Silbi Passah speaks to Heather C Phanwar about her works,
her passion & the recent trolls on Facebook
Humility and wisdom are traits which complete the boundless world of a creative person and Silbi Passah lives in her fulfilling world.
A true artiste and above all a nonghikai, a guru, Passah is committed to preserving the Khasi culture and tradition that he inherited from her ancestors and teachers.
The septuagenarian artiste started her career as a teacher at Khasi National Government School and even after 32 years of untiring service, she never felt the need for retirement.
“Everything that I learnt from Bah Beriwell (Beriwell Kyndiah, a composer, musician and singer) and Bah Brek (E Brektist R Wanswett) was a blessing and I did not want to leave it like that. I wanted to spread the light so that the future is enlightened. I used to perform traditional songs and dances with Bah Beriwell. Since that time I was performing at All India Radio and I still do whenever I get an opportunity,” recollects Passah as she speaks to Sunday Shillong at her residence in Riatsamthiah.
Passah has been training youths in traditional dance and music for decades now. But she wanted more for her students and encouraged them to learn how to play traditional instruments.
“I wanted them to know how to play the duitara, bom and ksing so that they can nurture our culture. I love traditional songs and this motivated me to teach them,” the versatile artiste explains.
Passah is a singer, dancer, writer, poet, thespian, musician and composer. She was a regular performer at AIR and did shows like Human Evolution (a series), or ka jing pynlong khun bynriew. On the show, she taught children songs which were chosen by AIR and which were released as episodes. Two of her songs — Khrik Khrik thaba jingshai (the light is twinkling bright) and Ale Ale peit ka sngi u bnai (come, come and look at the sun and moon) — were also chosen for the series.
“We won this competition and time and again AIR calls us to perform,” she says.
Passah also writes stories for folk dance performance. Her works, the rhythms in the dances, the beat in her songs are all inspired by life and its simple and subtle beauties. The artiste says when she sees women plucking fruits in the War region like Shella, she notes the rhythm in the way they jump and incorporates it in her dance steps. The innocent rural life has great influence on her.
“I compose songs which can be related to a particular village. There are many songs which are related to fishing and harvesting. My troupe performs these unique dances wherever it goes,” says Passah and explains how Khasi tradition is still preserved in various ways of life and unique practices in villages.
One of her songs, Lah poi te ka synrai (Here comes autumn), is still played in almost every school during traditional programmes. Whoever comes to her with a request for a song, Passah never disheartens the visitor with the sole aim to spread the light of knowledge.
“I have written plenty of songs, especially the ones that I wrote about my love for the state (Jingrwai ieid Ri). I have written the songs so that our culture can grow and make people aware of how rich it is,” she says with conviction.
AIR, Doordarshan and MES often play her songs.
Passah also teaches shad pliang dance (plate dance) where performers hold plates in their hands. She visits schools to train youngsters for special events. Her originality and passion did not go unnoticed. Passah has travelled across the country and even outside at invitations. The rows of awards and mementos, trophies and plaques which adorn the walls and wooden shelves of her light and airy living room are testimony to her achievements and the appreciation she received over the years.
Passah’s traditional troupe always wins the Octave from Meghalaya. She has also received the People’s Choice Award from Assam.
“When we perform outside the state, I choose Khasi songs so that people can hear and see the rich heritage that we have. We use traditional instruments as well like the bom, ksing, duitara, bisli and marynthing. The sound of these instruments always leaves the audience in awe and they want us to perform again. The response is always overwhelming. I have visited and received awards too from Bangkok and South Africa,” Passah says when asked about her eventful life as a performer and cultural troupe conductor.
Passah’s students, most of whom are from the state’s rural pockets and are pursuing higher studies in the city, are part of a bigger family and share her passion for knowledge. They usually practise on the terrace of her house and have access even if the guru is absent.
“We travel a lot in a year. Only recently we went to Arunachal Pradesh for Discover NE (a four-day cultural yatra). We visit historical places which help my students learn about other people and their culture. They are exposed to a vast spectrum of art, culture and heritage. I was in Jodhpur from September 1 and came back on November 1. I choose students accordingly to perform in different places. For example, if we leave in the last week of November then I have to choose students who do not have exams. We do that according to their schedule so that they can still concentrate on studies,” the teacher says.
Passah, who is part of the Khasi-Jaintia Welfare Association, says she does not teach her students how to play the traditional instruments but “they learn it naturally”.
Passah and her students went to Mizoram in 2016 to perform the drama U Syiem sait snier, a popular Khasi drama. They received accolades for their natural talent.
It is her love for music and theatre that prompts Passah to take up every challenge and remunerations. That is why whatever money the troupe earns goes to the students. The artiste had also refused government schemes in the past “because I am a teacher”.
Unlike the protectors of tradition and culture, the senior artiste completely disagrees to the claims that western culture can adversely affect indigenous tradition and rejects the “belief” as “misunderstanding”.
“This is wrong to say because western music has its own ring to it. When we listen to English songs, we tend to tap our feet to the beat. But we should understand that if those artistes could spread their own genre of music, why can’t we? In my understanding when we perform Phawar (a set of rhymes in couplets) of ours and we take rap from western countries we get so much benefit from it. The way we beat the bom, ksing it is different but we get a little beat here and little there and it is up to us how we use this kind of fusion,” she says in defence of a fusion culture and emphasises that one should respect other cultures while upholding the indigenous or native.
Passah is also against guarding knowledge and strongly believes that an artiste should open up his or her mind and eyes to absorb as much good as possible from people belonging to different parts of the country.
“People in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Karnataka, have different instruments and we come from different backgrounds. Yet we try to create beats and sound to show that though we come from different backgrounds we can all come together as one and the one thing we have in common is music,” she says.
However, not every Khasi in the state shares her noble ideas. Recently, Passah and her troupe were pilloried by a group on Facebook using acerbic language because they performed at a function in October organised by non-tribals.
Talking about the trolls on social media and questions about jaitbynriew, Passah says this is the first time in 38 years of her career as an artiste that she faced so much humiliation in her own land. “It makes me extremely sad. I have been a teacher for so many years and teaching the students the thing that I love the most is something that I am really proud of. The explicit language that they used (in the Facebook posts) is what I didn’t like at all. I performed for the martyrs of our country, including some of our boys, and this was how people react now,” he says, her face suddenly somber and brows knitted. The pleasant laugh lines on her face give way to frowning and she nods her head in despair.
“My students were really angry and they suggested that I filed an FIR at Lumdiengjri police station. I did but till now there is no information from police,” she informs.
Passah’s frustration after over three decades of dedication and hard work is palpable when she says, “When I go outside the state to perform with my students, the non-tribals call me not the Khasis. We have performed in so many places and people who call us names are not Khasis. The award that I got recently was in Hyderabad and given by non-tribals. In arts and culture there is no caste, creed or religion. When we go out to perform outside the state they appreciate us and the traditional dances, instruments, music and the culture that we have. But I cannot imagine that here in my own state they would do something like this.”
The veteran artiste believes that the word jaitbynriew should make people feel proud and compassionate and not hostile. The ancestors’ language should be preserved and at the same time taken forward for a flourishing future. “For me, preserving our culture is the most precious thing. I always tell my students — Ka lajong ban pynsuh sieng bad ka da pasiang shisha ia ki lum ki wah ki them (to preserve our roots so that it will resound through the hills and valleys) — and we should see and listen and experience other customs, culture and heritage because we learn every time from everyone,” concludes Passah.