Mitigating Shillong’s Traffic Woes
Editor,
As a concerned resident of Shillong, I wish to draw attention to the escalating traffic predicament plaguing our charming city. Shillong’s scenic beauty and cultural richness are undeniable, but the recent surge in vehicular congestion threatens to compromise the quality of life for its residents. It is imperative that we collectively address this issue to preserve the essence of our beloved city.
The exponential growth in both population and vehicles has led to crowded streets, longer commute times, and heightened environmental concerns. The idyllic lanes that once defined Shillong are now marked by traffic snarls, adversely impacting daily life. Urgent intervention is needed to curb the burgeoning chaos and restore a sense of ease to our urban mobility.
To tackle this issue, concerted efforts must be directed towards enhancing public transportation, promoting non-motorized modes of travel, and implementing effective traffic management strategies. Investing in reliable public transportation, creating pedestrian-friendly zones, and optimizing traffic signals are crucial steps. Additionally, community awareness campaigns can encourage responsible commuting habits, while infrastructural development should be aligned with the city’s growing needs. By adopting a multifaceted approach, we can collaboratively forge a path towards a more sustainable and navigable Shillong.
Yours etc.,
Aryan P Prakash,
Via email
Meghalaya education ahead of traditional learning systems
Editor,
The write up by Dr CR Kharlukhi titled – “Meghalaya Bored of School Education” (ST November 14, 2023) raised a fundamental issue of ‘Quality Education’ besides other nuances raised by different writers earlier. One word mentioned by Dr Kharlukhi is “inference,” a word which explains the higher order of mental activity in the child’s learning process. Indeed, this term, would have transformed the way we learn and would also serve as a plank for independent learning. I pray that those in the Department won’t be bored by quality education! As if it were a law, people who leant independently and own a decent degree, and up to becoming a professor in any discipline, must have walked the steps of this INFERENCE.
Did our ancestors know and use this? Yes, and it is this very thing that made some of us, even scholars, say -“our ancestors never shared their knowledge system with the future generations.” My informal research of Khasi knowledge system took ten years, and am still on the learning curve. A query is answered in a sentence that entails long term observation, analysis before coming to a generalization. I remember my father saying “Ka mattah ka kit kynran ïa ka knup naduh dang kha haduh ban da ïap”(the snail carries its shell from birth till death). I never took it seriously, and he also never spoke of it twice. It’s only one day, many years later, after one metaphysical experience that I recalled the statement. Now I say, they discovered the “Ontological foundation of existents in the cosmos which they carry in their being eternally”. Through this knowledge of the law of this Infinite Nature, they created folk tales and folklores and passed them down to us in the form of stories and legends; yet we lament for not having had our own alphabets.
Ancestors of any ancient tribes and all those in the animal kingdom must have tread the same mental journey before establishing their knowledge systems. If our education is to be profound and be a tool for transformation, we have to learn the hard way.
Yours etc.,
Iasaid Khongjee
Sohra.
BCCI decision not acceptable
Editor,
It is with deep sadness that I learnt that the organizers of the ICC World cup didn’t invite the former Captain of the cricket team who brought the World Cup to India in 1983, Kapil Dev, to attend the finals of the recently concluded ICC Men’s World Cup ODI at Ahmedabad. If so, then it is indeed a poor decision taken by the BCCI. My feeling is that the victorious 1983 Cricket ODI WORLD CUP winners should have been invited. To have missed the opportunity to invite the legendary skipper, Kapil Dev on that special occasion is heart-rending and a great insult to the cricket fraternity of our country. As a cricket fan, I want to state that the BCCI should be more objective and diligent about invitations in the future so as not to hurt the sentiments of any pre-eminent cricketer.
Yours etc.,
Pinaki Nandy
Shillong
Not all Muslims are terrorists
Editor,
In his article, “Tragic that western nations are in denial of the genocide” (ST, November 23, 2023), Dr Arun Mitra rightly described Israeli forces killing children in Gaza war as the “worst humanitarian disaster”.
Unfortunately, Israel has been using Islamophobia in their foreign policy to deny Palestinians their rights for a long time. Now, they are also using this phobia to make western nations deny the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Islamophobia tags all Muslims as terrorists which is a bogus theory. We cannot tag all Christians of Germany as terrorists for what some of them did in the Holocaust. We cannot paint all the Buddhists of Myanmar with a single brush for the Rohingya massacre either. Also, we cannot tag all Indian Hindus as terrorists for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Jewish people of Israel who themselves are the victims of a phobia called antisemitism, must not use Islamophobia in their foreign policy.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Via email