Editor,
It is very encouraging to see how The Shillong Times has become an important and open platform for the rising young intellectuals of the North East to express their views and values. Congratulations Madam Editor!
I enjoyed reading the timely and informative article of Rev. Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh in your paper of November 30, 2024. I fully agree with his view that the Presbyterian Church in Khasi and Jaintia Hills is a well established institution and as such I strongly believe it has a social responsibility. The Confession of Faith adapted in 1927 also clearly calls on Church members to be informed by our quotidian human decency of avoiding the exploitation of others, especially of the poor. As a Presbyterian, I further agree with Rev. Pyrtuh that the Church must squarely face “the increasing rise of corruption,” its normalisation in our society and the dangers of an increasingly monetised economy with no values for collective governance. Our failures and foolishness are so evident.
Some of us have been consistently raising our small voices that it is ironic that in a matrilineal society, it is still a taboo in the Presbyterian Church to induct women into “an ordained ministry”. Rev Pyrtuh pointed out that according to the 1924 Mairang Assembly there is no bar to elect women to the office of elders. When will the Presbyterian Church wake up and live by its Confession of Faith and thereby be “the salt of the earth”?
Yours etc.,
Phrang Roy
Via email
A Piazza in Shillong
Editor,
Here…we… go…again. Is there no end to this mindless campaign to destroy the beautiful? Why do we have to contend with another loss to our heritage? Having barely recovered from the shock of losing twenty-five hectares of virgin forest in East Jaiñtia Hills to a cement company, we now face a nightmare in the city. St Anthony’s Primary School is being torn down and replaced by a ‘G+4’ building, presumably concrete. Note the jargon to impress. Don Bosco School Square, that easy-on-the-eye piazza that defines Laitumkhrah is being condemned to oblivion.
There is a gentle grandeur about the old building which commands respect but is also welcoming, drawing the eye to rest and ponder about its beginnings. Who were the builders? Where did they come from? The imagination takes flight, curiosity asks to be satisfied and already we are opening the doors to the acquisition of knowledge even before we step into the interior. Like all beautiful creations the building stirred gentle feelings, some of which are comforting. Arriving at Don Bosco Square was like entering a bright clearing in a dark tangled forest symbolised by the ugly haphazard construction that has disfigured our city. Yet now we are being asked to abandon tender sustaining memories in the service of reason.
We have been wooed by promises of a ‘state-of-the-art’ building. But does anyone really know what that phrase means or might mean in this case? Or is it only meant to impress simply because it is obscure? Often people toss out these descriptions in order to intimidate, to silence opposition especially among the uninitiated who seem to lap it all up like abject converts fearful to object yet sadly allowing ourselves to be seen as people without any sense of history and beauty. Shillong’s skyline has already been disfigured by huge concrete buildings which appear as an arrogant imposition on the city determined to obscure our hills which have long provided a natural backdrop to the town. There is absolutely no way the planned replacement is going to be remembered as a ‘landmark’ by future generations unfamiliar with the old building. It will just be a purpose-built structure and no more. There will be no lessons in understanding proportion, symmetry, grace, harmony — those pillars of aesthetics that delight and instruct.
John Keats said: A thing of beauty is a joy forever/Its loveliness increases; it will never/Pass into nothingness;
Sadly Keats did not anticipate the destruction of beauty in Shillong.
No matter how old the Don Bosco building was, it was crying out to be preserved. A photograph and fading memories are all we are going to be left with.
Yours etc.,
Janet Moore Hujon,
Via email
Trials and tribulations of single-motherhood
Editor,
Only a woman who is rearing her child/children single handedly knows the challenges she goes through. Whatever may be the reasons that may have led to a broken family be it death, divorce, abandonment, domestic violence, rape, etc., the truth of the matter lies in this – that a single mother definitely goes through certain difficulties that she will have to brave alone. Our state in particular has many women who are taking care of their children as well as the entire family single-handedly and are doing it very well. If we go by the saying: it takes two hands to clap, then it implies that it takes both parents to make things work. Having said that, one does not mean to imply that single mothers are unable to look after and support their children. There certainly are difficult and trying times to get the ball rolling alone but a mother will find her way and do whatever it takes to keep her family happy together.
I, for one, am in awe of these super-women who are managing things well. While it is always good and comforting to have a partner who is not a paid help or assistant yet that does not mean that single moms are doing a bad job. I may have seen very less of these cases but the few I have seen, I must say makes me want to salute them. They are doing the work alone and fulfilling their responsibilities as if God has blessed them with a lot of strength. Not ignoring the truth that they go through challenges that people like us who are viewing things from the outside can only make an attempt to comment or, even anticipate, one thing is clear – they struggle very hard to make ends meet.
While standing firmly with single mothers this is not to say that single motherhood should be encouraged. One certainly feels for them and abhor those men who shy away from their duties and responsibilities. Not that women will give up and cannot fulfil their most important phase in life but it must be understood that these women go through a lot of mental, emotional, financial, societal judgements and loneliness.
I believe it’s important to educate our sons to become more humane and to treat girls and women with dignity and respect. We must educate them to be responsible and conscientious young men and inculcate a sense of duty and responsibility right from their tender years so that they grow up to be principled and morally grounded men. We teach them young so that they grow up with these values embedded in their hearts, minds and souls. Can’t we do this collectively?
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email