Learning to Accommodate

by Seilienmang Haokip (India)

Making a local connection India

We waited vigilantly for our cabs as the hollering of destinations announced their arrivals. Sometimes these names were caught into a spiral of indecipherable harmony. Around us the mall and shops began to glow as the faint light of dusk slipped away. I was at Police Bazaar in the capital city of Meghalaya. My newfound interest in exploring places brought me back to this city which I had left almost five years ago. Gradually, under the pressures of all sorts of extremities in Delhi, from the pollution of noises and air to our unrelenting acquiescence to the demands of metropolitan deadlines, the lingering memories of this soul soothing hill station developed into an unquenchable desire for a summer getaway. After a week-long trip to rural Meghalaya including the rainiest place on earth, Cherrapunji, I ventured around Shillong to conclude my tour. The crowd at the bazaar was reminiscent of the city I was going back to. However, I noticed an intricate scene of discipline among this crowd that naturally influences one to comply. This was peculiar to Shillong unlike the reigning intolerance of Delhi. So we waited with polite innuendo, and gave way to allow fellow bystanders get into their cabs as it came along. Finally I could hear “Laimu!” echoed from the multitude of cars. That was my destination. It was hard to make out under the flashes of lamps. So I waved until a car stopped just opposite to the stand. I got into the front while four people meticulously arranged themselves at the back. It is an unwritten law of every cab in shillong for the third person to be half-seated in the back couch with the body craned forward between the two seats of the front. This sacrificial seat is the only means to accommodate four at the back. This mode of seating is also symbolic of the small city that makes use of every available space as it attracts an annual influx of thousands of students from different parts of India and the neighboring countries. As Bah slowly steered through the swarm of people at All Saints Church Street, I noticed a woman in traditional Khasi Jainsem skittering through boys in their swag outfits. While the quaint church of colonial era still retain its appeal amid an urban interspersing with modern architecture, Shillong’s cosmopolitan culture traceable to the same era evolves into a melting pot of an accommodating culture where the old and new coexist. The classic blue-and-yellow buses, Bos Dieng in Khasi, ply the same road with the latest model of cars from the city’s automobile showrooms. Here, the climate also teaches one to avoid the mistake of taking things for granted. A crystal blue sky of the morning is no assurance of a sunny day as clouds suddenly loom to burst into a shower. Sometimes these clouds disappear without a drizzle. But whenever the air begins to feel like a curtain, the collective efforts of a moist wind and shower never fail to tone down the heat while performing the rituals of purification of the city’s streets and drainages. These layers of the city mould one to accept the contingencies of life. You find yourself immersed in an intricate weave of tolerance and gratitude as you navigate the sidewalks crammed with people or the streets lined with slowly moving cars gently acquiescing in the maneuver of a distant chirp of the cop’s whistle. A few minutes of drive took us away from the bazaar where the roads began to momentarily widen ahead of us. Bah sped up along this road to avert into an adjacent route at Dhanketi where we suddenly halted with the screeches of tires and brakes. A car from the opposite almost slammed into us. I gave a shocking glance at our driver and then the other in front of us. They both exhibited that peculiar trait of Shillong. Both exchanged a smile as ours made way for the other to realign. Fellow passengers applauded the driver’s proficiency. Behind us, a long stretch of cars in low beam waited in silence. I looked around to make sure there was no ‘No Honking’ sign and calmed myself.