I got a chance to visit Meghalaya in April 2016. It’s called One of the Seven Sister States of North East. The only distinctive information I had about Meghalaya was about Cherrapunji – the wettest place in the world. However, something that caught my attention while reading through the itinerary, is that it’s called Meghalaya – Abode of Clouds in Sanskrit.
On the last day of the Meghalaya trip, we were returning back from Cherrapunji to Shillong after visiting the man made wonder – Living Root Bridge built by the local Khasi tribes. The weather was pleasant and we were relishing the memories of the past few days in Meghalaya. The sun sets early in North-East India and it was already pitch dark by 6 PM in the evening.
As usual, I occupied the front seat next to the driver. What my eyes witnessed moments later was truly unbelievable! The road ahead was all covered with white fog-like silhouettes. There was hardly any traffic on the road which was unusual for us living in the bustling metro cities. The visuals terrified us and we started praying to God for our safety. We were giggling and enjoying just a few minutes ago and now there was pin drop silence in the car.
It was then that we realized the silhouettes were indeed Clouds and we were actually driving through them. For an instance, the feeling of traversing through the clouds made me forget the gravity of the situation. There was zero visibility and trust me this is not an exaggeration! The skills of our Driver and the white lane separator line on the road which he followed steered us safely back to the Hotel.
This return journey from Cherrapunji though scary was a cherry on the cake – the highlight of my trip. After all, it enlightened me to the name – Meghalaya – An Abode of Clouds!
