Meghalaya

Meghalaya

India’s undiscovered gem

In Meghalaya, the landscape is straight out of The Hobbit. It is said that the rolling hills around the towns reminded European settlers of Scotland. Hence, Meghalaya is known as “Scotland of the East”.

Here, women own the land.

“I own this farm” declared Dave. “That is certain.” Behind him his wife and female relatives giggled. He turned and glared. 

The women had had a good reason to snigger. Dave does not own the farm-it belongs to his wife. He has three children- two sons and one daughter. But none of them went by his family name, they all had his wife’s surname, and the daughter would inherit the farm.

The couple live in Indian state of Meghalaya, one of the few places in the world with a matrilineal system, where women own land and property, and men put on a brave face. 

Christianity dominates. If you are going to Shillong by road from Guwahati. Then, as soon as you get out of Assam and enter Meghalaya, you will notice that the colourful signs on the trucks on the twisting roads appealed to Jesus, not Shiva, for good luck. 

Crazy names rule here, a legacy of the missionaries' work. I was told that children now are just as likely to be named after the latest gadget as a saint, but though I asked the names of people I met across Meghalaya, I sadly never came across a toddler called iPad mini.

Never heard of Meghalaya? Don’t worry, you are not the only one. It’s in the far, far north-east of India. A tribal territory, the land of Khasi people. It is an intriguing corner of India, and one visited by few tourist. 

2 sides

One of the most important things I've learned is this:

"There's always two sides to every story"

Even when you are listening to your friend and she is telling you about her boyfriend who has cheated on her; even when you are listening to your 4-year-old nephew and he is telling you about a classmate who snatched away his chocolates; even when you are talking to your brother and he is telling you about this girl in his office who has gone crazy for him; even when you are convinced that there is this one person who is the root of all your problems, even then there's another side to the story. 

    A guy cheating on his girlfriend is wrong; a kid taking away another kid's chocolate is wrong. But, there's a reason for it. Sometimes it's just too difficult to do the right thing. 

   I would have been quick to judge that guy who cheated on his girlfriend, that kid who snatched chocolates from his classmate, that girl who has gone crazy for a guy and that person who I think is the root of all my problems, but now I wonder what happened to cause them to act that way. They may just be selfish, but maybe not. 

    When my friend said "it was all his fault" I wondered what the other person's story is? I am not saying that two sides to every story concept explains and justifies everything! 

*In the end it comes down to belief: which one did you want to believe, which one suited you best? Or, perhaps more to the point: which one told the story you were already telling yourself? 

(*Michael Pantini, The telling room: a tale of love, betrayal and world's greatest piece of cheese) 

P.S- I'm not talking about things like murder or child-abuse or stealing or lying to protect oneself. 

Police Brat

BRAT. Born, raised and transferred. 

Getting transferred is what general public associates life in the police services with. Moving to a different place practically every year is very much part of enlisted life. From a very young age children with parents in the police force are used to of having dad walk in and announcing yet another move to a new city or town, a new home, new school and new friends.

Packing up and moving on is a very normal concept for police children. They even learn the art of how to pack sans the modern day comfort of packers and movers. The parents do the packing, with the generous help from fellow officers and the kids pitch in as a matter of course. Being a police officer's daughter, I personally have supervised loading trucks. 

With so many changes in everyday life, police children develop a rare brand of confidence and world perspective. Adapting to a new school in every few years is a kind of 'survival training' that children outside the services rarely undergo.

From the earliest years we learn to dress correctly. Women are treated with respect and children learn to show respect to ladies by observing other officers doing the little things, like standing up when a lady enters a room, opening doors, holding out chairs and those other chivalrous things. 

We learn not to discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, color, language and race. In the police force every person is valued. They learn to respect and accept everyone. Police children grow up with friends from every religion, they visit temples, mosques, churches and gurudwaras with equal gravity, and learn to celebrate all festivals with same pomp and gaiety. This perhaps is the most important lesson children growing up in the police environment learn.  

Dear Mom and Dad

Dear Mom and Dad
How are you?
I am sorry I am not there to take care of you
Will you forget me?
I thought about suicide
I thought about jumping from the building
But, I didn't have the strength to climb the roof

I've coma a long way now
And, I'm strong enough to survive
I will stay positive
each day with a purpose.   

Lucknow Tips 2

Matter matters the most! 

Aliganj, Hazratganj, Hussainganj, thakurganj and list goes on 

Aam! 

hahnemann Chowraha! 

Jugaad. 

Such satisfaction 

The story behind Lucknow! :P

 hum bol rhey hai aap "gaali" naa dein varna "hum" aapki taarif mein doh shabd galat bol deingey .. !!

Samajh jaaiye janab! 

Aminabad Again! <3

And, that's it! :)

Lucknow Tips

The Lucknowi lingo 

When you go to Hazratganj, you go Gunj-ing 

Aminabad <3

Elephants are one thing you notice in Lucknow 

The epic V-khands 

The lame question non-lucknowities ask 

Ama-yaar!!

Lovelane, Hazratganj! 

Try doing this! :P

     

For superb evening snacks lajawabi, it has to be Dastar-Khan and Tundey-kebabi! 

Humare Nawabi Andaz! 

Lucknowi Tehzeeb! 

It looks likw the whole lucknow has landed up there. 

And, it's pathetic! 

I wonder who did these epic nomenclatures. 

I don't know what this post is about; hiding things or unconditional love

"Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides."

~Andre Malraux 

We hide things, we all do, some small or some big things. We hide things so that life becomes easier. But, does it really becomes easy? 

Worrying that no one finds about it, trying hard to keep it a secret, censor all our words and acts. 

We were trying to make things simpler and easier. Weren't we?

Sigh!

What we thought and what it turned out to be. The stress, the pressure, the skipping of heart when someone calls you or says "I heard something." 

This is not what we expected when we hid things.
And, what when it comes out? It always comes out someday. 

"You can keep as quiet as you like, but one of these days somebody is going to find out."

What when people not just about that thing but also knows that you were hiding it and wonder what else is deep buried in you? You lose all your credibility. People narrow their eyes and wonder whether you are telling the truth or not each time you say something. 

It's a terrible feeling. Isn't it? 

   And, why do we hide things?

I do because I fear that my loved ones will me a little less or won't love me at all if they find out about that things. 

They say love is unconditional. Then, why do we worry about loving less or not loving so much?

I always wonder, "Is love actually unconditional?"