To Sunday Shillong,
The article, ‘Passion for Flashing’, published in the November 18 edition, was a fantastic insight into youth fashion and quintessentially Shillong street fashion. Though I knew about the shop in Police Bazar, I did not know there are so many artists in this city who are into shoe and clothes painting. I like to experiment with my clothes and my looks and in my teenage fancy, I often paint quirky motifs on my shirts and jeans, and also bags. When I get bored with the look of my room, I try to add some character to it by painting a ghoulish face here or a peace sign there. All of these are a result of an amateur’s boredom. But the works which were featured in the article look so professionally and intricately done. I wish these young artists luck and hope to create something as good as them, but of course for personal consumption.
Also, the artists aptly mentioned that these painted shoes and jackets are not for all seasons and should not be worn in the rain. I too had wondered about this problem because I wanted to flaunt my quirky stuff in all seasons. It was my grandmother who suggested a method to make stuff rain-proof. It is a simple household method. One has to rub a piece of candle on the shoes or the bag in a way that it does not get stuck to the surface. Then after sometime, pour water on the waxed surface. I tried this on my shoes and it did work. But I am sure, even this advice will come with a warning: ‘Not suitable for torrential rain’.
Thanking you
Gavin Kharshandy
To Sunday Shillong,
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L) is an annual forage legume, a medicinal herb and spice crop belonging to the plant family Fabaceae. The plant is commonly known as methi in Hindi and Bengali. This chemurgic legume plant (crop) is closely related to alfalfa (Medicago sativa L). A predominantly dryland (rainfed) crop, it does well with minimal irrigation and is an excellent nitrogen fixer that can be successfully used in crop rotation cycles in semi arid agro-climatic zones.
Currently grown in India (largest global producer), Iran, Pakistan, China, Turkey, Australia, the US, Canada, Russia, Argentina, Mediterranean Europe and North Africa, this crop is quite resistant to diseases and pest infections but is known to be susceptible to the fungal pathogen powdery mildew (Erysiphe polygoni DC) and does not grow well in moist and humid areas that facilitate fungal infection. Fenugreek leaves and seeds are rich in plant chemicals such as complex carbohydraes (galactomannan), steroidal sapogenins (like diosgenin) and amino acids; and have been reported to be an excellent galactagogue (milk letting), anti-diabetic and anti-hyeprcholesterolaemic in both experimental animals and on medical trials on humans.
It has recently become an essential raw material for the pharmaceutical and neutraceutical industries and been used in designing different functional foods due to the rich medicinal and nutritional properties. It will be important for farming communities to try and grow methi on marginal lands and under low-cost agricultural production system as this crop has a good global market.
Thanking you
Saikat Kumar Basu