This is a write up of our visit to Meghalaya in June-July
2019. My parents were volunteering to teach Mathematics in Ramakrishna Mission
Schools in and around Sohra, more popularly known as Cherrapunjee. The biggest of their schools is located in Sohra
and has a boys’ hostel. But girls also come to school as day scholars. One of
the monks who run the school knew Kannada. His name is Kasturi Maharaj. I loved
the food we had during our stay, but it was very different from what we have at
home. There was lot of Aloo in meals. It was a new experience for me.
On Saturday, my parents took a session or two with the
hostel students as it was a holiday for the school as such. The next day was
Sunday and we went sightseeing around Sohra. We saw a couple of waterfalls. All
of them were uniformly gorgeous. We saw Seven Sister falls, Nohkalikai falls and
Dainthlen falls were a few of them. In Dainthlen falls we could walk on the
ridge of the waterfall as you can see in the adjoining photograph. We could
even play in the water puddle on top.
We also went into the Arwah Lumshynna
cave. This region is full of lime stones and some chemicals in that dissolve in
the water and over a period of thousands of years the flowing water makes large
underground caves. It seems once this was part of a prehistoric sea as you can
see fossils of marine creatures on the walls of the caves. We also saw several
beautiful flowers on our walk to the cave.
On Sunday evening, we
went to Sobharpunjee for Raam naam (evening prayers) with Kasturi Maharaj. On
the way we saw a huge conical rock called Khoh Ramhah or Motrop. Legend has it
that this was a Shivaling, but these days local population attribute some evil
spirits with it and worshiping this is not allowed. But this was a magnificent
sight. Sobharpunjee has a girls’ hostel and it was a pleasant change for me to
see so many friendly girls. In the far away below the hills, we
could see plains of Bangladesh flooded with water. We could see more water
than land in the plains of Bangladesh. We also saw a litchi laden tree.
For the next 3 days we stayed in Sohra. While my parents
taught the students we (me and Shankara) sat through the sessions. In the
evenings, we went to Sohra bazar. There were many things in the market which we
do not see here like juicy pineapples, litchis, plums and peaches. I was
surprised to know that banana costs Rs 250 per kg!! The following Thursday we
all went to Shella in a jeep. (We went everywhere in Meghalaya in a jeep). In
Shella School there were not many desks, so we did not go to the school.
Students from Kalibari also were present in the Mathematics sessions. So we
spent most of the time outside. Shella River was just 1 minute from where we
were staying. It was a beautiful place. Appa made friends with one of the
teachers, Ari anna. In the evening, Ari anna took us around for an outing.
First we drove for about 20 minutes and then we were in the plains. We were
told that the last village which belongs to India is on the other side of the
river. We waded in the river and then crossed the river in a boat and entered
that village. We could see goats and buffalos there. RK Mission runs a school
in this remote place. We could see a 15km conveyor belt from India to
Bangladesh which is used to transport big lime stones, which they convert into
cement in Bangladesh. We also went within 2 meters of the fence separating
India from Bangladesh. Next morning we
all woke up early and went for a bath in the river. It was awesome. Separate
bathing places for men and women. After that Ari anna took us for a long walk
to a hanging bridge on the Shella River. The bridge was held by just two
cables. It was fun to see the river from the bridge.
On Friday, the last day of teaching we went to Sobharpunjee. That is the place I liked most. I made lots of friends there. Shella was hot, Sobharpunjee was pleasant and Cherrapunjee was cold. We saw many insects, but my father pointed out lack of birds and I don’t know why. Every evening, in Sohra hostel, they used to have a prayer and meditation session. We liked them and we have started a similar session at home. Below are some assorted snaps.
On Friday, the last day of teaching we went to Sobharpunjee. That is the place I liked most. I made lots of friends there. Shella was hot, Sobharpunjee was pleasant and Cherrapunjee was cold. We saw many insects, but my father pointed out lack of birds and I don’t know why. Every evening, in Sohra hostel, they used to have a prayer and meditation session. We liked them and we have started a similar session at home. Below are some assorted snaps.
