By H H Mohrmen
I don’t subscribe to the idea that only those who follow certain religions are true Khasi-Pnars or only those who conduct certain rites and rituals are the only ones who can claim to be Ki Khun u Hynniewtrep (son of the soil) In my humble opinion, a true Khasi-Pnar is one who knows his roots, his origin and stories. In fact the most important question that we should ask is, who are we without our stories? Our stories are an integral part of our identity. In fact much of our identity is lost if we forget to remember our stories.
It is also true that apart from our stories, our lineage system is also one unique aspect of the tribe. It is also essential that a Khasi-Pnar should speak his ‘tien-shnong’ (Pnar/War/Bhoi/Lyngngam/Maram) dialect and is also one who can also read and write the written language or communicate in the Khasi Sohra language. On the other hand a true blue Khun u Hynniewtrep is also one who tries to uphold the cardinal principles of the community and the other Khasi-Pnar values. Earn righteousness (Kamai ia ka hok), courteous living (Tip-briew tip-blei) and respect for the mother’s and the father’s side of the families (Tip-kur tipkha) are the three most important principles of the jaitbynriew but the Khasi-Pnar life is also governed by the important value system that we have which is the close relationship we have with the nature and to be honourable even when dealing with one’s enemy. For example, even before a duel between warriors, the combatants will always swear to honour one another. To honour and keep one’s words, promises and commitment (tien-hok tien-sot) is the hallmark of a person’s character and signifies the pillar of Khasi-Pnar morality. To signify how important it is to keep one’s words we define the tongue which is the source of words as the ‘golden tongue,’ the silver tongue (u thyllieij-ksiar; u thylliej-rupa).
Not stealing that which does not belong to us is another very important value of the people. Not long ago people would keep their tools and their produce in the field or a public thoroughfare and no one would even touch those things. Locks and keys were very recently introduced to us. In fact in some villages in Jaintia hill they only need a wooden pad (ïu-jnang) to lock their houses. And if one happens to walk through somebody’s orchard, it is a common practice that if it is just to satisfy one’s hunger or quench one’s thirst, one can pluck and eat some fruits from the trees even in the absence of the owner of the orchard.
Community support in times of need is also another important feature of the Khasi-Pnar society because it stresses on the need to maintain the well-being of the entire community (ka bhalang ka imlang ka sahlang). In other words the common good of the community is paramount; hence we have traditions like the community support for farming activities (called chunong in Pnar and Kurui-lok in War Jaintia dialect). Then we also have a support system during times of exigencies such as death in the family where relatives and friends will provide food to the family one after another (called ja-nam) till the mandatory mourning period is over. And among the War- Jaintia, people contribute to support the bereaved family in their time of sorrow in a tradition call (Chep). Chep is also being contributed in times of celebration, especially when there is a wedding in the family. Again among the War Jaintia, Chep could also be in kind. Then when a mother gives birth to a child, the family and friends will provide food to the mother in what is called ja-khonboo till she is able to support herself. In other words we have a strong inbuilt network support system in the community, because the common good of the community (ka bhalang uba bun balang) and not that of the self or the interest the individual is the overriding principle of the Khasi-Pnar.
Principles and values are an important part of the Khasi-Pnar customs, traditions and way of life, but stories too are an essential part of the Hynniewtrep way of life. It begins with the same creation stories of the Hynniew-trep Hynniew-skum that we all share and which is not only the story that attest to the fact that we are one community, but the narrative also confirms that we are unique because we have our own creation story. Just like the Jews have their creation stories in their Torah which can also be found in the book of Genesis in the Christian Bible, we also have our own Hynniew-trep Hynniew-skum genesis narrative that we should be proud of.
Apart from our own creation story we also have stories on the various aspects of our social life and define many aspects of our society by using stories. For example each clan has its own folklore about the origin of the clan, stories of the Їawbei and the Thawlang of the clan. These stories are important not only because they tells us about the origin of the clan, but through these stories we know about the family name/surname (jait) which are related to the clan (Kur). And this is also important because clan plays a vital role in the person’s life. But it is also important because in the Khasi-Pnar tradition it is taboo to marry within the clan. Therefore we know that Laloo-Lamin-Diengdoh clans are connected by the story of ‘ka Їawchibidi/ Їawchibijai and all the jait under the clan share this same story. Then we also have story of the Talang clan, and all the jait within the Talang clan which include the Buam, the Ñialang, the Suting and the Nongtdu are related and they share the same story of origin from the Talang Basiah narrative.
Even our towns and villages have their own stories; some villages not only have stories of their origins but they also have their ancestors’ migration narratives. For example Jowai owes its origin to the four sisters who are half-human half-divine who became the first settlers of the place we all know as Jowai now. And the four sisters; ka Wet, ka Doh, ka Tein and ka Bon were the Iawbei of the Sookpoh Khadarwyrnai clan. Similarly if one visits other villages, one would find that all villages would have stories of how the village started or at least how the people migrated to the village.
Our rivers, streams, hills, monoliths and even lakes and waterfalls have stories; in fact almost all natural phenomena which occur in the area have stories to tell. Umiam, Umiew, Myntdu, Kupli, Lukha have stories of their own so does Lum Shillong, Lum Bahboo Bahkong, Lum Sunaraja, Lum Sohpetbneng and others. Then u Kyllang, ka Thadlaskein, ka Kshaid Iale, ka Nohkalikai, ka Kshaid Krangshuri, to name a few, also have their own stories. As a matter of fact we have stories of the kind of relationships that we had with our fellow creation in the animal and plant world too.
These stories not only demonstrate the unique connection that we have with the nature around us, but they are in fact part of our identity because they connect us with our clan, the community and the natural world. The stories demonstrate that in the Khasi-Pnar milieu humans do not exist in isolation but he or she is one with the entire creation. His relationship starts from within the family, to the community and then to the wider world. So stories are important because they tell us about us and who we are and more importantly they inform us of the profound relationship that we have with the community and nature around us.
Stories are therefore not just fables or folktales that we tell our children. They are more than that because they have meaning and the importance of the stories is because they also help define who we are. Without our stories we are incomplete, so if we lose our stories, we also lose part of our identity because stories are an intrinsic part of the Khasi-Pnar life.