Shillong of Seventies

By Lunminthang Haokip *

Shillong Hill Station

Introduction: In the seventies of the last century, Shillong, the capital town of Meghalaya, was regarded as a fancied destination. Colleges of Delhi and the South Indian cities were considered too far by the less-fortunate Kuki parents of Manipur, Assam and Nagaland, then, to send their children to pursue post-matriculate academic courses.

Only the creamy layer of society could afford air-travel to mainland Indian metros. It was exorbitant. So were 2 and 3-tier AC travel by train. Railway reservation was beyond the grasp of the land-locked states of the North East in those days.

The absence of cheaper travel infrastructure and facilities we enjoy today coupled with endless economic hardships of big Kuki families made outside study difficult in the nineteen seventies. It was only the most promising or brilliant child in a household who got favour, on behalf of other siblings' bread and jam, to cross one's state boundary for higher learning.

Limited Choice: The average Kuki student, hailing from lower middle-class income group, who had a desire other than to make do with being dubbed a home-grown graduate, usually ended up seeking admission in one of the colleges of Shillong. To the young guy from the backblock hill village, the pine-rich British-discovered former capital of undivided Assam state was simply awe-inspiring.

The bookish lot who scored higher marks managed to get enrolled in the P.U Science and Arts courses of St. Anthony's and St. Edmund's colleges on merit. For the girls, St. Mary and Lady Keanes in downtown Shillong were the hot favourites. The rest of the mediocre hopefuls, for fear of returning home as a Shillong-reject, approached Shillong College as a last-resort parking. UCC, Barapani was a class apart.

Its isolated location and Christian atmosphere made many cautious parents choose the island-like institution for their incorrigible wards. In the picturesque co-ed residential campus, there were lesser chances for hostellers to land up in trouble because all that you could see around was a sea of water.

Mixed Priorities: Like the average Bible student from Myanmar who has to spend the first year in an Indian Theological Seminary in learning the Queen's Tongue in a bid to be on par, the fresh Kuki student of the seventies spent the first few months of his stay in the salubrious hill station of his academic destiny in getting himself adjusted to local environment. House-hunting was a taxing ordeal.

Young people dressed well in trendy outfits. The pants and shirts that appeared okay back in his village looked out of place in the fashion-conscious township. More money was required. The cold weather demanded warmer clothing and up-market foodstuff to quench frequently gnawing hunger. The rice served in local Kong-run eateries was too soft to last, unlike home-cooked rice one got used to. Chilling climate increased appetite . After dinner, there was no problem in swallowing a piece of bun whole.

No Control: Spending silly on edibles, sartorial knick-knacks and habitual compulsions meant decreasing returns on pocket-money. Fetes, Concerts, dating, eat-outs with friends and social bashes burned holes in one's pocket. Mesmerised by the new set-up and the charmed circle's get-up, some students attended class only on the day post-matriculate scholarship money was disbursed.

Others bunked classes only to rehearse fishing beer bottles at home with a stringed ring as a hook so that chances were not missed in the ensuing fete where beer bottles will be lined up for grabs. As there was no control over one's expenses, more cash was demanded from home. Home had its own pressures to take care of. A smart fellow quoted an inflated bill to buy textbooks. Daddy knew better, bought and sent the actual text-books, not the money asked for. The outsmarted son, feeling cheated, threatened to quit studies if dad sent textbooks instead of money the next time round.

Appearances Were Deceptive: Two strangers met at Dimapur railway station in 1974. One was from North district and the other from Sadar Hills in Manipur. They were of 16 and 17 years. On their onward train journey to Guwahati and bus-trip to Shillong, they were engaged in animated conversation. The first guy bragged that he was doing P.U Science 1st year in St Anthony's.

The second commuter retorted that he was about to finish with PU Arts 2nd year course in St. Edmund's. Both the imposters struggled hard to impress each other. Arriving Shillong, the two habitual liars shook hands in the disguised garb of a college student and parted ways, hoping they would never meet again. After two days, lo and behold, much to their horror and extreme embarrassment, the two fake guys met, eyeball to eyeball, inside the classroom for Standard VI at Seventh Day Adventist School, (ATS) Jowai in Meghalaya. They did not talk to each other for a week.

