La Mana is a common word in Khasi localities. It lists the things which are not allowed in public places. Tarun Bhartiya uses the phrase as the title of his new short film to start discussions on the much-debated topic, the existential crisis of the hill tribe.
The film starts with a common man’s observation, “Our people are just a pinch of the population of the entire nation. So within no time we’ll disappear. Like the birds and animals…”
Will Khasis, like many other tribes in India, become extinct? Will influx of outsiders and mixed marriages prove apocalyptic for the indigenous people? Is matrilineality a curse in disguise?
Bhartiya walks through dimly lit lanes in Khasi colonies, meets working class youths, delves into facts and history and takes a peek at personal life in order to find answers to his questions.
What comes out of the director’s journey is a 26-minute documentary that stays away from drawing any conclusion about the complex issue. Instead, it weaves together the ideas at the grassroots level and presents them in a sequence that reflects the modern Khasi society.
Through dialogues, interviews, old video clips and excerpts of conversation between Bhartiya and his wife Angela Rangad, the documentary goes back and forth in time to explain myths and tradition.
For instance, matrilineality does not necessarily mean power to women as men are still the head of families. “We respect women and carry their title. But at home, the father is still the boss,” says Sambok Mawnai during a casual conversation.
Those who feel patrilineality is the solution to the crisis in Khasi society do so because “they want to rule and do whatever they want”. “But a home without a mother’s hearth is not warm,” says a local rapper.
“I preferred speaking to the common man because I believe it is from them that we can get a clear picture of the society’s mindset,” the director informs.
Bhartiya aptly uses Masudi, the song from the Khasi Students Union’s album released during the ILP protest days and which is based on Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih’s poem The Lament of Riti, to deal with the subject of mixed marriages which have apparently threatened the tribal tradition and culture. Or has it?
The documentary also makes one wonder whether the bloodshed decades ago in the name of identity was justified. “There is nothing called pure identity anymore… The narrow notion of identity has not meted out justice. The young generation has realised it,” observes Bhartiya.
The director raises questions but never makes a deontological approach and allows the documentary to take its own course. More than a panacea it is the reflection of a maturing society. When asked why he chose the subject for his film, Bhartiya says his daughter’s search for identity made him ponder over the subject of mixed marriage and its impact on the matrilineal society. “But at the end of the day, the brouhaha over caste, community and religion is banal,” he concludes.
While Bhartiya deals with social issues, young director Wanphrang Diengdoh’s documentary Because We Did Not Choose looks back in history to find how thousands of Khasis, Garos and other indigenous groups were tricked into fighting someone else’s war away from home and hearth.
A thoroughly researched work, the documentary shows the participation of Khasi men in World War 1. The British rulers, with the help of Welsh churches and preachers, convinced the simple hill people to fight their war. They evoked hollow patriotism to recruit men at three centres in Tura, Baghmara and Damra near Dudhnoi. The first company of labourers left Shillong in April 1917 and reached France in June 1917.
Diengdoh traces the course of the Khasi men’s journey from homeland to the foreign land where many of them perished.
Excerpts from old letters sent by soldiers from the war front in France and Mesopotamia not only show the angst of the men away from home but also focus on another aspect of history — the interaction of secluded hill tribe with the outside world. The journey to France stoked the Khasis’ wanderlust.
The 92-minute documentary, which tells a poignant story, has been shot in different locations, besides Shillong, like Guwahati, Jowai, Wahaiajer, Sohkha, Tura, Kolkata, Chennai, Liverpool and Wales. The war graves in France were also shown.
Because We Did Not Choose was screened at Khasi Dorbar Hall on Friday and won great applause. ~ NM
