Wednesday, December 11, 2024
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A journey into the wilderness

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Editor,

Not too long ago, we had many strange characters donning different symbols; affiliated with their respective political parties, making promises after promises, of leading us to the modern day promised land. Being the gullible and naive citizens that we are who crave for milk and honey, we gave these strange characters the highest seats at the table – a table with the most scrumptious meats and fine wines for them to feast upon. Has the feast ended? Oh no, it has only just begun. See this feast will last for five years. Have we reached the promise land that they promised? Again it is imperative to mention that it is too soon to tell, since it’s only been a month since these strange creatures got to catch their breath and to start cutting their meat and make no mistake it’s a whole animal they’ve been served, so it looks like we’re not getting there anytime soon. Fine, but have they at least started the journey to take us to the promised land? We’d like to hope so, but in the mean time they’ve simply entered the well-lit banquet hall connected with modern day inverters and shut the door on our faces, whilst we are left outside in the cold and in the dark gnashing our teeth, grunting and waiting for these strange characters turned lords to open their windows for some reflection of light to come our way while we fight for whatever leftovers they toss through the window.
Are we satisfied? I, for one, am not. We rue the day we gave these lords the seat at the table, and this arrogant display of character has only just begun. They promised us that promised land in the form of a smart city, but the endless cycle of power cuts, clogged drainage systems from a few hours of rainfall leading to floods resembling nasty ponds, daily horrendous traffic congestions seems to me like we have taken a detour through the wilderness in spite of, as reported, that rupees 280 crore out of rupees 349 crore sanctioned has been spent on the so-called smart city project. Their assurance to solve every problem we face is laughable, when they cannot solve a simple problem of power shortage. Is it too much to ask or expect? May we remind the lords that we are living in the 21st century and that our lives, be it from simple cooking to working to earn a living, relies on a not so complicated thing called electricity. We have complied with the load shedding timings given to us via the news but must we also comply with the irresponsible and untimely power cuts through the day? Should we not eat, work, bathe, or simply enjoy ourselves with some entertainment via electronic machines just because the lords can’t seem to figure out a way to end this vicious cycle of power cuts? Do we also have to remind the lords that we pay our electricity bills on a monthly basis without any exception?
The blatant corruption in the power sector is not surprising to anyone, but why should the common man suffer from the pure greed of some crooked individuals? How long are we to stay in the wilderness? Why wasn’t there any power shortage before the election? Well, the answer is simple, “I am the light,” said the government which was hell bent on getting re-elected, and to quote one of the lords, “We fool people every five years and the people fall for it every five years.” This is just the beginning of another five years in the wilderness. All those promises made during their desperate campaigns, consider it gone into thin air. They would’ve promised us the heavens if they could but it’s too far-fetched even for these lords so they settled for things on earth and we fell for it.
There’s a quote that goes, “We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know that we know they are lying, we know that they know that we know they are lying and still they continue to lie.” The wilderness is what we get when we elect incompetent, ignoramus nincompoops instead of policy makers and problem solvers. It is our hope that the Opposition will be tough enough to bring out receipts to the table and call out this corruption masquerading as an innocent setback in governance, and get to the bottom of this whole charade.

Yours etc.,

Nikita Sawian

Shillong-1

LDA written examination of District Court Nongpoh

Editor,

Through your esteemed daily, I want to draw attention to the recently held written examination conducted by the District Court of Nongpoh at Ri Bhoi College. I was a candidate who appeared in that exam and want to show my appreciation for the well organised and properly managed method of exams. Everything was well planned and successfully executed. Kudos.
In the beginning, some of my friends informed me that they got call letters in their respective addresses but I was worried as I did not get any. However, after I checked the District Judge Court’s website I saw that one duplicate call letter with eligible candidates is already there. Instructions are very clear for candidates like me who did not get the call letter by post to take print out of the call letter and simply put my passport photograph and show the ID proof at the time of examination.
Regularly I find that that the website is uploaded with some information or the other for the benefit of candidates like the syllabus, cut off marks for written exams, the instructions about exams and in fact surprisingly, and this deserves special mention, even the seating pattern in the college, floor numbers and room numbers are put up in advance before the exams. This is remarkable and deserves applause.
When I reached the college, I saw arrows pointing towards directions were pasted with specific room numbers floor wise and roll number wise. The roll numbers and names of candidates were also pasted on the table for easy identification. Even the invigilators were well trained and guided us properly.
The instructions on the question papers were simple and very clear. But the best part about the exams was when one invigilator announced that answers for multiple choice questions will be uploaded on the website after the exams. When the exams were over and after 1.30pm I checked the website and found the answer keys were already uploaded so that candidates could check if their answers were correct or wrong.
Hope all examinations are conducted in such a professional manner. It’s a job well done.

Yours etc.,

Name withheld on request,

Via email

Infusing the spirit of nationalism

Editor,

Very often the term “Ieid ia la ka Ri” or love for the Motherland has been misunderstood and misconstrued by the young populace as love for their immediate “Ri Khasi” or the land of the Khasi people as understood before the British arrived in these hills. While this should not be taken in a negative sense, there is need to transcend this limited idea into love for the country -India. For example we hear our military personnel say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ which translates into, “Long Live Mother India.” Likewise we also hear of the slogan ” Im Slem Ri Khasi” which envisages the unity of a community. However the best part would be if this fever of Khasi Nationalism could also be transformed into love for the country as envisaged in the Preamble to the Constitution of India. In fact this Preamble to the Constitution should be read in every educational institution to infuse a sense of belongingness; of unity in diversity and above all to make every citizen in “Ri Khasi-Jaintia” feel part and parcel of this great nation which our freedom fighters collectively fought against the British Empire in these hills. The Preamble says ” We the People of India,” a very strong assertive word of unity.

Yours etc…

Dominic Stadlin Wankhar,

Via email

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