company in east india - part IV

Living in the center meant witnessing the city rise; with the drawn curtains the visual component had been blocked however the sounds of the city managed to creep in. Sounds of people talking, shouting and bargaining punctuated with the occasional motor car honking. It was a late morning for us and once ready we proceeded to the restaurant for breakfast. Nothing extra ordinary, a simple spread with efficient service, we ordered for masala omelets with cheese and mushrooms much to the amusement of the waiter. The restaurant, like the room gave the same side view of the bazaar, with the ‘Maphi Dei’ poster looking more prominent as we were now on the second floor face to face with it.

With the weather being quite divine we decided to walk and explore the city. Ward’s Lake, botanical garden and the national museum were on our list. Also, we thought it prudent to explore other hotels along the way. Getting to the lake was simple; it was beautiful and deserted, deserted because it is closed on Tuesdays. This wasn’t the best of omens for us and quite soon the excitement that Shillong had promised started wearing down. Near the lake we went to the Pinewood resort, a charming property which was completely booked for a week (the reason we guessed was the heightened political activity which the state capital was witnessing, a hung assembly had been thrown up in the recently concluded state elections).

It wasn’t the pleasantest of walks with taxis constantly zipping past us. Tried looking for the museum but weren’t lucky, discovered what looked like the botanical gardens, but did not attempt exploring it, the weight of spending a week here was beginning to exert itself. Stopped at a small grocery store to buy some batteries and get a hang of where that museum was. The lady at the store was quite amused at our predicament and had her tenants (who were just about to leave in their swanky new yellow i-10) drop us over till the museum. Nothing much can be said about the museum but for that it was

1. nice and cool built with straw and bamboo and laced with a CCTV
2. had three sections
3. had lots of murals and mannequin –ish stuff

The same campus also had a library which was far more fun, quite an eclectic collection with Ghalib, Kundera and Khasi poetry enjoying each others company. The lounge just outside the library was being used for some rehearsal and the strains of music could be heard outside. The weather was divine and we started walking back, passed the post office went in to drop a post card (an act which has almost become a ritual) but weren’t successful as there were too many people everywhere. It was quite a feeling to be in the holiday mode in a city where it was a regular Tuesday for everyone else. People were queued waiting to pay their electricity bills, school children were returning back home the streets were buzzing and here we were wandering blissfully.

It was past noon and a nice appetite was building up, not content with last evening’s search we went on hopelessly exploring the bazaar for that solitary ‘Paradise[1] or Tea Pot[2]’. The hunger overtook the explorer right at the end of the bazaar street and we went into what looked like a decent dhaba. Did not experiment and made did with a roti some rice along with dal and subzi. Thought of returning to the hotel for a nap, passed one quite old and interesting looking chai shack and made a mental note of it. Came back to the comfort of the room and enjoyed a short n sweet power nap. We had been extremely cautious of the lunch and hadn’t really indulged, woke up with a decent appetite and started the search for some local momos.

If you are not a pork eater there isn’t much you can do in Shillong, this was the harsh reality that revealed itself on us. Tried three joints, but couldn’t manage vegetable momos, then retraced our steps to that interesting looking chai shack. That interesting look was all that was on offer, and we were about to leave when a chance glance inside the cooking area revealed a middle aged man jumping on a long log of wood and flatten a ball of dough. These guys apparently made there own chow fascinated by that sight we ordered a plate with some chai. Returned to the safe refuge of Bombay Bites, S was delighted to get the cola float and I settled for some more chai. Went to a local cyber café to figure out our travel alterations.

By this time we (S) had pretty much decided that it was time to get moving, that Shillong did not deserve the five days we had give her and that there was so much more we could do instead. The café was like an air drop sans a parachute into the past, obsolete machines crammed into a badly lit basement room – an exact match with my memories. Nothing of great consequence emerged and we headed ahead. Reached the tourism office and managed to get a contact number for the caving organizer, he was a little caught up when contacted. We moved on trying to make some sense of this vacation in search of the helicopter service’s office. The official there informed us that two flights were scheduled for the next day, one early around 9 and the other at 1 post noon.

Continued the random walk, now that I look back it had nothing to feed on except hope. The streets were narrow and extremely similar to the ones in mashakgunj (Lucknow; specially the gallis towards rakabgunj subzi mandi) where I had wandered on many a summer morning, noon and evening. Located hotel Polo Towers, the last on our radar and were glad that it wasn’t out of the world (I mean thank god we didn’t miss out on something!). Returned back to the hotel without a plan. The help desk in the hotel gave some more numbers for caving organizers and somehow we got lucky. Have no clue how it materialized, but in less that a minute we had a plan on hand – check out from the hotel tomorrow morning post breakfast and go caving (near Sohra, Chirapunji), come back and catch the chopper to Guwahati, take an evening flight back to Calcutta.

Dashed to the helicopter service office to buy our tickets, the official there was most concerned about our plans, he expressed his point of view about how we should leave well in time so as to enjoy Chirapunji as well as be back in time to catch our chopper from the base camp at upper Shillong. With the chopper booking done we marched towards the Delhi Sweets House for some more chai along with garama garam julebis, it sure was a moment worth celebrating – we finally had a concrete plan of action!

Dinner was at Bombay Bites where we had managed to create ‘our table’ tough were still short of ‘the usual’. I cannot recall the exact order, but there were some paneer pakoras with rice and something else. Once done we hopped across to the hotel, settled the bill and informed that we would be checking out post breakfast, the women at the reception were extraordinarily sweet this time (as compared to when we had checked in). Checked with Gregory about the finer aspects of tomorrow’s plan, he would pick us from the hotel at 7.15 and take us caving towards Chirapunji and from there drop us back at the air base in Upper Shillong.

The bar in Hotel Center Point is called cloud 9 and is supposed to be the most happening place in town. With the plan firmly in place we thought it only prudent to give the bar a visit, it had a nicely spirited ambience with a lot of empty tables. Selected a nice table near the window, the ‘Maphi Dei’ poster was once again very visible and a light breeze was blowing. Had a breezer each and S narrated a fascinating account of how the locals prepare their wedding feasts – they take a cat and feed it on water for an entire day to flush out its insides, the next day its fed a lot of rice and the day after its chopped up and the rice from the tummy served as a delicacy.

Once back a little bit of packing was done, an innocent recently washed piece of clothing had to be dried and the good old fashion heater was brought into the frame. Watched some TV and went through the plans once again. And then slept.

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[1] Paradise: A kick-ass pizzeria we had discovered in Auroville, and since then a benchmark for gastronomical serendipities

[2] Tea Pot: Another benchmark discovery in Fort Kochi which cannot be put into words