The living-root bridge the symbol of Khasi Pnar benevolence

Have you ever tried google search or binged the three words “Living-Root Bridge”? If you haven’t, you will be amazed the amount of information that is available on the internet on the subject. My google and bing search took me to more than 20 pages of information which link me to blogs, websites, news report and even video documentary about the bridges that were build without using any nails or any man made building material but living root of two trees attached to one another.

Most of these links were write-ups, travelogue and even tourist information sites about the living-root bridges of Nohriat village in the Sohra area. So far the living-root bridges in the area are the most sought after destination for travelers and trekkers in particular. It reminded me of my childhood days when our grandmother would take us to our Orange orchard in the place call Shmia-ladiang in Nongtalang village and during our winter sojourn, we did crossed certain living-root bridge on the way from village to the orchard. I immediately start using an old natural search engine which is most reliable and involve human. I first started posting Timothy Allen of the lonely planet’s blog and also shared a link of a video documentary about the living roots bridge in the area. No sooner did I shared the information on the Jaintia4u facebook page and a blog on the same name hosted by wordpress.com, Remika Lanong a scholar in the NEH University and a dear friend of my late sister immediately responded to inform that there are two living-root bridges in Kudeng rim a village near Sohkha where she live. One of the two bridges in Kudeng Rim village is on the river Amlamar and another is on the river Amkshar and information start pouring like the proverbial summer rain. A young friend from Shnongpdeng village informed that there is one living-root bridge in Darang village on the river Amsohmi. Another from Khonglah shared more information that in the Khonglah village there is one bridge over the Amsohkhi rivulet and another over the Amlunong stream. In Nongbareh village there is one living-root bridge over the stream Amlaye and this particular bridge is a double-decker bridge like the one in Nohriat village. A close friend confirmed that in Nongtalang village there is one bridge over the river Amrngiang on the way from Nongtalang to Amlympiang, another is on the river Amladiar on the Amtyrngui River and there are two more root bridges one over Amdap Sohpiang and another over the Amdoh stream. In Padu village I was informed by another friend that there are three living-root bridges very close to Padu which is again less than 10 kilometers away from Amalrem. All the three living-root bridges in the village are on the Amdep creek which connects the farmers to their farm land.

All the living-root bridges are located on the southern slopes of the state on the Indo-Bangla border, the area where the “War” community of Khasi and Jaintia hills districts lives. In many cases two trees Ficus elastica orFicus Indicus tree (dieng jri in local parlance) were planted on each side of the river, and once the tree start growing human manipulated the roots of the trees to connect each other across the span of the river. Once the main roots connected each other across the river, then people start to direct more root to make the bridge’s rails so on and so forth.

The making of the bridge was a community effort because it took years to complete the bridge and the work for building the bridges was done voluntarily. I don’t know much about the War Khasi but at least amongst the Wars Jaintia it is a tradition that the farmers themselves jointly made the path to their respective orchards or beetle nut and beetle leaves plantation and they are also responsible for keeping it. The bridges are part of the trail towards the terrain where they farm and making the root bridges and keeping the same is by tradition the responsibility of the farmers. The contribution of an individual farmer in the making of the bridges could simply be by way of helping tie the roots while walking down to his plantation; if one found the tendril wander away from the planed handrail.  It could also be by using a sliced bamboo to tie the roots together and put it on the right direction. Hence the farmers who use the bridge in the course of many years contributed in whatever way they can in making the bridge. Since it is also a living bridge, it still needs care and protection hence farmers are not only the makers; they are also the keepers of the living bridges.

The living-root bridges were made by the community and on voluntary basis and the job was also completed without any one to supervise the work. Notable neither was there any blueprint prepared or community planning done before they start working on the bridge. It was made out of human’s own natural instinct with one clear objective to make a bridge out of the root of the trees across the span of the river. The goal is to make it convenient for the farmers to cross the river even during monsoon when rain causes the river to overflow. The process or rather the tradition of making (or should we say growing a bridge) is bio-engineering at its best and a living testimony to the genius of our ancestors particularly the “Wars” of Jaintia and Khasi hills.

To some a living-root bridge may looks spiky; like snake big and small entwined each another or like Anaconda in the mating rituals.  The sheer sight of the bridges is awesome and it has attracted and will attract many visitors who will be enchanted by the marvel of this bio-engineering. People in other places can boast of majestic bridges of ten or twenty kilometer long made of brick and mortar, and of steel, but the living roots bridge of the Wars of the District of Jaintia hills and East Khasi hills are wonder of nature helped created with human intervention without causing any harm to the tree.

All the information on the living-root bridge subject available on the net are from Meghalaya, the blog entries, news reports, documentaries or information on travel sites are stories about the living-root bridges of Meghalaya. This goes on to prove that the art of making a bridge out of living root of trees is unique to the people of Meghalaya and the particularly the Wars of Khasi hills and Jaintia hills.

My dictionary description of the word benevolence is ‘desire to do good, kindness and generosity, it also means ‘doing good rather than making profit’. The desire to make the bridge for the common-good rather than individual profit is the spirit that goes in the making of the living-root bridge among the Wars of the Khasi and Jaintia hills. The spirit that puts common goods (ka bha-lang/ ka bha ka imlang sahlang) before selfish interest (is sad to say) a lost spirit among the Khasi Pnar today. Now people are into making as much profit as one can possibly can in any available opportunity and the good of the society has taken a backseat. This is more prevalent in the implementation of NREGS in which funds for making footpaths and other community needs is being misused for personal gain it.

It is sad but true that the southern slopes of the state bordering Bangladesh is lime stone deposits and people have now started mining in the area which will definitely have huge impact on the fragile eco-system of the area. This same greed is threatening the very existence of the living-root bridges because once the forest is cleared and water level recedes, the bridges will also be affected. The question is, is the Khasi-Pnar benevolence loss forever? What remains of a Khasi-Pnar society if the spirit that built the tribe is lost? The Khasi Pnar community needs to do an immediate retrospection, the question is do we want progress at the cost of the environment and our tribal value system? Are we going let greed takeover benevolence which is the pride of the community? Ironically the living-root bridges are the only remaining link that connects the pass with the presence, it is for us to decide if identity is just like a badge we put on, or continue with the value system on which our ancestors build the tribe.

