STUNT MANIA

The battle line has been drawn between Police officers and reckless stunt-riders here in the city and it would be nothing short of “Stunt Mania.”
Therefore, bikers engaging in stunt-wars on the city streets here better think twice before they: “wheelie, stoppie and burnout” as police officers would try match their skills on their own turf and the winner would take it all.
A specially trained group of police officers would soon get on their biking gears and engage with biker gangs, who some say are causing danger to public life and property.
“The police department has ordered motorbikes and soon officers would test the mettle of these stunt-riders,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (traffic) Hurbert G Lyngdoh said in a press meet today.
Till June this year, there were 24 motorbike-related accidents in the city. Six persons have died. During the Independence Day celebrations with streets empty due to a bandh called by HNLC, 30 bikers were arrested for performing extreme stunts on the streets.
There are several associations of bikers in the city. Some of these include the Pulsar, Honda, Yamaha and Enfield bikers association. Some of these association members perform death-defying stunts on the streets like wheelie (lifting front wheel), Stoppie (lifting rear wheel) and burnout (spinning rear wheel till smoke emanates.)
What the police here are worried though is the manner these bikers zip at high speed through the traffic causing danger to the public.
Lyngdoh said that there are 17000 motorbikes and scooters in the city. These are seen maneuvering dangerously during the rush hours. Many of these bikers are teenagers.
“Anyone who is found over-speeding and performing stunts should think twice. The traffic department would be very strict against violators,” Lyngdoh added.
The craze about stunt has also been accentuated by reality show such as MTV’s Stunt Mania. In May this year, Shillong was one of the cities in India that hosted Stunt Mania in which bikers performed stunts.
Meanwhile, the traffic police department said they have not thought about a name for the police officers’ squad to bust these biker gangs, but they might come up with something cool and hip to be in sync with time.
Earlier, during Independence Day, the traffic department conducted area domination drills on motorbikes.
However, there aren’t adequate numbers of bikes and therefore the department is looking for more bikes with adequate horse power – an exciting prospect for stunt-rider fans!

MEGHALAYA TRANSIT ROUTE OF COUGH SYRUP SMUGGLING

Meghalaya has become the main transit route for smuggling of Phensedyl and other Codeine-based cough syrups to Bangladesh, recent seizures suggests.
In this year alone, Codeine-based cough syrups worth over Rs. 59 lakh was seized in Meghalaya. A total of 1.12 lakh bottles were confiscated in three seizures. Officials say, many of these cough syrups were meant to be smuggled into Bangladesh via Meghalaya and Agartala.
Phensedyl, Corex and other Codeine-based cough syrups are legally available in India. These are prescription drug. A bottle of Phensedyl cost Rs. 42.25 and Corex Rs. 68.
But in “dry” Bangladesh these Codeine-based cough syrups are in high demand and are sold anything between Taka 200-300. The price shoots up substantially during festivals.
In the region too there are a substantial number of cough syrups abusers. In “dry” states such as Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura the number of cough syrup abusers is growing.
In India, Phensedyl is manufactured by Indian Pharmaceutical giant Nicholos Piramal. However, there is growing debate whether the control mechanism has failed and the cough syrups are being smuggled rampantly.
Yesterday, the Customs here seized a truckload of cough syrups from Lumshonong, Jaintia Hills. The truck was loaded in Bihar and was on its way to Agartala enroute to Bangladesh.
Hidden behind 30 rice sacks were 47,400 bottles of Corex and 3,600 Phensedyl bottles – a total of 50,000 bottles of cough syrups. The total price of cough syrups was 33.75 lakh. The driver and handyman of the truck were detained.
On July 31, another truck with 27,100 bottles was seized in Umling, Ri-Bhoi. The price of that illegal consignment was over 11.45 lakh. The bottles were hidden together with Marijuana.
Back in February this year, 35,000 bottles of Phensedyl were recovered and the cost of the illegal consignment was pegged at Rs. 14.78 lakh.
Director General of Narcotic Control Bureau, OPS Malik during his visit to the region said that Meghalaya has become the favoured transit route for smugglers, both for smuggling in drugs such as cocaine, heroine from Myanmar into India via Manipur and like in these cases, smuggling out cough syrups to Bangladesh.

