A rare peek into life in Shillong from the p.o.v. of a Khasi girl For most of us, the name Meghalaya would conjure images of verdant hills and rain-soaked bridges. In Daribha Lyndem’s Name Place Animal Thing, though, the bird’s eye view of one of the wettest spots on earth sharpens into focus — rows of eucalyptus on the roadsides; the Wah Umkhrah river snaking through Shillong, Meghalaya’s capital; houses fenced by hollow bamboo sticks overgrown with creepers; women in pretty jaiñsems, the traditional dress of the Khasis; and occasionally, hailstones the size of football.