Shillong Jottings

Word of the Week
If a contest is organised in Shillong to select the ‘word of the week’, ‘shoddy’ would win hands down.
This word has been used again and again this past week for a number of reasons and at a number of different locations across the city and its outskirts.
The word ‘shoddy’ has always been associated with government projects in the state. Be it roads, bridges, buildings and others, the word ‘shoddy’ fits them all.
The word ‘shoddy’ gained popularity once again when videos of leaking roofs, water-filled rooms and cracks on walls appeared in the six-week-old Inter-State Bus Terminus at Mawlai Mawiong. This was followed by the damage caused to a bridge on the Mawlai Bypass less than three years after its inauguration.
The word ‘shoddy’ has been used so much over the years that it has more or less acquired cult status here.
Its popularity will continue to soar with time and there will be no let-up.
As the SJ team winds up this piece, they are confident that the word ‘shoddy’ will continue to repeat its impressive run in the coming week with the collapse of the dome of the under-construction Assembly building at New Shillong Township making it to the headlines. ‘SHODDY’ INDEED!!!

Rescue the wires
The rains have now begun showing some empathy towards us; it isn’t mercilessly pouring anymore, there’s some sunlight if not throughout the day. But this spell of rain did leave us with a few bitter memories — house arrest for some, while a leaking roof for others and may be a runny nose for some, too!
But the SJ team has an odd observation of the aftermath of the recent rains.
Out of the blue, wires in some places have begun to hang almost as close as where people’s heads are when they walk.
In some places, they have been tied to nearby walls while elsewhere they just seem to hang precariously.
One such place is Nongrimbah, Laitumkhrah, where wires are dangling in a lane, which seems to steal the aesthetic appeal of the place, according to some residents there. Another is Upper Mawprem.
Do we need rescue teams to align these wires, or is somebody deliberately letting the inconvenience hang fire?