Going Back Home

Shillong Peak, Shillong, Meghalaya, India

I'm going home. Next month at this time I will be in the hills of north east India. I haven't to Shillong since I graduated from St. Mary's High School in Laitumkrah many years ago. I went back to India once but at that time the hill states were closed to travelers and Darjeeling was as close as I could get. This time my daughter is going with me to see what I've been talking about all these years.  Sorry folks - my Khasi is so very rusty! I'll be embarrassed to open my mouth.

I've  been warned that things have changed - there is more traffic and noisy congestion, the sweet cottages with flower gardens are now buildings made of cement. My old bedroom where four of the eight Perry kids slept in a double bunk bed is now a classroom in the elementary school where my father was headmaster. I've asked to walk to the river where we washed clothes on Saturday mornings, picnicking and playing wild games while our laundry dried on the bushes.

The state's name "Meghalaya" means Abode of the Clouds and the British liked to call it their Scotland of the East. Most years it is the rainiest place in the world.  We are going north to places I've never been and will ride elephants on safari in Kaziranga. As soon as we land we are heading to a village drum festival.

My brother Jim lives there still with his wife and three young sons. I asked what I should bring and he emailed a link to a cookie press. They want to make Christmas cookies. It is the only thing already packed in my suitcase. I stopped at Micheal's today and picked up cookie cutters (still need gingerbread men), piping tips for icing and food coloring. Send me any of your best holiday cookie recipes! This should be interesting!

I don't leave until the second week in November but it is starting to feel like I am going on an adventure. It is all very exciting!
 

Old tunes

My sister Shirley went over to the Khasi Hills where we grew up, to visit my brother Jim and was invited to sing in a folk festival. She hasn't been there for 33 years but tried her best to speak entirely in Khasi while she was there. Wow. I am impressed! I know I couldn't do it. Here she is giving a tv interview in the local language. My brother was born and lived there still so he had no trouble. Apparently Shirley was a big hit!

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance - Khasi Hills

Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India

When I was a kid, living in Shillong, India, we would often attend church services in the outlaying areas. All ten of us would pile in the old yellow Willy's jeep and head far into the hills to remote villages.

I often joke that I have a lifetime pass and won't need to attend another church service as long as I live - and I mean it. I am exempt. Sundays alone could easily involve three separate services, morning, afternoon and end in evening services by kerosene lantern.

I'd spend my time drawing cartoons of the preacher and eagerly offer to take crying babies outside. I'd lay on the grass playing with the kids and torturing ants with my magnifying glass while the congregation belted out the good old familiar protestant hymns in Khasi.

This image is from a brittle slide in my Dad's old box probably from the mid 1960's.

Weekend Field Trip

Mawlai, Shillong, India

Okay, okay, I admit this one isn't from my Charleston album.

I have received emails lately from folks who have landed on my blog because of the Indian connection. It has been delightful to hear from you! I don't run into many Khasis in Charleston.

I did grow up in Meghalaya - the home of the clouds, and this is my elementary school photo. If you look closely you can spot a few pale faces scattered in the group and my mum on the left. I am on the top row center and am one of eight siblings. My dad was headmaster of the elementary school in Mawlai.

It was a terrific place to grow up and certainly one of the most beautiful parts of the world. We played wild late night games with packs of kids, washed our clothes in the rivers and our hair in the waterfalls. We took picnics to the old British polo grounds, Shillong Peak and rowed the boats on Wards Lake. I don't remember wearing shoes regularly until we hiked in to Shillong to high school.

My brother Jim lives there still and has written a traveler's guide to the north east available from chillibreeze. On Saturday 3/12, Jim successfully helped coordinate the Guinness book of world records Cheraw Bamboo Dance in Mizoram.

This is the link to my sister Shirley singing a Khasi favorite: Sier Lapalang.

To any Khasi who comes by I say "Khublei!" and want to show you that there is a greeting for you inscribed in the streets of Charleston. Of course I have no idea who did it. ;)