Notion Press

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First Published by Notion Press 2016 Copyright © James Oinam 2016 All Rights Reserved.

ISBN 978-1-945400-04-9

This book has been published with all efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. However, the author and the publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

No part of this book may be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Contents

Preface ix

1. Chapter One: Make the Birds Sing 1 2. Chapter Two: Purenba Succumbs to Curse 7 3. Chapter Three: Do Not Tease Laighono 17 4. Chapter Four: Paybet Comes of Age 25 5. Chapter Five: Hanube and Hanuba 29 6. Chapter Six: The Heritage 37 7. Chapter Seven: My Friend Thanmei 39 8. Chapter Eight: Tapta Has Come 43 9. Chapter Nine: The Secret of Lai Khutsangbi 49 10. Chapter Ten: Keioiba: The Animagus 53 11. Chapter Eleven: The Enchanted Lemon 61 12. Chapter Twelve: Khamba Has a Dream 69 13. Chapter Thirteen: The Prince of 81 14. Chapter Fourteen: Marrying Tanaubi 85

Resources 91

Chapter One

Make the Birds Sing

At the break of the dawn, the sun rose and nestled in the mountains. Dense fog that spread on the surface lakes and rivers the whole night became visible. Dews gathered on the blades of grasses melted. The green foliage and red and yellow inflorescences painted the valley in varied colours. But all was quiet, quite quiet. There were no chirpings, no chirpings of birds at all! There were birds alright. But they were all gathered in the tree canopies like strange fruits, not singing melodies in chorus, not even preening their wings. They were all in deep mourning. The queen woke up late and the day’s chores occupied her from praying to Tulsi. When she was alone with the prince, she said, ‘My dear boy, can you go and play alone in the garden for a while? I want to pray to goddess Tulsi.’ ‘Mother, why do you pray to her?’ ‘For protection from the evils. are kind and protect those who are good and them.’ ‘But mother if you want protection, shouldn’t you be praying to a strong like Pakhangba?’ ‘You know we all pray to him. But praying to goddess Tulsi is like making friends. Friends are forgiving and you can easily make up if you make any mistakes. Men gods can get angry easily and it is difficult to pacify them.’ New Folktales of Manipur

‘But can she protect you from evil spirits like Pakhangba?’ ‘Goddess Tulsi has a demon lover who guards her and looks after her and her friends’ well-being. He is strong and fierce and can fight an evil spirit like a tiger. So if I can please a goddess who would guide my conduct and give me good advice and a demon who protects me like a tiger, is it not a good idea?’ ‘Mother, you are clever. I’ll go and play with my brother.’ The queen turned towards the mantri (minister) and said, ‘It was so quite in the morning, no chirping of the birds that usually awakes me and I just slept through the morning. Why are the birds not chirping this morning? This is so u nu s u a l .’ ‘O Khuman Queen, maybe we can ask the crane our prince has got as a gift.’ ‘Yes, please bring the bird to me after my .’ The bird was brought to the queen after her prayer. Let me tell you the narration of the crane in my words as she is too sad and need some help with vocabulary and to coherently relate the story. There lived in the kingdom of Khumans a crane couple. One early winter morning, seeing the beautiful sky and the warm sun rising above the hills, the father crane asked his wife to accompany him to fly around the sky. They left their little baby sleeping in the nest. As they flew, they saw the daughter of chief of Heirem Khuncham fishing in a lake. ‘Look, that girl is poaching in our kingdom,’ said the father crane. ‘O dear, there will be plenty of fish left for us after she is through,’ replied the mother crane.

2 Make the Birds Sing

‘Yes, plenty of small fish she would let go after taking all the big ones,’ retorted the father crane. ‘Let us not get into this affair, dear,’ mother crane requested. ‘Today she has come alone. Tomorrow she will bring her friends. We cannot let this happen.’ He asked the mother crane to come with him. They flew to the Khuman king’s palace and informed the soldiers. On knowing that a girl from a small village had violated the sanctity of his territory, the king was furious. The king sent his soldiers and imprisoned the girl. When the crane couple returned, they found a snake had got into their nest and devoured the baby crane. Mother crane could not restrain herself. She cried, ‘You are responsible for this. From this day we will live separately.’ Then she flew away in a different direction to live on her own. The father crane was too grieve- stricken to stop her. Meanwhile, the chief of Heirem Khunchum requested the Khuman king to return his daughter. He offered to give fruits and flowers in return, but to no avail. One night he dreamed that if he offered the king a crane, the king will return his daughter. So he hired a Mayang to capture a crane for him. The Mayang captured the mother crane as she was catching a fish. The father crane used to catch fish for her, so she was not used to the kind of traps set by Mayang, and the Mayang had no difficulty in catching her. The chief offered the crane to the king for the princes to play with. The Khuman queen liked it very much. The king returned the daughter of the chief.

3 New Folktales of Manipur

The father crane kept remembering his wife. He searched for her everywhere. One day he saw the mother crane in a cage and the prince poking a stick at her to make her sing. When he knew the fate of his dear wife, he was in grief. Early morning, when he saw the sky and rising sun, he could not restrain himself and cried. Other birds heard about the misery that had befallen on the poor couple. This deeply moved the other birds and they mourned for them. The queen understood all and asked the princes to free the mother crane to unite with her husband. She ordered, ‘From this day the crane will be called Lamyai Lonkhai Ningthousa, the harbinger of morning in the region of Khumans.’ And from that day on, the birds have been the harbinger of dawn, singing early mornings.

