UP FR ONT WEIRD WE ATHER MAWSYNRAM’S RAIN
ACCORDING TO THE WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANISATION, this north-east Indian hill village is officially the rainiest place on the planet, with an average annual precipitation of 11,872mm. Tat’s just under 40 feet. Villagers are used to landslides and power cuts. Many use grass
to soundproof their roofs from the drumming of the rain. Bridges are made of living tree roots, which don’t rot away beneath all the precipitation. And nearly everyone in town owns a full-body rain cover (being carried, leſt) called a knups, made of bamboo and banana leaves. Umbrella salesmen are annoyingly wealthy. “One gets used to it,” says resident Sateesh Kanagotagi.
“Clothes take longer to dry. Humidity of about 97 per cent during the rains can exacerbate asthma. But the atmosphere is clean and green. You enjoy indulging your hobbies at home.” Other villagers aren’t so optimistic. “Tere’s no sun, so if you
don’t have electricity it’s very dark indoors, even during the day,” Moonstar Marbaniang told Agence France-Presse. Te reason for so much rain? Warm winds draw water off the
Bay of Bengal, and when the clouds reach the hills of Meghalaya, they are squeezed so they can no longer retain their moisture.
16
AIR MILE S
LONDON PIANIST AND music producer Tokio Myers won Britain’s Got Talent in 2017 and has released an album called Our Generation. He also performed and produced a version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to raise money for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. “Te beauty of my work is that I get to travel to weird corners of the world to play music,” he says. “It’s the dream. Luckily I enjoy flying, as it’s becoming more and more commonplace in my life.”
SEP T E M B ER 2 0 18
What’s the most unusual place you’ve ever been? Song Saa, a tiny private island off the coast of Cambodia, for a gig. It’s paradise. All the villas are on pontoons by the beach with private swimming pools.
It must be tricky travelling with musical equipment? Te minimum I travel with is a keyboard, piano shell, floor toms, crash cymbals, two synths and eight drum pads – and the
stands and rigging to support this. Getting through airports can be a problem but I’ve got an amazing team to help lug stuff. We use flight cases, which cost around £30 each to transport, depending on the airline.
How could airports be more pleasant? More music should be played as you are moving through the airport. Visual installations could also be added to complement these sounds. Freestanding public pianos would be a productive and relaxing way for people to fill time before boarding. Airports are also incredibly brightly lit. I would find it more relaxing if the lights were dimmed to a lower level.
How could airlines improve their in-flight service? What about virtual-reality headsets that enable passengers
to see what’s going on outside the plane? Tis would be particularly interesting during take off and landing. You could also have headsets that would show you around the airport before you land. It would allow passengers to exit the airport as quickly as possible and remove the need for more ground staff.
Loveliest souvenir you’ve ever brought home? Coloured stones that I collected in Greece. Tey are now a permanent fixture on the windowsill in my kitchen.
Pipe-dream destination? I would love to see the wildlife of Patagonia: blue whales, albatrosses and orcas. Te mountains are also magnificent. Not sure I could climb them all, but I’m sure the zoom on my camera would get me to the summits.
tokiomyers.com
bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om
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