The North-East Blog
Know what leading academics, writers, poets, musicians, activists and journalists from the region have to say to develop an informed perspective on matters related to this part of India.
by A few days ago, there was an article in "The Shillong Times" that made me think of a folk story. The Khasis love folk tales, and like many other folkloric traditions, these attempt to explain natural phenomenon in order to make sense of the world. We have a story for almost everything how the earth was formed, what causes a solar eclipse, how a peacock got its feathers and even on why the rooster crows at dawn. Yet the one I recalled was about words.
Although versions vary (as most stories do in an oral culture), the one I'm familiar with is called 'Ka Kitab ba lah Jah' or 'The Lost Book'. It tells the tale of a Khasi and a foreigner who are summoned by U Blei or God on a certain day to a mountain -...Read more...
On the wall to my right is a framed picture of Masjid al-Haram. Around it are Islamic prayers, and strung along the length of the restaurant are fairy lights and small plastic flowers. Seated beneath the decor is a Khasi couple tucking into a cauldron of biryani. I'm there to write a piece on "Muslim food in Shillong", and have a wider array of dishes laid out on my table - creamy mutton korma, crumbly sheekh kebabs and a plate of soft rotis. Naturally, the couple finish before me and make their way to the payment desk where they encounter burkha-clad Dimple, the daughter of Kong Sohtun or "Mimi" who owns the establishment.
The man begins to speak in Khasi. Then falters, and resorts to broken Hindi. Dimple calmly replies in Khasi. He shoots his companion...Read more...
More about Janice Pariat
Janice is a freelance writer based in Shillong, Delhi or Kolkata, depending on the weather. Currently, she is studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. She edits and runs Pyrta, an online literary journal of poetry, prose, photo essays and sketches. Her collection of short stories "Boats on Land" will be published by Random House in October 2012
Recent Posts by Janice Pariat
- A Gap In The Clouds: In the beginning was the 'Word'
A few days ago, there was an article in "The Shillong Times" that made me think of a folk story. The Khasis love folk tales, and like many other
- A Gap In The Clouds: Of Khasi Muslims in Meghalaya
On the wall to my right is a framed picture of Masjid al-Haram. Around it are Islamic prayers, and strung along the length of the restaurant are fairy lights
Sanatombi
Rowdy Sandrembee: The salaried beggars of modern ManipurWhen power is misused, chaos becomes the norm of a society. In our society, sad but true, power is misused in each and every sector. It is too common
Soibam Haripriya
Raping the OtherArticles in local newspapers in Manipur for the past few months have been bordering on a misogynist strain of thought. Many of the articles expectedly commented on women opting
Akhu Chingangbam
The Imphal music projectThe Imphal Music Project is conceived by an Imphal-based band Imphal Talkies which was earlier based in New Delhi. The project is not for art for art's sake or
Subir Bhaumik
'Bangla Spring' brings back spirit of 1971If the Arab Spring was all about democracy and people power, this spring in Bangladesh is all about rejuvenation, a return to the spirit of 1971 that made independence
Sumana Roy
Uttor: Of Fearful Symmetry - a leopard in SiliguriWho would have imagined certainly not I that one day I would have to make a phone call to my mother in Siliguri to ask her to keep the
Binalakshmi Nepram
Northeast India Matters: weaving our collective histories Did you know that the Chinese called Manipur 'Hso Po lo mein' and the Burmese called it 'Kathe', that Manipur called Tripura 'Takhel' and that till date there is
Easterine Kire
The narratives silenced by war: the Barkweaver project of peoplestories and folktalesOnce upon a time, a young man had a pond. It held such clear, sweet water that went down your throat smoothly and left behind a lingering taste of
