Shillong Jottings

Date:

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Durga Puja is here
O my eternal mate, my beloved forever, do not abandon me.
In the unfathomable depths of this earthy realm,
As I remain fearless, unwavering
Who do I count upon, but you, lonely, or in company?
You, the only treasure of the penniless,
the Lord of the hapless, the strength of the powerless.
You, the ocean of the nectar of sweet love, rejuvenate
The old, the weary, woeful.
(Translated from one of Rabindranath Tagore’s songs published in Gitabitan)

Goddess Durga is returning home with her children and devotees are getting ready to celebrate the occasion with fervour.
Over time, Durga Puja has evolved from being a religious ritual into a socio-cultural phenomenon, jubilantly observed by people from all walks of life, irrespective of religion, caste or creed.
The Durga Puja celebrations in West Bengal are unmatched. The Durga Puja in Kolkata has now been inscribed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage List of UNESCO in December 2021.
Shillong may be no match for the intensity shown by devotees in Kolkata, but the devotion and ebullience of Shillongites are second to none.
As the Mother prepares to descend to Earth, the residents here are gearing up to welcome her with exuberance. COVID-induced restrictions had played spoilsport last year and the year before, but 2022 promises to be different.
Hectic activities are under way across city pandals with people working round-the-clock to get everything in place ahead of the Puja inauguration on Saturday. Decorations, construction of food stalls, special lights, decorative gates and sundries are being installed.
The government machinery is also working overtime to ensure the festivities begin and end without a glitch.
It is time to welcome the Goddess.

The quest
Time and again we have seen roads in the city so packed with vehicles that traffic barely moves for hours. And with festivities just around the corner, how the state resolves this situation is a million dollar question. However, instead of being far-sighted and imagining the problem solved, lets pay attention to the ones toiling to ensure that the vehicles keep moving — the traffic police personnel.
It is evident that there is shortage of manpower but these men and women have braved any challenge whilst spending countless hours managing traffic which is sometimes obnoxious.
Earlier this week, two Shillong Traffic Police (STP) personnel interacting while managing a section of the road chock-a-block with cars in Rilbong were overheard by the SJ team.
As one stood near the junction, the other was making way for a VIP escort en route to Military Hospital.
Despite the road being so densely packed, a thoroughfare was created for the convoy to pass with the help of the VIP’s security personnel.
The STP cop standing near the Rilbong junction asked his colleague if he could help clear the traffic jam at his end, to which he replied in the negative with a visibly helpless look on his face.
Although each of them wanted to find a way to ensure the traffic flows, the two of them ceaselessly looked at vehicles as they moved at snail’s pace.

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