A Hot Summer Night Dream

The Scotland of the East!

Bird's view of Shillong city

It must have been sometime during the monsoons and before our house at Shillong was finally sold off. The compound and the surroundings were full of greenery. The hedges from the gate towards the side of my room that ran downwards till a senior advocate’s house had over grown.

While on the other side of the gate that marked the boundary between my friend, Runtu’s and our house, the hedge trees were all

Dad's sketch of the pear tree

covered with thick squash plant creepers. The tendrils of this plant had spread every nook and corner until it reached the high branches of a tall pear tree which grew in the backyards of Runtu’s house with a part of its branches spread towards the entrance of our compound and the colony road. A little away stood a magnificent eucalyptus tree at Bijni complex with the backdrop of pine trees dotting the surrounding Shillong valley thus, adding beauty to the Scotland of the East.

Dad and mom

There was the sound of the chirping birds flying to and fro while a group of urchins armed with catapult were looking for game. And with their vibration coupled with an occasional gale, ripe pears and overweight squash fell to the ground with a thud at different intervals. A nondescript person was busy struggling to clear the creepers from the hedges and in the process fine yellow and red cables emerged – it may be the cables of my self-made intercom telephone in the neighbourhood and I was about to beg him not to clip off my Local Area Network!!

The previous night had a heavy rainfall as a result the morning overcast sky suddenly paved the way to a bright sunshine. The day looked very fresh and pleasing. From a distance an unforgettable song of the famous duet – Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood’s - Straw-Berries Cherries and an Angel’s Kiss... could be faintly heard. Back home a similar song was belting out from mom’s record player.

The front door of my room (earlier my sister’s) was wide open and

she was basking in the sun. The bedroom was clearly visible with stacks of neatly kept dad’s books including the part of the door leading to the dining hall where mom used to have her endless musical soirée.

May be I was also in the compound and we could see mom and my elder brother in the bedroom. Dad wore his brown self design pullover and walked past us through the compound towards the road to somewhere at Laitumkhrah. Probably he was also carrying a shoulder bag and asked us and mom to accompany him. Within minutes mom and my sister were together, with dad walking a couple of steps ahead. My sister yelled at me to hurry up but somehow started walking slowly since I got focused to some kind of a hand-held device. My elder brother did not come with us but stayed back at home.

For a while I was engrossed with the device and then looked straight to our colony’s deserted road. I could not see anybody and so I raced up to catch up with my parents and sister.

Suddenly I found myself in the premises of St. Edmunds’ College. Immediately I thought of visiting Down Shop – a popular tea shop

St. Edmund's College

to hang around during my college days located just outside the campus. Here too the bushes had over grown and the terrain had become hostile with treacherous hills and deep gorges on all sides. The wonderful drive-way to the campus from Jowai Road side – i.e. the stretch of road towards Fire Brigade – Fruit Garden – Dhankheti was totally missing!

Late Brother Shannon 

Standing there and wondering I met a padre. He was an Irish, six feet tall sporting a white gown holding a chain tied to his faithful German Shepherd. He told me that St. Edmunds’ College has now become a deemed university. I assured him that I would be visiting him before I returned to New Delhi. I guess he must have been Brother Shannon – the ex-principal of the college. I met another familiar looking tribal friend who claimed to be working here but again, he was at Dibrugarh!!?? I regained my composure and started putting questions to him – staccato, one after another.

It was getting dark with the last rays of sun in the western horizon and gradually the street lights came to life. It was making me panicky for not being able to trace my parents and sister. I was about to call my sister from my cell phone but something happened.


Now I had a medium size golden number lock in my hand and was entering her cell phone number in it. With every digit I pressed into the metal lock a tiny bright amber colour light flickered in it. By this time I was at Beat House heading towards Laitumkhrah Police Point and walking in the footpath opposite Presbyterian Church.

I had almost reached to the climax of catching up with my dad, mom and sister until I was jerked by a loud alarm from my cell phone. I woke up, rubbed my eyes for a while, then tried to recollect the entire episode of this summer dream and again slept back hoping to continue – but it was all in vain! Later I realised today, 05 May is my father’s birth anniversary.

Western Influence in an Indian melody of the 1970s