Kahani garrr ghar ki!

Election time is a time to make up big, bold promises as well as remind the 'common wo/man' what the party/leader did for her.

The stories running around this time are numerous with varied reasons. It is said that the government took an extra step to prevent rampant expenditures during the last Municipal and PRI elections. They put a blanket ban on drawal of cheques bearing above 20 lakhs. But, this could not stop the inevitable.

The Panchayat election related stories in East Kameng are not different from other districts. Stories fed to the knowledge bank of your’s truly are stunningly peculiar and jovial. In one place (say the Panchayat segments), the contestants were lavishly spent money to woe voters disproportionate to the much known sources of his/her income. That, he/she was living by hand to mouth, let alone spending money for a tea-party. The qualifications he/she bears to become a panchayat leader are supposed to be his/her rudeness and staunch supporter of the local MLA.

In another place, the contesting candidates are stark opposite in pursuing and chasing the flying chair. Here also, money played riots. But, the main factor of winning and losing rests with the ability to manage few hundred lakhs of rupees and distributing the stashed wades of money to the spellbound voters, who, as election comes usually rise their demand for propriety and prestige in volumes of money they have to receive from the warring candidates.

In other places, the local MLA hurriedly promises to sanction developmental funds that have already lapsed last election day. He simply has to repeat this promise umpteen time, for the electorate notionally forget dates and times when he last promised over the same matter. Matter-of-factly, the electorates are trained in such way that they would not ask new questions.

It is imperative that those who do not have sufficient or no money to fight elections have to resort to muscle power. And, logically this is one befitting alternative to win elections. The trendiest of all election tricks is to manage all voting to a null. This is accomplished when the local MLAs come into play. The trick to avoid embarrassing loss in elections is to make the electorate agree that there shall be no contest. Then, the bargain starts now. The electorate wants money. The electorate also wants wine and surely dining too. So, the prospective candidate or better to say the UNCONTESTINGLYNESS candidate spend some thousand rupees to arrange off-the-shoot party killing a mithun or two to ward off the spying eyes. Here again, the local MLA has to promise to bring various sorts of funds for local consumptions. Now the great deal is arrived at.

To be continued …

THE LIFE THAT WAS!

1985

Sometimes I ponder over the fact that living in the capital city is strenuous, erroneous and boring. I reminisce the time when I climbed the slender trees to pull down fruits as sweet as the nectar. There were friends with whom I went fishing with hooks made of steel wires and diverting rivulets to trap fishes, shrimps and crabs. I went fishing with friends by fixing traps made of bamboos and canes.

I reminisce the time when I went hunting with friends with bows and arrows. Our parents never bothered to fix our arrows with poison (omo). I remembered that we also shot birds with ordinary arrows. I’ve been a keen outdoor when it came to hiking and making new jungle tricks. I used to trap rats and birds by fixing flat boulders and ropes made out of creepers. It used to be joyous moment when I saw the small birds and animals trapped and killed… I beg the God to forgive me!

I with friends used to track the hilly terrains to make sure that wild boar and deer make their home around. Assured of the animals grazing around, we used to inform of our findings to the villagers. Upon that information they used to plan strategies to hunt the poor animals. These used to be meticulously planned to drive out the animals from rest/nest. The group, usually the teenagers like us that time, used to chase those animals with hunting dogs to let them run straight to the elder hunters who used to remain alert along the track the animals usually trip. Naturally the elders used to kill our preys and we used to get an extra share of meat for the efforts.

These scorching summer days are best for people to venture out in the deep forest to collect ‘wild’ fruits or to hunt or trap fish and small animals. I really do not have the faintest ideas that the wild fruits have medicinal as well as aphrodisiac effects.

Alas! I’ve to keep on pondering over the good old days when we have all those pastimes for the sake of passing time. I’m deeply troubled when I see peoples’ phantom killing of animals, small or big to make money. There have been times when the village elders restrict killing of such animals and wanton deforestations which acts seemed to them threatening ecologically. Those acts of the village elders were based on practical experiences with the nature around them by the preaching that ‘nature cures'.

Two tumblers of beer kept me writing :)

To be continued…