Gutka no ban here
Sale and manufacturing of gutka may have been banned by the State Government here in line with what is happening in other states but that laws are only as effective as their implementation. School and college students seem addicted to it. This is evident from the blue sachets the litter every nook and corner of the city. Smoking in public happens without anyone caring to report the incidents. When a paanwala was asked why he sells such items to school students in uniform he retorted that if he refuses to sell them the gutka they come in groups and threatens him with dire consequences. The paanwala said that he was threatened several times in the past and later thought that since he has to do business and gutka is coming to Meghalaya anyway he should continue to sell it anyway. The vendor says it is up to the students themselves to decide what is good or bad for them. These days it is common to see students chewing gutka and the smell that emanates is off-putting. Perhaps the school authorities should be more strict and so too the parents. It is known fact that chewing gutka could cause cancer of the mouth etc., Despite the grotesque adverts that precede every movie shown in the cinema halls, the young don’t seem to care. But neither do adults!
Shillong-Guwahati highway in peril
The condition of the Shillong-Guwahati National Highway from Umiam to Jorabat is in a horrible state of disrepair. Those with a weak back or spinal problems might find their problems aggravated at the end of their journey. While the patches of completed road are pleasant to ride on the rough patches are dangerous especially when it rains because drivers do not know how deep the craters are and vehicles often get caught in the huge potholes. It seems like the work has slowed down considerably on this highway. Skeletal staff and a general sense that nothing much is happening makes travellers rather despondent. In certain areas the landslide has covered up large parts of the road which have been black-topped. The unscientific cutting of hills to pave the way for the four laning has done irreparable damage as even a slight shower is enough to uproot trees, boulders and other materials on to the highway. Another sorry sight that is that of a lone labourer working alone near the Umiam Lake! One wonders where al the labourers have been despatched. Unless the State Government pushes nothing much is likely to happen on this lifeline of Meghalaya.
Open air street bars
Anyone who takes a walk in the evenings will not fail to see young people turning the road in their localities into a open air bar. The lanes and by-lanes are strewn with empty beer and whisky bottles. This happens every day. The people who drink are again school and college boys. In Meghalaya, the liquor shop salespersons don’t ask for an ID card when someone goes to buy liquour. So even if a 13 or 14 year old boy/girl asks for liquor they get it easily so long as they are not in uniform. Many attribute this to the culture of silence and denial that surrounds the society. Tribals have graduated from the social drinking of their locally brewed drinks which marks the celebration of every indigenous festival to Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). Some religions have ruled that drinking is taboo. So there is no question of bringing liquor (even the harmless wine) home for fear of being pulled up by parents and elders. As a result the streets (especially dark corners) are best to have conversations and drink. Whether it is good or bad is not the point. But unpoliced drinking as opposed to social drinking could lead to early alcoholism and early deaths. In Meghalaya we already have many deaths due to alcoholism. That is a cause for worry.