By Jairaj Chhetry
There is a quiet saying often heard in the hills:
“Every year teaches its own lesson; wisdom lies in learning it.”
For Meghalaya, 2025 was such a teacher – -firm at times, uncomfortable at others, yet deeply meaningful. It was a year that revealed cracks without breaking spirit, exposed shortcomings without erasing hope, and reminded us that progress is rarely smooth, but must always be sincere.
Looking back, 2025 appears as a year lived on many fronts at once. Education reform moved alongside student anxiety. Cultural festivals bloomed even as drugs darkened young lives. Infrastructure expanded while nature pushed back. Governance remained stable, yet people quietly asked for deeper sensitivity. Through all this, Meghalaya stood—not untested, but unbroken.
Education: Honest Intent, Uneven Ground: Education remained at the centre of public conversation throughout the year, and it is only fair to begin with appreciation. The government showed intent and honesty—a structured academic calendar, emphasis on foundational literacy and numeracy under NEP 2020, expansion of colleges, upgrading of schools, and increased scholarships. Publicly acknowledging an “education crisis” itself required courage.
Yet wisdom reminds us: “Good intention is the seed; care and patience make it a tree.”
Despite improved pass percentages, learning gaps remained wide. Many students moved ahead without mastering basics. Teachers were stretched thin, counsellors were scarce, and infrastructure often lagged behind ambition. Colleges opened faster than qualified faculty could be appointed. Degrees multiplied, but employment opportunities did not keep pace.
The shortcoming was not vision — but speed without enough support.
The road ahead is clear. Before expanding further, the system must consolidate. Existing schools and colleges must be strengthened. Teachers and counsellors must be appointed in adequate numbers. Courses must align with local employment opportunities so that education becomes a ladder to dignity rather than a collection of certificates.
A Garo saying captures this truth well:
“Skie ra∙ani dongjaode, ja∙man ka∙ani dongja” — knowledge is not only what is read, but what is understood and lived.
If this wisdom guides policy in 2026, education can recover its human face.
Drug Menace: Action Taken, Healing Still Incomplete: Perhaps the most painful chapter of 2025 was the deepening drug crisis. Here too, action did come—arrests increased, seizures rose, surveillance expanded, and rehabilitation finally entered policy discussions. Moving from denial to action deserves recognition.
But society soon realised a hard truth: law alone cannot heal what is also emotional and social.
Addiction reached disturbing levels, touching children barely in their teens. Convictions remained limited. Families stayed silent out of fear or shame. Mental health support was thin. Unemployment fed despair.
As wisdom says: “You cannot straighten a tree by pulling only its branches; you must nourish its roots.”
The path forward must blend firm policing with compassion. Schools need counsellors, not only rules. Parents need awareness, not fear. Treatment must be stigma-free. Communities must watch over their own. Employment must restore dignity to young lives drifting toward hopelessness.
In Garo tradition, responsibility is shared: “Sakantiona dakna ka songnok” — when one falls, the village must lift.
If government and society walk together, 2026 can still become a year of rescue rather than regret.
Governance: Stability with Scope for Sensitivity: Politically, 2025 was largely stable. Coalitions held. Outreach programmes expanded. Welfare messaging continued. Stability itself deserves appreciation, for it allows room to correct mistakes.
Yet stability must not slip into comfort.
Youth unemployment, pension delays, rural distress, and environmental accountability often moved slower than public patience. Governance sometimes appeared more administrative than empathetic. People did not ask for miracles –they asked to be heard.
The hopeful sign lay in growing dialogue. The road ahead is simple, though demanding: listen more, explain honestly, and act closer to the ground. Governance in 2026 must be measured not only by files cleared, but by trust rebuilt.
Society: Quiet Cracks, Shared Responsibility: Beneath headlines, social strain quietly grew. Loneliness deepened. Mental stress increased. Crime crept in. Elderly citizens lived unseen. Youth felt unheard. Drugs and crime fed each other in a dangerous cycle.Neither government nor society can escape responsibility here.
Rebuilding community bonds must be central to 2026—schools as caring spaces, neighbourhoods as support systems, and institutions that look beyond paperwork to people.
Nature and Borders: Lessons Written in Rain and Stone: Landslides, polluted rivers, and border tensions reminded Meghalaya in 2025 that nature does not negotiate — it responds. Court-monitored action against illegal mining showed willingness to correct course, though often after damage had occurred. The mistake lay in choosing short-term gain over long-term care. The way forward is balance—development that respects ecological limits, tourism that protects rivers and hills, and infrastructure that listens to geography rather than challenges it.
Economy and Infrastructure: Vision Visible, Reach Uneven: Roads expanded. Urban decongestion was planned. Economic hubs were envisioned. Cultural tourism flourished, creating livelihoods and pride. These efforts deserve appreciation.
Yet benefits did not reach all equally. Hill districts lagged. Skill gaps persisted. Many young people still searched for dignity in work.
Development in 2026 must touch hands, not just headlines.
Culture and Cinema: Meghalaya on National and Global Screens: If one chapter of 2025 deserves wholehearted praise, it is culture and creative expression.
Meghalaya’s filmmakers carried hill stories far beyond the hills. Films rooted in Garo and Khasi life earned national and international recognition — not through noise, but through honesty.
Rimdogittanga, directed by Dominic Megam Sangma, won Best Garo Feature Film at the 71st National Film Awards, earning the Rajat Kamal. Internationally released as Rapture, it received multiple global accolades.
Ha Lyngkha Bneng, by Pradip Kurbah, and its international title ‘The Elysian Field’, won Best Film, Best Director, and the NETPAC Award at the Moscow International Film Festival.
These were not loud films—but truthful ones. And the world listened.
Cricket: Meghalaya Steps onto the National Stage:
Cricket in 2025 marked a quiet but important rise for Meghalaya. Players from Garo Hills, Shillong, and across the state earned national-level selection.
Selections to the North East Zone and leadership roles in domestic cricket signalled growing confidence and capability. Women’s cricket, too, made its presence felt at the zonal level. These were not overnight successes, but outcomes of persistence against limited resources.
Meghalaya cricket may still be growing—but it is no longer invisible.
Martial Arts: Strength from the Hills
Meghalaya’s martial artists — particularly from Khasi and Garo Hills—won national medals and represented India in international tournaments across Asia and Europe. Training often happened with limited infrastructure but unlimited discipline.
Their journey reminded us that resilience often grows strongest in the hills.
2025 and the Threshold of 2026: Learning Before Moving Forward: As 2025 fades into memory, it leaves behind clear lessons:
-Reform needs roots
-Action must walk with compassion
– Growth must respect people and nature
The government showed intent. Society showed concern. Youth showed resilience. What is now required is coordination, patience, and humanity.
As wisdom reminds us: “A bend in the road is not the end of the road—unless you fail to turn.”
Meghalaya stands at such a bend.
An Impressive Yet Quiet Hope for 2026: The arrival of 2026 does not demand grand promises. It demands steadier steps.
If education slows down to strengthen itself, if the drug crisis is met with empathy alongside enforcement, if governance listens more than it announces, if communities rediscover care, and if development learns to respect land and people alike–then progress will not need applause; it will earn trust.
2026 must become a year where healing begins, where confidence returns, and where direction becomes clearer.
As we step into the New Year 2026 , let us carry learning instead of bitterness, responsibility instead of blame, and hope instead of fear.
May governance grow wiser and more humane.
May institutions grow stronger and more inclusive.
May youth be protected, guided, and heard.
May our hills remain peaceful, and our homes kinder.
May Meghalaya move forward together—slowly perhaps, but surely in the right direction.
