Editor,
The song “Sep ai i Por” by popular Jaintia singer U Ram Suchiang begins straight away with the pain of a young graduate’s reality. In villages across the Jaintia Hills, it has struck a deep chord with youth who see their own struggles reflected in its lyrics. Sung in Pnar, the song captures the frustration of educated youth who, despite years of study and family sacrifice, return home with degrees but no jobs.
The singer begins by recalling the long hours the singer spent studying while his parents with limited means sold livestock, borrowed money, and cut back on their own needs to support his education. He remembers their words, spoken like blessings “Yow soh wa thiang daw yoh kheit phi ki” (“The fruit of success will be yours to pluck.”)
They encouraged him with lines like, “Suffer now in your youth so you can live comfortably later. Your hard work will bring success.”
But now, back home with certificates in hand, he finds no opportunities. Instead of pride, he feels ashamed to be educated yet unemployed, unable to repay his parents’ sacrifices or support himself.
The song then turns blunt and honest. “I read books till my eyes dried, but the office doors stay locked unless your pocket speaks.”
These lines point directly to the widespread belief that government jobs, often seen as the only stable career path, are increasingly out of reach for those without money or connections. For many young people in Meghalaya, this is not just discouraging, it feels like a broken promise.
Yet the song does not end in despair. Midway through, the tone digresses. The singer decides to stop waiting and start working for himself. He chooses to work whether daily wagering, farming, selling, driving, or crafting not out of desperation, but as an act of dignity. The singer further lamented that, “Better to sweat under my own sun than beg at a gate that only opens for gold.”
This message of self-reliance is gaining real traction. As graduate unemployment remains a national crisis, the Jaintia song “Sep-ai i Por” speaks to a reality faced by thousands of young Indians not just in Meghalaya , but across the country who are learning that a degree alone no longer guarantees a future.
The song ends with a simple, powerful line. “If you cannot get a job, self-employment is the only way out of misery.” For many young Pnar today, those words are not just lyrics, they are a lifeline.
A word of deep appreciation is due to U Ram Suchiang not only for his soulful voice but for giving courage to a generation’s unspoken grief through this song. Equally, the lyricist deserves praise for weaving truth into melody with honesty, grace, and moral clarity. Their art does more than echo pain. It lights a path forward. To our policymakers and public institutions, this song is a gentle yet urgent reminder when systems meant to uplift begin to exclude, they betray the very promise of progress. May “Sep-ai i Por” inspire not just empathy, but action so that no parent’s sacrifice goes unrewarded, and no young dreamer is forced to choose between dignity and despair.
And to those in power who have always had doors opened for them while others knock and knock until their hands are sore, may this song be a gentle mirror; not to blame, but to remind that true leadership is not about how comfortable your chair is, but how many people you help rise alongside you.
Yours etc.,
Dr. Omarlin Kyndiah
Via email
The intrinsic human instinct is to love
Editor,
People have believed in some truly strange things over time — from flat-earth theories and alien creators to cosmic telepaths and spaghetti-shaped gods. Some modern groups await UFOs to bring salvation; others think the world is an elaborate computer simulation. Step back, and these ideas sound eccentric, even comical — yet each one springs from the same human impulse to explain the unexplainable.
Belief systems, whether scientific, spiritual, or wildly speculative, are ultimately stories we tell ourselves to make sense of existence. What one person swears is true may seem absurd to another. Every generation builds its own version of reality, mistaking conviction for evidence and comfort for clarity. And in that mix of wonder and delusion, humanity keeps revealing the same thing: our minds are endlessly inventive in filling the gaps where certainty ends.
Animals survive reality; humans interpret it. We invent stories so we can stomach chaos. We are storytelling apes, scribbling significance on the walls of emptiness. Across these wildly diverse belief systems, one common thread stands out: humans’ endless capacity to create meaning — even from the absurd. Deep down, every belief, however strange, is just another way of saying: we humans are actually all the same, inherently peaceful trying to love each other.
Yours etc.,
Shekhar Singh,
Via email
