Rubina and Spilin

Rubina and Spilin
Rubina and Spilin study in Sankardev College, Shillong. They are from Siangkhnai and Nonghulew, both of which do not fall directly on a bus route. Although Siangkhnai is just a fifteen minute walk from the nearest bus point- Mawjatap, Spilin has to trudge for a long hour and a half from there before she can get to her village, Nonghulew. On the day she has to return to the city after a family visit, Spilin’s day starts early as she has to make it in time to Mawjatap and catch the 5 o’clock bus, back to Shillong. Both the girls take the same bus since there is only one option available to them- the Mawjatap- Mawlang bus.

The girls share two rented rooms, walking distance from their college. Recently, Spilin’s younger sister who is currently in class twelve has also joined them. Like typical adolescent girls, Rubina and Spilin had squealed and giggled when we asked them to take photographs. Could they show us some places in the city that they visited often? What did they like about Shillong? If they were to take us through their city, where would they take us? What would they show? After initial coaxing, the girls agreed to let their camera do the talking.

Rubina and Spilin’s impressions of Shillong were refreshing and made the city look different. The Don Bosco cathedral, though a much clicked tourist spot, looked like a new discovery- washed in rain, the Calvary of Christ from a distance, a faint image of a man outside the half open doors of the church, the staircase with the two friends standing and smiling for the camera, another friend posing, though with a frown on her face. Photographs of the Dhanketi street, with an open umbrella in a corner- probably a route they took often, and of Hydari Park – a botanical garden in Shillong, that they confessed to having visited the first time only now since they wanted to take photographs of the park. Even though they seemed keen on clicking their college, both Rubina and Spilin felt “too shy” to do so. They pointed out exact spots that they wished to photograph and urged one of us if we could please click the shutter shut! However, they did photograph their neighbourhood, with thickly forested hills all around and the road that leads to their home from college. As first timers using a camera, they said they thoroughly enjoyed taking photographs.

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