By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: An Environmental Management student of William Carey University, Batista Khongphai, has come up with an interesting concept of staging a ‘Dance in the Rain Festival’ for attempting an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Maintaining that this concept is not merely to create a world record, Khongphai said the basic objective behind this idea is to create awareness among people on the need to safeguard and protect the environment.
“It would definitely be a great thing if we can make it to the Guinness Records by organising this Rain Festival,” Khongphai, who hails from Sohra, said here on Sunday.
He said that through the festival he would like to send a strong message about the contribution of rainfall towards nourishment of all living creatures besides being one of the main sources of drinking water.
He said that in the past, Sohra and Mawsynram were able to attract many tourists from across the world because they were famous for being the wettest places on earth.
“But due to the lackadaisical attitude of people with regards to preservation of nature these places have been receiving lesser rainfall as the days go by.
“I would like to educate the people that their irresponsible act of destroying the environment has brought about this situation. I would remind people about their responsibility towards protecting the environment,” Khongphai said.
He has a strong belief that once the festival gets off there would be no looking back.
“I would ensure it persists for a long time. Maybe it might be transformed into an annual event as well,” he said.
“But to translate this into a reality I would require the support of the citizens especially those people who are really concerned about the environment,” he said.
He informed that some schoolteachers from Lad Rymbai, Mawkyrwat, Laitlyngkot and Sohra have vouched their support towards the idea.
Khongphai wishes to kick-start the festival from either Sohra, Mawsynram or Pynursla.
“I will also try to reach out to as many people as I can to make them understand about the significance of this festival,” the Environmental Management said, even as he appealed to environment lovers to contribute their ideas by sending e-mails to [email protected].