COMIC BOOK ON MALARIA

The release and distribution of a health comic book to create awareness on Malaria to school kids could not have been more timely as the death toll from Malaria has increased 524 percent in 2007 over 2003 in Meghalaya. 

The first of its kind health comic book titled – A tale of two magic potions - is an “absorbing” story of two school kids, Abhishek and Anu, fighting to make their town Malaria-free. 

Both the schools kids together with others make their town Amritnagar “Malaria-free” by taking some basic Malaria-control steps. The 30-paged Comic book was distributed to fifth grade students in three different schools here by Chillibreeze Solutions - a content and design service provider. Before distribution of the comic book a quiz contest was conducted and later after a few days another quiz was held. 

 “The students showed visible improvement in their knowledge about Malaria after reading the comic as indicated by their answers,” Dr. Nishi Viswanathan, one of the directors at Chillibreeze and author of the book said. During the Second World War such initiative was also taken by Walt Disney to educate soldiers and people on the prevalent diseases including Malaria through films and comics. 

Walt Disney’s “The Winged Scourge” produced in 1943 showcased the seven dwarves pointing out several precautions to fight Malaria. By 1945 more than 8000 shows were held each month attracting over 4 million people to such health oriented films. Dr. Viswanathan adds though Malaria is preventable hundreds of people die of the disease in India. 

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) envisages achieving a target of 50 percent reduction of Malaria death rate by 2010. However, in Meghalaya Malaria morbidity and Malaria mortality has increased 524 per cent this year from 2003, despite the state spending Rs. 23.70 crore to combat the disease as per the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report.

 “The possibility of achieving the objective (under NRHM) of reducing Malaria morbidity and mortality rate by 30 and 50 per cent respectively by 2010 is remote,” the report underscored. However, Dr. Viswanathan is optimistic. She says creating awareness on this preventable disease through “entertaining and engaging” medium to school kids is one of the solutions to combat Malaria. Chillibreeze is trying to translate the comic book in different languages for distribution to school children across India as part of its non-profit ventures.

HANUMAN TEMPLE IN BALPAKRAM

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today demanded in the Assembly that a Hanuman temple be constructed at Balpakram National Park to attract tourists.
John Manner Marak of the NCP said during a motion that according to Ramayana Hanuman flew to Balpakram Park to collect the life-saving Sanjeevani.
According to legends, when Lakshman was injured by a poisonous arrow shot by Ravana's son Meghdut, it was diagnosed, that only the Sanjaveeni could save his life.
As Lakshman laid battling with his life, Hanuman went in search of the herb. Hanuman flew from the battlefields of Sri Lanka and came to the Himalayas looking for the herb. From top of the Himalayas he sighted a hillock and proceeded straight towards it.
Legends say the place incidentally was Balpakram National Park in South Garo Hills.
Hanuman not being able to identify the herb pulled up the entire hillock and flew back to the battlefield. Till date a huge opening in one of the hillocks in Balpakram Park exists which Hindus claim was the piece of land that Hanuman carried away.
Supporting the motion opposition leader Conrad Sangma said the government would stand to gain by constructing a Hanuman temple inside the park to attract tourists.
Other opposition members joining the discussion said that Balapkram Park is revered by the Garo people as the “abode of the departed souls” and the Park needs to be prompted to attract tourists.
Balpakram National Park stands nearly 3,000 feet above sea level and covers an area of 200 square kilometer. It is a tableland and the plains of Bangladesh can be seen from atop.
The park is rich in rare flora and fauna and is also strewn with ancient religious shrines and Hindus from India and Bangladesh visit it on annual pilgrimages.

