SHILLONG: While most of the cities in India boom with various activities till late night, most of the states in North Eastern India including Shillong see closure of the day’s proceedings, soon after evening falls.
Shillong is one another state in the North East which lacks night life as the daily activities comes to a halt as soon as the clock strikes 7 in the evening.
It is evident that shopkeepers in most parts of the city pull down their shutters soon after sunset fearing anti-social elements that might cause disturbance.
Some senior residents recall the fact that nights in Shillong during the 70s were full of activities as people were in the habit of going out for walks at night and most importantly, they could roam the streets freely till late at night.
“People that time were fond of movies and they would visit cinema halls for the 8 pm show but this trend is not practiced any more in Shillong,” a senior resident said.
However, the situation changed totally after the law and order situation in Shillong town deteriorated in the late 80s.
Though much has changed since then in Shillong as certain areas of the city including Laitumkhrah, Police Bazar and Jhalupara continues to be lively till 8:30 pm.
Senior residents also believes that increasing number of crimes in the city also force people to remain indoors after sunset while adding that people after their tiring day would be most happy to spend quality time with their friends and families.
In the past few years, some night clubs have come up in the city and these clubs remain open during the weekends where youngsters groove to the beat besides the new digital hall where youths can enjoy movies.
Some local taxis do ply after late night but their fares shoot three times high.
