Cherrapunji - once known as the wettest place on the earth

Some places on our earth, like Cherrapunji, are gifted with rain almost the whole year. Whenever we hear about Cherrapunji, it reminds us of our geography and GK classes, where we learned about our surroundings. Like…the smallest animal, the largest dosa, the wettest place and the list goes Cherrapunji receives more rainfall than sunlight. With rainfall, almost the whole year round people staying there have adjusted themselves in several ways to do their daily chores. Let us dive into their lifestyle and also know more about the place.

Nature's beauty; image source: Photo by Supriyo Ghosh on Unsplash

Cherrapunji, once known as the wettest place on earth is a small town located on the southern edge of the Khasi Hills, in Meghalaya state of India. Sohra is its local name. It is located on a plateau. Its location acts as a barrier for the low-flying rain-bearing monsoon clouds that are blowing in from the Bay of Bengal. The clouds hit the Khasi hills and rise up. Due to the low temperature above, the clouds condense into torrential rainfall. Bringing rain in Cherrapunji.

From the month of March to October, Cheraapunji gets its annual rain. The months of November, December, January and February have scanty rainfall. Rain comes in a slant and it covers areas so quickly that in no time you will be wet through. At times a part of the town will get rain and the other parts will either be dry or have little rain.

It is so humid during the monsoon months that the water vapour literally condenses on one's hair, eyebrows and moustache.

But it is astonishing that the place does not get flooded due to the heavy and continuous rain. Nature's magic!! The excessive water drains down to Bangladesh. Many rivulets, gushing streams, spectacular waterfalls, magnificent caves and deep gorges (formed from limestone deposits), are the result of this rain. The raindrops fall on the thatched rooftops and the treetops make different tunes. You can get new unique lyrics from the pitter-patter..... The rain brings down the weak dead leaves and wood from the trees. It washes away all the dirt and makes everything fresh and alive, with chirping birds and the peculiar sounds of the insects. There are days when the sun cannot be seen for more than a week, sometimes sunlight would not be seen for 40days, as told by an old resident of Cherrapunji. They say the rainfall has become less, than what it used to be many years ago. After the heavy rain, the day is bright and sunny with fluffy clouds flying around. The sky is coloured with soft pastel shades and if you are lucky you can even see magnificent rainbows covering the sky.

As the rainy months get over and the month of November approaches, changes in the surroundings also start appearing. The topsoil gets eroded by the heavy and continuous rain, exposing the limestone. Due to the position of Cherrapunji all the water from rainfall flows to Bangladesh, leaving a scarcity of water here. Farming also gets a setback. there is very less fertile soil for farming paddy, vegetables and fruits.

Cherrapunji has deposits of limestone and coal. Rain has contributed to many magnificent physical attractions of Cherrapunji. It has become a tourist spot that has so much to offer. One can relax, rewind, go for some adventurous treks or just enjoy the natural wonders of the place. Cherrapunji has many falls, artistic and ancient caves of limestone carved by the flowing water, a pool formed of rivers joining at a place surrounded by caves, beautiful and colourful floras and faunas. Adding to these there are living root bridges, which are one of the main attractions of Cherrapunji.

The Villagers observed that a species of Indian rubber tree (Ficus Elastica) that grow in rocky soil has very strong and elastic roots that can be manipulated and stretched as required. During rainy days it was very difficult and even dangerous to cross the gushing streams and rivers. Observing these strong and long roots, the villagers got the idea to use them as bridges. They then stretched the roots, tied and twisted them in such a manner that over time they integrated with each other. The roots took shape of a bridge that is strong, long and hanging. These bridges are called living root bridges. These bridges are handmade, they are intricate and super strong. There are more than 100 root bridges. Though many of them have become so old that they have broken or they have got rotten and some have been taken in by the dense forest. These Living Root Bridges are the cultural heritage of Meghalaya. Thus, we see that when there is a will to do something and an urge to find out the solution to a problem you always find out a way. But you should always be open to your surroundings. Nature has plans for all.