Atheistic Atmosphere: Fresher's Meets were awaited anxiously. The venues of the annual bash became little Kukiland. Sokholim-istic jokes, Mepoh and merriment flavoured with native wit and humour rent the air. The gifted among the freshers were invited to croon and entertain. Relaxing and unwinding with one's own folks in one's own dialect in someone else's shire was satisfying. Thankfully, there was no ragging. However, the amoral outnumbered the spiritual in such events.

When meaningful sermons were delivered, some of the studs in students' form, with owlish nonchalance, used their heads for nothing except to keep their earlobes apart. It was weird to think that deeply devoted Christianity was out of fashion, then, in a gathering of supposed believers. Those were the days when there was lesser spiritual discernment. Snobbery was glorified and poverty frowned upon. Diligence was mocked at and penitence pooh-pooh-ed. Poorer boys were expected to cringe before the few purse-proud arrogant brats who swapped studies with pleasure. The situation was ditto with spoilt girls of wealthy parentage.

The Silver Lining: Not that everything was bad and sad though. Out of the by-and-large tepid campus environment, outstanding performers achieved excellence in competitive exams and in Evangelical field. Many high-ranking Civil Servants of today and labourers in the Lord's vineyard in the North Eastern states of India had their educational grounding in Shillong of the Seventies.

For that matter, the Bureaucracy and Legislature of many NEI states could boast of a considerable share of Shillong alumni of the sensitive seventies. At the same time, their batch-mates who did not seek the Lord's kingdom and His righteousness during their salad days missed the bus altogether. The saying, "a miss is as good as a mile" had been proved true in such cases. All said and done, the successful AIS recruits became mini-stirs overnight and from Shillong, were gone with the win.

A Johny-Come-Lately: I, for one, had been through both sides of the coin of decent and indecent behaviour patterns. The Shillong chapter in my life could have brought about an early conversion. It had the potential to change my outlook, my career and sensibilities for the better had I attended Church-services regularly and spent quality time with the servants of God residing in my vicinity.

Instead, I chose to serve the sin-nature in me and fed the worthless part of my soul. My Bible gathered dust in a corner of my room for the longer part of the year. It was the sheer grace of the Lord that made me repent much later and "made me whole (John 5:14)." A stitch in time could have saved nine instances of shame.

However, it's amazing that having "come unto Him", the good Lord not only "restored the years that the locust had eaten (Joel 2:25), but also removed the cobwebs of doubt and diffidence I had within myself with the wonderful promise He gave me in II Chronicles 29:11, "My son, be not now negligent: for the Lord had chosen you to stand before Him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto Him, and burn incense".

The Cost Of Disobedience: Common sense was uncommon in my youth. It took decades for me to learn with conviction that the worldly pleasures were at odds with that of God's and that "the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand (Isaiah 53:10). The cheap thrills that the misleading drinks of the fallen world gave for a few moments stood between what I became and what I could have been.

It's disturbing that in the big events our community hold dear, I came across many former class-fellows and glass-fellows who wallow in the mire of sorrow. Each of us had been made to pay through our nose the price of being indifferent to the favourable tide of the Good News, once upon a time in the seventies. The Most High is ruling in the affairs of men, as Daniel 5:22 says. Scorners of the Word had been left out to suffer in the shallow waters of life's shady lanes. As a result, society had been burdened with many jobless Ph.Ds – Passed Higher Secondary with difficulty.

Cheering Up Gen-Next: Things have changed drastically. Technology advanced by leaps and bounds. Diversified courses are on offer. The Word of God is given more aggressively and extensively in your times. Greater career opportunities are within easy access. Now is the time to strike gold. Join the race. Be in the fray with boldness. Why should we be categorised as STs? Christians should be the head, not the tail (Deut. 28:13).

A tragic history of a hassled community may play truant with your zeal to rebuild a battered people. Refuse to be tied down by temporary setbacks and failures. Failure in one area will open the way for success in another. The bad phase is only an opportunity to start again with renewed vigour. Without it, there is no incentive and drive to work harder.

In fact, failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour. Strong and swiftly-progressing neighbours might have taken strides. But with resources to be pooled in by you all, a spiritually recharged gen-next, our time will surely come. Let's weave our hope around Ecclesiastes 9:11:

"I returned , and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither bread yet to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all".

Lunminthang Haokip

* Lunminthang Haokip, a resident of Old Lambulane, Imphal and posted at Moreh, Manipur is a regular contributor to e-pao.net. He can be contacted at lunminthang(dot)haokip(at)gmail(dot)com or his blog here
This article was webcasted on October 12, 2011.