Christianity and Meghalaya

95% of the world's Hindus live in India. 

Hindus in India comprise 80% of the country's population. 

In a supposedly Hindu majority country like this, Meghalaya is a state where Hindus are a minority! 

In fact, Hindus are a minority in 3 of the North-Eastern states - Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland. At first, I found it incredulous that Hindus are a minority in these states. Then I learned that all of them are Christian majority states with 75% (in ML) to 90% (Nagaland) of the population being Christian.

In fact, in 2010, the ML government declared Christianity as the state religion!! Do we have officially declared state religions in other states?

Mizoram did not hold any International Yoga Day event! They said they are a Christian state. 

I thought India and Indian states are secular. Am I wrong? 

In India, only the Hindus are the "thekedaars" of secularism. We should not be surprised (but rather concerned) with Mizoram's rejection of Yoga. Secularism, tolerance, and acceptance work only when the majority population is Hindu. Once the demography changes to Islam or Christianity, the assertion of an Islamic state or Christian state is pronounced and quickly asserted.

In Meghalaya, Hindus are just 12% of the state's total population and are present in very few districts and in very small numbers - West Garo Hills (19%), East Khasi Hills (18%), and Ri-Bhoi (12%). This is according to the 2011 census. 

Now, a decade later, I am convinced the numbers must have dwindled further. 

Interestingly, the Chrisitan number has been steadily rising. In 1901, the Christian percentage was a meager 6%. In the first census of 1951, it had grown, almost quadrupled to 25%. In 1991, it had risen to 65 and as of 2011, it stands at 75%. What a meteoric rise, I must say. 

It was only after I returned from our Assam-Meghalaya weeklong travel that I found out the Nartiang Durga Temple, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, is in ML. The other Shakti Peetha in the North East, in Assam - Maa Kamakhya Temple - is very well-known. Why is Nartiang Durga Temple not equally famous? Hardly very little is written or known of it.

So how did Meghalaya become Christian?  

Some pictures from my trip.

This is the house of the first Christian missionary who came to Meghalaya in 1841 to convert people to Christianity. 

Lavish, isn't it? And note the year 1841 !!!! Even today in the year 2022, it took us huge amounts of cash reserves and effort to plan the journey to this remote and far, far away state in the extreme north-eastern part of India. Even with flights, roads and overall better connectivity in today's times, travel to ML is still a lot of effort.

And above is the first church that was built.

Today, 75% of the state is Christian. Who does the credit go to?  To this man - Thomas Jones. He came to India at the age of 31. Because he had a vision. To convert people to Christianity. To lead the sheep to the Shepherd. To bring the lost people to God. Of course, to the Christian God. The one and only savior of lost souls. 

Even today, the state is thinly populated. Language is a barrier even between two Indians. The locals speak a few words of English and a few words of Hindi. "Yes, OK, Chai, Khana" rudimentary English, and Hindi. In 2022 we would find it difficult to live and survive here with relatively better roads and electricity. How did Thomas Jones and his ilk survive - the language, the rains, the isolation, the food, the rugged terrain, the 'lost in a no man's land desperation'? The Lord's blessings, of course.

Have I heard of any Hindus going to uninhabited villages of the world to convert the indigenous population to Hinduism? Hindu missionary is not even a word. Islamic missionary is not a word. Christian missionary - now that is a word. The words 'Christian' and 'missionary' always go together. Like the words 'Muslim' and 'Jihadi' do.

How strong must this calling be and the finances that backed it? The kind of political and monetary support he received! 

We hardly saw any temples as we traveled through Shillong and Cherrapunji over a period of 4 days. But Churches were everywhere. If not a full-fledged church, you could be sure to find a huge cross being dug into every hill and every town square. In some places, we found entire hillocks turned into a cemetery with a well-constructed road being made for approach.

In 1841, I wonder how this place was. No roads, no school, no electricity, no shops, no means of transport. And yet, here comes a man, all the way from England, with the express purpose of converting the poor tribals, or as they would like to put it "spread the message of the love of Jesus". 

