This MDA 2 led by Conrad Sangma is becoming a myth to the citizens of Meghalaya within the first few months of its installation. Today its ideas and innovations have overgrown and obscured the MDA 1 and 2 will refrain from further mention to it (MDA 1) in this article (the less mentioned about it the better), because this time the promise of development and progress is no fiction story. This government knows its acting as a trustee on behalf of the people, it knows it must aid the common man’s search for work, and but for the problems with power generation and distribution we are experiencing a rejuvenated and a resurgent Meghalaya with the innovative promotion of start-ups: start-ups that will promote for a long term higher culture.
Divergent evaluations, of course, are not uncommon, but among the youth there is not even a basic disagreement about what the government stands for; its admirers are as much at agreement about this as its critics are at odds with it. It might seem that one cannot properly speak of the start-ups that are on offer because so many different conceptions are on the current list at the same time and so many are making the most of these offers, especially the youth, that it is echoing and re echoing in a manner that is only reserved for a legendary opportunity for those who dare to innovate and kick up dust.
Surely the government will take no offence at the criticism that may come from the lackadaisical sector and from those that desire to be spoon fed…that is their duty in a democracy. And so when an account incompatible with what is on offer is reported, the government must view it as a criticism which appropriates historical figures of appreciation and therefore clearly incompatible criticisms as well. “Let the beneficiaries do the talking” is what the Government must depend on.
In a sense the present government as a whole represents a Meghalaya that is attempting at a constructive refutation of the bad feedback the MDA 1 government received, and the bad account it presented of itself. However, much is still to be done – the roads for instance. There was no way anyone could have dreamt that such a turn around, as we are witnessing now, was possible…I mean to come back from being condemned by everyone naturally requires an outstanding performance somewhere because we men have learnt to pay respect no less than to feel contempt.
And anyone who breaks a new path, like the MDA 2 is doing, will discover with some amazement that the people are clumsy in their capacity for expressing gratitude and appreciation – and that gratitude and appreciation are rarely expressed at all. It almost seems that whenever one tries to express gratitude one gags and requires a clearing of the throat and falls silent even before a word of gratitude has gotten out. And now suddenly everyone realises that the MDA 2 or the National People’s Party (NPP) to be exact is on a steep ascendancy. They must not waver now.
This situation has led to an absolution of the NPP because it is simultaneously overcoming the shame of its earlier poor performance and reinterpreting the misfortune as a necessity for a subsequent good whose benefit may only later become visible. Politics and metaphysical things have a way of effecting a change in our feelings by the way we judge the experiences we go through from one stage to another as in the awakening of a pleasurable feeling inspite of the pain one went through.
A mind conscious of rectitude will be reminded less and less of its past performance and with every attempt at improving its functioning it will gradually eliminate its relationship with its past misfortunes. Minor hiccups, as will most certainly be experienced, will confront the government and getting over these will act as palliatives just as we confront a toothache with an anesthetic injection to rid ourselves of the greater suffering. The more the government introduces people-friendly schemes and projects like the ones we are witnessing now…it would take five pages of A4 size sheets to enumerate them all…the more perfectly will the people believe that the cause for the misfortune in the previous government has now been eliminated.
Of course this change is bad for some, especially for those who would prefer that the funds for the proposals and schemes be routed through their desks, but it is even worse for the Opposition parties, because till now they fed on the disgruntled youth and enthusiastic entrepreneurs who were all along at the receiving end of all the misfortunes. All that has changed. The violent opposition to the MDA 2 which was still heavy in the mind of the Shillongites in April has started to find a lack of support. Instead the inexperience and lack of maturity on the part of the opposition in the recently concluded Assembly Session has come to the fore.
Naturally just the announcements of the present promotion schemes would not be sufficient to turn the peoples opinion around as history is not forgotten so soon, but if there is something that can prove that there was the preliminary work started by the earlier government and a thrust given to it by the present, an evidence would be available to establish that there was something good from the times of the MDA 1 which this government can establish now. And this government is fortunate to have just such a project at hand, “The Fruit Wine Cottage industry sector.”
Fruit Wine making started thirty years back in Shillong and during that “pre enlightenment” period the government was not involved at all, there is no doubt of that. The Forever Young club led by Michael Syiem took this up more out of frivolity and a passing interest which is better than just a romantic relationship with the venture.
The nine families that were into fruit wine making at that point in time accepted the promotion offer that the Forever Young group came up with and in 2003 the first official Fruit Wine Festival was launched. By 2009 more than twenty families were involved and for the first time an international figure appeared on the scene to assess the fruit wines. She was Ma’am Tanya Garnham of the UB Group. The function was held at the Crinoline Swimming Pool complex. Her involvement brought publicity – still the government remained contemptuously mute.
The group desired a solitary input from the government…legalise the manufacturing of fruit wine just as Country Liquor is and keep it simple – there is no rationale in making it complex. But it turned out to be irrational instead; like an old oak tree – rigid and firm…stabilise the alcohol content and pH value, register with Excise Department, pay excise duty, obtain certification from the FSSAI, maintain the CCC, obtain “no objection certificates” from the traditional heads and institutions etc, etc…one problem after another.
The entrepreneurs went along and got all this done and their goods gained popularity in India and abroad…the Japanese of all people developed a love for the “Soh Mon” wine from Shillong and wanted to import it to their island in bulk, and from there to who knows where? In England meanwhile a lady posted a request on Facebook seeking advice from where she could get “Soh iong” wine. These are only two of the numerous appeals for our Fruit Wine. And it is on this score that the government needs to show a higher conscience if it really means to promote our Fruit Wine.
