Where did Regina Cassandra have to take care of a nervy bridezilla? in the hills!

My friend was to get married in Meghalaya this January, so she told us nearly a year in advance to keep ourselves free — that’s how I started planning for my trip to the North-East. She stays in a beautiful farm on the outskirts of a village called Tura in Meghalaya. It’s nestled right in nature’s lap with a gorgeous view of the hills. Before my visit, I was wondering how the people of that region would be, and I was really taken aback when I met them.

The locals are friendly and so cultured; and I must mention they sing really well! By 5.30 pm, they’re all huddled around a bonfire outside their homes, sipping on hot red tea (what we call black tea), strumming on a guitar and singing! Even though they have the best of gadgets, they know when to disconnect from technology.

Coming to the wedding, it was a total riot! The day I arrived, the bridezilla was freaking out about the props and décor not being right, so we made them from scratch! It was like being in an art class. The ceremony was beautiful — I actually cried when I saw her walk down the aisle.

The wedding cake was delicious because it was made at the bakery her mother runs from home. The next day, the couple and us friends went for a trek where I came across this really fragile bamboo bridge hanging above a dangerous valley.

I had been to the same place three years ago and didn’t have faith it would still be intact, but there it was, in all its glory!

Over the next few days, we covered parts of Shillong, where I had two very interesting experiences. The first was a visit to the ‘duck house’ — a palatial old monument now converted into a café. I guess it gets its name because ducks were grown there earlier. Apparently in the 1960s, a UFO was spotted above the house and strangely, all the animals went missing that very day. A lake near the house also got dried up instantly.

Copies of the newspaper article on this mysterious house have now been made into table mats at the café! Another brilliant part of my trip was witnessing a session of teer, a local form of lottery or betting. It’s a number game dependent solely on luck. I didn’t win even a penny but my friend won both times he betted!
Speaking about the cuisine, this holiday was foodgasmic.

During the wedding, there were five varieties of pork — they clearly love the meat. There were also many beef, chicken and rice-based dishes, apart from tea, which the locals drink around a million cups of! I also got to try chicken and vegetarian momos, but the highlight was the freshly-baked cakes and bread I got to gorge on at my friend’s mother’s bakery. On the whole, my 10-day vacation was extremely gratifying in many ways.

(As told to Arpitha Rao)