ARTIST DONATES BODY

Even after his death, Moinul Haque Barbhuiya would touch the living soul after he magnanimously donated his body for medical research today.
This is the first time that an individual has donated his or her body for a scientific cause in Meghalaya’s history. However, one of the deceased’s relatives has claimed the body and is arguing that the body be buried according to religious rites against the deceased’s last wish.
Barbhuiya was a renowned artist and a faculty in Department of Creative Arts in the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU).
Barbhuiya before his death pledged that his body be donated to North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) today.
The Nobel gesture has elated the artist community in Meghalaya. “This noble act would only help in developing the pursuit of science and art,” R Warjiri a local artist said.
Not just the artists, relatives of Barbhuiya are equally elated. “This would help the entire scientific community of Meghalaya,” a relative of Barbhuiya said who did not want to be named.
P Bhattacharyya dean of NEIGRIHMS said the body of Barbhuiya would be used to help in discovering new scientific knowledge.
“ Its rarely done that someone donates his or her body for a scientific cause and Barbhuiya body would be of immense help for the scientific community ,” Bhattacharyya said.
Bhattacharyya said Barbhuiya’s body would be a case study of muscles, bones, veins and human anatomy.
Barbhuiya was a Muslim by faith. He was a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Vishwa Bharati University, Shanti Niketan, West Bengal.
He was born in Lala, Assam in 1952 and joined NEHU in 1976 as an artist. In 1989, he joined the Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, NEHU.
Barbhuiya was the founder secretary of Meghalaya Artists’ Guild from 1983 to 1989. Barbhuiya leaves behind his wife and daughter a medical student.

SNAIL MAIL

Not to be left behind in this age of communication technology, the Snail mail would now piggy ride on brand new motorbikes to be delivered at the doorstep a wee bit faster then before.
The Postal department here has purchased ten motorbikes which the postmen would zoom to deliver letters and other postal items right at the doorstep in the state capital.
For years, Bollywood has immortalized the postmen with his depiction of a khaki-clad-man riding on a bicycle to deliver love, sorrow, aspiration, dreams scribbled on a postcard or packed in a letter or other items, the postmen these days have all but lost somewhere in these era of communication blitzkrieg.
The idea behind purchasing the TVS motorbikes is to avoid the notorious traffic snarls in the state capital. The other advantage is the postmen don’t have to trudge the steep inclines in snaking lanes and alleys in this hill state to deliver information.
“We want to delivery the mail and other postal items as fast as possible with efficiency,” M Iawphniaw Postmaster General NE circle said after flagging off the motorbikes here today.
The department here further purchased eight vehicles for delivery of mail to West Khasi Hills and Garo Hills districts. Earlier, the department used to send mails from the state capital to Nongstoin and Garo Hills through private transport.
Iawphniaw said, the private transports are not always reliable and on many occasions delivery of mail is delayed and the postal department gets the blame for the poor service. She added with the introduction of the vehicles mail postal delivery service would improve.
In Garo Hills, the Snail mail would move from Tura to Willimnagar and then to Goalpara, Assam. From Goalpara the mail would be routed for delivery to Tikrikilla, Ampati and other remote corners of Garo Hills.
Although the concept of Snail mail is slowing becoming alien in this Internet age, but it still holds a special place in lives of people.

SPACE EXPLORATION

Investment in space exploration would give seven times return to any economy of the world which embarks on such missions, NASA Astronaut Mike Fincke said today.
He said, developed economies of the world are investing in space exploration to help development of people’s lives on Earth and the returns are as much as seven times high of the total investment.
When asked should developing countries like India invest in space exploration when the fund could be used for other pressing problems in the country, Fincke said: “definitely India or any other country for that matter should invest in space exploration.”
He said space exploration was an investment for the future and many new technologies and science would develop by such explorations and help find answers for some of the present problems of the world. India’s Chandrayaan mission, he said, was a success as many of its objectives were fulfilled and these findings would help India and its economy.
On the International Space Station (ISS), he said, the space station has already started giving returns on its investment by way of its reaserch on biotechnology. Moreover, Space tourism that is being conducted by Russia would be lucrative business in the near future.
The ISS, experts say, would be conducting studies on a several scientific projects. There are 15 countries that are partnering the projects, including Russia and the United States working first time together in such a project.
Amongst other experiments and studies a cure for cancer is one of the most anticipated studies that is to be conducted by ISS and its crews onboard. The ISS woud be fully operational by 2011.

