By Barnes Mawrie
Most of us must have heard or read in books about the tribal cultural institution of bachelors’ dormitory. This was a common institution among many tribes of Northeast India. It is known by different names in different tribes – Morung among the Nagas, Nokpante among the Garos, Giti Ora among the Mundas, Ing khynraw among the Khasis and Zawlbuk among the Mizos. This institution integrates in itself all the basic elements of a tribal community, socio-cultural, economic, moral and religious. What is being practiced in the west as compulsory civic service (military service or social service) for the youth, already existed among the tribal communities in the form of the bachelors’ dormitory. Essentially, this institution was meant for a holistic formation and training of the youth. A bachelors’ dormitory was essentially a house built usually at the entrance to the village. Here the youth of the village were expected to live for a period of time not less than a year. They were to live under the supervision and training of an elder who was considered to be a good and exemplary person. The young girls would have their own dormitory and were supervised by an elderly woman chosen by the community.
These dormitories were schools where learning and skilling took place. Here they were taught basic trades of life, everything about their culture and tradition which included learning of folk songs, dances, folktales, myths and legends of the people. The young men were also given training in martial art so as to prepare them to be warriors to defend their communities. The girls were taught basic skills in housekeeping, weaving and farming etc. Besides all these, the dormitories were schools of self discipline. The young boys and girls were taught strict discipline and how to conduct themselves in society. The result was that the young men and women who came out of this institution were well disciplined, well cultured, skilled in traditional trades, knowledgeable in culture and tradition and martially well trained.
Unfortunately, with the advent of Christianity, lack of encouragement from the part of the missionaries to preserve this institution, has led to the gradual extinction of what could be called a socio-cultural institution. Most western missionaries considered this cultural practice as promoting superstitious beliefs and thus tribals who became Christians were forbidden to resume this practice. Thus when we go to Kohima village, we see morungs in every khel but they remain empty and deserted. The disappearance of the bachelors’ dormitory is a great loss to the tribal communities. Had this institution been preserved, we would have witnessed a different quality of tribal youth in Northeast India. Looking at the condition of our tribal youth in the region, we are left with a lot of concern about our future. The tribal youth today have become undisciplined both at the personal and social levels. The manner in which our youth are easily given to alcoholism, drug addiction, sexual aberrations, lethargic and easy-going lifestyle clearly shows that a disciplining institution is very much lacking. The Khasi youth in particular experience a double disadvantage with the weakening of the kinship. Earlier the kñi used to discipline his nephews and nieces so as to instil in them a moral and ethical grounding and a strong sense of right and wrong. Today this institution is also dying and consequently the Khasi youth are left unbridled. Historians say that the reasons why the Roman Empire dominated the ancient world for so many centuries, was the discipline of the Roman Army. Great armies of the then world were no match against this disciplined war machinery. One primary reason for the fast development of China is definitely the culture of discipline present in that country. It cannot be refuted that discipline among citizens of a nation is the key to its growth and development.
This brings me again to the discussion on the bachelors’ dormitory as a powerful cultural institution which must be revived at all cost for the good of our tribal communities. Since majority of tribal people have adopted Christianity as their religion, it is imperative for the Christian churches and their leaders to discover ways and means to do this. In my humble opinion, the many hostels that Christian missionaries run in different parts of Northeast India, can be transformed into bachelors’ dormitories both for boys and girls. It is sufficient to change the nature and characteristics of these institutions, namely, the curriculum, the style of management and a greater thrust on cultural education and discipline.
As of today, hostels mainly focus on boarding and lodging, formal education and other western type of training. This is the reason why boys or girls in these hostels are quite adept in western music, songs and dances but rather ignorant about their rich cultural heritage. If a cultural dimension, as well as discipline are given primary importance in our hostels, we can be sure that the quality of our youth would be enhanced. The future of our society depends so much on the young generation. Consequently, when our youth are well disciplined and love their culture and tradition and are well informed and trained in their cultural heritage, then we can hope for strong and progressive tribal communities in our region. The government’s Department of Art and Culture should look seriously at this aspect and encourage and support efforts in this area. It is to the advantage of the state and the country when we have youth who are well disciplined and culturally well formed. Looking at the present youth scenario, such initiatives should become a primary concern of the government, of churches and of civil society in general.