Editor,
I write as a parent, and as someone who has watched Meghalaya cricket from a vantage point that neither the boardroom nor the press box quite captures. I appreciate Patrick Kurbah’s article “Rock-Bottom: Meghalaya Cricket’s Crisis and a Hope for Redemption” for what it was: an honest, data-driven engagement with a crisis that many have long felt but few have been willing to name in print. Here, I would rather speak to something more immediate, and more personal.
In the past years, my son has represented Meghalaya cricket. He put in scores. He delivered performances. And while I would believe such a player would be encouraged, he was dropped from the team on more than one occasion, without a word of explanation from anyone within the Meghalaya Cricket Association.
Now, I am aware that as a parent, I may be accused of bias and I accept that charge freely. No parent is entirely objective when it comes to their child. But that is not really the point.
The point is that no one from the Association was ever accessible, not to seek clarification of the decision-making process, not even to ask what my son needed to work on, where he was falling short, what he could do to improve his chances. There was no coach’s feedback. No selector’s note. No pathway offered. Nothing.
In such a system, hard work goes unacknowledged. Merit goes unidentified. Players who put their discipline, their fitness, and their years on the line are left in the dark, not because the answers do not exist, but because no one considers it necessary to provide them the answers. This is not a minor administrative failing. It is a fundamental breach of the association’s responsibility to the players it is supposed to serve. Cricket in this state will not improve until that changes.
The administrative overhaul that Kurbah spoke of is necessary. But it is not sufficient. What is equally needed is a thorough, unsparing examination of the daily cricketing operations at the MCA. The selection procedures, the criteria applied, the documentation reviewed, and the people making these decisions. These are not abstract concerns.
There is a question that has circulated quietly for too long and deserves to be asked openly: how is it that players who are not residents of this state — who were not born here, did not grow up here, did not study here — suddenly appear on the rolls with valid Voter IDs and Aadhaar cards, and find themselves eligible to represent Meghalaya? And how is it that these players routinely find spots in squads, displacing local boys who had earlier earned their place through years of hard work and actual performance within the state’s cricket ecosystem? These are serious questions. They touch on the integrity of the selection process. The current administration would do well to investigate this matter with the seriousness it deserves, and to be transparent about its findings.
States like Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir offer a model worth studying. Both have made deliberate, sustained investment in identifying and developing homegrown talent and building pipelines, not just picking squads. The results speak for themselves.
Meghalaya has no shortage of talented young cricketers. What it has lacked is a system that finds them, nurtures them, and backs them consistently. Until that system exists, no amount of recruitment from outside, regardless of how eligibility is established, will produce results that last. And the statistics of recent seasons bear this out with a clarity that ought to be embarrassing.
The new administration has both an opportunity and a responsibility. I hope it uses both wisely to genuinely transform what comes next. The players of this state, and the parents who stand behind them, are watching and they deserve answers.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request
Via email
The Heritage of Health: Lessons from the Khasi Kitchen
Editor,
Food is an integral part of our lives, and generations have sustained themselves through it. So, without food, life simply ceases. The types of food we choose and our eating habits determine our well-being. A healthy and prosperous society, marked by good health and proper nutrition is a key to good health.
In today’s world, we have abundant information teaching us about food’s vital role in achieving a good quality life. Yet, despite this knowledge, many of us cling to poor food habits shaped by changing lifestyles and societal evolution. Our taste preferences have shifted towards intense flavours—excessive salt, sugar, and taste enhancers—rendering traditional foods bland by comparison.
The ever-expanding food industry influences these choices even more profoundly. The old saying “eat to live” has given way to “live to eat,” encouraging gluttony, which is not a healthy practice at all.
In today’s world, food has also transformed into an art form, a commercial product, and fodder for social media influencers, where discussions on its link to health garner immense attention and sell effortlessly across communities.
In this reflection, however, I wish to highlight the role of food in the past and how our ancestors cultivated strong, healthy eating habits. In our Khasi society, these practices reveal the profound wisdom of our elders, a legacy we must cherish and preserve.
One striking example is ” soh khleh” or fruit salad made from mustard leaves and a mixture of citrus fruits. The greens supply iron, and when you mix it with the vitamin C from the fruits, it helps absorb the iron more effectively—a principle fully supported by science.
Khasis do not keep dairy farms, and cattle are raised mainly for meat, so this has made me wonder about how our people get their required dose of calcium. When I looked long and hard at our food, I found that we have a traditional dish of dry fish cooked with colocasia leaves which provides calcium in abundance. We also get it from eating calcium-rich wild greens.
For urinary tract infections or kidney problems, elders advise drinking the water from the first rinse of rice. The layer just beneath the bran contains water-soluble vitamin B, highly beneficial for kidney health. To ease acidity or flatulence, they recommend stirring fireplace ash into water and drinking it—or, if unavailable, burning a betel leaf to ash dip in into a glass of water and consuming it immediately. This alkaline solution neutralises acid with remarkable efficiency, showcasing foresight beyond modern remedies.
In the past, lunch came early in the morning to fuel the day’s labours, a practice now rediscovered and rebranded as brunch. Dinner followed at 5 p.m., after which people visited neighbours or attended community gatherings before retiring, allowing a healthy gap of three to four hours before sleep. By contrast, today’s late dinners, eaten after evening activities with little digestion time as the gap between dinner and sleep is very close. This ancestral rhythm mirrors the intermittent fasting praised today for its health benefits.
Our indigenous knowledge aligns seamlessly with scientific validation, a revelation that never ceases to inspire awe. What contemporary experts uncover as innovation, we recognise simply as the enduring wisdom of our forefathers—a profound heritage that calls us to honour and revive it for generations to come.
Yours etc.,
Dr Barikor C Warjri,
Via email