DHUNURI

One of winter’s enduring ballads, as narrated by the twangs of a “Dhunuri” moving from one chilly lane to another crying out for people to make quilts and mattresses, might soon get lost forever.
“It’s difficult...there is no work these days. The working season has also reduced,” Asif, a 70-year-old Dhunuri or cotton carder from Bihar’s improvised Chapra district said, as he cleaned the cotton covering himself up with dust and cotton alike.
Like Asif, Md. Iqbal too a Dhunuri from Bihar has been working during the winter season to make quilts and mattress for the past 20 years. “Work is difficult to come by these days,” he too rued.
Almost all Dhunuris single-mindedly say that they would not teach their children this profession. “I would not teach my children this profession. There is nothing in it only dirt and hardship,” both Asif and Iqbal said poignantly.
Asif, whose foot digits are crooked from the pressure it endured over the years cleaning cotton said, balancing the “Dhanush” for hours and then meticulously stitching the mattress and quilts is no easy work.
A good Dhunuri can stitch the mattress or quilt in intrinsic designs, an art handed over from one generation to the other. “Every Dhunuri has his own designs of stitching. In quilt the design can range from flowers to birds or other motifs. In mattresses the button stitch is usually preferred,” Asif said.
He said after all the hard work he can think of earning Rs. 300 these days. “Earlier it wasn’t like this and now on many days we don’t even get work,” he added.
The “Dhanush” or the tools used by these cotton carders are unique in their own right. The broad surface is made from Sal wood, while the neck is made from wood from kharia tree.
“The Dhanush is manufactured only in Bihar, the string is made of Camel or Buffalo vein and is manufactured in Meerut. The total cost of the Dhanush is about Rs 3000,” he added.
Most of the Dhunuri attribute this downfall in their trade to the advent of cheap blankets and mattresses in the market. “People do not want to make quilts and mattress anymore. They instead go for the ready-made blankets and mattresses,” Iqbal said.
Another aspect has been the dwindling and mild winter seasons. “The season has shortened and the chill is not the same as it was 10 years back,” Asif said. These Dhunuris would return to their native villages in Bihar after the end of the season some perhaps never to return again

MEETING INSIDE CAVE

Maldives held its cabinet meeting underneath the pristine Indian Ocean, Nepal atop the sun-kissed Mt. Everest and now Meghalaya’s tourism department officials held theirs inside a dimly-lit cave!
Tourism officials, village council heads, NGOs, tour operators and taxi drivers huddled deep inside the Syndai or Jogindra Cave in Jaintia Hills along the Indo-Bangla border on Tuesday with only solar lanterns and Dongmusas (lighted bamboo torches) as accompaniments during the meeting.
The conference room was of impressive proportions, 25 meter height and 30 meter width, architected with stalactites and stalagmites. This place was the favoured hideout for erstwhile Jaintia royals in times of war for strategising and regrouping.
Tuesday’s meeting, however, was no secret. Journalists from print and visual media covered the meeting and the cave reverberated with ideas and discussions of all the stakeholders on how best to promote tourism in Jaintia Hills district, having the longest cave in Asia and perhaps in the world.
“We met to promote tourism, but it was also an effort to draw attention on the issue of cave preservation and how the caves can augment income for the locals through adventure tourism,” Barnari Mawlong, Amlarem’s Additional Deputy Commissioner, who chaired the meeting and brain behind the unique convergence, told the Assam Tribune.
Many of the caves in Jaintia Hills are under threat due to rampant unscientific mining by cement plants in the district. Krem Lait Phrah-Um Im-Labit in the district has been mapped as one of the longest caves in Asia by speleologists, but the cave is under threat due to limestone mining in the area.
The Meghalaya Adventurers’ Association filed a writ petition recently in the Supreme Court, which in turn directed that a team of experts be appointed to assess whether increasing industrial activity was threatening the caves in Jaintia Hills.
The organisation so far has registered and recorded over 1000 caves in Meghalaya of which 520 caves has been mapped yielding a cave passage of 280 km.
The unique meeting had an immediate bearing with forest and environment minister, RC Laloo saying: “these caves need to be protected; we are looking in terms of strengthening the forest and environment department.