Who will reform the PWD?

By HH Mohrmen   

Much has been written about this very important department of the state. The editor in her weekly piece devoted one entire column to highlight the state of affairs in the department. It is perhaps the only department which has maximum numbers of letters to the editor written against the sub-standard work the department executes in constructing roads in the rural areas and particularly the Guwahati-Shillong road which is the gateway to Meghalaya.

This column is a response to a letter to the editor carried by this paper in its November 8, issue. The letter gave a startling revelation of the mess in the Public Works Department (PWD) of Meghalaya and the whistle blower deserves a pat on the back for daring to call a spade a spade. Now it is the duty of civil society to protect the whistle blower and to see that the Department does not initiate proceedings to punish the person (if he or she is still in the service). Dr. Mukul Sangma too should realize that if his Government is to deliver, it not only must protect whistle blowers but also encourage employees to bring to light the rot in their respective departments. There is no point having grand policies and funds to match if the delivery mechanism is in shambles.

PWD is one department that has failed to deliver, or delivers sub-standard work which results in roads needing repair every year like the Jowai-Shillong road or the Jowai-Amlarem-Muktapur road. Are our engineers under-qualified and cannot even design roads which will last more than a year? Or is it because of the sub-standard work? I believe our engineers are qualified. I know that those of my classmates who are engineers (about 8 of them) in the PWD are all toppers since our high svhool days in Jowai. The poor quality roads or buildings come from the politician- contractor-technocrat nexus. It is an insidious connection. On one hand we have thousands of contractors of various classes and on the other the construction companies. All contractors and companies have political patronage.

The letter writer has correctly observed that there are few big contractors in the PWD who treat the department (especially officers in the helm of power) like their business partners with whom they share the spoils. The contractors, particularly the three construction companies, have a symbiotic relation with the government. These companies with all the money and the machinery at their disposal, treat the PWD staff like dirt; they sideline those engineers who do not comply with their whims. These companies owned by politicians and semi-politicians, think that because they own the machines to execute the work, they no longer need any monitoring or supervision. According to them the SAs SOs SDOs etc of the PWD and even engineers are dispensable like toilet paper. A sectional assistant once confided that when he complained that the road was not made as per specifications in the estimate, the contractor who, about a decade ago was only a coal-miner, a driver or a cow herd, rebuked him rudely saying, “What do you know?” We need to remind the contractors and the companies that the staff of the Department are eyes, ears and voice of the people, and that whatever they do is in public interest.

The November 8, letter pointed out that instead of 10 percent profit, the companies are now trying to get 90 percent profit for 10 percent work done. How else would the owner of a company or engineers be able to become instant millionaires if not by looting the public exchequer? There is nothing wrong with making profit but the question is how much returns do we expect from one job? Or are we still of the opinion that it is alright to steal from the government? The companies want big profit and fast but how much is too much or enough for them? This is one problem that the engineers are facing; they have to comply with the dictates of the semi-literate owners of these construction companies who have all the necessary political backing. Since they own the necessary equipments, at times the companies also hold the engineers and even the department to ransom. The Department is at the company’s beck and call. A recent example is the repair work of the Jowai-Badarpur road where the engineer had to literarily beg the owner of the company to execute the work since other companies were unwilling to do so. It is high time that government encourages companies from outside to operate in the state and prevent monopoly over big contract works by local companies.

“It is a common grouse of contractors that they do not break even,’ said one staff of the PWD. “The contractors now demand more than 50 percent profit and don’t care a damn about the quality of work. And if we don’t toe their line and revise the estimates then the next thing is we get calls from MLAs,” he laments. It did not take long for me to verify the allegation. Last Friday, E Khyriem Headman of Tympang Club, Iamusiang and I met the contractor to complain against the sub-standard repair work of Jowai-Amlarem-Muktapur road. The contractor, Pyrkhat Dkhar nonchalantly told us, “I am, in fact doing the Department a favour here because I will not get any profit from this particular work”. He also added, “To compensate for the loss in executing this work the Chief Engineer SB Chyrmang has allotted me another work on the Nartiang-Nongpoh road”. After he had finished I said, “Are you trying to say that the engineers who did the estimates are so incompetent that they did not even include the ten percent profit? Or is it because you want to be a millionaire instantly and ten percent is not enough?” He kept quiet.

Engineers who earnestly want to do good work express despair at the state of affairs in the department; they feel hamstrung and have no option but to flow with the tide. These are engineers who would not bribe for plum postings and therefore would not be given charge of any section or division for many years for not coughing up enough money to pay the politicians.

There are other engineers who are puppets of politicians. When tenders are floated, they don’t allot work without the confirmation of their political masters. They do not behave like professionals who are qualified to do the job, but bend their spine to please their political masters in lieu of a choice posting. Sometimes these engineers stoop so low and behave like political agent of the MLAs. They would insist that a contractor get a recommendation note from the MLA for allotment of work. They even check the antecedents of a contractor; if he is a supporter of the opposition candidate they will make sure he does not get any work. This is happening in Jowai. In fact, these engineers are hands in glove with the MLA or minister to manipulate allotment of work in the department. They treat the department like the MLA’s personal fiefdom.

There is another category of staff in the PWD. They are engineers, sectional officers and sectional assistants who are themselves involved in government contract work. They execute the work using ‘benami’ names of their close relatives. Now if the same person is to execute, supervise and monitor the work, then what quality of work do we expect?

The letter writer rightly mentioned that there is no point in promoting tourism while our roads are in tatters. The state’s development depends on the kind of the roads we have. Farmers face difficulty to transport their products because of bad roads; the health departments’ delivery of services is hampered by poor road conditions. Roads are indeed the backbone of the economy of the state and our engineers know they are shouldering a huge responsibility. The people of the state have high expectations from them. It’s time that the entire staff of the PWD rises to the occasion and works for the development of the state. Engineers in the PWD should unite and break the contractor-politician-technocrat nexus and set themselves free from the mental-shackle that has enslaved them. Then only will they be able to give their best service to the state.

