VIP escorts and their return journey
On Friday, Aug 31, the driver of a police Gypsy (ML 02 0098), drove like a madman. The Gypsy was obviously returning after dropping a Meghalaya VIP at Guwahati airport and the inmates were feeling liberated. At about 4 pm, the escort vehicle was somewhere at Byrnihat traversing some of the worst stretches of the Shillong-Guwahati road.
The driver honked loudly and made gestures that other vehicles should give it the right of way.
To the trained eye the cops looked like they had had more than a fair share of their ‘tot.’ Four of them lounging in the back seat enjoyed the discomfiture of the drivers and smirked at them for carefully negotiating the hairpin bends and crater-sized potholes with great concern not to turn over or damage their vehicles.
No one grudges these cops their rare moments of freedom except that their rash driving created a phobia in the long line of vehicles that slowly moved up to Shillong.
This is the typical case of the mice playing when the cat is away. About two kilometres away the Gypsy stopped for the cops to attend to the call of nature and guess what? They relieved themselves in full public view. What a dishonour to the uniform!
No land line instrument in Shillong!
Is the trusted land line going out of vogue? A lady whose land line instrument had gone kaput rushed out to get a new set. To her dismay she could not find a single instrument anywhere in the markets of Shillong.
Her first stop shop was Bhajanlal’s which is known to keep all kinds of gadgets. But they have since realised that land line instruments sell once in a blue moon while mobile phones sell by the minute so they have decided to stock only what sells. After visiting at least about a dozen shops, the lady landed at Glory’s Plaza where the instrument was available. She pointed at one that she liked but was told it was not a good piece. When she asked the shopkeeper to give her a nice solid piece, he sheepishly replied that all the sets are Chinese made and he could not guarantee how long they would last.
The lady had to finally call the BSNL for help. Our communication habits have indeed changed!
Most frequently asked question
FAQs or frequently asked questions on a range of issue can be found on the internet but guess what the FAQ of every Shillongite is? That FAQ is, “When will the Khyndailad mess be completed?” This answer unfortunately cannot be found on the net or in the DIPR encyclopaedia.
On Saturday, a lady wearing heels unsuspectingly stepped on a stone that was jutting out (the whole lane is at the moment as stony and rough as landing on the moon) and twisted her ankle.
But her heel also gave way. She wore one shoe and carried the other in her hand, hugely embarrassed by what happened.
But she was also in terrible pain. Someone was kind enough to help her to a cab. Last year a gentleman from Mizoram fell into a hole in the middle of the lane and had to be hospitalised. Urban Affairs Department is fortunate that it has not yet been sued by any of the people who have lost their footing on the treacherous lane.
People now are literally screaming and wanting to know when this ‘less than one kilometre’ lane will be completed. Any answers Ms Ampareen?
