The words "pray as you pass"has brought back to my memory,the poignant words on the hundreds of stone slabs of the more than 500 memorial slabs of the Allied soldiers and a few Japanese POW, in the Second World War Cemetery at Silpukhuri,Guwahati.A similar one is of a soldier's, whose widow has asked passersby to stop awhile and pray for the departed.Even sadder than this,perhaps the saddest,is of the surviving parent with the brave but heartbreaking words "he died,so that I could grieve alone-Mother".You may be proud to know that many nurses are buried there,one had to trudge all the way from the Burmese border to the Indian side,after the Japanese had entered Burma (now Myanmar}.Since you love visiting cemeteries,I suggest you give a look here sometime.Although it is smaller than the ones in Kohima & imphal,it is well maintained and looks more like a serene park than a solemn cemetery.
Namrata - I am very anxious to get over there and take photos. Cemeteries are a real interest. I would also like to document Shillong before all the older style buildings are gone. Too bad it is so very, very far. It's hard for me to get enough time off at once to make the trip worthwhile.
I know it's easier said than done.Since your brother,s there,he can take photos of the older style buildings.I'm aware of one which has gone totally,'The Modern Book Depot' in Police Bazaar which fed the eyes and ears of book and music lovers for decades.The legislative Assembly has partially gone,the driveway and the facade is still there.That does not compensate, because the memory of what it was like in my late father's times (he was a legislator in undivided Assam) inevitably comes whenever I cross it.The British Bungalows are mostly still there.So too is the 'Good Wood Bungalow'on the hilltop above Polo Market, where we stayed.But concrete houses have sprung up around the estate.Not far from there,more and more concrete houses have sprung around the Polo Grounds.It's jarring,because as children we who grown in the sixties, have seen it's tree-filled,grassy stretches.All we can do is take photos of whatever is left.
The words "pray as you pass"has brought back to my memory,the poignant words on the hundreds of stone slabs of the more than 500 memorial slabs of the Allied soldiers and a few Japanese POW, in the Second World War Cemetery at Silpukhuri,Guwahati.A similar one is of a soldier's, whose widow has asked passersby to stop awhile and pray for the departed.Even sadder than this,perhaps the saddest,is of the surviving parent with the brave but heartbreaking words "he died,so that I could grieve alone-Mother".You may be proud to know that many nurses are buried there,one had to trudge all the way from the Burmese border to the Indian side,after the Japanese had entered Burma (now Myanmar}.Since you love visiting cemeteries,I suggest you give a look here sometime.Although it is smaller than the ones in Kohima & imphal,it is well maintained and looks more like a serene park than a solemn cemetery.
ReplyDeleteNamrata - I am very anxious to get over there and take photos. Cemeteries are a real interest. I would also like to document Shillong before all the older style buildings are gone. Too bad it is so very, very far. It's hard for me to get enough time off at once to make the trip worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteI know it's easier said than done.Since your brother,s there,he can take photos of the older style buildings.I'm aware of one which has gone totally,'The Modern Book Depot' in Police Bazaar which fed the eyes and ears of book and music lovers for decades.The legislative Assembly has
ReplyDeletepartially gone,the driveway and the facade is still there.That does not compensate, because the memory of what it was like in my late father's times (he was a legislator in undivided Assam) inevitably comes whenever I cross it.The British Bungalows are mostly still there.So too is the 'Good Wood Bungalow'on the hilltop above Polo Market, where we stayed.But concrete houses have sprung up around the estate.Not far from there,more and more concrete houses have sprung around the Polo Grounds.It's jarring,because as children we who grown in the sixties, have seen it's tree-filled,grassy stretches.All we can do is take photos of whatever is left.