Tourism destinations crying to be cared
Just about 8 kms from downtown Shillong is the village of Mawshbuit which is accessed 
through the Gorkha Training Centre in Happy Valley. In this village is a water that cascades down a perpendicular drop straight down and then sends up a cloud of mist. About twenty years ago, this waterfall was clean and pristine. Today, the water is greyish blue and even from a distance there is strong stench that comes up to greet visitors from the viewpoint.
Some visitors from Shillong, who went to this tourist destination on Sunday, were shocked to find that the waterfall was no longer falling with its usual force laden as it is with some kind of sludge.
When the locals were asked the reason for the stench they said that the water comes from Umkhen, the surroundings of which are now crowded with hutments but no sewage treatment plants in the same manner that people release their septic tanks to the Umkhrah River and other rivers around Shillong city.
Observant local tourists that visit Elephant Falls will notice that the waterfall there is no longer clean and pristine because the septic tank from the Eastern Air Command flows through pipes towards the Elephant Falls. A joint inspection some years ago has not resulted in anything concrete.
Also, what the tourists noticed was that the forests surrounding the Mawshbuit village were all littered with liquor bottles. People were seen picnicking and cooking food but the leftovers were strewn all over.
This, in fact, is true of most tourist spots which lack supervision. The big hoarding with the dos and don’ts is neither read nor followed. There is a collection of Rs 20 per tourist which perhaps is too small an amount to enable the village to employ regular cleaners.
In any case, is it not time for visitors to these rapidly declining spots to take back their garbage home and dispose them of the right way.
Is the Tourism department not meant to tackle this basic problem?
Some spirit to remain spirited
A handful of people must be familiar with Jackie Chan-starrer Drunken Master. For those who aren’t, here a succinct diegesis of the movie — the protagonist, Jackie Chan, undergoes kung fu training under an elderly master who is invincible when it comes to hand-to-hand combats. But here’s the catch — he is invincible only when he is under the influence of alcohol. The kung fu master would be shaky and frail whenever he would be sober.
The brief narrative above by the SJ team was just an example to evince that in the world of fiction, people, who need alcohol to be full of vim and vigour, actually exist.
Now, a hysterically bizarre incident that left an SJ team member in splits recently was when it stumbled upon a tad similar character — no, not a kung fu master, of course.
Needless to say, Shillongites are familiar with the word dajus — they are men who are engaged in physically demanding works to eke out a living.
Now, a situation last week necessitated the hiring of a daju by the SJ team member.
After being hired for the task, the daju found the items to be aplenty. He then suggested that he would take at least five turns to get the job done. It was mutually agreed.
During the first trip, the daju successfully transported the consignment. It was when he said, “Give me a ten-minute break. I’ll get some air and come back.”
When the daju came back after the break, he got back to discharging his duty. He sought another breather and came back anew after a few minutes. This time, he was tad humorous and full of beans.
After another round and subsequent break, he started chuntering while smell of liquor emanated from him. He kept on taking his ‘breaks’ till he got the job done.
At first, there were apprehensions that the consignment will be in jeopardy with a daju who is in an inebriated state. However, he took everyone aback when he executed his duty impeccably till the end.
By now, the daju’s sense of humour was apparently on a par with many stand-up comedians.
After pointing out to the daju the apprehensions during the course of the work, an impressed SJ team member enquired from him on how he handled such hefty consignments despite being in an inebriated state and if he works like this every day.
To this, he replies, “I am at my best when I am under the influence of alcohol”.
The daju then expressed his gratitude and made a move, singing a classic Bollywood song.
*The song faded as he continued to walk away*