| 5 mins read
The road to Shillong is flanked by Pinewoods on both sides. In early May, ride along the National Highway 40, ‘the’ only highway connecting Shillong to the rest of the world, under a canopy of Pinecones to enter the small town, three-and-a-half hours away from Guwahati, at a height of 1496 m.
Shillong, better known as “Scotland Of East” is also the quintessential North Eastern hill station. Besides the typical hill station landscape that includes an old British church and a desolated haunted house (like every other major hill station in India), walking through Shillong also reveals quaint stories from the past and the even more quaint characters that lived here. All you need here is curiosity, an umbrella/pullover and a camera. I prefer a pullover. During my stay in Shillong, I usually go out for a stroll at 3 in the afternoon in May. Essentially for a walk through the clouds. The air is always crisp and the mountains are majestic. Imagine anything of that sort in Mumbai. Well, seasons do come alive in the mountains.
Shillong is far away from being a tired tourist haunt: ugly neon signs and bumbling buildings still have no place in Shillong. It’s not a place where you want to go for a weekend or so. You need to experience the hills, climate, vibes, people, music and culture to get some sense of accomplishment in Shillong. It’s a small hill station for those who value the sound of silence. This is not a place for those who seek hyperactivity while on holiday. Or those who would like to see ‘Mall Road’ or ‘German Bakery’ at every destination they visit.
Asking me why I would go to Shillong for a holiday (even when my parents are out of it) is like asking me what I seek from life. I have no clear answer for either. The place has a distinctive identity and personality which is so strong that it binds you to its vicinity. There is a profound sense of calmness all around. Probably that has something to do with the matriarchal society that this place boasts of. It’s kind of embedded in the culture. There is no unnecessary aggression in the Khasis that you would generally associate with people in the rest of India. Men are laid back and women rule the roost here. Shillong being an isolated city is surprisingly cosmopolitan with English in common use. There are small shops, owned mostly by soft-spoken and well educated beautiful Khasi-women selling pork chops to knickknacks like T-shirts, sweaters, headgears, evening gowns, you name it. People on the streets of Shillong looks like they have just walked out of the pages of Vogue magazine. This place has really got a sense of fashion.
Music!!! Oh no, you don’t want me to start on this. This place has got some serious musicians. Shillong is always considered as “The Rock Capital” of India. MLTR has performed in Shillong, what more you want to know. The music is mostly rock, alt.rock, metal from blues to progressive and trance of late. Lots of bands here are doing their own stuff. This town even got its own Bob Dylan a.k.a Lou Majaw. In 1966, Lou was introduced to Bob Dylan’s work. Inspired by his music, he later organized a “Dylan’s birthday concert” in Shillong on 24 May 1972. Since then he has organized the concert each year on 24 May to pay obeisance to Dylan, with the shows generating national and international interest. I once bumped into Lam, an upcoming artist from Khasi hills. I asked Lam, all bands from North East have great sound and bands are really tight. Where the hell you guys get your music from? He said: We got the views, booze and beautiful women what else you need! So, be it any ordinary concert in the town or Dylan’s birthday concert, all through the year Shillong is the place to go if you want to break far away from regular music and indulge in a culture so different that you may be surprised it actually exists.
I am not saying it’s the perfect getaway that you can ask for, far away from idiosyncrasies of mechanical city life. Despite blemishes, ‘Shillong’ is one of the most beautiful places I have been to. Don’t know good or bad, but it is still far away from being India’s top tourist destinations. Everyone wants to go there but somehow never makes a cut. That’s sad. Still, if you ever want to visit Shillong, go for a week or so. If you go around May 24 then you’ll give yourself a chance to listen to Majaw’s antics. It certainly is one of the most distinctive of places you will get to see in India.
And if all this is not enough, let me tell you Shillong is famous for its white wine.. period.