MrPaduh's Cultural Pursuits

MIZORAM Bamboo Dance

2009-10-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

Something cool to be a part of, learn about a new culture and participate on the world stage at the same time. In March of 2010 Mizoram will be 'attempting' to set a new Guinness World Record for the most people dancing in the bamboo Dance - known as the 'Cheraw

You can come a week ahead of time, learn the dance, travel and visit remote villages in Mizoram and enjoy walking in the country side of these hills. Then participate in the 'Worlds Larges Bamboo Dance'.

The most colourful and distinctive dance of the Mizos is called 'Cheraw'. Little is known about the origin of Cheraw. Possibly the forefathers of Mizos brought it with them when they left their homes in far-east Asia. Cheraw is performed on any occasion these days. But, as the legend goes, it used to be performed in earlier times only to ensure a safe passage for the soul of a mother who died at childbirth. Cheraw is, therefore, a dance of sanctification and redemption performed with great care, precision and elegance.

A short video of kids practicing - almost everybody in Mizoram knows how to do this dance:

Poor Content Farmer

2009-09-26T00:17:00.001-07:00

2009-09-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

Concept of God in Khasi Unitarian context

By H.H. Mohrmen - from The Shillong Times

Traditionally the Khasi- Pnar, the native of the Khasi and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya are monotheistic in their belief, the most common term or name by which the Khasi Pnar use to call God is ‘U Blei Nongbuh Nongthaw,’ God the Creator. Even though the Khasi Pnar believe in One God, they also pay obeisance to other deities like the hundreds of Nature gods and protectors (30 Ryngkaw Basa) and family deities (Blei iing), in their pantheon of Gods.

In his article KHASI CONCEPT OF RELIGION (Late) Dr. R.S. Lyngdoh Professor and Head, Khasi Department, North-Eastern Hills University, which was published in Centenary Souvenir of the Seng Khasi (1899-1999) defines Khasi faith as follows:

"They believe that at the beginning, they were the children of God in heaven as members of the Khadhynriew Trep Khadhynriew Skum- the sixteen huts the sixteen roots…From time immemorial, through the ageless unrecorded history, the Khasi have developed a definite idea about God and Man; about the existence of heaven, earth and hell; about the existence of the body and the soul; about the subjective and objective values; about sin and external truth; about the existence of evil spirits; and about the relationship between man and man, man and all values and man God. They have their own belief in the beginning and the end of all things and their belief in the beginning of creation."

"The Khasis believe in one God called "Blei" who can manifest Himself in all forms and values. Mr. David Roy, in his celebrated article entitled "Khasi Religion" gives the following description of God Almighty: - U Blei Nongthaw Nongbuh – God the Creator of our bodies and the creation (Nongthaw), and God who fills up and fills the universe with life. U Blei Trai Kynrad – The Lord God and Master, U Blei Shihajar Nguh – God to whom all obeisance is due, U Blei na jrong na tbian – God who fills the heavens and the earth (the universe), God who is imminent and transcendent, U Blei U Nongsei – God who causes to be and to grow, U Blei Uba iohi Uba tip – God who sees and who knows – to whom nothing is hidden or unknown."

Dr. H. Kelian Synrem in her article RELIGION OF THE KHASIS said, "The Khasi believes that U Blei the Creator is the Universal God who created everything living and non-living, big and small to be multiplied and to prosper in this beautiful wide world. According to the Khasi belief, U Blei created different races of mankind and in each race he gave different cultures and religions, different traditions and customs to be followed in their own way of life."

U Blei Nongthaw Nongbuh is not the only name that the Khasi Pnar uses to call God, they also have another name for God and that is ‘U Trai kynrad.’ Whether ‘U Trai Kynrad’ is Khasi translation of English ‘Lord’ which again is derived from Greek word "Kyrios" is a matter of debate. Certainly in the Christian context; the using of word ‘U Trai’ connotes the New Testament concept of Lord which many times refer to the second person in the holy trinity which means Jesus Christ. This is what Christian churches assume and would like others to believe that the name Trai that Khasis gives to their God has a Christian origin and hence a Christian meaning.

U Trai is not a post Khasi-Christian period invention; in the Khasi parlance, the term has been in used since time immemorial. Apart from using the name God, the Khasis also use the word Kynrad or U Trai Kynrad in paying obeisance to God Almighty. Incidentally the word Trai in Khasi also has the same meaning with that of the English Lord, which means owner, foundation, foothold etc.

