Saturday, April 26, 2025

SHILLONG JOTTINGS

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Women as outcasts

On March 29 at around 9 pm the Dorbar Shnong Pynthorbah announced over the public address system that would shock many in this 21st century!

The announcer informed the local residents that the ‘Dorbar Shnong’ would be held on March 31 (Monday) at the locality’s Community Hall. The announcer further insisted that at least one male representative from every household should attend the Dorbar, the agenda of which was the submission of the Dorbar’s Annual Report and election of new office bearers.

The announcement ended with a rider, “No womenfolk will be allowed at this Dorbar”. What a blatant insult to women living in this age and era! When the whole world and the country is talking about women’s empowerment, here we have a locality banning women from attending the Dorbar Shnong let alone the idea of inducting them as members. What happens to a women-headed household with no male member?

Should that household be unrepresented? Will they have no say whatsoever in the election of the Dorbar members?

Those who think matrilineal Meghalaya is a woman’s paradise should take off their blinkers! (Contributed)

City held to ransom

This is what happens in the wilds. Two rhinos lock horns and it’s the innocent grass that gets trampled upon! The tussle over inappropriate choice of words by the Urban Affairs Minister and the dent it caused to the pride of Mawlai legislator had only one outcome…a city held to ransom.

Mammoth piles of garbage in Laitumkhrah and other pockets of the city with the distinct characteristic smell was the only sight that met every eye, thanks to the ban on garbage disposal by the ‘hurt’ lot.

Unplanned expansion of urban areas without adequate facilities, population explosion, rural migration, influx, and an intricate land tenure system which limits government control over usage of land are some of the reasons which have been identified as factors behind the growth of slums in Shillong and in this context, even Laitumkhrah together with many other localities are slums.

The specified indices used for declaring areas as slums include sanitation, drinking water, dwelling homes, economic status of the residents, conditions of roads, drains and sewerage system. If we start analyzing deeper in this context, the next address proof we produce would start with the label ‘Slum Area Number…..’!

Legislators are expected to be more mature in their understanding of topics if not proficient in their knowledge of words.

An ambulance in the market place?

This ambulance belonging to the State Health Department was parked at the Laitumkhrah market parking lot on Saturday March 29 at 2:30 pm.

Passers-by wondered whether some vegetable vendor or grocer was taken ill. But there was no such emergency.

Evidently this vehicle was used for personal errands. But this is shameless Meghalaya where anything goes.

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