Chapter 3: The Realities of Nature and Myth
Chapter 3: The Realities of Nature and Myth
Chapter 3: The Realities of Nature and Myth
North East India. The oral tales that deal with them or have a mythical base
have been gathered from a rich experience of life; and are inextricable from
the oral history of the region. The richness of this region lies in its vibrant
cultures, traditions, rituals, festival, dances and folklore," the way of life of
the masses is still rooted in the traditional social base, - group solidarity and
of the living culture of the people of the region. It has been growing and
myth and memory unique to the region."^ Most of the poets of this region
use myth and nature alongside themes of violence, corruption and politics.
Being deeply rooted in their past, these poets speak about their history and
their past, the land and its people, its myths and rituals, culture and
tradition, festivals and dances. Legends are portrayed with the "intensity of
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reality and reality is portrayed with the intensity of longing for a vanished
past".^ Thus:
In these lines, Mamang Dai talks about the mystery that shrouds the origins
of the people of this region. "North-Easterners are conscious that they have
are available these stories have been passed down from generation to
generation by word of mouth. They have seeped into the mind of people
region go back to the past to reconnect with their roots. Their visions of the
Here, the poet speaks of the vanished past, of how the land prospered and
historical name of Manipur and Kangla, the ancient seat of Manipur royalty.
In this story, earth and sky are "lovers and when the sky makes love to the
Earth every kind of tree and grass and all living creatures come into being".
The lovers however, must separate, for as long as they cling together there
is nowhere for their children to live. In the Minyong tradition, "after their
/
separation, the Earth always longed to return to her husband to be one with
him again. But as she was raising herself to the sky, the Sun and Moon
appeared, and she was ashamed and could not go further. That part of her
which was reaching towards her lord became fixed for ever, as the great
Pradesh, rainbows are "four water-spirits, white, black, yellow and red, who
live in springs among the hills and from time to time wander across the
heavens for ever seeking wives as lovely as themselves. The rainbow is the
path of blended colours that they make across the sky".^* These people
seem to have answers for each natural phenomenon and poets of this region
interweave these myths into their poetry. In another poem, Mamang Dai
talks about the myth concerning the creation of the world. The Singphos tell
of "a woman in the form of a cloud... bom out of the primaeval fog and
mist. She has a son and daughter, who are like snow, and from them the
earth and sky are bom. At first the earth is only mud and the sky lies upon it
as a thick cloud, but when the wind is bom, it dries the mud, thus making
the earth solid and drives the sky far away." Thus:
After the earth was thus created, human beings came into existence,
Some of the myths and legends are concerned with the coming of the
Lungterok
And forebears
Of the stone-people
Were bom
Of the earth*^
According to the Ao-Naga myth, "the first people, three males and three
females, emerged out of the six stones at a place called Lungterok," which
literally means 'six stones'. The males were Tongpok (of the Pongener
clan), Longpok (of the Longkumer clan) and Longjakrep (of the Jamir
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clan); and the females were Longkapokla (of the Pongener clan),
Yongmenala (of the Longkumer clan) and Elongse (of the Jamir clan).
region. She has been able to bring out the historical and mythical
foundation of her own society in a poem that reminds the Ao-Naga society
of their roots.
Meiteis, Poireiton, who is believed to have led his people all the way
carrying fire with him to find a new settlement. This is how they came to
live in their present land that is Manipur. According to their myth, they
Through these myths, they trace their roots to the past by their
Poets like Nongkynrih draws upon his own myths for purposes of moral
education. As a poet, he would like to remind his people, "of the virtues of
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poem, he talks about Ren, a fisherman from a village called Nongjri, who
falls in love with a river nymph and goes to live with her in the river
As long as it roars
sound of his people's life."^^ According to the poet, the sound of his
people's life and their way can only be voiced through one's mother tongue.