People may have lost faith in the political system, but still trust some engineers and the staff of the Department.

(The writer is a social researcher and thought leader)

http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/11/14/who-will-reform-the-pwd/

When citizens claim the state back

By HH Mohrmen

None of the members of the Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum (MTDF) would have ever thought that their decision to down the curtaisn of the autumn fest 2011 on Sunday the second time around, would spark an important debate in the state of Meghalaya. The outcome of the is going to determine the policy of the government with regards to Sunday and most importantly change the attitude of the people towards recreation and keeping the day holy. Let us not get into the debate with regard to the origin of observing Sunday as a holy day, but what is important to remind ourselves is Sunday is not the only holy day observed by the citizen of this state.

For so long our state has been run by politician who wore their religion on their sleeves and flaunt their church credentials as tymmen basan, nongialam seng rangbah, nongialam seng longkmie and rangbah balang at will and with pride. Leaders in the above mentioned category sometimes even forget which hat to wear and when? It reminds me of an incident in Khliehriat some years ago when police had to resort to firing in a land dispute case which involved the local church. An important minister in the cabinet then declared that he would take to the streets if the government did not take action against those responsible. I immediately sent a letter to the editor of an esteemed Guwahati-based daily in the state and basically asked two questions. If a cabinet minister second only to the chief minister has to take matters to the street then who going to govern? The second and the most important question I asked JD Pohrmen the minister in question was whether as a minister he owes his allegiance to the constitution he swears to every five years or to the church in which he was then an important lay leader? The issue died down. Obviously Mr Pohrmen knew where to place his allegiance.

Even now we have many politicians who wear different hats, I am not saying that it is wrong to be an important member of a church, but the important point for the leaders to know is when to wear which hat? Take a recent example; the MPCC President also sends a letter to protest against closing the Autumn Fest on Sunday. I don’t know how the MPCC functions because in my life I have never joined any political party but I assume that the President is entitled to issue a statement in his capacity as a President. If that is the case then it is not difficult to arrive at the conclusion just by the very fact of knowing who the current President of the Congress party in Meghalaya is. Mr Friday Lyngdoh is not only an MLA and President of the MPCC but he is also a tymmen basan of a church. Again don’t get me wrong; I am not saying a tymmen basan cannot be an MLA (although I have my reservations with their age of retirement) but the question is, am I wrong to say that in this case his allegiance is obviously tilting towards the church than to the state and the party which also claims to be a secular party? No wonder the BJP dismisses the Congress’s secular claims as – pseudo secularism.

Ever since the Meghalaya was created there have been situations when church and government have got entangled in almost every strata of the government. We have cases of various government departments’ involvement in church conferences, synods, religious festivals or processions. There is even a saying that does the rounds that if a village wishes to see instant development, then it only needs to play host to a conference, a synod, a festival or important religious gathering. Why? There are two answers to the question. First it’s vote bank politics and second, because the MLA himself is the leaders of the church and being a leader of a religious group in an important decision making body of the state; he is bound to incline to something that will benefit his religion. In the western world before any faith group plans to construct their house of worship they have to prove to the government that the church also has ample parking space. Unlike in Meghalaya, church goers cannot just park in any available space on the road and cause traffic jam. The church is responsible for its own actions and is taken to task if it is found to fail on its obligations.

In Meghalaya we have leaders who wear religion on their sleeves and these leaders walk tall to the church pulpit or altar saying they have full faith in the church and trust in God but at the same time have their armed personal security guards close by. This is the kind of trust on God our leaders have even in the place of worship. Citizens have the right to question why our leaders have to bring security personnel to the place of worship. Or, can they in the first place use government vehicles to go to church when it is not even an official function? And these same politicians are calling to postpone the closing of the Fest because it falls on Sunday! Does that mean politicians will not squander government resources like using government vehicles, using their PSOs etc on Sunday? The fundamental question is separating state from religion.

It is time that the government separate state activities from religious functions. Perhaps the state should start asking the church to pay for using government resources for religious activities. Like paying for using the state machineries like the police for religious mega gatherings, pujas or festivals and use the money to pay bonus to our hard working policemen who sometime have to forego their day off to attend to the call of duty even on Sundays.

Why this obsession with Sunday? Does it mean that our being religious starts and ends in the church and only on Sundays? If Sunday is the only holy day of the week does it mean that week days are less holy hence we can do anything during the week except Sunday? It is too shallow an understanding to limit our being Christians only to one single day – Sunday. Do we also need to remind our Christian brethren that everybody knows Sunday is their holy day but that other faith groups too have their own holy days – the Sabbath of the Jews and the Seventh Day Adventists, Friday for those who follow Islam and Tuesday for Hindus? Will the NCP and the NGOs protest if the festival concludes on Saturday which is the holy day of our Seventh Day Adventist brethren? Will the same people protest if it is pre-poned to Friday which is the holy day of our Muslim brethrens (and FKJGP don’t tell me there are no Khasi followers of Islam) Or by implication are we trying to say that only Sunday is a holy day and that the holy days of other religions is not as holy?

Let us for example see what Jesus has to say about keeping the Sabbath. (KJV Mark 2: 27) “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath”, (KJV Mark 3: 4) “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?” (NKJV Luke 6:9) “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?” These are few verses in the gospel in which Jesus talked about the Sabbath. And mind you he was not even talking about Sunday.

Meghalaya is a secular state; it belongs to its citizens irrespective of one’s caste, creed or religious affiliation. No one has the right to impose his religious views on others. Democracy does not grant those in the majority the right to impose their will on the minority. Democracy is about respecting the right to freedom of the citizen and will function well only when we all respect one another’s rights. Even among Christians those (supposedly) good Christians who are of the opinion that is unchristian to close the fest on Sunday, have no right to impose a ban on those they believe are ‘not so good Christians’ who think that it is within their right to decide what to do on one fine Autumn Sunday afternoon.

