Editor,
New Year’s day celebrations in Jowai is one event I seldom miss. As one who spent his initial years in the town and has always participated in the event , it has become almost like a tradition for me. So no matter how far away I am from Jowai, I have to be there for the celebration . The celebration is unique and seen nowhere else in India. It resembles the Rio Carnival in Brazil at least as far as the community dancing and revelry and festive extravaganza is concerned. Prior to the dance, every member of the respective localities take part in the well organised mega feast in the late afternoon.. Everyone contributes for the feast; the affluent contribute more so that the poorer members and their families can also take part in the community feast and so that no one is left out. The traditional food served in the feast is excellent. The dance starts immediately after dusk when the feast is over. People dance to the tune of music which comprises pre-recorded New Year songs composed by talented youths of the respective localities. The lyrics are distributed to each and every member so that they can also take part in the singing while dancing The sound of music which comes from the music system and speakers loaded on a pickup truck carry the decibels far and wide and can be heard all across the town. Along with the music, crowd of men and women, boys and girls and children in their best attire join in the dancing procession which starts from their respective localities and heads all the way to Iawmusiang in Jowai Central. Here the dancing parties converge and thousands merge in dancing and greeting each other. Amazingly there has never been any unpleasant incident throughout this festivity down the years . The looks and the smiles that all those in the dancing party wear on their faces describes the spirit of the town on that day .This year the spirit is more exuberant and the excitement more intense. The atmosphere is stunning especially at the convergence point where there are proper lightings all around Thanks to initiatives and the efforts of the Jaintia Tourism and Environment Society and the District Administration which encourage the localities to bring out their best with the aim to promote the event as a tourism potential in the state. This has already paid dividends as I met one lady from Holland video-graphing the event and some youths from Himachal Pradesh dancing merrily with the crowd. Prizes are awarded for the best music, dancing fervour, discipline and other achievements as well. Traffic was also well managed this time . With more publicity, I expect that this is one event which can attract visitors from all over to Jowai in the years to come. So here’s hoping to see many of you feasting and dancing in the grand celebration of New Year’s Day 2015 in Jowai and Happy and Prosperous 2014 to everyone.
Yours etc.,
K.L.Tariang
Shillong -3
Northeast time zone
Editor,
The bold step announced by the Assam CM Tarun Gogoi to make a change in IST for Assam, is a wake up call to all the CMs of North east to unite and press for a special time zone for the North East. I congratulate you for the editorial of Monday December 6, 2014 and am in full agreement with the proposals made therein calling upon everyone to work for the implementation of this dream idea. The best hours of the morning are wasted for the people of the Northeast as they have to wait for the rest of India to wake to start to work or be idle together. The new time zone for the Northeast should be at least two hours ahead of the IST so that our schools will start earlier and so too all other activities. The proposed Assam formula is only a remnant of the British Raj which introduced the Chai bagan time to get more tea produced from the magnificent tea gardens of Assam. Hence today as a collective voice the Northeast must get the help of experts and propose a new time zone that will improve the health, better work output, easier study hours and energy saving for the whole country. I hope the new time zone that they will propose will also include change of timings for winter and summer. In summer the days are longer while in winter they are shorter. This problem can also be taken care of in the new proposed Northeast Indian Standard Time. I hope all the political parties, NGOs and all people of goodwill could unite to achieve this end. The IT industry has revolutionised our lives and so it will not be a problem to conscientise the people and make it happen. I do not foresee any major hurdle that cannot be overcome in the implementation of this as many countries in the world are doing it most effectively.
Yours etc.,
Devasia Vazhayil,
Via email