Khasi hills are located in easternmost Himalayas where it is closest to the ocean.Due to their proximity to Bay of Bengal, Khasi hills receiveston of rainfall every year. Two of the wettest places on Earth are located here. This is a landscape carved by rains – from crystal clear pools to majestic waterfalls, deep caves and dense forests. At the heart of it all are the Khasi people – who above all, value their relationship with the environment. Sacred Forests Before British Empire annexed Meghalaya in 1862, it was a group of small Khasi kingdoms called Syiems. Every one of such Syiem has a sacred forest to carry out their rituals much like any other places of worship. These sacred forests are still present today, revered and protected by the local populace. Living root bridges Locally known as ‘jingkiengjri’ these are a tribal bio engineering marvel that looks straight out of Lord of the Rings set. The Khasi and Jayantia tribes in India and another tribe in Indonesia are the only ones who make such bridges. Living root bridges take anywhere between 20 to 50 years to build. However, unlike other man made bridges that gets weaker as it gets old, root bridges only grows stronger with time. Cleanest village in Asia Mawlynnlong – the cleanest village in Asia is a Khasi village. However it is not just Mawlynnlong but all Khasi villages are generally kept very clean. Almost all villages have some sort of waste disposal system in place with people responsible for the village’s cleanliness. Tribal Lifestyle As one of the very few existing matrilineal societies in the world, the Khasi tribal society is what many developed societies in the world aspire to be in terms of gender equality. More than 50% of all local businesses are run by women. Local farming techniques that seem ancient in the first glance are based on rich traditional knowledge. For example the honeys from Khasi hills are very delicious because they are made from bees often surrounded by monocultures of orange trees so that the honey will naturally taste like oranges. There are a number of such lessons to be learnt from Khasi people. They may not be aware of buzzwords like sustainability or negative carbon footprints but they are more attuned to their nature than many of us, guided by ancient Khasi belief that nature is intrinsically linked to God, and destroying it could destroy their relationship with Him.