And finally, thank goodness, at long last we have a Chief Minister who is a citizen first; a Chief Minister who does not wear his religion on his sleeves and with Dr Mukul Sangma in the helm of power, the citizens of the state are beginning to claim their rightful place in the government.

(The writer is a researcher and social thinker. He can be contacted at hh_mohrmen@yahoo.com)

http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/11/07/when-citizens-claim-the-state-back/

The legend of the Tiger man

There are many tiger stories in the culture and milieu of the Pnar of Jaintia hills and though there are quite a few varieties of tigers in the area like leopard, royal Bengal tiger and clouded leopard but the stories mostly refers to the majestic royal Bengal Tiger known in local parlance as ‘khla-thoh-larein.’ Pnars who belong to Rymbai clan are nicknamed as ‘Rymbai-bah-khla’ referring to the legend in which the Tiger saved the progenitor of the clan. This is one such story which has tiger as a main character. But this is a story about a different type of Tiger; rather it is a story about a man who can transform himself into a tiger.

Since my childhood days I was fascinated by the stories of human or man in particular who could transform himself to a tiger. The folklore of the Pnars of Jaintia Hills in particular abound with stories of men who can change themselves to tiger (ki bru kylla khla). It is a common belief that such people are are shaman or traditional healers, also believed to processed certain kind of supernatural powers. In the olden days shamans are looked upon as people who not only heal people from all kinds of ailments but also possesses mysterious powers including the ability to transform themselves to any form, shape and figure or even the power to transcend beyond the ordinary worldly realm. In the past people are believed to suffer from being possessed by evil spirits or by being cursed by fellow human beings or living under a curse because of sins or transgressions of the previous generation. We believe that a person who misbehaves is attacked by spirits which dwell in the forest, the hills and the rivers.

My late father was not a traditional healer per se but by virtue of being someone who lived in the Bhoi Karbi Anglong a good part of his life, he is believed to possess healing powers for certain ailments. The Pnars generally believed that the Shaman from Bhoi known in local parlance as “ki stad Bhoi” possessed great supernatural powers which enable them to wrestle with any evil spirit including ghosts. I have close affinity with the place where my father spent his adolescence and I enjoy visiting Karbi area partly because my work too requires that I make frequent visits to the area. In search of the Tiger man in Karbi Anglong, I met an elderly man whose name is Elisar Bongrung from Longduk Anglong (previously known as Umkhyrmi/Lummoojem) who went to school in Shangpung. I asked ma Elizar if he knows or has heard about men who can change themselves to tigers because the Pnars believe that it was the Bhoi shaman (stad Bhoi) who could do so. The old man replied saying ‘ka Pnar sea wa juh kylla Khla’ (no it is the Pnar who can change themselves to tiger). The statement proves one thing, that both the Karbi and the Pnar share the legends of a tiger man albeit understandably with little variation.

In the Karbi tradition, they too have a legend of man who can transform himself into a tiger and he is known as, “Killing Chongkret”. My source informed that the word Killing could possibly has some connection with Killing a village in the Ri Bhoi District. And the tiger man they know has his origin in the Killing village of Ri Bhoi district. Killing Chongkret according to the Karbi is a weird looking animal with the body of a tiger, the face of bear, the foot of a pig or an elephant so on and so forth. In other words it is a beast with some feature of every animal in it. The Karbi’s tiger man is different from that of the Pnars because the Tiger man that the Pnars believe in is that of a man who can transform himself to a tiger and nothing but a tiger no more; no less.

My father used to narrate stories of the past when people would kill a tiger and on a closer inspection realize that it was a tiger-man or a man who had changed himself to a tiger that was killed. How did they arrive at the conclusion? The reason is because sometimes the dead tiger had ear rings on both ears and sometimes rings on its toe; and sometimes its foot still appears to be partly human not completely transformed to that of a tiger’s foot. This they believe proved that it was a tiger man that was killed.

In one of my visits to Musiaw village in search of the tiger man, I met a grand old man S. Dhar who told me the story of u Kat Ymbon of Shangpung village who can change himself to a tiger. U Kat Ymbon was the brother of u Joh Ymbon, Shangpung’s own Nostradamus who foretold many thing that really happened. Ma Shining Star Laloo had written a book about Joh Ymbon and his prophecy. Like Socrates Joh Ymbon was branded a lunatic by his contemporaries because they thought he was out of his mind and spoke nonsense.

It is part of the Pnar culture that during the sowing and harvesting season, farmers in the village usually help each other in a tradition call “chu-nong.” The tradition requires that the entire community join hands together in helping each other complete the sowing or harvesting of rice. The tradition is basically a process where each family helps another without having to pay anyone any wage except to provide food to the volunteers. It was said that in one such chu-nong that the community came to help Kat Ymbon. After they had completed with the day’s work on returning home, on the way Kat saw a fat pig which belong to a certain old woman. He asked her if she would sell the pig to enable him to feed his guest. The Old woman was not willing to sell her pig and Kat cursed that the tiger would come and eat the pig. As soon as eh said that a tiger came and killed the pig. The legends say that it was Kat Ymbon who transformed himself to a tiger and killed the pig and carried it to his hut in the village to feed his guests. Heibormi Sungoh who like me is a lay folklorist told me that the legend is still part of the traditional Niamtre home consecration ceremony of the Ymbon clan. Every time families from Ymbon clan sanctify a new home, the legend of u Kat Ymbon who can transform himself to a tiger is always part of the chanting that is being recited.

People in Mukhap village also share the legend of a medicine man from Karbi who was called to treat a person who was in a serious condition. The legend goes that after he had checked on the sick person, he looked inside his bag and realized that the particular item he needed to treat the person was missing. He told the family of the sick person what had happened and said that he had to go back to his village and collect the required medicine. But the problem is his native village is very far in the Bhoi area (now known as Karbi Anglong) and the way to the village is through a dense forest infested with all kinds of wild animals and which is therefore not safe to walk especially during the night. He told them not to worry and he would be back in no time. The legend has it that throughout the journey he alternately changed himself to a tiger and also to an eagle and returned to treat the sick person in time.

