Word of mouth or Inscribed – either
way, a tradition needs to be upheld and accepted
Traditional knowledge is meant to be upheld and preserved but not forgotten having a blind eye turned to what our forefathers had once inscripted and laid before us for our own benefits.
It can be mentioned that Khasi Folklore has been there for ages and the folktales that come along from generation to generation through word of mouth or literature depicts a history of this hill state and the people along with their cultures and traditions.
Some of the folktales enlighten the way forward for the people while some hold a much deeper meaning which prohibits many from trying to devout the rules laid by our forefathers.
But the question that arises today is ‘Are we still holding on to those traditional morales or are we elevating ourselves to the level of no-turning back?’
Beliefs that sacred groves are meant to be maintained with much sacredness have for many decades kept patches of forests in different parts of the state alive and thicker and failing to live by the rules can result in many unwanted incidents.
The same notion has been imprinted in people’s minds for ages.
Meghalaya is famous for its sacred groves located at various places of the state and the famous of them all is the ‘Mawphlang Sacred Grove’ or ‘Law Kyntang’.
These forests were mainly preserved by the forefathers with a motive to conserve the living organisms as well as double the forest areas.
Rumours has it that there were strange incidents that had happened to people who tried to devout the rules and regulations of the forest laid by the forefathers. As per the famous folktales, people are prohibited from committing any crimes or stealing anything from the forest failing of which strange incidents are bound to happen.
Recently, rumours spread far and wide in Shillong city of an incident at the Mawphlang sacred grove which had aroused fear and questions in the minds of the people especially the elders.
It was reported that two people met with their undesirable end after they failed to go by the rules of the forest and went ahead with their unwanted activities.
Similar rumours were heard on many occasions even before and some of them were so threatening that people often fear to step into the forest.
Some say that if anything is stolen from the forest, he or she would end up with a terrible sickness.
The older generations, having more knowledge about the sacredness of this forest would not want to disturb and destroy what our forefathers had left.
This is contrary to the younger generations who have little or no knowledge at all about them are the ones who needs to be guided and made aware of the importance of preserving traditional rights and rituals, no matter how advanced and modern the world might turn out to be.
“I am concerned about the younger generations; they would simply say ‘Do you still believe in all these stuffs’.
What they need to understand is the deep meaning behind every word that our forefather had passed on”, a senior citizen of Shillong said.
(By Ibankyntiew Mawrie)