Day 11: Guwahati to Shillong

0 Posted by - March 26, 2014 - Administration, Culture, Entrepreneurship, Governance, Institutions, Rearview Mirror, Tribes

The road from Guwahati to Shillong is of strategic importance, and is a very busy highway. The first few kilometers of the road is interesting, because one side of the road is Assam and the other side is Meghalaya… the road itself, is the border between the two states!

It was an easy drive, and the scenery and the mist along most of the way, showed us why the Meghalaya is literally, the abode of the clouds!

Origin: Guwahati, in Assam
Destination: Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya
Distance Covered: 100 kms

On exiting Guwahati, we stopped by at a little village eatery on the wayside. There we met a very interesting lady, whom Bhairavi and Mahesh interviewed. She owns a small shop just beside the eatery. Her views on what the government should do for people, her views on what a simple house should be, and her thoughts on health insurance, were fascinating!

We passed by many hero stones on the way to Shillong. There we met up with the Integrated Basin Development and Livelihoods Program team, with whom Bhairavi is closely involved. We visited a couple of their project offices. The phenomenal work done by Integrated Basin Development and Livelihoods Program is so impressive that it is impossible to reason out why the other states in India, if not the whole country cannot follow this example.

A standout feature was the youth and personality of the staff and volunteers, methodology of work, the template plan right from office set up, right up to the project and lastly their commitment and execution.

At Mawphlang village, halfway between Guwahati and Shillong, we met Mr.Tambor Lyngdoh – a man who knows local history very well, and is deeply concerned with preservation of the local culture. He took us into the Mawphlang Sacred Grove.

With Integrated Basin Development and Livelihoods Program team; and interview with Mr. Tambor Lyngdoh, project Director Khasi Hills REDD Project, Mawphlang Village, on the Khasis in general, and on the Sacred Grove we visited in  particular.

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