By Gregory Shullai
In commenting on the Grand Project of the IUCL at the Umiam Lake, or the Lumpongdeng Island to be precise, the points that draw our attention invariably are twofold…employment opportunities from tourism for our youth, which no one would wish to deny and the other a more contentious issue – the invariable deception which is something that any thinker prefers to examine so as to determine whether there could possibly be any noteworthy process to which there is a finger of suspicion in the entire matter as it is well known that deceivers owe their art to the power they wield or to the position they hold, and this is further compounded by the fact that the entire project has come up too suddenly for the common man’s liking; and there is nothing wrong with him being suspicious either. We might add, it is essential that in order to deceive one must be in a position of some kind of power and in the case of the Project with the IHCL at Lumpongdeng the possibility cannot be swept under the carpet knowing the history of the suspicious morality of those in power in the State of Meghalaya. The people involved from the other Party namely the Vivanta Group have only one interest viz the extension of their tentacles to these Hills, and so this letter will not look into their role in the entire process.
In everything that is taking place in the approval of this project there is a clear belief in those that are promoting the project that the belief in themselves has overcome them and they can see nothing wrong in spite of the fact that their own comrades (other politicians along with many respectable men and women in public life) are coming up with embarrassing questions one after another and which the authorities appear to consider as unworthy of any response. It is this attitude of the Government authorities that so convincingly speaks to the common man that there is something amiss in the entire process. It is very clear that the proponents of this project are distinguished from their fellowmen (those who are opposed to the project) by the fact that they are prepared to deceive themselves no matter what their inner calling may prompt them against this self – deception though, I am certain that very frequently, they do have those clearer moments when doubt overwhelms them; but then they comfort themselves by that cunning old stealth with which they put their faith in the man who first threw this idea of a hotel in the middle of the Umiam Lake to them and accepted the promises even the gifts that may have been offered to them in the first place (and kickbacks in such projects are handsome) and thereby rid themselves of their doubts and the evil they suspect the project would inherently bring about to the beauty and serenity of the Umiam lake and its surroundings.
In any kind of deception, and especially in something that involves the Umiam Lake with its a very Nordic characteristic given the expanse of the water surface and the dark hills that surround it on all sides, there is a noteworthy process to which people in authority know that they have the opportunity to display their power by sticking to their beliefs and convincing the common man by getting them to believe that the IHCL Project is good because there are those with higher educational degrees of knowledge and education and Service Cadres who believe in it firmly: but in this act of deception there exists the horror when they are called upon to make explanations, justifications, gestures, etc. especially on the threat that the project will cause to the migratory birds that visit the lake every winter and above all to the placid serenity of the lake to every eye that beholds it – whether for the first or hundredth time. When confronted with these issues they prefer to deny the existence of the migratory birds or its stoical effect and fail to come up with anything sensible to the metaphysical value because from the very start their involvement built was on shallow and shaky sands that sink when questioned.
At his stage I must add that in general and based on past experience, every belief in the words that are coming from the Government’s side is based on impure thinking and is only possible because of the sympathetic state of affairs of the lives of the people in general and because the reasons for the hardships that the people undergo is very weakly attended to in any Government project. Even the more wellplaced men and women of Shillong who think beyond themselves do not focus enough on life in general, but rather on limited parts of it only. In general, it can be argued that most of us tolerate life without grumbling too much and therefore believe in the value of simply existing from one day to the next. The trend to just believe in existing is what motivates the corrupt to implement their goals with impunity. Somehow the elderly among the Shillong community fail to step out of their natural selves when they see such things like the Lumpongdeng project appear as if out of thin air, everything nonpersonal escapes their attention entirely, or if it does it does so only as a faint shadow and in this mode they leave it to the pressure groups that emerge to raise their voices in opposition. The purpose of life for the everyday well-to-do man in Shillong is based only on taking themselves to be more important than the rest of what is going on in society. The great lack of examining everything that is going on with a wider lens viz the lens that can see into the future of the place and the people is something from which most of the people suffer and this keeps them from being able to empathize with future and present generations and therefore not participate in fighting for that which the people think is the right thing to do in the present for the future. In general, whoever would try to truly participate in life at the moment would have to shoulder the despair in the value of life at the moment – and that is not a small sacrifice to make for the elderly.
There are many who have spoken on behalf of the project out of the fact that it will open many opportunities for the people of the State both in the present and the future and we cannot argue about that fact, though it will also open many opportunities for outsiders as well…that fact cannot be denied either. For the elderly and others who are against the present proposal to establish a hotel in the middle of the lake, for them it is a feeling of being squandered as a generation (and not just as an individual) – it is like something they see in nature all the time – a single Rhododendron blossom being squandered by nature itself and because of this they have no wish to participate in the aimlessness of the present – it is feeling above all feelings.
One common false conclusion among us tribal folk is that because someone in power has the gift of the gab, he is speaking the truth. It is the same with a child who believes his parents’ judgement or the Christian or Hindu or Muslim who believe the claims of their holy men. Basically, these examples can perhaps be called levels of truth to a certain degree which is no different to the case when Government authorities convince people of a project that they suddenly see as a potential project for the people’s benefit. In such cases it would be too unfair to believe that the project has been inspired by a mere error, or by a base motive to cheat. To disbelieve everything and anything even before getting into the nitty gritty of the thing generally contradicts eternal justice, but on the other hand because of the doubtful trend that Government has established for itself in anything it undertakes, the hearts and minds of some sensitive men and women in Shillong always decrees in opposition to whatever is being calculated in terms of visitors, business, and attraction by State Government. Their instincts lead them to believe that there must be a necessary connection between morality and the sudden decision to go all out in building a resort at Lumpongdeng; their doubts are somewhat justified because there is little hope for the common man to even expect justice from the State.
In going about this project at Lumpongdeng it is fair to ask why is it that the immediate reaction of the people to the project is so vehement as if they know of the inner goings-on and that there is something foul lurking beneath the project reports and the handing and taking over of the land. Normally, we can claim that we expect to hear the truth especially from those in power because we know that telling the truth is more convenient; lies demand imagination, dissembling, and memory which is why it is often said that a man who tells a lie carries a heavy burden because he must invent twenty other lies to make good the first. Secondly it is advantageous in ordinary circumstances to say directly; I want this, I did that and so on, because the path of obligation and authority is safer than that of cunning. However, knowing the circumstances in which children have been raised in some families in Meghalaya, especially those whose parents were in politics since the past fifty years or more, we can safely conclude that the child’s life must have been fraught with complications from the morality (especially monetary) point of view as compared to the family structure belief systems inherent in a normal tribal family. It is no wonder that the child will employ lies and corruption when he grows to become a man. A feeling for the untruth and a taste for lying in and of itself, is embedded in their genetic code so they lie in complete innocence. Good speakers display a downright ludicrous contrast to their lack of skill in thinking psychologically.