LITTLE PINKI

Little Pinki might have lived her dream when she skipped and smiled her way on the red carpet to Kodak Studios earlier this year, but Asma Begum has a different dream - walk down the aisle in her village.
Pinki the six-year-old girl with a lip deformity from Dabai village, Uttar Pradesh was the one of the star attractions during the Oscar awards ceremony this year. The 39-minute documentary, filmed under the Smile Train project on Pinky by American director Megan Mylan won the best short documentary awards this Oscars.
Like Pinki, Asma too a village girl from Baitbari, Garo hills had cleft lip, and at 32 years of age she had no suitors and all her marriage proposals were rejected due to her deformity.
“She was always laughed at in the village and had few friends. She remained mostly depressed due to her lip deformity. All her marriage proposals were rejected,” Asma’s maternal uncle MR Mulla recalls.
But, now a simple 45 minute operation could turn Asma’s life 180 degree. She is admitted at the Woodland hospital for the surgery sponsored by the Smile Train project.
Woodland is the only hospital in Meghalaya sponsored by the Smile Train project to give free surgery to anyone between the age of 3 months and 40 years with cleft lip and palate.
“The cost of the operation (about Rs. 10,000) and travel fare from home and back of the beneficiaries is covered under the project. We have operated 300 people since January 2007,” Dr. Werlok Kharshiing plastic surgeon at the hospital told the Shillong Times.
He added many people from distant villages in Meghalaya, especially those from Garo hills have been coming for the surgery since January 2007 when the project began in the hospital.
Dr. Kharshiing said cleft lip and palate were mainly caused due to heredity and lack of vitamins and nutrients in expectant mothers. Therefore, many of the cases are from the village where pre-natal care is poor.
Mother of Armina Katun, a 15-year-old girl, Isha Bibi said she was surprised at the transformation on her daughter. All along she too worried of getting a groom for her daughter with her lip deformity.
“I want to thank the doctors here, they changed my daughter’s life with just a simple operation,” Bibi said clutching her daughter, who continued to blush despite the stitches on her lips.
Smile Train is an International charity organisation that provides free surgery for cleft lip and palate to people all around the world. The project gained worldwide popularity after the documentary on Pinki titled “Smile Pinki” winning the Oscars.
“I am absolutely sure Asma would be able to get married after the surgery and get back the smile into her life,” Mulla said.

FAIR IS NOT FAIR.

If you thought all’s not fair with fairness cream, think again. Many Indians do feel it’s fair to delve deep into their pockets to have a pale skin, recession or otherwise.
“We had over 20 per cent growth of our business in India even during the economic slowdown,” country head of a Swedish multinational cosmetic company, Oriflame, Fredrik Widell said.
The figures for the northeast were even more encouraging. “The growth rate of our company in the northeast was 80 per cent during this period,” he added.
The head of the cosmetic company said its fairness cream products are a big hit in South India. In the northeast, there is demand for skin products and perfumes.
In the multi-billion cosmetic industry in India, half of all the profit comes from sale of fairness creams.
India’s obsession with fair skin becomes clear by going through matrimonial advertisements where the words “fair and beautiful” are widespread.

Even TV advertisements equate fairness to confidence, style and the difference between success and failure in this age of fairness meters.
Except Aishwarya Rai who refused to do a commercial for a fairness cream other Bollywood stars cares the least.
Experts say Indian’s obsession for getting a lighter tone can actually have harmful effects. Betnovate a steroid cream recommended for skin aliment is one of the most misused drugs in India to get a lighter skin.
However, prolonged use of this steroid cream can cause skin cancer in the same way as basking for hours on the beaches to have a tanned skin.
“Indians wants fairness cream whereas Europeans want bronzing cream for that tanned look…the grass is always green on the other side,” Widell chuckled.

