What comes to your mind when you hear Shillong? An abode of clouds? Or rolling hills around the town? Or a hill station in one of the smallest states of India, Meghalaya? Shillong is a place that is synonymous with heaven. It's a painting hung on your drawing room wall. A collage of memories that is yet to be lived. I was lucky to visit this land of beauty in April 2021.
To pay tribute to this land of beauty, I was laden with my own beauty - in the colours of Holi. Holi - a famous Indian festival, had just passed by. It's the festival of colours. We shower and spray different colours on each other, which symbolises forgetting the past and coming together to celebrate love and joy! It has some mythological significance as well, but, we will discuss that in some other post!!
So here you see is my picture from the day of Holi. The colours that you see on my face and hands are made by combining grease, oil, some weird chemicals and gulaal (herbal pink colour) and hence, this confirms, that I had put myself in a week-long rigorous scrubbing and bathing regime to get these stubborn colours off. But well, Shillong had called and I had to leave within the next two days!
It was a springy March morning in 2021 when I boarded my flight to Guwahati. Guwahati is the closest airport to Shillong. The plan was that I am going to meet a close friend, Soumi Dey, who was travelling to Guwahati from Mumbai for this trip. Post we upload - download our gossip, we will be heading by road to Shillong, the next day.
I remember two months back from this travel date when Soumi and I frustratingly discussed COVID and how it had locked down all of us. She instantly proposed the idea of visiting Shillong for a vacation. She had her ex-colleague turned friend Ira, staying in Shillong. Ira is based out of Shillong. She stays there with her family and is working as a Student Counsellor in one of the Army schools in the area. Blessed with two tiny and chubby baby boys - Hiel and Ixaka, this girl is a storehouse of energy and ideas. She not only serves as the counsellor but also has her own business setup. This place called Godaam houses some vibrant and cosy home items. Ira along with her husband Mait owns a beautifully decorated and well-kept home in the centre of Shillong.
As soon as Soumi and I started from Guwahati to Shillong, I was overly excited yet nervous. It was for the first time that I was in the Northeastern part of India. We all have heard nasty things about the northeastern part of India, but luckily, my journey was buttery smooth because Ira had sent out her trusted neighbour, John uncle to pick us both up. My nervousness vanished when John uncle halted at the Umiam Lake and I could not capture the entire lake in one eye view - it was so huge! This lake is famous for its beauty and serenity and also contributes to the ecosystem of Meghalaya.
It took as close as 3-4 hours to reach Guwahati to Shillong, including the halt at Umiam Lake (also called as Barapani Lake). As soon as we entered Shillong, I got reminded about Kashmir. Though I have never visited Kashmir, still, the peculiar characteristic of Kashmir with steep roads, which are curvy and narrow, loaded with tiny shops on both sides, selling daily utility kinds of stuff like milk, eggs, bread, veggies, etc., could be found in Shillong as well. Locals also looked similar. White as milk and soft as cotton, busy in their daily chores and seeing us as if aliens have landed in their city! The weather was cold and chilly. My hometown was at a burning 35 degrees and this place, at the temperature of 16 degrees, felt like heaven! It felt as if someone has put me in the refrigerator and handed me an ice cream! I had started enjoying the place!!!
The next few days were the warmest (in hospitality) and the coldest (in weather) days that I experienced during a vacation in April. We had to switch on the heaters at the night. Taking a bath without hot water - forget it, you will freeze! We ensured that we always carry jackets and shawls because you never know when will the temperature drop further.
Ira served us a wide variety of food - starting from some Khasi delicacies (she belongs to the Khasi community) to some north Indian-styled daal and even methi parathas! Two things that I don't forget from those meals are- 1) Bhut Jolokia:- a special type of chilli pepper cultivated only in Northeast India which is certified by Guinness World Records as the world's hottest pepper. I tried a gravy made using it where a small piece of it was added and the gravy was super spicy. 2) The Tungrymbai:- A special fermented soybean food prepared by the Khasi community. Both these things were very new tinglings to my taste buds and I enjoyed trying them, once at least if not more.
Heard of the Great Earthquake of 1897 in Assam? It wreaked havoc on 12th June at 5.11 pm in Shillong causing close to 1500 reported casualties in the nearby areas.
Ira, on one of the days, took us to Cherrapunji to meet her parents and there we saw that her family owns a property which was the only house in the area that withstood the 1897 earthquake. That will surely make you admit that the foundations of this property were strong and unshakeable.
Ira's parents, were even warmer than Ira when it comes to hospitality. We had a full-course meal at their place and the table was loaded with options of vegetarian and meat options. Ixaka and Hiel were running around the home while Ira and aunty were trying to feed them. The two boys were joined by a few more kids from the neighbours and this made our visit chirpy, lovely and homely. While I and Soumi looked around the house where uncle aunty stay, we came across multiple things which left us both awestruck.
From the collection of coins to their own in-house museum, to 2-3 different properties around and the vintage bed, Soumi and I constantly felt, if we see one thing, we will surely miss a thousand others. The main house was dominantly made of wood. They even had an in-house fireplace. Uncle is fond of collecting coins and Aunty spends her free time making various shapes and drawings using those coins.
The entire house gave the vibes of antique-ness, warmth, love and joy all around.
It was not late to explore all this when Ira took us to one of the hotels nearby that they own. This hotel is kind of a homestay and houses multiple rooms made of themed colours. Ira experiments with the decor of the room with her new stock at Godaam which gives her a sense of confidence and increases the vibrancy of the room.
Every room at Sohra Inn had a theme colour to it. Even none of the two rooms were made in a similar cut-out. Each room had its own unique design, colour, tone and flavour.
While we were exploring the Sohra Inn, Ira also took us to their in-house museum. Uncle and Aunty love to have collectables and gather antique materials and hence, Ira's house was full of antique materials. From brass utensils to books, from drawings to newspapers, we had a pleasant treat to our eyes and it felt like we time travelled to the 1950s.
The visit does not end here. There are a few more things for you to saviour! Ira's parents even have made a cloth collection and distribution room in the Sohra Inn where the clothes that are in good condition, are left to be taken by the needy and poor.
We were so impressed by seeing Ira wear Jainsem in the past couple of days that we bought one for ourselves as well. Aunty helped us in selecting the right fit and pattern!
While leaving from Cherrapunji, we ensured that we click some good pictures with the family, have the chai and then start our trip back to Shillong where the next day we had our flight onwards to our hometowns. Before leaving, Ira helped us both find the Shillong delicacies. I got some traditional meat pickles for a few of my friends, and Soumi got some home decor things as well as the Khasi knife for her kitchen.
We were also lucky to witness the Good Friday celebrations at one of the churches near Ira's home. She even showed her century-old church and her parish church.
All in all, it was one memorable trip of a lifetime. Probably it's that's why this blog is coming up after two years of this visit and yet it feels as if it was yesterday! All the memories and the pictures are intact just because it was a beautiful time well spent!
Comments