Tug of Love
In a city that is accustomed to narrow roads and speeding vehicles, we have a question to ask: How do you act fast as a pedestrian?
An SJ team member witnessed a touching act of love as she walked her way to work, and she is sure, a lot of us have either done it first-hand or witnessed someone do it. We shall, as such, call it the Tug of Love.
The path was narrow and the evening was setting in when this SJ team member took a walk to her destination yesterday. Lots of people were strolling in this dimly-lit path, wrapped in a light blanket of fog.
Walking right ahead of her was a couple of young boys. While one of them, dressed in a hoodie, was a tall, seemingly teen-aged lad, the other was relatively younger, about ten or eleven years of age.
The younger boy, who was on the edge of the road, was immersed completely in relishing a bar of chocolate and as is natural, paid no heed to anything but the chocolate.
However, just when the little one looked up at the older guy, attempting to say something as he also ate his chocolate, a four-wheeler passed by at the greatest of speeds, out of nowhere! Wasting no time, the older boy pulled the tween boy as close as he could and stepped off the road.
Once the vehicle swooshed, the older boy switched sides with the young child and made sure he left enough room in case more menacing vehicles decided to surprise them. He then rubbed his brother’s hair who still had no clue what could have happened right there and then.
Dear readers, we all are familiar with the could-have-beens and should-have-beens of situations like these, when adrenaline-charged drivers cause unwanted troubles to harmless pedestrians. But, in this maddening game of speed and thrill, it is only this gentle and timely ‘Tug of Love’ that brings safety, security and unconditional love to our near and dear ones.
Heralding the winter
The winter season is here and the chill in the air is significantly noticeable. For Shillongites, the current weather pattern is a bit odd. The maximum day temperature is above normal while the minimum is below normal.
The weather office has been talking about a particularly harsh winter. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the global weather event known as La Nina will continue during the winter of 2022-23 in the Northern Hemisphere and may last till March next year. Due to this, the nights may be colder for the next few months.
Shillongites are used to cold winters. Those experienced enough have already made preparations for the next few months. Sale of woolen clothes has gone up in the city. People, who run second-hand cloth businesses, have packed up their summer stock and have shifted to selling jackets, jumpers, overcoats and the likes.
Tourists visiting the city from other states are seen with added protection – caps and mufflers besides the usual heavy jackets and sweaters during the late evening and night hours.
While November may not entirely be bracketed as a winter month, it should be seen as a time to prepare for the eventuality with the weather forecast predicting the mercury to plummet sharply from December onward. So let’s welcome the winter and the festivities ahead with gusto.