By HH Mohrmen
IT is that time of the year when we exchange season’s greetings and wish each other a happy and a prosperous new year, but in Meghalaya can we really wish anyone a happy new year when the conglomerate of pressure groups have already made public that they would organize more agitation programs in the near future? The pressure groups demanding implementation of ILP in the state have declared that they have only temporarily suspended their agitation so the question is whether there is any hope for a happy new year? Well, at least we are grateful to them for this leeway which allows us to celebrate the most important festivals of the year – Christmas and New Year. But as to what will happen after New Year, well, your guess is as good as mine. But let us enjoy Christmas and New Year days as in the true spirit of the festivals.
Speaking about New Year, nowhere else in the world will you find people welcoming the New Year in such grandeur and style as the people of Jowai. New Year celebration in the capital of the West Jaintia hills district is a festival in itself because almost the entire community takes part in the celebration. It is a festival because it connects the young and old, men and women who celebrate the day with pomp gaiety. It is also a festival because members of the community irrespective of their religious affiliation join in the celebration. The town already wears a festive look for Christmas; the New Year celebration starts just after Christmas. Throughout the week many localities in the town organize various competitions for the children of the area like singing, dancing, kids show and what have you. This is somewhat similar to the celebration of Durga puja where the puja committee or pujon pandals organize various competitions for the young members of the community. But what is unique about the New Year Celebration in Jowai is that no celebration is complete without a bonfire. Every community lights a bonfire in their respective community halls on the New Year’s Eve and all present gather round the huge fire to enjoy the show and keep themselves warm.
If one visits the various localities in Jowai on the evening of the last day of the year, one would see people in warm clothing from head to foot to brace themselves for the cold and then they participate in the variety programs singing choruses of the special New Year songs prepared by the young members of every community also known as Dong. One will see people shaking their head or tapping their feet on the ground even if they do not take part in the dance. But for young people and those young at heart, New Year celebration means lots of dancing and singing from the evening of the last day of the year to the wee hours of the first day of the New Year. Generally the New Year eve celebrations in every locality close at the stroke of midnight after people have greeted each other and returned to their respective homes and after a lot of crackers and fireworks are set ablaze. But the New Year’s day is the climax of the celebration.
On New year’s day members of various localities wake up early in the morning and head to their respective localities’ play grounds or halls wherecccccc members of the community gather to prepare a huge feast for the entire community. Every member of the community takes part in preparing the mega feast. Everyone contributes as much as they can for the preparation of the feast. It is in the member’s contribution towards the celebration and the feast in particular that one can see the sense of camaraderie. Normally the affluent contribute more to make up for the gap since the poorer members contribute only symbolically as a sign of being part of the celebration. The objective is that everybody should take part in the community feast irrespective of how much they contribute.
This community feast is the last vestige of the egalitarian spirit of the Khasi-Pnar since all dine from the same pots and pans irrespective of their status in the society. Rich and poor, the lowly and the high or the mighty all join hands in partaking of the same food prepared for the community feast. After the feast which we don’t really know what to call it because it is being served between lunch and dinner time, the young people start playing their music which comprises all pre-recorded New Year songs. Few years back ago it was young people themselves playing their musical instruments which included guitars, violin, mandoline, drums, tambourine etc to the tune of the New Year songs in spite of the cold weather but now readymade music has taken over. The music system is loaded on a pickup truck and one full vehicle of speakers and music system with a generator is loaded on the truck. The decibels as can be expected can be heard all across the town. Every locality makes this same arrangement as far as music is concerned. They have their own composition of New Year songs and choruses to make a musical feast of sorts. With the music ready people then join in the dancing procession which starts from their respective localities and heads all the way to Iawmusiang in down town Jowai.
On New Year’s day all roads lead to Iamusiang and the citizens in their finery join their respective localities in the dancing procession with joy in their faces. I am lost for words to describe the New Year party in Jowai. In one way it is similar to the Rio Carnival where people dance to the tune of their New Year songs but not quite because it is unique and cannot be compared with anything else. But whatever one calls it, the New Year celebration in Jowai is one of a kind where the entire town takes part in greeting each other a happy and prosperous year. The look and the smile that all those in the dancing parties wear on their faces itself describes the spirit of the town on that day and one wishes it remains so the whole year.
In a way Jowai is fortunate to have two important festivals in a year – the Behdienkhlam festival and the New Year Day Festival in fact three if one also counts the Chad Sukra festival. While one greets another merry Christmas and a happy New Year one hopes that the spirit of this festive season lasts forever but we have other thing to worry about. Apart from the premonition of the impending ILP agitation that one expects to happen after the New Year, one would also have to worry about the two coming elections- the general elections to the Lok Sabha and the election to the district councils that will make us busy throughout the first quarter of the year. While community feasting in the New Year is remarkable the same spirit will not sustain for too long for elections bring division and fragment communities, turning friends into foes and pushing people into political camps with strident positions. Politics truly goes against the community bonhomie.
May I wish all readers a Happy Christmas and a peace-filled New Year.