In the context of the Pnar or the indigenous people of Jaintia hills, they use two terms when refering to God. God the creator, ‘U Blai wabuh wathoo’ which is identical to Khasi Blei Nongbuh Nongthaw and God in English and "Tre Kirot" which is equivalent to Lord. The word "Tre" in the Pnar parlance literarily means Owner, Lord, foundation, foothold or roots. "Kirot" means Caring and Compassionate and the other meaning of Kirot is bountiful and perfect. Tre Kirot literarily means bountiful Lord the caring and compassionate one.

The War Jaintia, which is a sub tribe of the Khasi, people who live in the southern slopes of Jaintia Hills, speak a Khasi language which is quite different from the other dialects used by the other Khasi sub tribes. In fact scholars believe that the Amwi dialect spoken by the people of War Jaintia is the foundation of the whole Khasi language. And in the War Jaintia dialect there is only one word for God and that is "Prai". There is no one word equivalent to Lord in the war Jaintia, but just "Prai u ae thia" which literarily means "U Blei Nongthaw" in Khasi and its English translation is God the Creator. Whether ‘Prai’ means both God and Lord is another question, but base on the evidence use by the War Jaintia people, ‘Prai’ which incidentally similar to both ‘Trai and Blai" in the Pnar language, connotes the same meaning.

From the hymns that he composed, Hamjom Kissor Singh’s concept of God is that of a traditional Khasi- Pnar concept, God the Creator and who is both God and Lord at the same time. Like the traditional concept, he does not differentiate one from the other.

By calling God as both "Father and Mother" HK Singh went a step ahead of the traditional concept of a male creator God. His concept of God is beyond gender. This is the uniqueness of Khasi Unitarian theology that although generally God is referred to as male even in the Khasi matrilineal society, yet God is beyond gender. Although Khasi Pnar tend to use the prefix ‘U’ before the word God which represents the male gender of God, Khasi Pnars have no image of God and their concept of God is more of a spirit which pervades. Singh’s concept of God beyond gender and more of a formless spirit in nature is Khasi’s own concept of God.

Two Khasi stalwarts Radhon Singh Berry and Job Solomon were contemporary of HK Singh. They were also known for their contribution to the literary field of the nascent Khasi language. RS Berry and J. Solomon had also immensely contributed to the growth of the Unitarian movement by composing hymns for the Church. Radhon Singh Berry, a Seng Khasi man who composed more than 30 hymns in the Unitarian hymnbook later became Unitarian and Job Solomon remain a Presbyterian deacon till his breath his last. Both these men of letters emphasized in the hymns they composed in the Unitarian hymnbook the truth that Khasi Unitarian’s God is God in the traditional Khasi Pnar context.

The concept of God in the Khasi Unitarian context is God in the traditional Khasi concept a Universal and formless God. Khasi Unitarian concept of God is not God in the Judeo-Christian context -the father in heaven, God in an anthromorphical form or God in human image. The Khasi God is God in spirit and all pervading God. Hence Unitarianism in the Khasi Jaintia hills is an indigenous religion precisely because unlike other faith organization; it was not brought to these hills by a missionary, but it sprung up from its own soil. It was on the September 18, 1887 that a Khasi Christian whose search for the ultimate truth found solace in the faith in one God. Hajom Kissor Singh Nongbri’s faith in one God found a home in Unitarianism. The basic belief of Unitarian Church in the Khasi Jaintia hills is based on the Khasi- Pnar’s own beliefs. Hence, Unitarianism in the Khasi Jaintia hills is a like a tree which grows and spread its branches and leaves and at the same time draws strength from its roots.

Aizawl, Mizoram

2009-09-02T07:22:00.001-07:00

Aizawl is one of those cities/towns that seems so remote in North East India - you can fly here from Guwahati or Kolkata but I prefer the bus - it is a bit cheaper. So many people in North East India have not even been to Aizawl. Coming here is a chore, over rough roads. The thing about Mizoram is that it is landlocked - way down in the southern part of North East India (map) Burma on one side, Bangladesh on the other, and small access to Tripura, Assam and Manipur.

Once you get here it is an amazingly modern, well run city. You can't help but get in shape - I likely walked about 15 km today up and down hills. I love coming to a new place and just walking. Seeing the faces, the people, the places - walking into some small eatery and surprising everybody. Trying to order some food when you can't speak the language.