Legend also has it that men who can change themselves to a tiger did so with the help of a certain kind of a mysterious stone. The walking-tiger-man or rather the walking-man-tiger always has the unique stone close to him and whenever the situation warrants he would go find a secluded place where nobody can see him and lick the stone and he is immediately transformed to a ferocious tiger. The power is only used for good and noble purposes and a person’s exceptional power to turn to a tiger is a closely guarded secret, which one is not supposed to be reveal to anyone and that leads us to the last known story of tiger man, the story I call ‘the last of the tiger man.’

(The writer is a researcher and social thinker and can be contacted at hh_mohrmen@yahoo.com)

Innovation in Education

By HH Mohrmen

This is not an advertorial or a paid article for Avenues. As a matter of fact whatever I write be it in Khasi or English I write out of a sense of conviction. Although I know Mark Stone the proprietor of Avenues and was acquainted with him through the few meetings that we had about four years or so, but that was it. I lost touch with Mark and had not met him since then and there was no communication between us after that. Mark’s brain child – Avenues which was initially started with the objective of training students to speak fluent English with correct accent and effective communication skills, has now expanded its operation to include Image makeover or grooming and etiquette. It was also said that the success of the recent Miss Shillong show organized by the Meghalaya Fashion Society is partly because of the venture the society made to rope in Avenues training academy to prepare the contestants for the show. According to media reports the contestants admitted that the entire grooming to prepare them for the show is an experience of a life time and the image makeover has in fact helped prepare them for life. How I wish I had the opportunity as a kid to learn the skills Avenues is providing to its learners now.

I have few personal experiences of relevance to the subject. I was a young man in the year 1989 and was fortunate to get financial support to continue my church ministerial education in England. And honestly, even the trip for visa interview in Kolkata was only my second trip to that city and my second visit to a place beyond Guwahati. Looking back, there are times when I felt like Crocodile Dundee. And because I was not familiar with Kolkata, I was not able to meet the person Sheba Travels had arranged to help me prepare for the interview at the British High Commission which is just a few blocks away from the Meghalaya House in Russell Street. Anyway, I managed to locate the British Consulate and get the interview at the appointed time since Sheba Travels had already submitted my visa application and the required documents for interview were intact. What is relevant to the write up is that the interview was not as the person in the Consulate had expected. The reason was of my own making. I could barely understand his heavily accented English. Fortunately, I already acquired a sponsorship and the interviewer had no other option but to grant me a student visa for six months stay in England. But, before allowing me to go, he said something like “I don’t know how you will be able to study in England when you cannot even understand English.” That was my first experience of culture shock and it began while I was still in India. If academy like Avenues had existed during those days in Shillong, I would have been the first to register for the course that would save me the embarrassment. And I am sure the courses and workshops the Academy provides will definitely equip me with the skill required for the interview.

The next incident that I would like to share is with regards to table manners. I was a young man from Jowai a small non-descript town; had my education in a government school in town and thereby had no training whatsoever on English etiquette. I did not have to wait long to receive my first lesson in table manners and ironically that happened on my very first dinner in England. Because of jetlag I slept like a baby and had no dinner on the evening of my arrival in England and it was arranged that the very next day I would travel with Rev. John Clifford in his van to Scotland. On that very evening I had dinner with John’s family which his ex wife had graciously prepared. On the dining table, I was given to sit next to John’s daughter Naomi. I said earlier that I did not even know that there is such a thing as table manners before I embarked on my journey to UK. So when dinner was served, I did not even have a clue what I am supposed to do with the cutlery before me on the table. I knew not if I should hold a fork on my right hand and a knife on my left or the other way round? I thought for a second and then decided it is easier to just copy Naomi. Smart move I commended myself. Then John who saw me copying every move Naomi made, asked me “Mohrmen are you left handed?” I said “No I am not.” then John immediately replied, “well Naomi is.” Dear me! I was caught on the wrong foot. On many occasions I offended my colleagues in the institute dining hall by passing my soup bowl or my plates while some of my friends at the table were still eating.

Well, now people who plan to travel abroad can take the course that institutes like Avenues offers to prepare them for the trip. Avenues has indeed opened up new opportunities for learning, which is not part of school or college curriculum in the state.

One of the very few institutes of higher learning in the state with innovative ideas is the Martin Luther Christian University, but unfortunately in spite of the efforts that the University had made, it has become a target of negative publicity from many quarters of society. Instead of focusing our attention on the courses and the services that the University has to offer to the learner and the state, we waste our time debating on the question of ownership of the University. Is it not true that there is a Khasi saying which says that we should judge the tree by the fruit that it produces? (bishar ia u dieng da ki soh kiba u pynmih) Our elders were right when they said “people only hit the tree which bears fruit” (ki briew ki kawang maw tang ia u dieng ba seisoh). While other Universities are still functioning like industries whose role is simply to issue degrees, MLCU under the leadership of its vice chancellor Glenn Kharkongor has not only come up with the idea of creating the department of indigenous studies in the University but it was able to persuade the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council to pass the Bill for preservation and promotion of Khasi Indigenous medicines. The Bill will go a long way in enabling the University to start a course of study and conduct further research in Khasi indigenous medicines and it will also help improve and modernize the traditional healing system prevalent in the state. In my opinion this is what is expected of a University, – to innovate and come up with new ideas that will help the community and the state and not merely to increase the number of young people with degrees queuing for a white colour job in the government employment offices.

