By Wanphrang K Diengdoh
But let us turn back to the present. I am a sceptic who usually does not read newspapers. You cannot blame anyone for this malaise in this age of corporate media and the
Orwellian reality we now live in. I do however go through Page 3 of vernacular newspapers. This is the ultimate test of one’s vocabulary and skill in the language. Go through these pages and you will find translations of page three articles from across the world by local editors. Now that is skill. Recently though, an article surfaced that related to the contents of the book “Ki Dienjat ki Longshwa” by Fr. J Bacchiarello from the Seng Khasi Mawsynram. This looked interesting. The article called for discontinuation of the book from the Meghalaya Board of Secondary Education (MBOSE) syllabus for “allegedly showing in poor light the culture and beliefs of the Khasis.” It also “demanded” that the State Government (Congress) remove the book completely or “to at least remove chapters 4, 12, 14, 17, 21, 24, 25, 49, 50, 51, 52 and 53. My first guess was that this was a publicity stunt by the publishers and the Seng Khasi Mawsynram to boost sales. I tried three shops and all of them had run out of copies. Eventually an old teacher got me the book and upon scanning the contents page, I noticed that poor Fr. Bacchiarello declaring rather humbly on January 7, 1974, “These lessons do not aim at a past or a science and most of them have come to my knowledge through previous Khasi writers
and I hope school children will benefit from it…from the beginning itself I have mentioned that I do not get any proceeds from the sale…” Now this requires a little investigation.
Let us examine these chapters. Chapter 4 – Ka jinpynlong ia ka Pyrthei bad u Briew – Puriskam (The creation of the world and the body – a fable), a syncretic attempt at the Diengiei story and the creation of the world by God, which as a disclaimer, should it slip into the creation and evolution argument, Fr. Bacchiarello has already said was a ‘puriskam’ – a fable, a legend. Chapter 12 – Ka jingkha ia u Jisu Krist (The birth of Christ). There is no mention from Fr. Bacchiarello if this was a ‘puriskam’. Chapter 14 – Ka riam shad Khasi (The dance costumes
of the Khasis) by an anonymous contributor called Uba Tip Pateng 1902. Chapter 17 – Ka jingduwai Knia (The incantations during Knia) which interestingly is a transcription by Rabon Singh Kharsuka from Mawmluh dated 11th June 1897. The same writer mentioned above who also wrote ‘Ka Kitab Niam Khein Ki Khasi’ in 1911. Chapter 21- Shaphang U Blei, About God, (another syncretic attempt invoking Khasi progenitors which interestingly opens a debate of whether Khasis practice ancestral worship). Chapter 24- U Syiar Khraw Jutang (The Rooster’s grand vow), Chapter 25 – Haba don ka mon hangta ka lynti ka don (When there is a will, there is a way), Chapter 49- Iaroh ia u Blei (Praise be to God) Chapter 50 – Ka rukom niam jer Khun (The child naming ceremony), Chapter 51- Kaba knia pylleng syiar (Auguries through the egg) Chapter 52 Khublei (Thank-you), Chapter 53 Ki Mawbynna, Ki Mawniam bad ki Kor (Monoliths, religious stones and memorial stones) by Sr. P. Kharakor. Please keep in mind that at this stage, there is no attempt at a linguistic analysis of the titles and I am only making a rough translation for lack of space in the article.