I am here on personal business, so I had met the Director and Minister of Art and Culture yesterday. Today I was supposed to meet the Chief Minister, but he was called away on urgent duty, this often happens. So I had the whole day to just wander and go into small laneways and markets. When I go on trips with clients most do not prefer to see cities and towns, they want villages and what they imagine to be the way life is like in these here tribal areas. For me it is all interesting and special, to see the changes the dynamics the effects. I should not, but I am, be amazed facinated and intriqued about what I find in places. Aizawl I must say is one of the best organized of all North East India cities towns - if not of all Indian cities. It is built on steep slopes yet traffic and people are so disciplined. Shillong where I live can't even match it in the least.

Modern - my god!! it has a mall!! where as anywhere all the kids hang out. I am not sure how every body survives selling cloths, cloths and cloths - but style is a big thing here.

IMRIY PERRY SYIEMLIEH

2009-08-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

Introducing the Family

2009-08-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

We got married in 1998 – me this foreign white guy that really was not so foreign (I grew up in Mawlai till the age of 13) about me …. Her family knew mine, because really we grew up across the street from each other. Actually I would have played with her older sister. So there we are, in Khasi land me always not quite fitting in yet really being from the area, she young and susceptible to her families desires..

We had the ‘Christian Wedding’ hosted by my wife’s family. Her family, likely, somehow expected me to take her back to Canada for good and not come back, except for a visit. Little did they know that Shillong feels more like home than Canada to me….. Anyhow we did go to Canada so ‘that I could show Valariena the way I lived’; maybe not such a good idea. I had to work hard and she was all alone in many ways, in a foreign country. After a year we came back to Mawlai (Shillong) to more or less settle down. There have been many good times and many struggles but here we are going on in this Matrilineal society where some think they should change it – MENS CHALLENGE.

Some say Khasi women should not marry outside the tribe, saying the culture will fall apart etc. They fail to see that within their own culture the Khasi’s always had a system for marriage outside their tribe. If a man married a woman outside the tribe, they have a special ‘TANG JAIT” ceremony, to make a new clan for the children, if a woman marries outside the tribe the children automatically become part of her clan. It is the people within who are destroying their culture from within, as well as Khasi male and females, who marry outside their tribe, live in Khasi land, but fail to live the Khasi way.

We cannot all follow everything, but when you see people who convert/become Christian or are second or third generations Christian deciding what Khasi culture is and should be, we have problems. Always and anytime, it is my belief, that anything done with self soul searching and deliberation, is not wrong, even leaving your culture behind. But you can’t have it both ways. So many converted left most of their culture behind and now think they want to come back to the culture and hang on to it – but what are they hanging on to or going back to, their interpretation of it or what it really is. I am not saying one cannot covert and not be Khasi, in fact many who have not converted are also not living the culture – modernization and globalization maybe the ultimate cause.

When we got married Valariena and her family suggested she take my last name – I did not refuse, but suggested not!! I felt that if we were to live in a culture that followed a certain system we should do our best to hold to its traditions, and I was not afraid to be a part of the system. Some feel that the system should be changed and that it should be patrilineal/patriarchal. My feeling is that people don’t know enough about their own culture they want certain things to change, but not others. I think if we improve as human beings within what we are born into, we can make it work.

One concept is distribution of land, in Khasi culture the land goes to the youngest daughter to be the steward of it. This means she is not the sole and only owner she just becomes the manager and caretaker of all that is from the family, including the burdens and responsibilities. Many have taken this to mean that the youngest daughter owns the land and can do what ever she wants. On the other hand many an older brothers, mothers and mother in-laws have taken advantage and not allowed their youngest sister or daughter to be empowered and live her own rightful life with her new husband.

Right or wrong this is the system, there are others who think the law should change to ‘Equitable distribution of property’ . I wonder if they even think before they speak – how one can keep breaking the property up equally, generation to generation. Soon the grandchildren and great great grandchildren (even the children in the poorer landless families) will be sitting on one square foot of land and planting what??? A couple beans??

2009-08-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

What a better way to start a blog than to introduce our new son - name to come - In the next few days I will first Introduce my family and then I hope in the following weeks, months and years to put down some of the unique circumstances that we live in. I am a Canadian born in North East India. I lived in Canada during my high school, University and some of my adult life - living a bit different life to most in Canada. So here I am back in 'India' which does not really feel like India, that is if there is a way India should feel. What I mean is that I live in the North East Hills of India, which little resembles the stereotype most would have of India.

So here is our Son - and hope you join us in the next few days to introduce the whole family.