I mention this because I also am involved with the department of Indigenous Studies of the University and I hope to be able to make a little contribution towards this noble endeavour. My area of interest is indigenous religion and culture of Jaintia Hills and I think it is not an over statement to say that there are still enormous avenues for studies in the department of Indigenous Studies. The University’s effort to preserve, protect and promote indigenous studies and culture is a step in the right direction and I hope is not too late for MLCU to embark on the mission. Since we have lost most of our traditional wisdom and culture, I hope MLCU’s efforts will help protect some of these ancient wisdoms for posterity.

Now that the dust has settled, I hope the University’s detractors will let the University do what it is expected of it; that is to produce young people who can contribute to the welfare and development of the society and the state. I also hope MLCU will not follow the beaten track and spend its time and resources just to increase the numbers of young people with diplomas but more importantly that the University will help stir young minds to innovate and bring change in the society.

(The author is a research scholar and social thinker)

Bloody week in Meghalaya’s history

The week that was will be remembered as the bloodiest week in the history of the state of Meghalaya. That three people were murdered in a span of two days in two different districts of the state is not something that people of the state should allow to pass by without thorough introspection. It was sheer coincidence that I sent and article to this paper on human sacrifice which I had researched for many years now and was able to complete during the last Durga Puja period. When the paper hit the stands I felt very uncomfortable fearing lest the readers would misunderstand my position and get me wrong as someone who glorifies human sacrifice. And with the two incidents of murder getting first lead in all the newspapers almost every day, it only got me more worried. I thought to myself that maybe it was wrong to send the article for publication at this particular juncture.

My initial reaction to the first report of the Shillong Times on the brutal murder of a seven year old boy in what is suspected to be a form of human sacrifice is to dismiss it as unreal. I said to a close friend, “I thought human sacrifice (at least in Meghalaya) are only myths and exist in the realm of legends and folk tales only.” But I am wrong. We have read in the news, reports of suspected human sacrifices performed in different parts of our country, but perhaps this is the first time that such an incident has occurred in our State. But I am more worried to see the kind of reaction or to put it bluntly the lack of any reaction from the people of the State against the inhumane act. Except for few letters to the editor carried by the Shillong Times, civil societies, the NGOs or even the Church maintained a stoic silence. Not a single voice of condemnation against the drastic act was heard, except the Central Puja Committee. I asked myself, “Why this indifference?” Is it because the family that lost a precious soul is a non-tribal family and that the father was a mere water porter? What would happen (God forbid) if the affected family is a tribal family – a Garo, a Khasi or a Pnar or even a rich and well to do non-tribal family?

Even the GSU remained silent, quire forgetting that the name of Tura and Garo hills is also tarnished by the incident. Very soon this satanic act will also pass; people will forget about it and the criminals involved in the heinous crime will also be released, maybe even be reinstated in their respective services and enjoy all the benefits due, because the poor family cannot afford to fight for justice and the life of young boy will just be another number in the statistics book and a blemish in our history.

The next part of this write-up is about the ‘menshohnoh’ phenomenon which continues to be the cause of untimely death of many poor and innocent people. Hundreds of people were killed in the entire Khasi Jaintia hills district suspected to be ‘nongshohsnoh, men-ai-ksuid, nongri-thlen, nongai-bih and keepers of blei-iing -Taro. If one is found to walk aimlessly in the village he is a suspected men-shohnoh; if one gets rich too one is suspected to be nong-ri-thlen, nong-ri-taro. This is a unique Khasi Pnar phenomena and to borrow from what my friend Mainpillar Passah who said, “If an outsider is found walking in the village during odd time nothing will happen to him, but if a Khasi Pnar is found to roam in the same village at an odd hour then he is suspected to be menshohnoh.”

The pertinent point in this case is that the murder happened in Sohra where the British came to settle first and which become the cradle of Christianity and the place where the foundation of education in the Khasi Jaintia hills was laid. One would expect that the people of Sohra would be more educated and sane enough not to lynch anybody merely on suspicion; unfortunately neither the supposed enlightenment from the church nor education can prevent things like this from happening again and again across the Khasi Jaintia and Ri Bhoi District. Come to think of it, one wonders what the position of the church is vis- a- vis the beliefs of menshohnoh, nongai-ksuid, ka bih, ka taro etc?’

Sohra is also the foundation “Ka Akor Khasi;” (Khasi etiquette, ethics and moral uprightness) which we are all proud of. But in this unpleasant incident, akor Khasi has taken a back seat to give way to the worst form of inhuman behaviour. The question that fellow Khasi Pnars ask is, “Where has the akor Khasi gone?’ Is this the sign that akor Khasi is gradually losing ground and ironically in the place of its own birth? If in a mob fury, a person is killed, isn’t that a sin (ka pap ka sang) too? There is no justification for killing a person. In this case isn’t it true that the perpetrator/s of the crime are ‘the real menshohnoh?’

Certainly the incident could not have taken place without the knowledge of the village dorbar or at least the headman. To take leaf out of the letter to the editor ‘probably the three were put to trial in a kangaroo court of the village and were pronounced guilty by the same.’ How can people take the law in their own hands? Does the dorbar shnong have the authority to try and punish anybody? How can we let this happen in the land of what we Khasi Pnar proudly claim to be “Ka Ri tipbriew tipblei?” I have heard that the dorbar shnong also have lockups. Who gave the dorbar shnong the authority to keep lock-ups? Is the rangbah shnong qualified to conduct any sort of trial? What is the authority of a dorbar shnong anyway? Can it pronounce capital punishment? It is imperative that the District Councils come up with a white paper to define the powers and functions of the dorbar shnong and perhaps come up with a list of do’s and don’ts to prevent rangbah shnongs from abusing their powers like ostracizing villagers for having the courage to challenge the rangbah shnong.

The recent incident should make every thinking Khasi Pnar introspect. As a community we need to ask ourselves where do we go from here? Thankfully, the law has taken its own course and the culprits were arrested. But the question is, is this enough? Few week or months from now, we will again read another report of menshohnoh being lynched or beaten black and blue and some families will unfortunately lose their near and dear ones, for no fault at all. When will this stop? Isn’t it time we all say, ‘enough is enough’, ‘no more lynching people in the name of menshohnoh, nong-ai-ksuid’ and let the rule of law prevail. Less than hundred people died of AIDS in the state and the government spends crores of rupees to make people aware of the threat from the disease. Isn’t it time that the government also consider making people aware of the threat of believing in the idea of menshohnoh, nongai ksuid etc. Perhaps the church too has a vital role to play in educating people that the idea of menshohnoh is but a myth, the place of which is in the Khasi Pnar folklore.

