By Jeremy Majaw
The Pro-Life Skate Park, situated atop a hill at Diengïong in East Khasi Hills district, is one of the first of its kind in Shillong and is catering to the growing demand of young skateboarders for about 3-4 years now.
The location is undoubtedly uncanny but the quietness of the place adds to the mysterious beauty of the forested hills which can be viewed from the park.
Giovani Majaw (22), an avid skateboarder, is the founder of the park. He recalls how it was during a tour that his father, Manchesterfield Wann, had suggested constructing a skate park of their own. It was the beginning of Majaw’s dream that has finally turned real.
There is another reason for which Majaw, an alumnus of Hill Crest Higher Secondary School in Rynjah, took up the project. He and his friends always found it difficult to practise on the streets of Shillong as many people would object. Majaw, a graduate, is self-taught and started skating about four years ago.
Pro-Life is the shorter version of ‘Promoting Life’ and dreams, says Majaw and adds that it was a daunting task to build the park brick by brick. The skateboarder has his two brothers, Aaron and Gedion, to help him run the park. Aaron recalls the tremendous effort it took to construct the park. He remembers how Majaw came up with the design and work started with a lot of heavy lifting and hammering rocks. “But it’s worth it,” he says.
The first hindrance was in the form of fund. Majaw had tried to stitch up a few deals but was rejected by commercial companies. Instead of giving up, he decided to take up the gauntlet and make the project happen. He always found his family beside him in the time of crisis. Though he started working on the project last January, it finally took off on Independence Day of the same year.
The construction of the park completed in eight months.
But it was not the end of Majaw’s troubles. Initially, the park received tepid response as people complained of the distance and broken roads. So Majaw and his team decided to layer the approach road with gravel to make it accessible to automobiles. Though there is a functioning restroom there are no eateries and individuals visiting the park are advised to pack their lunch. A food station will come up soon.
The walls inside have murals with the statement “Broken Bones Heal Don’t Fear” as a pick-me-up message for skaters. The artwork is credited to local artists CSAC. “What we enjoy about the park is the serenity around and my friends and I often come here for practice. Even the surrounding community has no qualms about the park,” says Majaw, who lives in Umpling.
The popularity of the park can be largely attributed to social media. It was through platforms such as Instagram and Facebook that the park gained a following among the youth of Shillong. A popular local hip-hop duo, Leo Boys, have even shot one of their music videos there. “We just want to help and basically did it as a favour from one brother to another,” Majaw says.
Pro-Life hosted its first skating competition on the same day of its grand opening and hopes to grow more.
“We never thought we’d get a lot of participants but we were proven wrong as there were as many as 20 competitors with a large number of viewers. It was raining that day but it was still a good event and everyone enjoyed,” says Majaw.
The team looks forward to hosting more competitions but fund is always a problem. Apart from competitions, the park hosts lessons for new learners with a fee of Rs 3,500 per month, but later on decided that experience was a better teacher. They now charge a fee of Rs 100 per day and Rs 2,500 per month for using the park.
Majaw believes that skating is not only a sport but a culture and one has to understand that culture before trying to get into learning how to skate. He says skateboarding taught him a lot of things and hopes that the park will help spread the message and culture. He signed off with an advice, “Stop giving excuses, whatever you want to do in life, just do it.”