 And situated at a height of 1500 meters, the hill station of Shilong is the capital of Meghalaya. The first Khasi organization was founded in Shilong a century ago in 1899. The Sen Khasi was a cultural movement that sought to rekindle the pride of the Khasi nation. The Highland people subjugated both politically and culturally by the brute force of the European invader. My grandfather also was very much involved in Sen Khasi because he was a spirit behind it. Because he always wanted the culture also to remain. Because he had seen that it's eroding like that. And so when they started Sen Khasi, he was very much behind. And because of Sen Khasi, our culture, our dances, our discussing music and all, we were able to survive out there now. You see, otherwise we would have all done this long time ago. Though Sweety Mon Savyan leads a semi-retired life, this granddaughter of Khasi pioneer Babu Jibonroy is still an active participant in various social and intellectual efforts aimed at benefiting Shilong society. It was in the days of the Raj and in particular during the early years of the 20th century that the city of Shilong experienced its golden era. Many are building an institution of that era still survive, testimonies to the passage of history and to a forgotten pace of life. Under British rule, the political importance of this city in the colonial scheme of things ensured that people from different parts of eastern India made a beeline for Shilong. This is the nerve center of Shilong, the Barabaza. It is the women who traditionally formed the bulk of the shop owners in Barabaza as elsewhere in Meghalaya, a reminder of the matrilomial nature of Khasi society. These are the women of Shilong who run their business even as they do their homes and it is their name that their children take even as property and family responsibility pass from the mother to the daughter. In the days of the Raj, the city of Shilong was an important center of business and government and the multi-ethnic city of Shilong stems from the fact that when the rest of what today is northeastern India with wide wilderness Shilong was already an administrative center and the political capital of the composite stage of Asa. The city became home to people from all walks of life and even the royalty from neighboring kingdoms had set up their own palaces overlooking the Shilong of the commoners. No longer kings and princesses, some of them had stayed back even after the Union Jack had departed these shores. Though ensconced in their royal retreats, they are today very much a part of modern Shilong.