(The writer is a researcher and social thinker)

A Scapegoat for human offered at the Durga Temple in Nartiang I was blessed to grow up in a surrounding abound with fascinating folktales and legends that elders tells and retell their kids from one generation to another, I also owe it to my liberal upbringing to be able to appreciate and be objective in my studies on the subject without which considering my position in the church, I would not even been permit to do the kind of work I am doing. One of the stories in our folklore which fascinate me most is the stories of human sacrifices that were performed in the village of Nartiang in Jaintia hills. The religious way of life of the people of Nartiang village is unique in way that people were able to synthesize the two different religious traditions - Hinduism and the Indigenous religion and blend the two harmoniously into one. The stories of human sacrifices also flourished since time immemorial in the two systems of religious practices that the people of the village adopted as their religious way of life. One such stories, is the tale of human sacrifice performed by the legendary Mar Phalangki of Nartiang but before we continue with the story of this particular human sacrifices incident, it is important for the readers to understand who are the Mars in the Pnar of Jaintia Folklores? Mars are men with extraordinary caliber patronized by the Royal Court of the then Jaintia Kingdom. It is believed that Mars are of giant size and the King used them in the battlefields to defeat the enemies and also to perform extraordinary feats for the King. Another opinion is that Mars are rank or status in the Royal army, Mar is perhaps the equivalent of a General. In the famous Nartiang Monolith Park, the many monoliths and table stones, big and small have one common story that the monoliths and table stones were put up to commemorate the reign of certain Jaintia king, but it is the largest and the tallest monolith of them all which has a story unique of its own. The largest and the tallest monolith in the park and perhaps in the entire Khasi Pnar is believed to be the handy work of u Mar Phalangki. The giant tried to erect the monolith several times but failed to do so, finally they decided to seek gods’ intervention by performing egg divination. The sign from the egg divination implies that the gods require human head; human has to be sacrificed for the stone to stand tall was the clear message from the gods. It was a market day and people gathered around to watch the show of strength and finally Mar Phalangki came up with the idea to appease the gods. He dropped a lime and tobacco container made of gold (known locally as dabi/dabia) making it appear like it was not purposely done. Without any suspicion of the deadly trick; one of the spectators immediately went down to collect the golden container from the pit dug to put the monolith. Mar Phalangki immediately lifted the huge monolith and put it on the pit over the man’s body and thus human was sacrificed and the stone stand tall as it is till now. Legends have it that the person sacrifice was a “Bhoi” the name local use for the people we now call Karbi, legends and folktales provide evidence that the Pnars of Jaintia Hills and the Karbis shared a very strong bond and to some extend even common culture since time immemorial. For instance the Karbis also has a legend that there was a Mar from the Karbi tribe who served the erstwhile Jaintia king and his name is Thong Nok Be from a Teron Clan. Ma Dontha Dkhar also said that elders in Nartiang told him that once the time to sacrifice approaches, by divine intervention a man mostly a Bhoi or somebody from the elaka Nongkhlieh would in a way voluntarily come to offer oneself for sacrifice. The other human sacrifice is the tradition which still continues to this day and is being performed by the Priest of the Durga temple in Nartiang of behalf of his King (the last of the Jaintia Kings adopted Hinduism) in the ancient time. If one would visit the Durga temple in Nartiang, and if you are lucky to be greeted by Uttam Deshmukhya, the young priest of the temple who claimed to be the 27 descendant of the first Priest institute by the Jaintia King and once you are inside the temple, he would take the very old traditional warrior double-edged-sword (wait thma) of the Pnar from wooden rack over the head of the goddess’ image and proudly show you what is believed to be the sword used to perform human sacrifice to appease goddess Durga or her many incarnations in the days gone by. In front of the sanctum sanctorum there is a square hole which is believe to be an opening of a tunnel from where the severed head of the person offered for sacrificed rolled down to the Myntang river hundreds of meters away from the temple. He would also tell you that in the days gone by; his ancestors performed human sacrifice on behalf of the King and also tell you the human sacrifice was stopped by the British, but that was not the end of the story. Taking you round the sanctum sanctorum; he will take a white mask of a human face hanged on one of the wooden post near the goddess’ image and tell you that though the British has stopped human sacrifice but not for good. Symbolically human sacrifice is still going on and instead of human; a goat in the garb of a human is sacrificed in the Durga Temple every Durga Puja. As per tradition a goat which represent human, is being offered till date by the Daloi on behalf of the King, though the Kingship and the Kingdom is no more, the tradition continues. The black goat the Daloi offer must be a healthy spotless and is not sacrificed along with other animals on the common day of sacrifice, but the symbolic human sacrificed known in local parlance as “Blang synniaw” or mid-night goat was performed in the dead of the night before the common sacrificial day. Before the goat which symbolize human was sacrificed, a Pnar turban was put over its head and a pair of earrings known as ‘kyndiam’ was pierced on both of the goats ears and a dhoti (yu-slein) was tied around its waist. To complete formal transformation of the goat to a symbolic human, a white mask of a human face was placed on the goat’s face and the goat is ready for a special sacrifice. The symbolic human sacrifice was not only very strangely performed in the middle of the night, but the Priest also informed that while performing the sacrifice, the temple is completely closed for anybody except for the Priest all by himself and the sacrificial goat. Even the Daloi was only part of the sacrifice that was performed on the same night infront of the temple but he is forbidden from being part of the symbolic human sacrificed. In other words the tradition of human sacrifice still continues albeit only the offering (thank goodness) is not a human anymore but a real scapegoat. So, if you think that the English has invented the word “scapegoat,” think again because the Durga temple in Nartiang has literarily killed a he goat every year instead of a human. A he goat which symbolically represents a human was sacrifices every year to appease the deity for the sin human being committed and the sacrificial goat is literarily a scapegoat because it has taken the place of a human in the altar.

