Scotland Of The East: Shillong

It was the month of May of 2018, heat excruciatingly getting into the nerves of the humble dwellers of my City of Nawabs (a noble title for Muslim rulers meaning "Viceroy", which is no longer valid), Lucknow, a beautiful place in northern India. Though the heat was unwelcomed, the month was anticipated to bring lots of memories, and it didn’t disappoint. Soon, the summer holidays started, and we were more than just happy. Our bags were all packed, and the four of us (me, my big brother and sister, and my little five year old nephew) were ready to be scared. We had a right to be, we were after all travelling by air for the first time.

The most important things were in my sister's handbag. Potato chips, cookies, macaroni, sponge cakes and other vital edibles. Well, the food in the plane is surprisingly very cheap if you know what I'm talking about. A cup of bitter coffee for Rs. 100 only! Thank you very much but I'm fine with a cup of sweet tea worth Rs. 5. It was so fun to greet the overly sweet smiles of the hostesses, how sweet of them to greet my nephew with a "good morning" and my nephew, being even sweeter, just walked away without understanding the greeting.

As expected, the bickering started for the window seat, my brother can be a stubborn guy but yours truly knows her ways too. While my nephew got occupied with his toy cars, we made ourselves comfortable. Eventually, the plane started to make some weird noises. It roared and started moving on the runway. When it flew, it felt as if I was on a giant Ferris wheel, my head was pounding and my sister's ears momentarily stopped working. My nephew didn't pay any heed to the prayers my sister was chanting until the plane had levelled out. We ate, laughed and obviously clicked pictures. Shyly we smiled at the people who were ranting in Bengali language. We admired the mighty River Brahmaputra and soon enough we landed in Guwahati, a beautiful place in North-Eastern India, around 4 o'clock in the evening. There my brother-in-law was waiting for us and our four hour long car drive from Guwahati to Shillong duly began.

Hindi songs like "Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehra"(This/your face aglow like moon) made the ride wonderful and of course the usual bickering between me and my brother-in-law was lovely too. We dined at a nice restaurant and ate typical north Indian food. It was quite good and our pockets got much lighter after such a delightful dinner. The mountain sickness didn't affect us at all and if anything increased our appetites. The roads there could easily compete with the smooth slithering of snakes. We reached our rooms and by then, our legs were numb. It was cold and we got into bed as our trip started the next morning at 6 sharp.

Alright, not that sharp, but in our defence, us unladylike ladies needed time to get ready which was completely out of the reasoning of our male companions. How hard it is to accept facts, oh dear? On our first day, we visited the lovely waterfalls, root bridges and caves and our driver and guide was a fun guy who talked on and on. Shillong was full of surprises. The laws that influenced almost the whole country meant nothing here. Selling of beef was the most surprising, which in my reasoning, you won't find anywhere else in India. Please don't mind me, it was quite unique for me. I exceptionally felt very good being there, it was quite motivating seeing that most women including some men were shorter than me and I stood proudly at 5'2". We admired the Khasi (the native tribe) women who were wearing a traditional robe like clothing called Jainsem over their clothes. The natives of Shillong are sweet, kind and diligent and quite a few of them knew Hindi and English very well.

The next day we visited the sunset point, but our view was obstructed by the fog that made it difficult to see beyond two metres. We were disappointed but the beautiful view of the tea gardens cheered us up. The greenery I found there in Shillong was never seen in my home city, truly I was fascinated. Lastly we went to the Elephant Falls, a collection of three different waterfalls named after a rock that resembled an elephant. It's quite tiring to move all the way down to the last waterfall but when our feet felt the cool waters, all pain seemed to be worth it.

Our journey continued and we visited Cherrapunji, the rainiest place on earth, and Mawlynnong, the cleanest village in Asia. It rained all over Shillong except in Cherrapunji that day. The only thing I would want to say about their beauty is that you can stand there looking like a broke and still would be able to click selfies worth showing off. We visited Ramakrishna Mission hermitage, it is pleasing in its own mysterious way. The building comprised of a school, a museum and a small shrine which brought peace to my mind. Never have I visited a place more peaceful than that. On our way back, we saw British influence in the beautiful architectures of churches, schools, graveyards and houses. I must say that knowledge in such forms was welcomed whole heartedly. The next day, we went for a movie and soon enough my exam results were out, I was happy and we all celebrated with... surprise!... surprise!... food, now we're talking!

On the last day of our one week trip, we drove our car alongside small waterfalls and purple orchids. The view almost felt like a fantasy. We were headed towards the borderline that separated Bangladesh from India. The waterfalls from the highlands of Shillong drowned Sylhet, a city in Eastern Bangladesh, very frequently. We reached the border, and on the other side of the tricolour flag, the city of Sylhet breathed. We also wanted to see the transparent waters of the very famous Dawki Lake. However the transparency was not there due to rains and boating was not safe at that time. Every season has its perks in Shillong, waterfalls are the blessing of the monsoonal showers and the crystal clear waters adorn the Dawki in winters.

We came back, and it was decided that me and my brother will be returning to Lucknow through a train. The four hour long ride from Shillong to Guwahati was fun and we also went to the Kamakhya Temple, a very famous temple in India. Though in my humble and personal opinion, I liked the peaceful solitude of that shrine more than this beautiful temple. Two days long journey in the Indian Railways did not do much good to our generous backside to put it mildly. Our sweaters slept in our bags peacefully while I listened to a soothing tune on our way back to my home city. It was around midnight when we arrived at Lucknow and I smiled remembering the famous tag line "Muskuraiye, aap Lucknow mein hain" (Smile, just because you're in Lucknow).