I studied this book while I was in school. It was an all boys Catholic school in Shillong (whose motto ironically is the same as the Suffragettes). Certain chapters were not taught including: The birth of Christ, keeping in mind the secular values of the school but in my free time, I did read them and it exposed me to another world. Now I am old enough to form opinions on matters based on what I have exposed myself to. I do not praise the chapters of the
book either. To be trivial, there are punctuation errors, spelling mistakes and most importantly this glorification of the past that ‘subjects’ of colonies indulge too liberally in. Nonetheless, they are entertaining and I would still suggest it to friends as a tongue in cheek, ready reckoner series into Khasi polity. Similary, Khasi religious books that invoke a grand past do the same (because where else does the idea of sanctity originate from?) But the lack of objectivity and the reluctance to accept the past not as a moment but a situation that came about through multiple events and consequences is what is problematic – almost Sophocolean, and I am
reminded of Samuel Butler (iconoclastic Victorian-era English author) “A blind man knows he cannot see, and is glad to be led, though it be by a dog; but he that is blind in his understanding, which is the worst blindness of all, believes he sees as the best, and scorns a guide.” Indeed what is even more sinister with this “demand to remove completely” KDKL is that it is not governed by any idea or logic leave alone reason. Instead it complicates the matter by suggesting that the
syllabus should introduce the Vedas and the Ramayana. So say should a hypothetical situation arise and the Ramayana is introduced in schools as part of the curriculum as suggested by Seng Khasi Mawsynram, it would be interesting to see whose version of the Ramayana represents
things more accurately and is more relevant to the Khasis. Will it be Bah Lesli Harding Pde’s version from 2011 whose translation was encouraged by the Catholic Church or will it be Jeebon Roy Mairoms’s version encouraged by his continuous efforts in serving the East India company and the Khasi people among others or do we have to learn it in Sanskrit? I feel there is some other hand at play here and I think we should assert our geopolitical identity and say we will not be bulldozed by neo-colonial forces that attempt to homogenise India.
Just as the East India Company realised that it’s agents and its government at the end of the day were outsiders in India, their presence in the near future would be determined only by the
participation of local supporters who would act as double agents between them and the people. Contemporary neo-imperial political positions also adopt the same- disguised as philanthropist who also need support of the local population to extend their electoral position and to create new political allies in the upcoming elections and eventually assert a Hindutva India. But there is hope and as the Khasi saying (not-writing) goes ‘Wad te phin sa shem, trud te phin sa
mong’ (search and you will find, scratch and your skin will break open) So in this simple profiling of the author of KDKL as an ‘other’ – an ‘Arnab Goswamisque binary attempt at ‘us and them’ arises, putting all these people in simple boxes on multiple screens and plucking out
a few seconds of their lives to fulfill a greater nationalist agenda. Which is as bad as the profiling that led to racist attacks in Shillong in 1987, 1992 and most recently in 2013.
But being a subject of some form of colonisation today I will also conjure hope. Perhaps the true wisdom of our Khasi ancestors lies in the fact that they realise Khasi religion as a fluid oral philosophy and might have foreseen the problems that would arise once it is put in text and institutionalised. Perhaps they knew that the understanding of ‘Kamai ia ka hok’, ‘Tip briew tip Blei’ and ‘Tip kur, tip kha’ derived meanings from practice and not study and hence there was no need for these aphorisms to be written. Similarly if traditions fade away, one should firstly question, debate, argue their functionality and relevance and not merely resort to putting them on stages at every festival in a superficial attempt to preserve them. In most cases, the context creates, the performance represents and sometimes in today’s world the corporate dictates as in the case of the cellular service provider TV ad in Umiam.
So has history then changed, is my question. Aren’t the masses still misused and brainwashed by the powers that be who control the means of disseminating information and who can forge bonds across their immediate Khasi identity with other power structures from outside their geographic space so that they can determine the political future of the Khasis? Only time will tell. But before I finish, let me leave you with my favourite Khasi puriskam (fable). When the great dance occurred, the sun and the moon did not have a partner. So the Sun danced with the Moon. Everyone laughed at them. Sad and upset, she ran away and hid in a cave. There was no more sun, no more light. Darkness encapsulated everything. The rooster martyred itself to fetch the sun. In return, he was decked with the most beautiful gold and silver and expensive cloth because prior to this, he was a mere ‘lymboit lymbiang’ – a naked worthless creature. This explains the rooster’s beautiful plumes today. Henceforth, it became the rooster’s divine duty to fetch the sun every morning. Let us ensure the rooster’s plumes keep its many hues in these times of saffronisation. To Ngin iai Kamai ia ka Hok. Shi Hajar Nguh. Khublei. Happy Shad Suk Mynsiem.
(Wanphrang Diengdoh is a filmmaker whose award winning films include Between the Forest and the Song, Where the Clouds End, Shad Suk Mynsiem 100 years and 19/87 (with D. Lyngdoh). He is also a musician of Shillong’s politico-punk band Tarik. Currently he is making a film on the involvement of the Khasi Labour Corps in World War 1. He is also the grandson of a former Gen. Secretary of the Seng Khasi – Ruby Diengdoh. References available upon request. For questions email at [email protected] or www.reddur.com)