I was blessed to grow up in a surrounding abound with fascinating folktales and legends that elders tells and retell their kids from one generation to another, I also owe it to my liberal upbringing to be able to appreciate and be objective in my studies on the subject without which considering my position in the church, I would not even been permit to do the kind of work I am doing. One of the stories in our folklore which fascinate me most is the stories of human sacrifices that were performed in the village of Nartiang in Jaintia hills. The religious way of life of the people of Nartiang village is unique in way that people were able to synthesize the two different religious traditions - Hinduism and the Indigenous religion and blend the two harmoniously into one. The stories of human sacrifices also flourished since time immemorial in the two systems of religious practices that the people of the village adopted as their religious way of life.

One such stories, is the tale of human sacrifice performed by the legendary Mar Phalangki of Nartiang but before we continue with the story of this particular human sacrifices incident, it is important for the readers to understand who are the Mars in the Pnar of Jaintia Folklores? Mars are men with extraordinary caliber patronized by the Royal Court of the then Jaintia Kingdom. It is believed that Mars are of giant size and the King used them in the battlefields to defeat the enemies and also to perform extraordinary feats for the King. Another opinion is that Mars are rank or status in the Royal army, Mar is perhaps the equivalent of a General.

In the famous Nartiang Monolith Park, the many monoliths and table stones, big and small have one common story that the monoliths and table stones were put up to commemorate the reign of certain Jaintia king, but it is the largest and the tallest monolith of them all which has a story unique of its own.  The largest and the tallest monolith in the park and perhaps in the entire Khasi Pnar is believed to be the handy work of u Mar Phalangki. The giant tried to erect the monolith several times but failed to do so, finally they decided to seek gods’ intervention by performing egg divination. The sign from the egg divination implies that the gods require human head; human has to be sacrificed for the stone to stand tall was the clear message from the gods. It was a market day and people gathered around to watch the show of strength and finally Mar Phalangki came up with the idea to appease the gods. He dropped a lime and tobacco container made of gold (known locally as dabi/dabia) making it appear like it was not purposely done. Without any suspicion of the deadly trick; one of the spectators immediately went down to collect the golden container from the pit dug to put the monolith. Mar Phalangki immediately lifted the huge monolith and put it on the pit over the man’s body and thus human was sacrificed and the stone stand tall as it is till now. Legends have it that the person sacrifice was a “Bhoi” the name local use for the people we now call Karbi, legends and folktales provide evidence that the Pnars of Jaintia Hills and the Karbis shared a very strong bond and to some extend even common culture since time immemorial. For instance the Karbis also has a legend that there was a Mar from the Karbi tribe who served the erstwhile Jaintia king and his name is Thong Nok Be from a Teron Clan. Ma Dontha Dkhar also said that elders in Nartiang told him that once the time to sacrifice approaches, by divine intervention a man mostly a Bhoi or somebody from the elaka Nongkhlieh would in a way voluntarily come to offer oneself for sacrifice.

The other human sacrifice is the tradition which still continues to this day and is being performed by the Priest of the Durga temple in Nartiang of behalf of his King (the last of the Jaintia Kings adopted Hinduism) in the ancient time. If one would visit the Durga temple in Nartiang, and if you are lucky to be greeted by Uttam Deshmukhya, the young priest of the temple who claimed to be the 27 descendant of the first Priest institute by the Jaintia King and once you are inside the temple, he would take the very old traditional warrior double-edged-sword (wait thma) of the Pnar from wooden rack over the head of the goddess’ image and proudly show you what is believed to be the sword used to perform human sacrifice to appease goddess Durga or her many incarnations in the days gone by. In front of the sanctum sanctorum there is a square hole which is believe to be an opening of a tunnel from where the severed head of the person offered for sacrificed rolled down to the Myntang river hundreds of meters away from the temple. He would also tell you that in the days gone by; his ancestors performed human sacrifice on behalf of the King and also tell you the human sacrifice was stopped by the British, but that was not the end of the story.

Taking you round the sanctum sanctorum; he will take a white mask of a human face hanged on one of the wooden post near the goddess’ image and tell you that though the British has stopped human sacrifice but not for good. Symbolically human sacrifice is still going on and instead of human; a goat in the garb of a human is sacrificed in the Durga Temple every Durga Puja. As per tradition a goat which represent human, is being offered till date by the Daloi on behalf of the King, though the Kingship and the Kingdom is no more, the tradition continues. The black goat the Daloi offer must be a healthy spotless and is not sacrificed along with other animals on the common day of sacrifice, but the symbolic human sacrificed known in local parlance as “Blang synniaw” or mid-night goat was performed in the dead of the night before the common sacrificial day. Before the goat which symbolize human was sacrificed, a Pnar turban was put over its head and a pair of earrings known as ‘kyndiam’ was pierced on both of the goats ears and a dhoti (yu-slein) was tied around its waist. To complete formal transformation of the goat to a symbolic human, a white mask of a human face was placed on the goat’s face and the goat is ready for a special sacrifice. The symbolic human sacrifice was not only very strangely performed in the middle of the night, but the Priest also informed that while performing the sacrifice, the temple is completely closed for anybody except for the Priest all by himself and the sacrificial goat. Even the Daloi was only part of the sacrifice that was performed on the same night infront of the temple but he is forbidden from being part of the symbolic human sacrificed. In other words the tradition of human sacrifice still continues albeit only the offering (thank goodness) is not a human anymore but a real scapegoat.

So, if you think that the English has invented the word “scapegoat,” think again because the Durga temple in Nartiang has literarily killed a he goat every year instead of a human. A he goat which symbolically represents a human was sacrifices every year to appease the deity for the sin human being committed and the sacrificial goat is literarily a scapegoat because it has taken the place of a human in the altar.