Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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People of the Stories

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By H H Mohrmen

Stories whether one calls them mythologies, folk or oral stories are an integral part of the life of the people in these hills. These are not just stories but they also define who we are and they are both essential for our wellbeing and progress; they connect us to the nature and the world around us. These stories are also part of our roots because they tell us about the past of this community and the world view of our ancestors.

The stories are ingrained in the life of the people and they become part of their daily life and they have stories for almost everything around them or rather they weave stories about things around them. Weaving these stories is one thing and sharing them for posterity is another and the method of sharing these stories or how these stories are being inculcated in young minds varies with place and time.

Hence it is important to note that story telling is also an integral part of our lives and it gives meanings to who we are and what we do in our lives. One such story is the story of Kwai, Tympew, ka shun, and u duma which substantiate the fact of what we eat, how it becomes part of our lives and most importantly how it gives meanings to that common activity that the people indulge in which is also part of the tradition.

The most popular means used to share these stories are by telling them around the hearth. This common way of telling and retelling stories around the hearth (sawdong ka lyngwiar dpei) is also the heart of the house and family. However, in some cases stories were also part of some religious rituals which are performed till today. For example (according to Heibormi Sungoh) the story of u Joh Ymbon which is still part of the house warming ceremony of the Ymbon clan of eleka Shangpung.

Then there’s Chohñia which is a unique way of storytelling amongst the War people of Jaiñtia hills and which is in the form of wailing and lamentation. Chohñia is normally performed during bereavement, cremations and even during the ceremony of placing the internment of the charred bones of the deceased in the clan ossuary (thep mawbah). This is still being practiced by the War of Lamin village and other places. Most importantly, lamentation is not an ordinary wailing but it also involves storytelling and very often than not it is also a competition of who can carry on the longest.

One can very well imagine that in the past when there were no means of entertainment other than sports; story telling was the only means of entertainment for the people. One way of looking at these stories is that our forefathers not only use stories to give meaning to what they see around or what amazes them. They are our ancestor’s way of trying to understand and give meaning about to what they see in the world around them. In a sense it is their science. In fact it is their way of dealing with incidents or happenings and of trying to understand the events they had encountered in their day to day life and giving meaning to it by weaving a story about what they had stumbled upon.

They are using the same scientific method of observing the problems and then trying to come up with the answers to what they had encountered. Like Newton and his apple they also wove stories about what they had encountered. For example the dog and the fermented beans from the Iew luri lura story, the story of the rooster and the hornbill drawn from the story of Ka Krem Lamet Krem Latang, the thunder lightning and the Kui or civet and many more. These stories will fall in that category but the question is what came first the egg of the chicken? Whether the story came first or the stories were woven around what they have observed. Or was the story already around to establish the fact, but at the end of the day it is not important. The point is these stories are not just fables or fairy tales that our ancestors like to pass on from one generation to another. The fact is they are more than just stories.

They also weave stories to give meaning to the peculiar hills, rocks, rivers and other landmarks and like I have said earlier all monoliths too have stories to tell but unfortunately we have lost most of them. Almost every hills river, waterfall have stories to tell. For example ‘the Kyllang rock,’ the river Kupli and the Kshaid Ïale, u lum Bah Boo Bah Kong are all woven around the peculiar shape of the phenomena. But one should not be surprised that there are also stories which are similar to each other. The story of rivers ka Lukha and ka Lunar are parallel stories of the Umïam and Umïew because they are identical to one another.

In some cases these phenomena also justify to some extent the connection that the folk stories that people tell are true. The Thadlaskein lake, the Mynkoi tok and Bir Jympa Masi at Nartiang and many other landmark in both east and west Jaiñtia hills, validate the story of u Sajar Nangli the Chief of Jaiñtia army who rebelled against the king. We have stories which are connected with these natural phenomena like for example the river Myntdu occupies a unique place in the minds and the hearts of the people who live on its banks. Not only the people of Jowai but all villages located near the river have many stories about it. The other unique phenomenon which connects these villages and the rivers is that almost all Raids situated on the banks of the Myntdu river conserve sacred forests.

But the most important aspect of these stories is that they are our ancestor’s own way of answering the universal question which bewildered humanity eternally far ages. Like any other myth or aetiological stories, the stories are basically our ancestors’ efforts to answer the three important questions that have bothered humankind since time immemorial and till today. The three important questions are, ‘Where do humans come from? Why do we live? Or what is the purpose of life? And where do humans go after they die? Is there an after-life?

The creation story that we shared is an endeavour to answer the question of where people come from or how humans came to first settle in the area. The answer is they came from heaven after parting ways with their kin. Seven members of the kin came down to the earth and nine remained in the abode of God. The creation story also has connection with the idea of what happen when human die, because they believe that after a person had died, the person will then retires and eat betel-nut at the corridor of God’s dwelling place eternally.

The Iawbei stories in Jaiñtia hills give us some idea of our ancestor’s route of migration to the place we now live. To understand the clans (and it’s important in the life of the people), one must also understand the stories of the different Ïawbei of the clans. This will also help us understand the importance of the traditional administrative system amongst the Khasi Pnar community.

Stories are not just stories but they are part of who we are and in the absence of history and without these stories we are nothing. These stories are not only our only source of information about the past, but they also defines who we are.

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