Editor,
No, this is not a Valentine’s Day post talking of the beautiful things of life. This is just another post about my life in Shillong. And if you have been in Shillong anytime in the recent past, you know that this is going to be a story of frustration.
I have been working from home from Shillong for the past 11 months. And any of you who has ever done anything similar knows the pain. The internet speed is horribly slow. With BSNL broadband you see speed of 1 & 2 mbps even after spending Rs 700+ every month. Not one work week goes without you seeing, “Your internet connection is unstable” at least 10 times.
The speed that we get here with BSNL fibre, is the one that people get in mobile data in other places. When I say other places, I mean Guwahati, Kolkata and Bangalore, because these are the places I have tried and tested the speed of my Vodafone SIM myself. Here, my phone gets to edge mode, the moment the power goes off.
And dongle? My office gave me a Jio dongle with a pack of 5 GB per day. That is more than enough to meet my work needs. But guess what? There is no Jio connectivity in my locality! And I live in one of the most popular areas of the town.
And if this was not enough, MeECL takes up the responsibility of making my life a little worse. Load shedding from 12am to 3am, 9am to 12 pm and again 7pm to 8 pm!! That’s 7 hours a day!! And the load shedding happens in every part of the city at the same time. Is this some kind of a joke? I know many cities across the country adopt load shedding as a way of tackling power crisis. But 7 hours! That’s something unheard of.
Do I need to remind the authorities that a good number of students are doing online classes in institutions outside the state? How do they justify to their teachers their absence for 3 crucial hours of the day? What happens to the attendance? I do work-from-home for an IT giant and my client is US-based. How do I explain to my boss and my client my absence from work from 7pm to 8pm? Had the load shedding been locality-wise, I would have made some alternative arrangements.
A year ago, I was talking to my aunt (who was born and brought up in Shillong and is now based out of Delhi) about how, unlike her, I do not have the emotional attachment to the city. She says that is because my generation has not seen the city at its peak. All we saw was violence, tension, technological backwardness and lack of career opportunities. I guess she is right. I don’t know.
But one thing that I do know is the fact that every time I visit the city, my attachment to it decreases. This time it was the lack of modern-day basic amenities aka electricity and internet.
And if you think that this ‘beautiful hill station’ is an inconvenient place only for IT engineers like me who are doing their work from home, then you are sadly mistaken. The transport strike has brought life to a standstill in the city. Cabs, which are the lifeline of the city have been non-operational for over a week now. Moving from one area of the town to another is a nightmare unless you own a private vehicle.
Indeed, there is no end if I start jotting down the problems of the city. A good fraction of Shillong households have not had a drop of water in their taps since the past few days. The sheer inefficiency of the various State Government departments makes surviving everyday life in Shillong a Herculean task in itself.
Since all of this is futile, let me just get to action and look up an inverter and other alternative arrangements. Just letting you know, Shillong, you disappoint me yet again.
Yours etc,
Shatavisha Chakravorty,
Via email
Whither Meghalaya!
Editor,
The beauty of democracy is that it gives everyone the right to dissent when the law becomes an ass or the government isn’t legitimate enough to carry out it’s Constitutional mandate. This is reflected in the ongoing strike by commercial transport services mainly by a group of associations that involved in public service. The rise and then slight reduction of diesel and petrol prices by the present MDA dispensation is just an eyewash. It shows they haven’t had enough of the Rs 399 crore of Covid funds. These present MLAs of the ruling government are answerable to the people who put them in that Assembly to be their legislators and not opportunists. If this is the kind of governance that is happening then Meghalaya is going down the drain.
Yours etc.
Dominic Stadlin Wankhar
Shillong:3
Why this grudge against protesters
Editor,
Were the leaders and participants of the Ramjanmabhoomi Andolan, who accomplished a “divine job” on December 6, 1992 to pave the way for the construction of the “much-cherished” Ram Mandir of “dreams” , also “Andolan jeevis” and “parasites” in a mission of hatching “conspiracy” against the country by pursuing “Foreign Destructive Ideology” (FDI)!
Or are “Andolan jeevis” only those who dare to lodge non-violent protests against the BJP, Narendra Modi and the NDA Government policies in this democratic country which guarantees the right to freedom of speech? But if “Andolan” gets registered in the most violent fashion by the saffron brigade, by exercising brute muscular power and taking law in their own hands; it is nothing but practice of “pure cultural nationalism”!
What is the exact answer — Surely the nation wants to know!
Yours etc.,
Kajal Chatterjee,
Via email
MPSC finally declares results!
Editor,
Apropos the news report, “MCS Junior Grade exam results likely this week”,(ST February 8, 2021), I must sincerely thank the Meghalaya Public Service Commission for keeping its word and for ultimately declaring the MCS Mains results on February 11, 2021, whereby 76 candidates finally qualified for the Personal Interview Round, out of the 10,000 plus candidates who sat for the examination in 2018. Through this letter, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the successful candidates and I appeal to MPSC to stick to its declared schedule for the Interview Round, and to ensure that recruitment is done in a fair, transparent and professional manner, without undue delay, bias or favouritism towards any person.
Yours etc.,
Jeremiah S Via email