Ms G. Dutta fondly writes about one of her pleasant memories of travelling to the misty city of Shillong with her husband.
“Though I had travelled to many places before my marriage, one of my most memorable trips was my trip to Shillong, after my marriage. We flew from Dumdum airport to Guwahati and from there, we took a cab to Shillong. The beautiful journey through the rolling hills and the undulating roads was mesmerizing. I felt like the forest of pine trees and the deep gorge were also travelling with us. We stopped midway to take a bio break and have some refreshments. We came to know that Swami Vivekananda had visited that place when he visited Shillong. We started our journey again, and after crossing Police Bazar and Barik, we reached my husband’s friend’s house in a place called Rilbong. It was quite cold, so although we were wearing our winter garments, we were still feeling very cold. Rilbong had another special attraction for me. Jitbhumi was close to my husband’s friend’s house. Poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had spent more than two months and vastly enriched his literary repertoire at Jitbhumi.
In Shillong, we visited Beadon, Bishop and Elephanta Falls. The Beadon and Bishop Falls are often referred to as the twin brothers, since both tumble down the same escarpment into a deep gorge. I still remember having fresh squash and pineapple which grow abundantly there. Although acclimatisation posed a problem due to the severe climate change, I enjoyed every bit of my stay there and interactions with the different communities who live harmoniously together was most enriching. The beautiful city of Shillong, which is known as the ‘Abode of Clouds’, still remains vivid in her memory.
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