Editor,
I can’t help but laugh at the stories that have been doing the rounds in Shillong about the famous “Bah Jyllud” (in fact he should be recruited in an acclaimed 7 star Spa or the Oberoi or Hilton Hotel considering his talent). This is Shillong where rumours abound and are repeated till they are believed to be truth. Even when the recent news about an asteroid that is about to pass the earth by a mere whisker (24,000 kms, correct me if I am wrong), is beginning to gain steam. Stories are that this planet (read asteroid) would be hovering over the earth and that there will be no sunshine for over a year. Even the stories of the famous Spa specialist ‘Jyllud’ is a story that passed on from one person to another but none could substantiate it. No woman came out with proof that she was the victim being massaged. We all remember those glorious days when we would walk with our heads held high because we believed that Michael Owen is from Mawkyrwat. Even the concerned electronic media took pains to air and prove that he is a British by birth. In some localities in Laitumkhrah the famous stories of an ‘Undertaker who walks in the night with an overcoat looking out for victims’ and ‘stone pelting mysterious persons’ became a household tale. And yes the famous telephone numbers that when you accept the call you bleed profusely to death leading PCO booth owners to display those numbers on their walls. Can you imagine such stories with no proof of credibility doing the rounds in this civilized era? As the saying goes ‘Shillong ke janta, manna parega.’ Now you have the three headed snake at Mawiong besides innumerable other stories like the person with a magical pocket from which moneys flow out like from an ATM machine (though no pin code required unlike in an ATM machine). Rest assured many more stories will float around but please have an open mind and consider all angles. Let’s delve on some serious issues like price rise, solution to traffic jams, Shillong bye-pass, clean and transparent governance, clean drinking water, proper roads for our brothers and sisters in the villages,drug abuse, AIDS and so on and so forth. ‘Jago Janta Jago’. Lastly, I hope that the Earth or more apt Shillong revolves around the Sun or not vice-versa considering in the bubble that we are in.
Yours etc.,
Adilbert Dkhar,
Shillong-793003