The living root bridge of Cherrapunji; image source: atlas obscura

Waterfalls making small rivulets; Picture courtesy: Ranit Chakraborty on Unsplash

Traditional umbrella-Knup; image source: Flickr

The people inhabiting Cherrapunji are called Khasis. They are the tribals that are living here, who have a matrilineal tribal culture unlike the most part of India. The women here have an upper hand. They take all the family and financial decisions. The Khasis have adapted to the climate and place through generations. Being amidst nature has helped them thoroughly understand the ecosystem in which they live. The trees, rivers, and forests are all sacred to them. They worship them and strongly believe that the ecosystem should not be disturbed at any cost. They strongly feel that a balance in our ecosystem is essential for the well-being of humanity.

The pandemic has already pointed to us, how fragile human has become. At times even money cannot help you. The monetary benefit is what is pushing people to misuse our nature. The pandemic has taught us to respect and save nature. Fresh air, sunlight and forest are all necessary for life. Nature always provides us with whatever we need, we should be kind enough to take how much is required and just leave the rest.

The Khasis of Cherrapunji have adapted to the climate so well that rain has become a part of their daily lives. In fact, they dance and celebrate for the first few days of rain. They have a unique umbrella called Knup. The Knups are made of broad jungle leaves that are stretched over a long-handled bamboo frame. These are more effective than a normal umbrella that we use. The number of Knups that have been used and worn decides the amount of rainfall that year. 3 or 4 Knups a year shows normal rainfall, 6 Knups show very bad weather and heavy rainfall and only 2 Knups will show, that year had scanty rain. Isn't it a unique way of detecting the weather?

People living here face challenges due to the rain. However, they go through challenges and enjoy their lives. Indians celebrate so many festivals. Some festivals are more fun to enjoy if the weather is dry. Like Holi or Diwali, when everyone likes to come out of their houses and enjoy. Lighting candles, bursting crackers, decorating houses with rangoli, smearing each other's faces with colours and drenching people in colour waters can only be possible if it's dry and sunny outside. Are you thinking then how do the people celebrate?..... of course, they celebrate. The festivals give us so much positivity that they power us with ideas. Ideas that help the Khasis of Cherrapunji celebrate festivals in spite of many challenges.

The months from March to October are the rainiest, the Khasis have no other options but to stay indoors and enjoy the warmth of the charcoal fire. the humidity is so high that the books, clothes etc. become damp, there are molds, and food grains have insects and mites in them. The framed photographs slowly get destroyed, the moisture gets inside the frames and fades away the colour of the photos from the corner. Drying clothes become difficult. So some people upturn a bamboo basket on a charcoal fire and lay the clothes on the bamboo basket for them to get dried. Cultivation and farming are shut down during these months. Construction work on houses is all stopped and nothing can be done, other than waiting for the dry months to come. The houses usually have thatched roofs, these roofs cannot withstand continuous rain, so they rot and break. It is during the dry and semi-dry months that the construction work of the thatched roofs or if anything is left gets completed. The construction work is done collectively by the local people or the Khasis. They help each other and stay connected. Now, the government has started providing with steel sheets that these people can use to make their roofs.

In the dry or semi-dry months from November to February, there is some relief from the rain. People can now continue with their daily chores. They do farming of betel plants, betel nuts, pepper, etc on the slopes. Now is the time for irrigation of the betel plants which need water to be brought from far away. they use Drip irrigation to bring water from the springs. Now, what is this Drip irrigation?..... in short, this kind of irrigation needs a long bamboo pipe that can carry water from far springs to the fields. With deforestation and flowing away of all the rainwater to Bangladesh, there is a scarcity of water hovering over Cherrapunji.

Today, due to this deforestation and climatic change, Cherrapunji is no more the wettest place on the earth. The fame has gone to a place named Mawsynram, in Meghalaya.

What a fate! the place that has been the wettest place for such a long time is facing an acute water shortage during the winter. It is high time that people start paying attention to their acts. Otherwise, it will be too late to act.