhere or the other… like on this blog for example 😀 To be honest, for the longest time, that name has been synonymous with Meghalaya tourism. That and Mawlynnong, the cleanest village in Asia, which I may or may not write about. There is more to this place however than travel brochures can provide. The southern part of the state is not always seen as the best choice primarily because of the vast expanses of coal mines and heavy vehicles plying the road, making it unsafe and loud. It was on this road that we set upon to find the fabled kingdom of Nongkrem, with deep gorges that rivaled that of Sohra and open grasslands??? Heaven it seems can be found on the road to hell.

Shillong: Then and Now, An Earthquake story

There’s no such thing as a quiet rumor in a small town/city and one that has gained strength and fervor  today is the impending earthquake, prophesied to destroy this city tonight at midnight.  People flocked in uneasy numbers to religious gatherings be it in hallowed halls or football fields. Fear tonight is no lonely soul.

It’s the 12th of June 1897 and an earthquake of the magnitude of 8.1 Mw has left  Meghalaya and Assam in ruins. It is the memory of this incident, fresh in the minds of the older generations that grips the city in a quiet discomfort.   These are a few images of an old Shillong, before and after the quake.

Shillong Town before the Earthquake

Shillong Town after the Earthquake

POLICE BAZAAR

Understanding Metal

It’s a Saturday afternoon and I’m out to meet some new and interesting people… Imti, Jonathan and Jason. I’ve known Jason for a while now and he’s the front man of a band called Pip Of the Fourth Mother. Imti is the lead guitarist and Jonathan the drummer of a very popular metal band called Dwar. We were meeting up to talk about the music scene in Shillong and take a crack at categorizing the different bands into genres, prominent bands and debate on the fore fathers, as it were, of each genre. This was going to be an interesting night. What started as few and far between names called out at random, slowly and steadily overflowed the seams of the paper, with genres as varied as Metal, Blues, Folk and Fusion. This, was getting to be no simple task.

The Origins of The Sawian Clan

Previously, we talked about how the two clans – Sohkhia and Marbuh were replaced by Nongtariang and Ngap Kynta clans respectively. The  Khar Ngap Kynta clan is a smaller clan that falls under one main clan The Khar Sawkpoh or Khar Sawkmie. Literally translated, that would mean ‘the clan of Four Stomachs or Four Mothers. Four clans were formed from the Four Mothers and they are the 1. Sawian 2. Phanbuh 3. Ngapkynta and 4. Kharsyntiew. So, without further adieu… let me tell you a story, about the  Sawkpoh clan and how it all began.

The Sawian Clan: Part II

Part I

Part II

There was once a hunter from the village of Rangthong named U Shan Maram from the Marbaniang Clan who frequented the banks of the Umiam river.  One day, as he was out hunting, his hunting dogs fell upon a scent and followed it to the cave with Shan Maram right behind them. What he saw was a heart wrenching sight of a frightened girl in tattered clothing hiding in a cave. The girl upon seeing this strange man, ran into the cave screaming. After repeated promises that he meant her no harm, she came out. He told her who he was and she in turn explained her plight to him and Shan, taking pity on her asked her to come along with him to his village. Months rolled into years and soon the two eventually fell in love and got married. In time she gave birth to four daughters, the first was Tuli, the second Tula, the third Aji and the fourth Aja. When these girls grew up, as is customary amongst the Khasis, Aja, the youngest stayed on with the mother and father and the rest were sent by the father to various directions. Tuli went to the east with her family and both Tula and Aji’s families to the south. Together, they were named the Sawkpoh Clan (four wombs) and so they spread the across the hills of Sohra and the surrounding areas.

Sohra on a not-so-sunny day…

Sohra or Cherrapunjee off the beaten track is a bit of an oxymoron. There is a feeling of resentment that envelops me as I write about Sohra, especially because every single travel blog about Shillong and Meghalaya does so. This feeling however is replaced by a memory of the overwhelming beauty that Sohra has to offer. These first few posts are about me finding my roots… learning about where I come from and what better way to begin than to the place where my clan comes from.

The Beginning

All journeys begin at home and home is where the heart is. Popular philosophy aside, its hard to truly appreciate where you are unless you know where you’ve been. No seriously… without trying to sound like I take myself too seriously…Crap!

On with it then… I’ve recently been on a marvelous academic journey that has literally taken me around the world. To the experienced traveler this might not seem like a big deal but to me it was… astounding. I will not however speak of where I’ve been but where I am now, at this very moment. Shillong is my home and although there have been countless times when I wished I was elsewhere, there is a certain small town charm to it that lingers in the back of your mind, no matter where you are. I must grudgingly admit however, that home was not quite as I remembered it. Glaring traffic sounds and a overpopulated pseudo metropolitan air is a rude awakening from the pristine memories you have as a child or even as a young adult. Shocked to an almost nightmarish apprehension for anything remotely affiliated to the new Shillong, I found myself staying home more often than not. Mr Biped… had forgotten how to walk.

Now I know this sounds quite melodramatic of me but there was a genuine sense of apprehension that I cannot fully describe. Coupled with the fact that I was right in the middle of a Meghalayan monsoon, I truly felt helpless. What followed were drawn out, completely unproductive days of staring into the computer screen. And then the lights went out. Anger lead to frustration to fear and then to complete and total silence. Suddenly I was 15 again… looking for candle sticks and matches, suddenly I was free. I took my first steps into the garden the very next day filled with an overwhelming sense of wonder and anticipation. I understood what it was that I needed to do. The following pictures and posts will be an attempt to find the Shillong that I once knew… the Shillong that I grew up in… the Shillong that might otherwise be forgotten.

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