That is why, he feels that writing in it would help the soimd of his people's
life grow stronger. Through his mother tongue, he would be able to reach
out to his own people and impart their past culture and tradition through his
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writing, there by, helping them in preserving it. However, Nongkynrih also
Many places in the region have names associated with myths and
caused by the death-throes of the Thlen which once supposedly stalked its
wilderness. Its death-throes were so powerful that they made deep cracks in
Ka Likai was a young widow who had a girl child. She remarried a man
who later murdered her child out of jealousy; cooked and served her the
flesh of the child. After discovering this heinous act, Ka Likai jumped to
One notices the process of acculturation that has taken place in the
region over the years. There is the "Aryan-Hindu influence over non-Aryan
folklore present in the region, that have been Hinduised and Sanskritised;
some of them are associated with the great Indian epics like the Ramayana
laid down his life for the Pandavas in the battle of Kurukshetra. Murasingh
between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, Kama of the Kanravas wanted to
kill Aijuna, In order to save him, Krishna put Ghatutkach in the front
India are likened to Ghatutkach the imwary victim, who have always been
misrule for many poets. Nilmani Phookan mentions one such Ahom King
Gaurinath is arriving^'^
king which resulted in a revolt. Helpless women have always been victims
In another poem, Phookan talks about a rebel named Bhotai who was
for the present generation and his voice is heard by others today.
The enchanting love stories of the past are reflected in poets like
He narrates the story of Manik Raitong, who was orphaned early in life. He
had an illicit affair with the king's (syiem) wife.When the King knew about
before his immolation. U Raitong drove his bamboo flute into the earth. It is
believed that the bamboo flute took root there. He speaks about another
These poets celebrate love traditions that are still popular among the people
of the region.
spoken about as being a part of the idyllic life. Mamang Dai presents one
calling my name.
According to the Arunachali belief, man and tiger were brothers. The
killing of a tiger amounted to the killing of a man and the rituals associated
rituals are performed to select a man to lead the hunt to find the tiger. The
for his wife. He tricks her into marrying him by taking away her clothes
while she was bathing in the stream. They have a child named Tote:
Here, the poet tells us how the monkey tries to please his wife by bringing
fish for her but his effort is in vain as the woman can never love the
monkey. In another poem Murasingh talks about how the monkey was later
The woman pushes him fi-om the tong (tribal hut on stilts ) by tricking and
uncivilized worlds. These two worlds are poles apart and are incompatible
so lonely
Tejimala was killed by her stepmother while the father was away from
home on business. She turns into a rose plant and blooms on the river bank.
As the father was returning home in a boat after six months, he sees the
flower and as he was about to pluck them for his daughter, the plant speaks
poetry of this region. Rituals are performed on different occasions and have
Here the poet explains the strengthening of ties through women who tell
stories and men who sit near the dead. They sing songs of lamentation
recalling childhood and youth, as the relatives of the deceased fasten beads
and sacred twine to their hair and wrists. In the same way, Temsula Ao
occasions:
While returning from his jhum fields, the man comes across a doe
and her new bom and without a thought kills them with his spear. He
grieves for his action, "Grief engulfing my suddenly / Tired body, I stood
there numb". He hurriedly covers it with wild grass to mark his shame,
asking for Nature's forgiveness. Then, he erects the circle of'genna' around
them in order to keep people away from the place. 'Genna' signifies a place
Dances and festivals of the region liave meaning located deeper than
the show. Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih talks of the 'Weiking' festival and
Weiking ! Weiking!
Mamang Dai also talks about the dance called Tapu which is
sow celebration,
for conception. ^^
malevolent spirits, but once there was a belief that women who had borne
no son could put on male attire and join the dancers in the hope of
conceiving a son".
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In yet another poem, she refers to the "ponung" dance of the Adis
performed by the young girls of the village for many days and night during
We danced so long
to please a fancy.
The poet tells us how the girls dance to the chanting of the priest recounting
the legend of birth and creation. On one particular night, the young dancers
who travel the road are instructed to stay awake and be alert as a misstep
India is heard in the "river with its magical voice, the twin gods of water
and mist, the land heavy with memories, the forest that lingers..."^^ Poets
like Mamang Dai turn back to nature for soul searching reasons that are
intricate nature,
divinity in trees.