How did Thomas Jones manage? And succeed? 

Answer: His incredible commitment to the cause of conversion.

Mawrynkhang Trek And Laitlum Canyon

We vacated our hotel in Shillong early in the morning. 7:00 a.m. We planned to do the Mawrynkhang trek which starts from Wahkhen village in East Khasi Hills. Wahkhen is 42 kms from Shillong, a 2 hours drive. We wanted to start the trek as early as we could.  

We did reach there as planned. The drive was smooth, except after we reached Wahkhen, where in some places the rains had damaged the roads. We had to drive carefully at some of those points. 

A few of the landslides we witnessed on our way. Just the first rain and havoc everywhere. What will the monsoon bring more!

The locals sitting at the edge of the landslide for a smoke and some quiet time, perhaps.

There was a fee to be paid for the trek. Rs 100 per person. I saw the entry book. 

Yesterday 18 people trekked. People came from Nagpur, Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat. "Not bad", I thought. People have started discovering this place thanks to social media. And yet, 18 was a small number considering the reach of the internet today.

The trek is actually built by the locals to go from Wahkhen to Mawrynkhang - a distance of about 2 kms through this dense forest and across mountains.

The signboard is the starting point of the trek. We started at 9:15, trekked for an hour, and took an hour more to return to the base.   At 11:15, we were back at the car park. 

My 4-year-old daughter too trekked. It was a moment of pride and joy for me watching her taking one slow step at a time and following us, not fully scared and yet not fully brave either. But that is the thing about courage. It is not the absence of fear but the ability to face it and move on, to do the very thing that scares you. 

She gladly walked till the point where she saw the rickety bamboo bridge shown below. 

The steep arch of the bridge, the water gushing below, the sight of the big rocks, and the shaky bamboo sticks unnerved her and since it had started raining by then, she would have none of it. 

30 mins into the trek, you will find this beautiful river, just 500 meters from the start point.

 

You can spend an entire day watching the lovely stream and the gurgling sound it makes as it winds its way over and between the rocks. The villagers come here to fish as you can in the picture below - the main in the red shirt.

I have a sweet ache in my heart now as I recall that moment when I first set my eyes on the river. I miss it. I want to go back. I want to sit. Just sit. Be there. Let time pass.  Let the drizzle soak my soul the way it did on the day of the trek.

Don't rent or carry raincoats and umbrellas. Umbrella will be a waste. You cannot hold an umbrella in one hand and maneuver the tricky path with the other hand. And it is hardly any protection from the Cherrapunjee downpour. 

The raincoat will make you look like an idiot (in your photos and in real) and will rob you of that rare experience of getting drenched in the soothing rains of the region. No use trying to protect yourself from it or find a shade to hide under. Or wait for the rain to stop. This is Cherrapunjee rains. It doesn't stop. 

In any case, it is only TILL you get wet that you will worry about getting wet. Once you are wet, it will not matter. It will actually feel really good. You can carry on walking as if you do it every day. Like the locals who walk come rain or shine.

This dog, I have no idea from where it came and why, but it accompanied us throughout the trek. At one point, it even showed us a shortcut! 

It would come in every picture we took. We had to shoo it away just to get a picture without it in that!  It kept licking us and befriending us like it was our dog. Was it a case of "dog likes man, man good" life truth from Paatal Lok?

The bamboo poles are tied strong and steady enough for a fearless walk. The route is dotted with bamboo bridges and walkways built alongside the rocks and boulders by the locals themselves. A painstaking effort of many years.

I wonder how many years it took them and how many men and material. Mawrynkhnag trek is not on the itinerary of any tour package. This is something you need to find and do on your own. 

Many come there on rented bikes. The raincoats are available for rent. We didn't use one. We are happy we didn't. I really enjoyed the trek with the rain soaking us. In most treks, the sun and the humidity leave you soaked in sweat and thoroughly thirsty. Just the thought of tender coconut or juice or water or any liquid can make you dash for it like a dog dashes at a plate of food.

