By Patricia Mukhim
Ka Shad Suk Mynsiem held annually around this time of year is marked by solemnity and splendour blended with subtlety. It is especially delightful to watch young men in their finery doing the shad mastieh – a really joyful and expressive dance step that keeps in tune with the ksing and bom (percussion instruments) even while the maidens concentrate on their footwork. Both men and women dance with their bare feet touching mother earth. It must mean something to the dancers. They must feel elated and connected with the divine. For those who watch this dance with a grateful heart and with a sense of worship but also with a curious mind to understand the essence of the dance itself and why dancers need the accoutrements (gold and silver appurtenances), that unwittingly excludes those that cannot afford those accessories, there are many unanswered questions.
Before the advent of Christianity all Khasis and Jaintias believed in a creator (U Blei nongbuh nongthaw). At that point in our history we were all more or less on the same economic footing. No family was so rich as to need a gate to protect itself and its earthly possession from thieves. I would like to believe that we lived a frugal lifestyle but that we had a deep sense of community. Of course, a few who were gifted with the business acumen learnt to trade, made great strides and became more wealthy than their neighbours. That’s when our ancestors had to invent the ‘Thlen’ because there was no way to explain how some people came into so much wealth. I am reminded of Yuval Noah Harari’s book – 21 Lessons for the 21st Century where he explains how all religion is fiction and how people have been brainwashed to believe that fiction and how they could be unified to either be a positive or negative force.
I have always wondered whether as a Christian and a Khasi, I would give precedence to my Christian beliefs over those lessons passed on by my ancestors. This is a troubling thought. I was just a year old when my non-Christian mother took me to a church to be baptised. My mother never became a Christian until 1974. I wish I had asked her why and under what compulsions did she get me baptised? It’s an answer that will always be ‘blowin’ in the wind.’ Perhaps I never asked out of respect and because I thought it was a way of giving me a name without the trappings of a ‘ceremony’ since she did not know better. Whatever her compulsions, I respect my mother’s decisions then for she must have done what she knew best. My question today is whether being a Christian makes me less of a Khasi? I think this question troubles many who believe they can straddle both worlds without compromising on either.
To be Khasi is to believe in the value systems of this community – value systems that have stood the test of time and are a directive to the good life. The good life here does not, by any stretch of imagination, mean a life of affluence. Far from it. The good life as understood by the Khasis of yore exemplified a healthy respect for what is considered today as the public good meaning the good of the largest number of people. Khasi society was once a caring community where members rushed to help anyone in need. We never had very poor people as we have today. Nor did we have a landless Khasi for land was considered a community asset. So how did land become private property? True, the British who needed land for their administrative infrastructure needed to ensure that there were adequate documents for land acquisition, so that such land became their “property.” I guess the British in 1826 never knew they would see the day when 1947 would arrive and they would have to pack their bags and leave. They never thought they would see the end of Empire. But the inevitable happened. However, the British legacy of creating land owners who could then sell off their plots to whosoever they chose too has stuck. In this aspect religion has no role. All are in the same boat. Those from the Khasi indigenous faith – the Niam Khasi, Niamtre should have been the vanguards of this greatest community asset and prevented it from becoming privately owned property which subsequently excludes poorer members of the community from owning even a tiny plot for a roof over their heads. I have seen no effort on the part of the members of the Seng Khasi/Niam Khasi/Niamtre trying to bring about any reforms in this most crucial area which has the potential to turn large numbers of Khasi-Jaintia people landless. Needless to say the churches have yet to address the issues of inequality in society for obvious reasons. The affluent form a large chunk of tithe paying members.
My point here is not to lay the blame for the stark inequalities in the indigenous Khasi-Jaintia society on the Seng Khasi/Niam Khasi/Niamtre. However, since the indigenous faith laid great stress on “Kamai ia ka Hok,” (earn through a life of righteousness) Tip briew, Tip Blei (in serving fellow humans, we serve God), Kamai da ka umsyep (In effect this means don’t take what does not belong to you. See that you earn every penny through the sweat of your brow). In fact, the book Ki Jingsneng Tymmen (Khasi ethics and etiquette) by Radhon Sing Kharwanlang translated by Bijoya Sawian encapsulates these eternal Khasi values. But whether Khasis (Christians & Niam Khasi/Niamtre) still practise those values is a big question mark.
Christianity does not preclude the practice of Khasi virtues which are noble, equitable and which form the core of good human behaviour. A Khasi or Jaintia of any faith still practices the matrilineal tradition and all that it encompasses. I don’t believe that being a Christian should then preclude a Khasi-Jaintia from being part of the Khasi indigenous traditions of morals and ethics. Granted that a Christian may or may not participate in the externalities such as the religious rites but that does not make him/her a non-Khasi or a compromised Khasi.
At the end of the day whether one is a Christian or a Niam Khasi/Niamtre the defining characteristic is one’s behaviour and whether one still follows those time-tested moral values that keep society from plumbing the depths of selfishness and the relentless craze for accumulating wealth by breaking all the societal norms laid down by our wise elders. This is what is threatening Khasi-Jaintia society today. As a people we are caught in a spiral of wanting to climb the economic ladder by breaking all the rules of the game. In fact, these concerns should unite us as a people instead of looking askance at each other.
It is a great error of history that those following the Niam Khasi/Niamtre should be classed as Hindus and therefore fall in the category of the majority community simply because no one fought hard to explain to the makers of the Constitution that there are people in this country who are neither Hindu/Muslim/Christian/Buddhist etc but adhere to the indigenous faith and therefore it is high time to recognise them as a minority group. It is unfair that those belonging to the indigenous faith should not receive their scholarships and other forms of assistance from the Minority Affairs Ministry. And why has this never been discussed in the State Assembly? Or why have our MPs not taken up this matter in Parliament?
Let me conclude with a quote from Yuval Noah Harari’s ‘21 Lessons for the 21st Century,’ from the Chapter – Despair and Hope – “Though the challenges are unprecedented, and though the disagreements are intense, humankind can rise to the occasion if we keep our fears under control and be a bit more humble about our views.”
At no time in our history has it become imperative to work unitedly as the Khasi-Jaintia community with a more sagacious understanding of what it is to be a “community.” If we are a community we do not discriminate between blue-blooded Khasi and khun-shiteng (half breed), as if the latter can do nothing right while the former can do no wrong. A friend recently said, “Who says Khasi society does not have a class/caste system? Of course it does. A Khasi born of a Khasi mother and a non-tribal father is considered an outcast. These discriminations are toxic but we seem to shy away from addressing them. Why?