Shillong: Journey Through the Clouds

Look up,down,sideways!!! Wherever you look, you'll only see clouds. It’s so cloudy here. It took me a 3-hour journey through the winding roads filled with mountains and greenery to reach Shillong. The journey started in Guwahati, a city in Assam, from where we should take the SUVs, which run as shared taxis, to reach Shillong since the city doesn’t have public transportation facilities. It was a mesmerising experience where I got to meet the local people. An old dadima along with her granddaughter shared the cab with me for the journey, and she explained to me about their beautiful city through the journey.

I reached my hotel, which was a traditional-style building by the side of a lake, and then I went to the local food hut since I couldn’t resist the smell that came from the hut. but all my curiosities turned to disappointment when I realised the smell was of the pig meat, which I couldn’t explore due to my religious convictions. Since it is a small city, almost all of it is explored by foot. I went down the lane and entered a shop where I had dahi lasooni chicken along with the aloo parathas.

I started walking again through the streets. I could see children walking in their school uniforms. I took the narrow road away from the town, with both sides filled with small huts and houses so closely packed and full of flowers and beautiful mountain views to one side. I could see the elderly women making parathas or chapattis for the family who was sitting next to the fireplace on the floor and eating them sizzling hot.

As I continued my walk, I was searching for the sun all around but couldn't spot him since it was so cloudy. but I could see the bright beeps of sunlight peeping through the clouds. I noticed the way the women here dressed... Most of them wore sarees similar to the Coorgi or Kunbi draped style. I passed by the market place of Shillong, which is called the police bazaar, and which is the only crowded place I found here. Here we can see people from Assam running small shops.

It was noon. I had lunch, which was a kind of rice similar to ghee rice, but people here called it the normal chaval along with the dal curry. After lunch, I continued the journey along with the other people with me, and we visited the lakes, mountains, and some of the parks. We started from the Umium Lake and covered places till Elephant Falls. Now it was time for us to end the journey and head back home. So we said our goodbyes to this beautiful place and took the taxi to Assam, from where we could go home.

That's it… This was all about my trip to Shillong. The journey may have been small, but the memories it gave were long.

Amal Jaz P

I BA English Language and Literature