Fear of the known and tested
It was a week of speculations as the city lived the countdown to the public rally called by pro-ILP groups at Students’ Field, Jaiaw on Saturday.
The previous day (Nov 29) there was an unprecedented traffic jam. A wise police official said people have all come out to buy groceries to stock their larder because they are unsure what would happen after the D-Day (Nov 30). Talk about doomsday predictions and Shillongites are geniuses.
You hardly hear anyone with a positive mindset who expects the meeting to go off peacefully. Such is the conditioning of the human mind in this city! While the meeting was going on many kept calling up friends at the meeting to ask if something is in the offing.
They find it hard to believe that a rally on a potentially combustible issue would end up uneventful.
Talking about speculations, many batted for a violent Saturday; others foresaw a string of agitations to follow that would disrupt normal life. There was no dearth of foreboding by the ever-concerned and self proclaimed good Samaritans. Little did they know and care that their warnings did more harm than good in the already volatile situation prevailing in the city.
Eventually, the doomsday prediction turned on its head as the rally ended peacefully and left little to talk about except the usual, “All shops were shut down at Khyndai lad and Iewduh,”etc.
Many also noticed that the meeting preceded with a prayer and that some of the non-Christian pro-ILP supporters never shut their eyes while the rest prayed. One of those who attended the rally said, “How do we read God’s mind in this whole convoluted situation?” after he heard one of the speakers say, ‘The voice of the majority is the voice of God.’
The prayer warrior said, “The God I know almost always sides with the minorities. This issue is messing us up big time.”
Seen but not heard!
The pro ILP rally of Nov 30 was indeed impressive and a trend setter of sorts. Many curious onlookers had gone to learn about the working mechanisms of the ILP as all are concerned about influx.
The rally dealt on the threat from influx, the insensitivity of the Chief Minister and said that the ILP is the one and only saving grace for all of us. How this would happen was never explained.
We still remain in the dark as to how ILP works and how it could stop influx. Most came back home none the wiser, as to the real objective of the meet.
An amusing part of the rally was the turn out by almost all non-Congress MP and MDC aspirants for the next elections. They made sure they were seen prominently in the front seats on the dais.
One MP aspirant made sure he sat just behind the Chairperson. He quietly slipped away when it became obvious he would not be invited to speak. These persons had been invited by the organisers and they had come in the expectation of being given the chance to share their wisdom with the crowd.
Nothing of the sort happened and most were left simply smirking at each other, lustily clapping at the wit of some other speaker. It must have really hurt.
A wit observed thus – A politician who does not speak can be compared to a crow that does not caw! To be seen but not be heard especially when you are an honoured invited guest is something new for politicians.
Our deepest sympathies to those who attended but only watched the fun. The only sensible guy was Ardent Basaiawmoit who gave the meeting a miss. It would have been too tormenting to be present and not speak!
Easy literary pickings
News floats in from corners of the world about high profile thefts of libraries housing ancient documents, blunting the reputation of libraries in many big cities.
With an aim to not be left behind, attempts are being made by the youth of today to be at par with the greatest thieves (?)
With exam schedules declared, everyone is bracing up to excel any which way. Students are seen rushing to libraries, making notes for mastering the syllabus but their hopes are crushed when the books they have borrowed have several pages missing.
Complaints have come in from many city based colleges that some of the suggested readings and even old question papers several pages missing thanks to the over-enthusiastic students with fertile imaginations who feel that ripping off pages is cheaper than shelling out money for photocopying.
College heads have only knee-jerk responses to the problem. They have restricted access to valuable materials held within special collections and don’t let anyone near the originals.
Students are told to use digital surrogates. This is anathema to genuine students who need regular referencing and additional reading.
The librarians should visit IIM Shillong to see how a fool-proof process enables people to borrow books and return them intact or face the music. CCTVs are viable options that can be considered to curb this menace so that the students who actually wish to devote time to studies can have books (without chunks of missing pages) to learn from!