By Janet Hujon
Wards Lake was a staging point, a resting place between two areas of city chaos. Our pace instinctively slowed, our eyes rested as we relaxed into an interval when the non-stop bombardment on our senses eased. The Lake is part of the story of old Shillong. Her waters mirror the ideals and love we have for our city, and her paths have been marked by countless feet drawn down to enjoy a brief respite from the din outside and maybe the disquiet within. Our haven, our symbol of city-pride.
The Lake occupies a special place in my childhood memories of Shillong. Our pleasures were simple then. Throwing chickpeas into the water to lure huge open-mouthed carp to the surface was a novelty that never grew old. The sight of orange fish monstrous in our eyes, emerging from green watery depths, mouths wide open was frighteningly magical. Were they really real? Sorry chickpeas…you just didn’t have a chance. Alongside this drama in the waters, serene water-lilies, those symbols of rebirth and enlightenment, offered themselves to our gaze. Whether we chose to linger in the garden or walk through the hollow cradling the lake, it was a reminder that calm was within reach.
It was however after dark that Ward’s Lake came into her own. The roar of traffic did not dominate Shillong’s roads then as it does now. Car headlights were discreet and respectful, the lamp posts on the lake’s periphery and over the bridge created circles of pale-yellow light just enough to pick out outlines of flower beds, trees and of course that white wooden bridge. The now overused, power-depleted ‘iconic’ would have been my adjective of choice to describe that pearlescent structure under the kind moonlight. The silence intensified the effect and, on such nights, there was nothing like it in Shillong.
But some memories are only too easily torn apart. ‘Hell-bent’ is the only phrase left to describe the government’s plans to rapidly turn Meghalaya into a tourist hotspot. Wards Lake is to have a ‘major revamp’ and the answer to how major is major lies in the planned attractions – ‘a musical fountain accompanied by a light and sound show’. Beguiling distractions like ‘beautification’ ‘sustainable’, ‘cleanliness’ and ‘plastic ban’ are thrown into the mix clearly intended to appeal to any green detractors. (See ST: July 9 & 14).
Are people so in need of entertainment that we have to resort to this? Has ‘peace and quiet’ gone out of fashion and is noise the only way to make a statement? Given all the natural wonders in our hills and valleys why would this be a selling point? Why can we not listen to the music of Nature as did Bob Dylan for whom Nature is an orchestra. In his heart-rending Lay Down Your Weary Tune a litany of images appealing to the eye and ear are a voyage into the shared soul of humankind and natural creation. The song is a plea to listen with wonder:
The morning breeze like a bugle blew/ Against the drum of dawn…/ The ocean wild like an organ played…/
The crashing waves like cymbals clashed/ Against the rocks and sand…
The crying rain like a trumpet sang/And asked for no applause…/ The branches bare like a banjo moan/To the winds that listen the best…/The water smooth ran like a hymn/And like a harp did hum…
The poet recognises and makes us feel a power greater than himself, a power greater than all ourselves put together. Listen to the hymn within this sermon, hear both its triumphal and poignant strains and ask yourself if a musical fountain might just be that ‘weary tune’ we need to lay down.
A light and sound extravaganza would spell doom to insect life because ‘…artificial light at night is another important — but often overlooked — bringer of the insect apocalypse’… It affects ‘every aspect of insect lives…from luring moths to their deaths around bulbs, to spotlighting insect prey for rats and toads to obscuring the mating signals of fireflies’… All this is aided by habitat loss, chemical pollution, invasive species, and climate change.
(https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/22/light-pollution-insect-apocalypse) Being nocturnal, moths and their place in ecology, rarely enter our field of vision or thought. Yet moths are key pollinators, a food source for creatures like birds, lizards, toads, frogs, spiders, and are decomposers of organic matter. Moths form a vital link in the inter-connectedness of all life on earth and their decline signals a breakdown in the health of the living world.
Yet the natural world in Meghalaya is fast becoming just a sideshow starring the government and the people each with well-defined roles — protagonists and compliant audience. The actors write the script, the people read it (maybe?) and promptly fall asleep until the performance is over. But they do seem to have one thing in common — both exist within their own bubbles detached from the natural world. If the revamp is labelled ‘major’, surely it requires minute scrutiny and discussion. This is not a structure in someone’s private garden but is going to represent all of us on the tourist map.
Why then is this assault on our senses and sensitivities not recognised as such? Mere talk about the arrogant ‘high level’ is fast becoming tiresome since they continue to thrive unscathed in their fortresses, mindlessly manufacturing slow-ticking (if one wants to be optimistic) time bombs to wreck our beautiful world — yes ours not just theirs. The Khasi saying ‘Ksan Rympei rem dorbar’ — winners at home but defeated in court — says it all.
I am all for a plastic-free Wards Lake but why restrict the good work to Wards Lake. More importantly, where does the plastic go? Some overburdened landfill site is probably rolling its eyes in agony. Plastic does not die guys – it is immortal. It will continue to deposit poison long after we are gone.
Incidentally if anybody cares, Meghalaya has its very own State Council of Science Technology and Environment (SCSTE) which thankfully hosts outreach programmes focussing on ‘discussion and collaboration’ on ‘the urgent issue of plastic pollution and innovative solutions to minimise plastic usage’. Seehttps://meghalayatimes.in/nehu-world-environment-day-2025-celebration/
Discussion and Collaboration are critical if we are to heal our wounded world. Government departments tasked with decision-making for the land and her people should no longer act in isolation because Meghalaya’s healing can only come from a holistic approach.
It is time for outreach to travel beyond university workshops, conferences and newspaper reports. Instead of flashy appliances, likely to malfunction, crores from tourism coffers should fund a deep understanding, not just mere awareness — scratched record moment coming up — of the dire consequences of plastic poisoning, reckless tree felling and mining.
But hope is within reach. Meghalaya’s clouds have a silver lining with more than a hint of green. The article ‘From Ruins to Resplendence’ is a lesson in altruism, intelligent application of knowledge, cultural documentation, preservation and collaborative community building.
From ruins to resplendence: Lone teacher inspires locals to transform school in remote EKH village
(ST July 25) Every line in the report chimes with notes of collective pride and joy for here we have proof that someone inspired inspires others. Relying on his own financial, moral and learning resources, Batskhem Thabah set out to establish a green school and succeeded. ‘Bamboo cases replaced plastic cases, areca palm leaves became plates…science lessons merged with gardening and language was taught through storytelling and songs’. What’s not to like and admire. Rooted and dynamic Thabah has crafted a fable for our times. All appointed and self-chosen protectors of the jaitbynriew’s culture take note, for this is what intelligent and comprehensive education is. This ‘school of the people’ should be the blueprint for how Meghalaya can become a ‘State of the people’.
Fifty years, and counting, is a long time to wait for a break from harmful, ostentatious government ‘tradition’.
*Adapted from WB Yeats: ‘Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’