But in this case, because it was raining we never felt the tiredness. Tanvi &I would have trekked further but Sathya and Rutvi were waiting for us to return & that too in the rain. 

How strong they must have been and unrelenting in their efforts to work not against but with nature to carve a path across two villages! What an amazing trek ever. Felt so alive. Was drenched in rain. and yet so happy and fresh.

This one below was the riskiest spot. It was open on one side and if you were reckless or hurried your step, you could slip and fall off the cliff. It was slippery and raining. There was nothing to hold on to for support. This was the only bit that was open. Everywhere else you had bamboo fences or sticks or ladders to help you.  

Even as I made my way through it, I thought, "If I were to slip and fall, the dog would help the locals find my body. Was it not why the dog was with us all the time?" 

The 2 hours were the BEST experience of my life and this sentence is such an understatement. I really have no words to describe how fulfilling and energizing this experience has been. 

I had carried a small bottle of water but neither my daughter nor I took a sip from it. We wet our lips with the rain drops and never for a minute felt tired throughout the trek. She, in fact, wanted to do the complete trek till Mawrynkhang village but Sathya &Rutvi were waiting.

Tiny video capture of the wonderful trek.

This spot was lovely with the water falling from the rock. We had to duck it but of course, we couldn't. If you manage to stay dry, this little naughty downpour will do the needful.

We finished the trek - all wet and cold, with satisfied smiles on all our faces. We took out fresh clothes and quickly changed into them. We felt as fresh as a daisy. We all quickly forgot the ache in the knees we felt while climbing back through the rough terrain. We were rejuvenated. We hadn't eaten or drunk anything and yet the tiredness was gone. 

As we drove back to Shillong, we felt crazy-hungry. We were famished. Thank God for the vanilla cake we had in the car. We bought it for Rs 500 in a Shillong mall yesterday evening and I had felt guilty paying for a 400 gm cake. But it was a savior! We gorged on it. Licked the paper dry!

One piece of advice to those going to Mawynkhang: carry some water, lots of eatables, wear sturdy shoes, and keep fresh clothes handy to change after the trek. 

We stopped at a small cafe for Chicken Noodles (Rs 50). As we waited for the order to arrive, we checked a couple of other attractions. We wanted to know if we could squeeze in any other place worth visiting en route to Shillong. Mawphlong Sacred Forest was too far away. Laitlum Canyon was 30 minutes drive from where we were. We zeroed in on the Canyon. 

Thank God for Zoomcar. It gave us the flexibility and freedom to make plans as we went along. Both Mawrynkhang and Laitlum Cave were courtesy the self-drive option.

The drive to the Canyon was a spectacular one. The countryside was straight out of a movie. Vast expanses of green with undulating fields. It looked like a well-maintained garden. It did not have the roughness and unpredictability of the other parts of East Khasi Hills.

Tiny houses dot the fields. Potatoes and other vegetables are grown abundantly here. By the way, potato is a staple here. Order a thali (Rs 60 for veg) and rice and three versions of potato come with it. Potato gravy, potato sabzi, potato dry/fried version. Why so much potato in every dish? Is it because the hotels serve it lavishly that farmers grow it or the soil is great for potato farming and that is what the farmers grow? Supply first or demand first?

In Shillong, from the window of our hotel in Police Bazaar, I saw several truckloads of cabbage being unloaded and sold in the market area right below. Wonder where all that cabbage was going and who was eating them? I definitely did not see a leaf of that vegetable in the week-long stay in the NE. Neither in Assam nor Meghalaya.

It was mid-afternoon, pleasant and cool. The kids were returning from school. I liked their trolley here. I saw many of them using it - even grown men to carry heavier stuff. Works well and is cheap, I guess. Handmade too. And boy, were the kids having fun! 

As we made our way to the Canyon, there were locals selling the usual stuff - chips, cold drinks, corn

You could also find men. women and even children carrying these stacks of brooms over their heads. They were weighing, loading and transporting it to the city. 

You could see a carpet of green for as far away as your eye could see. 

The canyon was covered in mist. We waited for nearly 45 minutes. 

