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The buses that start from Mawlang, Syntung, Nohron, Mawlat, Kharang and Diengling connect a particular set of villages in East Khasi Hills to Shillong. Their routes overlap and diverge after a point.

Unlike the other buses that ply from fertile areas of the East Khasi Hills like Sohra (Cherrapunji), Pynursla or Dawki (which face the Bangladesh plains) or the Ri-Bhoi district, these buses do not carry much agricultural produce to sell at Iewduh. A fact that signifies the low fertility of this area, and that there is, for some villages, not enough produced for it to be sold outside.

However the villages of Nohron, Syntung and Mawlat, due to their proximity to the low, flat terrain of Bangladesh, are suited to grow tympou (betel leaves). Given the large demand of tympou and kwai (areca nut) all over Meghalaya, these villages show signs of relative prosperity compared to their neighbors. The buses from these villages come laden with bamboo baskets, filled with tympou and the promise of a good sale.

For other villages which sell seasonal produce in small quantities, it is for small chores and daily necessities that the journey from the village to the city becomes inevitable. Buying a cough medicine for an ailing child, purchasing bags of cement for a half constructed house, tin sheets for a new village shed, to a pair of new school shoes- the bus fulfills all these needs and much more. And if one wishes to avoid the trip to the city- list out all the items to the driver or manager, hand over the money, wait for the bus to return. The handyman of the bus will tow the goods personally to the owner- no matter how big or small the thing might be.

By afternoon, when it is time to make the return journey, the buses are usually overloaded- a mélange of goods and people interspersed with each other. As it drives out of the city limits, the bus enters the semi-urban township of Smit and then stops a while for new passengers to get on. People wait uncomplainingly as goods are loaded/off- loaded by the manager and the handyman, while the driver, enjoying his scarce moments of respite, ‘oversees’ or simply gets off for small talk with a few regular faces. Ahead of Smit, the bus stops at villages on the way, patiently repeating its well- practiced ritual- loading and unloading of people and goods, even as some passers-by drop in to greet their passenger friends or to deliver some news via a traveller to a particular village.

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