By FabianLyngdoh
Living in an era of commercial patents and copyright regimes, when even important knowledge concerning life and death is privatised, and knowing that this traditional knowledge of the Khasis has not been documented so far, I am tempted to keep this traditional knowledge a secret until I am able to publish it in the form of a book and claiming it as my own personal discovery through intuition and insight, so that I can sell at a price and earn acclaim for myself. But considering the urgency to disseminate this precious knowledge of the ancestors, as it would be useful in saving many lives that are in danger of drowning, I decided to open the secret as early as possible through this article.Though this traditional knowledge is not known to everyone even in the past, but only to a close community of associates, but having learnt about it freely, I deem it my responsibility also to disseminate this community resource freely for the benefit of all.
Before we go to the Khasi traditional science of diving, it would be good to have some understanding of the Khasi thought as the existential journey of the Khasi tribe since time immemorial has been very closely linked to nature and clothed more in philosophy than scientific knowledge. Knowledge of the philosophical background would throw more light on the attitude and behaviour of the Khasis of whom more than eighty per cent live in the rural areas. According to Khasi concept, nature covers not only man’s physical existence in the material world among all physical beings, but it also includes his spiritual existence among other spiritual beings and spirits of ancestors. So, the Khasi nature or cosmos consists of three aspects: – The natural environment, the social environment and the spiritual environment; and the Khasis live with that attitude, acknowledging the co-existence of the three aspects of the cosmos surrounding their lives.
The Khasi ancestors like all tribal peoples of the world, did not have a clear scientific knowledge of life and the universe as modern scientists do; but that does not mean that they were bereft of reason. They believed that it is dangerous to live in ignorance, and therefore some explanation must always be there for anything. So, they created stories about the cosmos according to the nearest knowledge and understanding prevalent in their contemporary period. If they cannot understand certain things or phenomena, they would not just be content with ignorance, but they would create a story to serve as possible explanations and as workable solutions to the wondering mind as well as to unify every part of the cosmos in one coherent whole, and bring all its aspects under their mental control.
Folk tales among the Khasis are also meant for establishing covenants between humans and all other beings, material and spiritual, for co-existence in peace and order.So, one of the main objectives of mythology according to Khasi thought is to provide the logistics for the establishment of covenants and institutions. The Khasis believed that this general covenant in the cosmos is like a triangle: The covenants of other creatures among themselves and their covenants with man. A dog hunts animals with man because of a covenant, the ox pulls the plough because of a covenant, the hornbill never flew towards the direction of the sun because of a covenant, the hen’s egg is used in religious divination because of a covenant, etc. After the Khasis have given recognition of the cosmos and all creatures with spiritual reality, rights, honour and statuses within their own particular limits with a coherent existence in legends and folktales, they linked them all in a general covenant that all should observe their particular covenants, and to enjoy their rights and freedom as permissible to their statuses as assigned. After the establishment of all these existential covenants man walks abreast the earth and amidst all creatures with the feeling of power, peace and security.
In Ri Bhoi area, people believe that it is dangerous for man to insult the rivers like the Umkhen or the Umiam in words or deeds while crossing them because they have the right to drown him who dares insult and dishonour them in their course. It is also believed that the Umkhen and Umiam were siblings who turned enemies of each other at the instigation of u Khapmara. Therefore, people who cross the river Umiam are warned not to utter the name of the river Umkhen, and vice versa as that would result in drowning. Elders of the area believe that this enmity between the two rivers is still alive even today. Whether that is true or not is not the question, but, it indicates the concept of the honour and dignity of every being, every element and every force of nature according to the Khasi philosophy.
As the Khasis believe in the spiritual status of every being, man’s well-being is thought to depend on the good relationships he establishes with other beings. It is reported that there were many Khasi men and women in the past who could remain under water for fifteen to twenty minutes or even more by controlling their breath. Indeed, my late father, u Ioanis Bising Shadap was one of them. He told me that he and his brother, late Pilat Shadap could remain under water for more than fifteen minutes to collect the fishes that have been killed by dynamite, while their friends were waiting to gather the fish on the banks. This fact is known to all the elderly inhabitants of Raid Namsha, especially in Umtngam and Tyrso villages.
Khasi traditional knowledge is not totally philosophical or mythological, but there are some scientific principles in the midst of philosophy. My father said that whenever a man enters into the water, he must submit himself to the water of the river as to a mother. And, whenever a man feels the need to breathe under water, he could sip and swallow about a tea-spoon of water, as a child is suckling milk from the mother’s breast. Sipping water, tea-spoon by tea-spoon whenever the need to breathe arises, would sustain a man without breathing, in the depth of a river for more than fifteen minutes. When the diver feels that his stomach is full of water he should come out at once and vomit the water out to empty the stomach and re-enter to catch more fish again. As stated earlier, this skill was kept secret and known only by few selected persons in the community not because of any patent or copyright or commercial purpose, but because not many might be acquainted with the covenants between all beings and not be able to understand the depth of respect that man should have towards nature. So, instead of deriving any benefit from the knowledge, a disrespectful man may enter into the depth of the river as his grave.
When the diver comes to the bank of the river to vomit out the water, he goes a distance away from the crowd, enters into the bush as if going for a call of nature, and then puts his fingers into his throat to vomit the water out of his stomach. This skill can be acquired only by those who have strong physiological constitution as it affects the health of the practitioner, and the skill is also to be exercised only when there is an important task to perform such as saving the life of a drowning person or during traditional community fishing.
Whether there is a scientific way by which oxygen that is contained in water can enter the blood stream and for carbon dioxide to collect in the stomach, only scientific experiments can verify, but this method is reported to have been successfully utilized by the Khasi divers who still live in the lap of nature. There is no magic behind it; the only requirement is to be in sync with nature and a mutual respect among all beings and creatures. If experiments are conducted to discover the truth behind this traditional knowledge it would be a great benefit to the society. If it was practicable about seventy years ago when my father and his brother dived into the depth of the Umiam River, I believe that it is practicable even today though I refrain from practising it due to my poor physiological conditions. I hope there are heroes who are courageous enough to volunteer.