The wooden fencing done across the canyon made it safe for even kids to play and for people to walk right across the edge and get an amazing view of the valley below. But for the clouds, this time! Our bad!

The clouds cleared just enough for us to have this view. Not complete yet somewhat better than till then.

It reminded me of our trip to Matheran. Quite similar - the imposing mountains. 

How heavenly it looks here!

The mist would not clear. So we finally said our goodbyes to Cherrapunjee, the Khasi Hills, and carrying the beautiful sights and sounds and memories in our hearts, we set off to Shillong and from there back to Guwahati as we had to return the car at 9:00 p.m and it was 3:30 p.m now. We needed around 5 hours to drive. 

Land of Clouds & Waterfalls

Meghalaya (ML) binds you in a spell. It mesmerizes you. It truly is the abode of clouds. 

Unexplored and unexploited, as yet, it is a beautiful state. 

Looking at the crowds thronging ML, the rooms being full or running to full capacity, and every location with loads of vehicles and scores of tourists, I hope and pray ML does not end up being the victim of our greed for beautiful locations. Human beings can spoil everything they touch. Like we say in Kannada, there is no grass that a goat does not eat. There is no place a man will go to and leave it unspoiled as before. 

One of the most beautiful waterfalls we went to in ML was the Nohkalikai Falls. 

I must add here that in ML, every road, every mountain, holds in his womb, many a waterfall. Everywhere you go, you will find a lovely stream making its way down and if you are a thorough city-bred person, you will want to capture the picture of every fall you see as you traverse the landscape. It will be an irresistible feast to your eye and it will take super-human effort to not stop the vehicle you are traveling in everywhere and anywhere. In fact, some of the exquisite streams and falls can only be enjoyed in passing as the onward coming traffic will make it impossible for you to stop and click pictures. 

There is one other thing: when you see the biggest or most majestic of all waterfalls, then the streams will look like regular fare. This is something you will experience a day or two into your travel in the region and you will learn to let go. 

The drive to Nohkalikai is easy as the roads are good and the view itself is picturesque.

Green and white are the two dominant colors in Meghalaya. Large, green fields and the countryside below and misty, white clouds overhead.

When we reached the location, the clouds had engulfed the entire mountain range and it was hard to tell what was beneath those clouds. Except for the roar of the falls, one could never have guessed that there was such a majestic sight behind the spread of white. 

Nohkalikai made us wait. We waited in the tea shop nearby and even as we took the last sip of our tea, the clouds started clearing. 

Like the regal, colored screens in single screen theaters of yesteryears, that went up slowly and then the movie began, the clouds parted way gently to reveal the sight of our lifetime. 

10 minutes apart and the scene changed completely. 

Steps and railings have been made and you can go right to the bottom of the falls to see the plunge pool beneath. 

But it is a lot of steps and if you are not physically fit or have kids with you, it is not advisable to go all the way down. The climb up will tire you or your kids and it would be time-consuming too. 

Nohkalikai is the tallest plunge waterfall in India. It falls from a height of 340 meters. 

Once you have had your fill of the falls, stroll around and enjoy the scenic beauty. Relish the happy 'I-am-in-a-faraway-place' feeling while it lasts. The vast expanse of greenery, very few people around, and the sound in the background of the plunge of water are the only companions to your thoughts. This is the kind of place where you will love spending time doing nothing.

This beautiful waterfall is a part of the tourist itinerary. So it is highly unlikely that you will miss this place.

As you can see on the right, the Cherrapunji schedule on day 2 of a 3-day tour of Meghalaya has Nohkalikai falls. The only thing you need to hope for would be for the rain gods to be kind to you when you reach there. 

Mist and rain are spoilers and enemies of the tourist. They don't care how far you have come from and how much you have spent to reach one of the remotest places in the North-Eastern part of India. 

Like tiger sightings in most wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, the visibility of most attractions in ML is a matter of luck. Pure chance. A blessing. We ourselves realized this when we visited Laitlum Canyon two days later. 

More on Laitlum Canyon in the next post of the Meghalaya series.