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Vibha Sharma
The least that a common man desires is peace and harmony to carry on with the mundane activities of one’s life. But then, when did peace become a luxury? It did. In the 1980s. In the North East. Nilanjan Choudhury’s Shillong Times aptly touches various aspects of life in the strife-ridden times during that decade. Irrespective of the nature of conflict, strong bonds of friendship, brotherhood and comradeship withstand the test of time.
The narrative takes the readers to the picturesque, mist-laden peaks of Shillong where a 14-year-old Bengali boy Debojit Dutta (Debu) is leading as uneventful life as any other boy of his age does. Normalcy of the situation is only till he experiences the simmering rift between tribals and non-tribals of Shillong.
Debu has his first brush with the broiling turmoil when he narrowly escapes the local goons who abuse him as a wretched foreigner in the land that rightfully belongs to them. Soon after, he meets the free-spirited Clint Eastwood Lyngdoh and can’t keep himself immune to the innocent friendship that blooms between them. Along with Audrey Pariat, who completes the trio, he indulges in lip-smacking Chinese food at Kalsang and enjoys foot-tapping beats of Pink Floyd.
The three seem to get along like a house on fire, but only till the hostility intensifies against the Bengali community. Society suffers when fanaticism envelopes thinking. What survives and what doesn’t is just a matter of chance, and sometimes steadfastness.
Fortunately, innocence and solidarity triumph over all demons. The narrative seems autobiographical. Only a person who grew up in Shillong during those turbulent times could tell how restrictions became a way of life for a non-Khasi person. While some shifted to ‘peaceful’ areas, some choose to show allegiance to the their land.
Nilanjan’s command over his craft shines through. The characters seem real and relatable. Only if the climax of the story wasn’t a little short of what the author trained the readers to expect till that point!