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A river of Stars.
poetry, they are never used as vehicles of escapism for in "losing their way,
them to rehabilitate the past as high culture", '^^ and to forge a renewing
relationship with nature. Though they seek solace in their past and in
The fog reminds him of the past beauty of Cherrapunjee, with its 'cedar-
dotted hills', the place where he grew up and is filled with its memories. He
region, the disappearance of forests and its barrenness all over the region,
they recall the virgin forest of the past with their tall trees that seem to be
In the woods
a crane calls
present, caused by violence through by using images like uprooted trees and
in waters
smashing houses.. /^
Living close to nature, poets from this region elicit the soimds of
nature like the "Woodland notes of the birds, / Melody of the flute floating
from the hut on stilts" and "Bark of the deer from the northern hills" which
"the cool wind carries all the time".'*^ Anupama Basumatary describes the
The picture of the setting sun as a crimson lass and the sky as the
blue house with a cloudy door into which the lass enters is an evocative
and again the sense of rootedness that these poets keep alive within them.
Thus, they are always trying to recapture nature in their poetry .In yet
another poem of hers, she speaks about the smell of the earth, thus:
Still lingers!^^
Even long after the monsoon, she can still smell the earth in her
These poets also have great attachment to their land and their ties are
strong:
of my clenched heart.^°
Mamang Dai elaborates upon the ties that she has for her land. Even when
she is far away, she recalls rivers, summer rain and the years spent there.
his land:
I love
them meanmg. It forms the subject of their daily lives. Its influence is felt at
all times:
woman usually starts her day. She gives a vivid description of the activities
Basumatary's poem:
Even, the taste of their food brings poetry to the palette. Thek poems
Basumatary likes to remove their shells and watch the tongues recoil before
They talk about village women "traipsing down the dirt road,"
"farmer ploughing under the summer sky", "damsels planting saplings" and
myths and legends, rituals and dances, festivals and cultures, traditions and
people that make their poetry dense with meaning. Nature images and
metaphors derived from this mosaic give their poetry a sense of rootedness
and belonging for they go back into the past to emerge better able to
that is animated by their deep interest in their own myths and legends.These
are the other realities that they are bent upon preserving through their
poetry. One sees that these poets are also conscious of themselves as being
captures the essential beauty of the land, when that beauty is almost on the
End Notes
East And The Indian State: Paradoxes of a periphery, ed. P.S.Datta (New
^Mamang Dai, "On Creation Myths and Oral Narratives," ed. Geeti Sen,
The North-East: Where the Sun Rises When the Shadows Fall, (New
=286>
^Patricia Mukhim, "Where is the North-East?" ed. Sen, The North - East
181.
^ a i , "On Creation Myths and Oral Narratives," ed. Sen, The North-East 6.
2004)31-32.
74
of India 7.
Poetrv from the North-East. eds. Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, and Robin
and Fiction: Verrier Elwin and the Tribal Questions in India, eds. T .B.
Subha and Sujit Som (New Delhi: Orient Longman Private Limited,
2005) 161.
Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, " The Writer and the Community: A Case
cms/cms_module/index.ppp?obj_id=6285&x=l>
andNgangom 158.
2005,27March2007<http://india.poetryintemationalweb.org/
piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.ppp?obj_id=6285&x=l>
ser.XLIII.2(1999)47.
^'*Nilmani Phookan, "Keep Both the Doors Open," trans. Krishna Dulal
Unpublished poem.
unpublished poem.
How strong is the Non-tribal?" Tribal Studies in North East India (New
^'^Temsula Ao, "The Spear," Poetry from Nagaland (New Delhi: Savio
cms/cms_module/index.ppp?obj_id=6285&x= 1 >
^T. Ao, "Lament For Earth," Songs That Tell (Calcutta: Writers
unpublished poem.
unpublished poem.
^^Temsula Ao, "A Village Morning," Songs from Here and There
poem.
unpublished poem.