DREAMS

Come over to Iewduh (Bara Bazaar) on any easy afternoon and you may stumble upon porters dreaming leisurely at some quite uninvited corner of this bazaar, called life.
These porters have been forcing dreams on themselves for years now searching the unexplained realms, in their pursuit for happiness. They are the day-dreamers. They are the interpreters of dreams. Or maybe perfect cases for Sigmund Freud’s psycho-analysis.
You may call them anything, but please be forewarned not to disturb their slumber. At noon after a hard morning of carrying loads some of these porters retire and goes into a trance.
The whole idea is not to take a well earned rest, but to dream and then interpret them into integers and later place bet. Welcome to the world of Teer (archery) where many believe that arrows hit the target guided by some divine interpretations of dreams.
“ There is this porter Baban Adhikari who walks daily to Mahadev Khola early in the morning from Bara Bazaar – a distance of five odd kilometers – and sits there near the stream till 10 am to interpret his dream and bet on Teer,” Purna Bahadur Chetri a potter said.
Tikaram Chetri another potter who gave up his gambling habit says there are many addicted to this form of gambling and knows of some colleagues who passionately sleep during the afternoon to dream up the magic numbers.
These porters, like thousand others here in Meghalaya interpret dreams to translate luck 80 times over and gamble a substantial amount of their income on Teerdaily.
The manner in which dream are interpreted is unique here in the hills. They are done through understanding of sounds of the local dialect and shape of objects seen in the dreams!
For example, Kulai which means horse in the Khasi dialect can be translated into number three. The reason being Lai (which rhymes with Kulai) is the number three in Khasi numerology.
If a person is seen in dreams the magic number is six. In Khasi Briew means people and since it rhymes with Hynriew which is six in Khasi numerology hence the interpretation.
Coming to shapes, eggs are zero, for obvious reasons, Umbrella is seven due to the shape of its handle, pistol is six due to the shape of the trigger, a fat lady is 88 - now let’s leave this one for imagination. A dead man is nine. Three added to six, because its believed that man becomes three times heavier after death.
On any given day, money worth crores is gambled on Teer. “On an average some people bet anything between Rs. 100 to Rs 500 daily. Few even gamble in lakhs,” Deepak Joshi a Teer bookie at the Bazaar said.
Its, however, no dream that there are over 1500 licenses holders of Teer. In the 2006, the Meghalaya generated revenue over 26 lakh while issuing Teer licenses and books. The figure has hovered around that number over the years, except 2008-2009 when the amount was about 21 lakh, a cause of insomnia for the government.
The tax on betting and amusement collected by the taxation department has stayed around the 1 crore mark annually for the past three years.
Apart from the revenue and people’s obsession with this form of gambling, such dream interpretation makes interesting reading. Do people dream in colour or black and white?
“Red means saw in Khasi dialect. It also means four in Khasi numerology and once you dream the colour you know what number to bet on,” S Nonkynrih winks.

SILK WORM

Every autumn season, the main market places here are flooded everyday with colourful silk worms, not for silk production, but for consumption.
Eri silk worms locally known as “Niang Ryndia” are a delicacy in this part of the hills and are sold at Rs. 160 per kg in different market places. “The silk worms can be deep fried or can be simply boiled for consumption. It tastes somewhat like prawn,” Khara Synrem, an avid lover of Niang Ryndia said.
Four different types of Eri silk worms are reared in Khasi-Jaintia and Ri-Bhoi hills by farmers. “The yellow ones are reared in Ri-Bhoi and the green ones in West Khasi Hills district,” said one of the vendors, doing brisk business at Iewduh (Bara Bazaar).
One of the vendors informed that they get the worms from far off places from Umden in Ri-Bh0i and Nongstoin in West Khasi Hills district. “We do good business during this season,” the vendor added.
Silk worms are considered to be important source of protein to supplement the diet. “The silk worms have medicinal properties too,” another silk worm consumer claimed. Interestingly, the silk worms are sold in liquor joints to supplement as snack, especially in the rural parts of the state.
China and India are the two main producers of silk and together manufacture more than 60 per cent of the world production each year. In India, Assam leads in manufacturing one of the best quality silk.
East Khasi hills District Sericulture Officer, A Kharbani argues that Meghalaya produces better quality than even Japan. “Those sold in the markets are for consumption, but silk worms are also reared in government-run farms and exported to West Bengal and Delhi,” the district sericulture officer said.
Meghalaya Chief Minister DD Lapang recently inaugurated the Eri silk cluster project in Umden Ri-Bhoi district funded by the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and implemented by Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship.