A Sweeping Scenery

An hour and a half of bumping along the road we reached Pynursla,a small village,our tea stop. It was there we met the pig who needed a lift,squatting with its owner,a friend of Best. Before you could say bacon we reached Riwai,2 km short off Mawlynnong. Riwai incidentally is also the place where one of the nine living root bridges of Meghalaya exists. Living root bridges are the result of an ancient Khasi tradition,they are man-made bridges made from the secondary roots of rubber trees which stretch across rivers and streams. Over a hundred years old,these bridges are still functional. Ancient,gnarled boughs twisting into a bridge in a lush forest,one could be forgiven for thinking theyve wandered into a Tolkein-esque fantasy.

We tore ourselves away from the bridges to continue on our way to Mawlynnong. When Discover Magazine went there in 2003,they declared it the cleanest village in Asia. I soon realised why. No shoes inside shops,no smoking anywhere in the village,and of course,no littering (a punishable offence). A smiling Sunita welcomed us into her tea shop. We sat on bamboo benches and sipped on hot tea,with biscuits and cake,as she bustled around her gleaming kitchen. As we stepped out,she swept the floor. I do it every time a customer leaves, she said.

Bamboo huts,verdant trees,iridescent flowers,pruned hedges,cobbled pathways and a big church make up this village. Dotted along the landscape were wooden dustbins at regular intervals. It looked quaint,spotless and absolutely perfect.

The main occupation in this largely Christian village of 80 families,is making and selling broomsticks,or agriculture. Outside the tea shop,a young man tells us Mawlynnong is officially a smoke-free zone as per the guidelines of the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act,2003. There are many male smokers in the village but they have decided to avoid smoking in keeping with the ethos of their village, he said. On the side,a group of young volunteers sweep the road,chatting in low tones. The village council has ordained that every piece of litter is collected and transferred to a pit,which is later used as manure by the villagers. The villagers practice rainwater harvesting and a number of tiny reservoirs have been set up outside several houses. Before leaving,we made a trip to the public toilet and I have to say it is the cleanest public toilet I have ever been to.

As we were getting back into the car,I realised Mawlynnong isnt a place where one will see exciting monuments or historically significant spots,but it was alluring in its simplicity. Here is a place,in the most secluded and ignored part of the country,where people are scripting their own story.

As we drove out,I noticed an amazing sight: a huge boulder balanced on a tiny stone,with nothing else to support it. A perfect sight in a perfect setting.