Gathering around the hearth
Around the Hearth Khasi Legends (translation by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih with illustrations by Pankaj Thapa); Delhi: Penguin India; 2007. The Khasis, whom we are accustomed to thinking of as a single tribe, are actually as the translator of this volume of their tales Dr. Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih informs us, composed of "seven sub-tribes Khynriam, Pnar, Bhoi, War, Maram, Lyngngam and the now never-heard-of Diko." Descendents from the Mon-Khmers in present day Cambodia and Vietnam they are famously known for their matrilineal society and jhoom cultivation. They have long inhabited the Indian state of Meghalaya, and also reside in the hilly areas of Sylhet in Bangladesh, though in the latter region they are slowly being overwhelmed by ever-encroaching Bengalis and relentless 'modernization'. Their age-old culture, first damaged by missionaries, and now assaulted by Bengalis, may soon disappear, at least on this side of the border. One consolation is that at least their stories, legends and myths may survive, and form the last, definitive link with the vanishing past. The Khasis have a great story-telling tradition. It was only in 1842 that Thomas Jones, a Welsh Presbyterian missionary, introduced the Roman script and thereby gave them the written word, by which time the Khasis had instituted a robust and well-developed oral tradition. Testimony to this robustness is provided by the different types of stories -- genres really -- that form the diverse elements of this oral tradition, starting with creation myths, called by Khasis as khanatang, or sanctified stories. Other types, as Dr. Nongkhynrih writes in his 'Prelude', are the khana pateng (legends), purinam (fairy tales), puriskam (fables), khana pharshi (parables), and even true stories, which are sometimes found embedded, except in the creation myths, in all of the above. These were passed down from generation to generation, constituting both a ritual and the school for young Khasis seated around "the hearth...after a day's labour, entertained by both fire and tales." These English translations of such legends provide a basic understanding of the Khasi view of life. The tale published above, for example, maybe termed as a pointer to Khasi beliefs about the appearance and reality, about the strangeness and diversity of Nature, as well as about the unalterable essential nature of different beings within that Nature. Dr. Nongkynrih is a poet, translator and writer who is himself a Khasi and teacher in the Department of English, North-Eastern Hill University in Shillong. His translations are both easy to read, and infused with that sense of familiarity and warmth that a 'local' or a 'native' can bring to such efforts. He writes that this particular volume is "merely a prelude to other, much more substantial collections in times to come." All readers look forward to such future collections from him and from Penguin's Folktales from India series. Farhad Ahmed is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.
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