By Dominick Dauni Roising Rymbai
These days, the moment one reaches for the newspaper (hard copy or electronic-paper), or opens the YouTube channel of an online-based news portal, the following reactions or emojis are robotically generated.
Cynical; sad; oh, ok; not again; seriously! And the worst: the question, for how long innocent lives of women and children (and good men too) are going to be sacrificed at the altar of ideology, power, or simply just to prove a point? Most readers tend to head straight to the inspirational Sports and/or dopamine-enabled Entertainment pages. If the mood is happy, then perhaps they go back and try the Op-Ed page.
For YouTube fans, it feels rather hopeful to watch the interviews of the (finally) World Champions’ Indian Women’s National Cricket Team (especially, the captain Harmanpreet Kaur and the latest national crush Jemimah Rodrigues and Harleen Goel). To experience good/bad feeling, best is to watch the latest BBC Sport analysis of an Arsenal FC and/or Liverpool FC football match, or maybe the antics and histrionics of an attention-seeking and monetising celebrity. Or worse, some revenge scrolling of algorithm-controlled reels and shorts on the “smart” phone and experience dopamine rushes to the head.
And life goes on.
However, now and then, come stories of hope, perseverance and passion. Batskhem Thabah, a former teacher at Raibah Government Lower Primary School, deep in the Mawsynram area is a case study of how a teacher can motivate others to uplift a dilapidated 75 year old school building. Another story is of Shemphanglin Khardewsaw, a teacher at Byrki Government Lower Primary School, about 49 kms from Nongstoin, covered in the Highland Post, the Khasi newspaper U Nongsain Hima and Youtube-based news portals.
And recently, the release of a book of Khasi poems, Umpohliew – Ka Jingshemphang (Spring of Wisdom) by Sbunbha Kharumnuid, published by Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU) Press is worth cogitating on. Sbunbha was born in Laitkyrhong village and resides in the beautiful Laitlum village, Nongkrem area. Unlike most street vendors and hawkers, and from what one can remember, Sbunbha has been selling vegetables and Khasi traditional organic high-tea snacks for ages, at the same location. The address is just outside a shop with a popcorn machine, in Laitumkhrah Beat House. In partnership with her husband, she perseveres to feed, clothe and send their children to school. Then, to find time for herself: a woman with a beating heart of feelings, an observant eye and a thinking mind crafts out verses that arise deep inside her consciousness. In the processes of life, she has a passion; something most of us need in this mad, mad world of individualism, consumerism, materialism and the sprint/marathon for “success”. Sbunbha’s life and works are an inspiration. To reach out to a general readership, an original Khasi plus a good English translation of the poetry book of this simple village woman is a must. Perhaps something like the children’s story-book, “The Mystery of the Cave”. Or the good English translation of our Poet Laureate Soso Tham’s Ki Sngi Barim U Hynñiewtrep (The Old Days of the Hynñiewtrep Community) by Janet Moore Hujon. The aforementioned both are publications of the MLCU Press.
Caves, the ubiquitous natural formations in the indigenous lands of the Hynniewtrep people, as well as wide occurrences in our folklores are now well documented. We should follow-up on the works of the self-trained renowned speleologist and novelist, Brian Daly Kharpran, the founder of Meghalaya Adventurers Association. Kharpran has also been mentioned in the Prime Minister’s Mann Ki Baat programme.
There is a genuine permanent outsider-settler of Shillong city named Paplu Chanda. He also happens to be a Bengali gentleman and a Person with Disabilities (PWDs). Almost every single day from the early morning hours onwards, he is a regular sight just opposite the gates of Nazareth Hospital, Laitumkhrah. He does not beg, borrow or steal; or even wait for government assistance. He chooses to work for his livelihood, i.e., sell newspapers of prominent languages of Shillong city. Interestingly, his spoken Khasi has minimal or zero influence of his mother tongue. Like most street-smart small business owners, he can converse in over 10 dialects and languages. Paplu is a perfect pick-me-up for someone who feels down and a lesson for the arrogant. The sight of Paplu working hard smilingly, uplifts or humbles one automatically.
Another story is of the genuine permanent outsider-settler of Shillong city, the Sindhi philanthropist-entrepreneur Jiwat “Babloo” Vaswani. Unlike most ethnicities of India, the non-Muslim Sindhi community may find a mention in our National Anthem but have no homeland to call their own. Jiwat and his family and community call these verdant hills their home. He happens to have a deep passion for our natural environment. In the pre-COVID lockdown days and perhaps even till date, being a non-indigenous businessman, he faces(d) his share of trolling and nasty remarks from the internet khlawaits (keyboard warriors). Today, what speaks for him are his philanthropic works featured on social media platforms. And also his latest recognition from the progressive Hynñiewtrep community (Dorbar Shnong) of Nongrim Hills, Shillong. In general, conversations among the indigenous aam aadmi in public transport that mention him, usually run thus, “U Bah Babloo Vaswani, u dei u briew ba bha shisha (Jiwat/Babloo Vaswani is truly a good man)”.
For any indigenous tribal of Meghalaya, is it difficult to forget the inspirational and motivational non-indigenous teachers of our schools and colleges? They happen(ed) to be Anglo Hynñiewtrep/A’chik Indians, Assamese, Bengali, Hindi-speakers, Kannada (usually Mangalorean Catholics), Malayali, Nepali, Tamil, Telugu-speakers and, even from the trading (vyapari) community of Marwari, Punjabi Sikhs and other ethnicities.
There are quite a few stories out there, of inspirational people, building Hope while also making an honest living. We need to hear and read more of such good human beings from the Garo Hills too. Why should it only be about Chief Ministers from Garo Hills lasting a full-term of five years? Or say, the latest young, dynamic and rooted in ground realities Ada Conrad Sangma, on his way to be the first CM to complete two full-terms of consecutive 10 years? Or how the A’chik people are politically very intelligent as compared to the Hynñiewtrep people?
Hope: the last value/vice that came out of the Pandora’s Box of Greek mythology; hope for a better future for our Gen Z and Gen Alpha, in our one single Mother Earth (Mei/Bei Ram-ew). Yes, the physical land is always there and is dear to most indigenous communities. What matters most are the human beings living on it. We should thank heaven and humanity for good people in our midst. Else, like the heavy metal album of Megadeth of 1992, we can all start the countdown to extinction with a symphony of destruction. And end up extinct like the dinosaurs, nth-XL in size but tiny-brained with enormous volumes of burps and farts.
There are published scientific works that claim that about 65 million years ago, burps and farts of dinosaurs contributed to global warming and eventually their extinction. The exhaled gas of Carbon Dioxide is a GreenHouse Gas or GHG, responsible for depletion of the Ozone layer of our atmosphere. Try watching the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies, the first one released in 1993 and the latest one in 2025.
Well, being in a Christian-majority state, maybe, just maybe, we can all say our last prayers and look forward to the Wrath of God, all fire and brimstones and, end up like the Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah. It may be noted that most Indians do not have the means and mind-set to migrate to the English-speaking developed countries of the world; no matter what the Taapsee Pannu character did, with help from the Shah Rukh Khan character, in the Bollywood film Dunki (2023). Nor join-up with the tech billionaires in their quest to colonise the latest “Scramble for Africa” of the planet Mars and Space.
We all owe a debt of gratitude to the editors and the on-ground print and electronic media journalists for bringing stories of hope, perseverance and passion to the regular readers and watchers.
Living on, on a ray of hope and a wing of prayer.
(Disclaimer: Views expressed are strictly personal. Email: [email protected])
