By H H Mohrmen
I rarely respond to a feedback on any of my articles but this is another of those few exceptions because the letter has almost accused me of trying to divide the jaitbynriew. And in that case I think I have the right to defend myself and put my points across for my intelligent readers to decide for themselves if that is indeed the case. Nowhere in the article did I ever say that Pnar/ Synteng, War Jaintia and Khasi/khynriam are not one community, in fact I always maintained that we are one and the same because we have so much in common. Some of the characteristics that we share are lineage (where we all take our lineage from our mother) and share the same cardinal principles ‘Tip-bru tipblai,’ ‘Tip-kur tip-kha’ and ‘Kamai iei hok.’
iñ kur’ with those in Khasi like for example ‘ki san syngkong’ with the Thangkhiew clan, ‘ki ?awchibidi/?awchibijai with the Diengdoh clan, ‘ki ïong Challam’ with Mukhim and many others but some Pnar clans even ‘tiñ kur’ with Karbi clans as well such as the Dkhar clan with Timung and many others. And now there are intermarriages between the two. My close relatives are married to Khasis and I don’t see any threat to the Jaitbynriew, because our oneness is based on sound principles. We are bound by roots which are deeply entrenched in the common culture that we share.
The bonds of the Jaitbynriew are strong and deep-rooted and its strength lies also in the branches and flowers that it produces. But we cannot also deny that even if we are one, each group is unique in its own way. The Pnars have their own unique history, we speak a different dialect/version of the language or whatever you call it and we also celebrate different festivals. Even if we share the same creation story or the story of the origin of the tribe yet there are variations (please note I use the word variation) between the two versions The Pnars talk of climbing down from heaven on a ‘tangnoop-tangjri’ (D. Lamar’s Insight into Behdieñkhlam) whereas in the Khasi version it was the Diengiei which bridges heaven and earth for the hynniewtrep hynniewskum to climb up and down. The Pnar story is much more detailed yet all the elements of the stories are the same, so what I am trying to say is that even if we are one, yet different groups tells different versions of our story.
To begin with we cannot deny the fact that Jaintia has its own history and no matter how much we try to, no one can rewrite the history of the place and its people. Speaking about diversity, there is huge diversity even among the Pnars and the Wars of Jaintia hills (which share the common creation stories and culture), the Pnars and the War Jaintia speak a different dialect or version of the language where many could not understand each other. Most of the War Jaintia can understand Pnar and Khasi, yet very few Pnar can understand War Jaintia dialect. We are not going to speak about food habits especially the wild vegetables that people eat because this is influenced by the topography of the area and each region has its own taste, but we can talk about the festivals they celebrate.
Even among the Pnars, the major festivals that the few raid like Jowai, Tuber, ?along, Mukhla, Chyrmang and few others celebrate is ‘ka Behdieñkhlam’ and any major festival celebrated by the people in the eleka Shangpung, Raliang will remain incomplete if ‘pastieh’ is not performed. Among the War Jaintia only Nongtalang celebrates ‘Rongkhli’ but all other raids like the Padu, Nongbareh, eleka Darang celebrate ‘Rong kusi.’ Some of the raid in War Jaintia like the Nongtalang, the Nongbareh, the Padu use to have a unique chanting call ‘choh-ñia’ whenever death occurs in the family and also when the bones are deposited in the clan’s repository while the other groups do not practice this tradition. And another dying art of the Wars Jaintia that has to do with jhum cultivation is ‘ka Longhai.’ This was once a popular tradition of the people in Nongtalang and Syndai.
The writer expressed concern because people in these different subgroups have started writing their language and my question is how can we say that merely writing one’s dialect or version can be a threat to the Jaitbynriew? Can we for a moment stop people from speaking their own dialect or version of the language? As a person who speaks all the three dialects or version of our language i.e., Pnar, War Jaintia and Khasi I find that each version is unique and is important to the region where people speak the language. For example we find no corresponding word in Khasi for Pnar term like ‘ryngkhi’ ‘ka um-pachu’ and ‘ka Lapakhot’ and the word ‘Tympang’ in both Pnar and War Jaintia has its own meaning which is difficult to translate. And in matters of culture we can only describe certain aspects of the tradition by using the particular language spoken in the area because once we start translating it, we will not be able to do justice and translate the tradition in letter and spirit and much of it (like they say) is lost in translation.
The Khasi alphabets that we use now are also inadequate if we are to write both the Pnar and War Jaintia dialect. Writing Pnar we need additional alphabets like ‘c’ or ‘chi’ and ‘æ’ and to write War Jaintia dialect we need alphabets which have phonetic sounds ranging between ‘t’ and ‘j’ for words like ‘tjiang’ (paternal uncle) or ‘tji’ (rice/ food/or ja). We also need another alphabet which is a cross between ‘s’ and ‘f’ for words like ‘fsoh’ (fruit). These are just a few examples which prove beyond doubt that the dialect or the version of the language we speak is unique to its own region. These are the few variations that exist in the Jaitbynriew and which we cannot change. I don’t see this as a threat. In fact there is a saying that variety adds spice to life, so let us cherish our differences.
In my opinion the Jaitbynriew is like a garden where hundreds of flowers of every shape, size and colour can bloom together. In the Jaitbynriew every group should be able to speak and write their dialect freely. Like birds in the sky, every group should be free to sing their songs and celebrate life the way they want to. In the Jaitbynriew the groups are free to celebrate their festivals and pray and worship God/god as they are given to understand in their own dialect. Let the Khasis, the Pnar, the War, the Bhoi, the Lyngngam, the Maram freely sing their songs, speak and write their language with pride and let us proudly celebrate our festivals.
Ours is the Jaitbynriew that not only celebrates diversity but also encourages and supports each other to grow and develop in their own special way. We have proved to the world that we can live together amidst the differences that we have. We are also the living example of ‘unity in diversity’ and this is the Jaitbynriew I belong to and I am proud to be a member of. Our is also a progressive Jaitbynriew not restricted by some archaic traditions that are redundant but is open to change which is good for the society and change which can also lead the Jaidbynriew towards progress and development.
The alternative to this model of Jaitbynriew is one of a united monolithic feature with one culture, a Jaitbynriew which only speaks one language (Khasi Sohra may be), celebrates one festival and suppresses all the diversities in our sub-cultures. It does not tolerate differences but tries to assimilate the different groups into one. In my opinion this is a dangerous model because suppression always breeds discontent. It also discourages dissenting voices and it is a breeding ground for conflict. Is this a viable alternative?