By Gilbert Sangriang
This year, I went out for an evening walk on five occasions with the intention of refreshing the mind. But not once was my mind refreshed. Instead, each time I walk down the Shillong streets, I am overwhelmed by unpleasant feelings. I am never at peace. Whether alone or with others I am always worried; worried about my life as well as that of others. It’s not because of the people who are around the streets. People out there are cool and friendly. What scares and also irritates me are the passing vehicles. Vehicles shatter my peace. They honk loudly and almost hit me every time I go for a walk. In fact, once I actually got hit by a taxi. Fortunately I recovered after two weeks of bed rest.
Frankly speaking, when going out for a walk, I only feel free when I see a footpath. So the absence of footpaths is the reason for my anxieties and why I don’t go out for a walk. I wish there were more footpaths so that I can feel safe every time I go out. Without the footpaths I have to remain alert as to where I put my feet in because if I lose balance, tragedy is waiting to happen. If I slip, I may land up in the middle of the road. And imagine that happening when vehicles are running non-stop. I will then be gone surely and untimely!
And its not just the vehicles, the bikers as well ride as if the roads are free. Some bikers believe they are the protagonist in the movie, “Ghost Rider.” Please riders, don’t ride too fast, reaching home late is better than reaching heaven early. Many have met with accidents and some even died due to careless driving and riding. Recently a lady from Mawlai lost her precious life because someone drove carelessly. It’s on this ground that I frequently think about death when I walk on the streets of Shillong. It’s the kind of thought that no one would want to entertain.
Come to think of it, all of my senses are hyperactive when I walk on the streets. This is the reason why instead of experiencing freshness after a walk I am even more exhausted. I have verbally expressed this issue to some of my friends and practically all of them have the same kind of experience. It is obvious therefore that our streets should have more footpaths.
But its not just the footpaths; we should widen the roads as well wherever that is possible. We all know the importance of roads. Sadly our roads are really narrow. Many have spoken about this. Many have suggested different ways to overcome traffic chaos. Some of the suggestions have even been executed. But the effect is just too little. In my opinion, our economic stagnation is because we don’t have proper roads; instead we have bad roads, narrow roads and also no roads. Thousands of people every day waste their time inside their vehicles because of traffic jams. Some waste 10 minutes, some 30 minutes, some even waste hours inside their vehicles. Imagine if there are 500 people inside their vehicles and each of them wastes 30 minutes. Mathematically they have together wasted 15,000 hours which is equal to 26 days.
This is just an example. I’m sure there are more people wasting their time inside vehicles due to traffic snarls. We don’t realize that time is money. Sorry, time is more valuable than money. When we waste time we are wasting life itself. Time is life. Practically speaking, If we don’t have time we don’t really have life. That’s why we can’t afford to waste time unnecessarily. However, if we waste our time happily, and willingly, that’s a different matter.
Recently we took our boys to Laitlum for a picnic. On the return journey home there was heavy traffic all the way. Believe it or not, from Laitkor to Mawlai, it took us over three hours. Our boys were very happy because they got more time to dance. But that’s not the case with everyone. What about those who are sick; those who have urgent work and those who are not well off ? Naturally they would be sad and depressed.
Generally, people in Shillong are hard working. They don’t want to waste their time unnecessarily. But when they go to work in their vehicles, they are forced to waste time. No doubt, it’s the traffic that victimizes them. I personally have walked many times because of the traffic. I don’t have patience as many others do.
Few months ago, as we came down from our village, Mawpat, South West Khasi Hills, upon reaching Sanmer, we waited for over an hour inside the vehicle due to traffic jams. I tried to be patient but I couldn’t. Although we already paid our fare, we still had to walk all the way from Sawmer to Motphran. Interestingly, many people who were inside the vehicles were cool and calm. I really salute them for their patience. They still gave their radiant smiles even after hours of being stuck in traffic.
Another point that I want to mention is that there are many students who come late to their schools because of traffic jams. It’s a loss for them. But the kind of loss they suffer is personal. The big problem is when teachers arrive late to school due to traffic jams. It’s not their fault. It’s the fault of the system. But if the teacher arrives late the whole class loses. If the teacher is late or let’s say is absent for 1 hour and if there are 60 students. They have together wasted 60 hours which is equal to almost three days. I’m quite sure there are many teachers who don’t reach the classroom on time due to traffic jams!
More than anything else, the worst part about the traffic in Shillong is that people are now taking advantage of it. How? There are many people who blame the traffic whenever they are late. Not all those excuses are true. They blame the traffic because when it comes to traffic jams, it’s always believable and justifiable in Shillong.