By Pynshngainlang N Syiem
Rongmesek village, located 13km from Nongpoh, is not only famous for its beautiful historical lakes and viewpoint but also for its rich traditions. One of them is the Rep Krut Kba, or traditional jhum cultivation for planting paddy in the hilly areas.
Dominic Timung, who is in his nineties, says there are two types of ritual ceremonies — one for the forest in which they are going to plant paddy and the other is for the deities of paddy locally called Lei Lukhmi. Bamboo leaf is used as a carpet for performing traditional rituals on Ka Duwan, a place on which oblation has to be offered to the deities.
Villagers pray to the deities to prevent any harm or injuries while working.
This agricultural practice is common in this Karbi-inhabited village of Rongmesek and other adjoining villages. A white hen is used during this particular ritual ceremony. Soon after this ritual is over, the Nongkñia, or an elderly person conducting the traditional ritual, commands the village folks to start planting paddy seeds.
When ploughing of the forest and sowing of paddy seeds begin, rice beer is distributed to the two working men leading on the right and left with gourd and to the drummers with bamboo tubes. Whereas for all the village folks, a particular skin of the tree known as Sohlymbaw which act as a betel nut together with betel leaf is distributed three times a day, before and after having lunch. In the evening, betel nut is given only to the two men leading the work and the drummers.
Interestingly, the cooked body parts of the hen are later distributed among villagers. “The chicken feet are given to weeders, wings to the working men on the right and left side, thighs to the traditional drummers and head to Nongkñia to be followed with distribution of rice beer to all villagers while working at the same time,” say Timung, who plays an important role in the village during the sowing season.
Timung informs that 99 folk songs are sung by an elderly person during the whole day in which sometimes a singer cannot complete the whole 99 folk songs which speak about trees, flowers, mountains, men and women, young boys and girls etc.
In the evening, when all the work is over, a drummer has one special beat and farmers will have to perform a traditional dance known as Shad Mohkhiew or spade dance before they leave for their respective homes.
“The Rep Krut Kba was not in practice a few decades ago as most of the youths went to school and didn’t follow their parents’ occupation of farming,” informs Timung.
The elderly villager adds that another aspect of the rituals is to protect the environment as this traditional agricultural practice involves cutting of trees and burning them to cultivate paddy.
However, when Albinus Timung (50) was elected headmen of the village in 2012 till date, he started the initiative of reviving this traditional practice in 2015 as an event or a kind of festival to showcase the rich traditions of the people, but without clearing of trees and burning of forest. This is organised once every year in May.
“Jhum cultivation is one of the traditional agricultural practices carried out by the Karbis inhabiting this part of Ri Bhoi district. In this kind of practice, the forest is cleared by cutting down all trees and let them dry for a considerable amount of time and then burn. The ashes of the burnt down trees act as a manure,”
This traditional sowing of paddy is done during the spring season. Once the forest ground has been tilled and made ready for cultivation, a day is fixed for the sowing of seeds. On that particular day, early in the morning, villagers, including women and children, in their traditional attires assemble in that prepared forest ground with their farming tools. Pious and lengthy traditional rituals follow.
“The first ritual is the blessing of the seeds. During this particular ritual, the seeds are brought together and put in one place. The traditional priest then prays and invokes God’s blessings so that they may be good and free from any defects and fit to be sown and placed in the bosom of Mother Earth for a rich and bumper crop. After this ritual, the sowing begins,” says the headman.
The sowing of the seed is a long, happy and joyous event beginning from morning till evening with a short interval in the afternoon for rest and drinking of rice beer.
The men and women with their hoes and spades prepare the rows while the sower with his cone-filled seed sows and puts the seeds on the rows while simultaneously and merrily singing 99 folk songs and tunes to the melodious accompaniment of drums, flutes and cymbals, with the happy shouting in unison of Hoi hah and Hoi re hoi hoihoi at the end of each song. At mid-day, there is a short break for partaking in a sumptuous community lunch.
At dusk, though weary and tired after a hard day’s work but content and happy, all return home for a well-deserved rest after thanking the Almighty for the gift of the seed that stands as a guarantor for the abundant continuance of food for human existence on this earth and also pray that it will sprout and bear fruit a hundredfold. After sowing, there is a long gap until the time of weeding where there are not much of traditional rituals. But again there is greater joy, merriment and traditional rituals during the time of harvesting the paddy when the farmers forget all their toils, sweat and labour after seeing the yield of a rich harvest.
So there is greater fervor of thanksgiving and religious ceremony performed at this time of the season, particularly when the bundles of paddy tied in stalks, locally known as Pura Kba, are being carried home. As a mark of gratefulness and thanksgiving to God, a bigger bundle of paddy is put apart and set aside for God among other bundles, and usually this purakba becomes the seed to be sown in the next season.
The village dorbar of Rongmesek together with the Rongmesek Tourism Promotion Society conduct this Rep Krut Kba annually to showcase the practices of the Karbis of Rongmesek village since 2015 without clearing of trees and burning of the forest, strictly for showcasing the rich traditions, which have been practiced since time immemorial.
Jhum cultivation:
Boon or bane
Jhum, or shifting cultivation is often considered detrimental to ecology as cultivators burn down forests. The government machinery too was discouraging about the traditional method of cultivation till the time the other side of the story is revealed.
“Jhum is a traditional way and had been in practice for years now. The cultivators were indigenous people and took utmost care of nature. They were more conscious about deforestation than people today. But nowadays, Jhum is discouraged because apparently it destroys forests. But even without Jhum, are forests being protected,” says a villager in Ri Bhoi.
A senior government official, while talking about the impact of Jhum on environment, says there are both positive and negative sides of the pattern of cultivation. While the negatives have been highlighted so far, the positive side is that Jhum helps cultivators grow a variety of crops. “I was introduced to a different perspective about Jhum by NESFAS. It seems shifting cultivation is good for the indigenous people,” says the official.
If sustainably done, Jhum cultivators can grow better organic crops. In fact, the state government is planning to introduce Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), a concept introduced by the government in Andhra Pradesh that has proved a big success. “We have sent teams to Andhra to learn the nitty-gritty about ZBNF,” he says and adds that Jhum, in a way, is a zero-budget method and by introducing ZBNF, farmers can benefit more as this too will eliminate use of pesticides and give better yield.
(Additional inputs from NM)
Voices of villagers
The Rep Krut Kba was not in practice a few decades ago as most of the youths went to school and didn’t follow their parents’ occupation of farming… another aspect of the rituals is to protect the environment as this traditional practice involves cutting and burning of trees to cultivate paddy
dominic timung
The dorbar and the Rongmesek Tourism Promotion Society
conduct Rep Krut Kba annually to showcase the practices of the Karbis here since 2015 without clearing of trees and burning of forest
albinus timung