4 Make the Birds Sing

When the god king Pakhangba is angry he takes the form of a snake (he is a body-changer). The body of the snake is twisted and entangled in various ways. However, in almost all images the head bites its tail. Not doing so is considered a bad omen. It is said the biting signifies his controlling his anger. The reader might associate it with ouroboros, literally meaning the ‘tail eater’, a Greek mythological symbol denoting infinity. The cycle of birth and death, represented by the head and the tail, being connected because of the bite, thereby ensuring continuity of a lineage. One may also refer the Celtic knot symbol which represents the same. Also, when looking at a Pakhangba snake image, it is considered bad if one cannot understand or follow how the body ‘flows’ from its head to its tail. 5

Chapter Two

Purenba Succumbs to Curse

The narrator’s rendition of the events is marred with human flaws and ignorance. As a child, I was told a story of an elopement in a slightly different way—a spoilt boy going out to play at night although his parents forbade him to do so and was overpowered by evil spirits although he hopelessly swung the polo stick to frighten them. In the beginning, it is said, there was existential unity called ama. Ama was beyond life and death, and existed as formless light (heat). That is why our ancestors called number one ama, because it comes first of all the numbers. They believed existence did not begin with nothingness or zero. The ama incarnated taking the form of supreme lord Salailen Sitapa Mapu. He was the space or the sky, which is why he is also called Sorarel Sitapa Mapu, sorarel meaning sky in Meiteilon, the language of Meiteis. Sitapa Mapu cohabited with Ima Leimalel Sitapi, the mother earth, producing Lainingthou Sanamahi. Sitapa Mapu asked his son Lainingthou Sanamahi to create man. Lainingthou Sanamahi created one living thing after another, from the small fish (ngamu) to monkeys (yong). Sitapa Mapu revealed himself to his son. Then Lainingthou Sanamahi created man in the image of his father. The descendants of gods (Lais) and human beings came down from Koubru mountains, where they were created, to the valley. Pakhangba was asked to lead mankind as the New Folktales of Manipur first king by Lainingthou Sanamahi. King Pakhangba was worshipped like an immortal until his accidental death at the hands of his son. Lais (gods) led by Lainingthou Sanamahi and Mees (human beings) led by Pakhangba used to live together. The Lais married Mee chanus (ladies). Pakhangba and his descendants strongly protested these marriages. Some Mees married Halois (female divinities). Lainingthou Sanamahi told Pakhangba that Mees cannot do as the Lais. Such marriages produced an ill-fated race of demi-gods. They had divine qualities, too good to be Mees, but were considered an outcaste by the Lais. They suffered more than their Mee counterparts. Like the branches of a tree growing apart from the trunk, the divide between Lais and Mees got wider and wider. The Mees were degenerating in morality and behaviour. Salailen Sitapa decided to separate the two and summoned all the Lais to the netherworld. All the Lais gradually left for the netherworld. It was at this time the Moirang kingdom was haunted by a Haloi (a female divinity). She was attached to the valley she was born in and grew up, and would not leave it even for the netherworld. The Mees had become so different in nature by now that she had to live in hiding. Even with her miraculous powers she would not do any harm to the Mees, although they showed extreme apathy to her. Nevertheless, the Mees feared her and made up stories about her and complained to the king. The king of Moirang summoned Purenba to the Loisang.1 Purenba was one of the most worthy khullakpas2 in the kingdom. ‘Purenba, my people are complaining about a Haloi. She has been bringing misery to my people. Why this was not brought to my notice earlier?’

1. The king’s office. 2. A chief warrior with a specified number of soldiers under him. 8 Purenba Succumbs to Curse

‘My Lord, it is not in the nature of any Haloi to cause misery to anyone. I have also heard about her. From the mixed reports I get, I can discern this much that she is living the life of a refugee. She deserves our sympathy and a place in the valley she was born in. Until she is ready for the netherworld, we should treat her like a guest.’ ‘Guests do not live in hiding. My people are not happy with her. Lais are no longer allowed to live among the Mees. I want you to bring her to me.’ ‘My Lord, you are right. I will bring her to you.’ ‘Ill treatment of any kind to a Lai might bring curse upon us. You are sensible enough to understand that. Restrain from using dark magic to achieve your ends. You must be careful not to harm or offend her in any way.’ ‘My Lord understands and sympathizes with the risk I am taking. In Sitapa Mapu’s name I will take the responsibility for what I do to capture her. But if she is found innocent, let me be responsible for her.’ The king gave his consent to it. Purenba studied the movements and formation of the clouds to decide on the best strategy and the most auspicious day to undertake the task.3 He summoned four of his soldiers. ‘Our king has ordered the capture of the Haloi who is hiding in our kingdom. During the daytime she remains in hiding and comes out at night. Each of you will go in the

3. Ipa Sorarel (literally Father Sky) is always with his children, giving indications what would be the right course of action. The author would like to add that this art of divining future by observing the movement and shape of clouds is referred to as nephelomancy. The shapes of clouds in the sky used to guide warriors on war strategies in the past. 9 New Folktales of Manipur four directions and search for her. Leave your shadows in my care. I will know from your shadows if any of you encounter the Haloi and will come to you to make the arrest myself.4 You might have to work for days altogether, so I suggest you eat three days’ meal before you go.’ There is a black magic often employed to kill the enemy. A big piece of leather is rolled up into the size of a grain using certain spell. This grain would be put in the food of the victim. On eating it, the leather swells to its original size inside the stomach suddenly and burst it open. That is why elder people ask their children not to accept food from strangers. Purenba told his soldiers a counter-spell to slow down the swelling of the leather, so that his soldiers could eat three days’ meat at one time and could go without meal for the next three days. He was sure three days would be enough to search whole of the kingdom.

4. Young men often get distracted on encountering a Haloi. 10 Enjoyed reading this sample?

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