|
Assamese is an Indo-Aryan language but a fair section of the
tribes speak other languages and dialects that belong to the
Tibetan-Burman family. The tribes differ from one another
linguistically even though the ethnic distinction is less
pronounced. The Khasi language, for instance, has an
Austro-Asiatic lineage while the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh or
Nagaland or most of the other states have a different linguistic
orientation. "The most important and common factor here is
folklore, in which the oral tradition is quite strong and
decisive." Written literature in Assamese began in the 14th
century.
The importance
of the oral tradition in folklore has historical validity and
importance. Since the mid-19th century folklore has been the
collective name given to traditional material handed down
primarily by word of mouth. Folklore in the early stages always
flourished in communities in which only a few could read or
write. But it is a fact that as a society grows out of
pre-literate stages, the language develops a written literature
of its own and the folklore elements undergo a change due to
various cultural factors. Folklore as a system in the broadest
sense includes, among other things, legends, superstitions,
songs, tales, proverbs, riddles, spells, nursery rhymes,
traditional lore about the weather, plants and animals, rituals
at birth, marriage and death, dances and performing arts
associated with the ceremonies or community festivals. It may
remain the same but may acquire new meanings and associations
depending on the social circumstances in which communities live
and on the variable conditions of ecology and environment they
become subject to over a period of time.
Field studies
of the folk and cultural resources of the north-eastern region
are mainly of recent origin. Yet one does come across studies
which provide valuable insights into the nature of this heritage
in relation to Indian and world folklore. Tribal folklore of the
region has been combined and collated by scholars like Dr
Verrier Elwin and C. Haimendrof; even much earlier by Mills and
Hutton who wrote a detailed account of tribal myths. The 19th
century accounts of the tribes and their myths prove to be both
relevant and useful even though these early writers did not
adopt a scientific methodology. Later more studies appeared and
film-makers, song-writers and singers like Bhupen Hazarika have
now made good use of these traditions.
Manipur takes
pride as does the rest of India for the genius of Rattan Thiyam
and film-maker Shaym Sharma. The Burman brothers as musicians
and singers have contributed immensely to Bollywood films. There
are many more, including choirs from Mizoram and Nagaland.
According to
Barua, "Tribal folklore and the long narrative poem are the
two genres which have received much attention now and are
studied side by side with the tales and ballads of the valleys.
Here one does come across not only the differences but also a
striking correspondence between the two. One important feature
of the tribal folklore is that it is almost entirely in verse,
that is to say, verse which is also inseparable from the musical
tunes through which the narrative, whether a ballad or a tale or
a plain song, is put across to the group or the community."
Poetry has its
origin in the aspirations and daily chores of the people. A
fuller understanding of the distinctive types of tribal
folklore, therefore, demands a clear grasp of the language or
the dialect. Anyone trying to fathom this must also appreciate
the tunes; for, unlike in the literary tradition, there is no
scope here to establish a direct contact with the creative word.
It is not surprising that in studying Assamese folk literature,
one does find the link between the oral narrative and the
evolution of the story. It indeed is natural for one form of
literature to be closely linked to the other. The narrative
often has strong association with the tradition of singing in
Assamese folk literature. Most ballads did have this element and
were initially meant to be sung.. Music and ballads in most
Indian folk traditions are inseparable.
Myths and folk
beliefs play a far greater part in the narrative tradition of
tribal folk tales than in the non-tribal Assamese tradition,
Barua writes. Magic plays an important part in determining the
life and beliefs of these communities. The tiruals, fertility
symbols and the folk tales are closely related to certain key
words or chants or incantations and are woven around a number of
myths, describing the creation of the world, the origin of
certain phenomena like sun or the moon, the eclipse and so on.
Myths, therefore, abound in the tribal folk tales while they are
not generally to be found in the Assamese tales of the
Brahmaputra valley. The female characters of ballads like
Tejimola have ancient origins, but in the Assamese narrative, it
is charged with a new meaning, the same can be said of the
development of the stepmother theme, a recurrent idea in
Assamese folk tales.
A.K. Ramanujan
spoke of the "changing lives of the Indian tales"; the
suggestive force of this statement implied not only a living
tradition but something more. It indicated the dynamic situation
of the tales in which they keep on changing according to the
exigencies of the narrative tradition, the verbal requirements
of language or creative speech in a particular context or simply
by the very process of telling and retelling. It is not
surprising, that the origins of many of the folk tales to be
found in north-eastern India could be traced back to the Jataka
or Panchatantra tales or the Mahabharata.
In Manipuri
folk literature, the tradition of minstrel has grown around the
memorable saga of the love story involving Khamba, a young hero,
and Thoibi, a beautiful princess and this tragic but moving tale
has become the most imaginative and compelling presentation of
the beauty and majesty of the Meitei tradition. The Karbis and
the Dimasas too have their ballads; the Dimasa ballad of Dishru
and the Karbi ballad Haimu carry a deeply tragic note and
whenever they are sung they continue to be very popular.
A tribal
community has songs of another kind. It may be a love song, a
dance song, a spiritual song, in which the text and the tune are
equally important. In love songs the lyrical element is often
dominant, showing a kind of spontaneity which the other
varieties lack, and it is the result of an exercise of the
poetic imagination. This is evident in the love songs of some of
the Naga tribes or of the Kuki tribe of Manipur and north Cachar
hills district of Assam.
One remarkable
point about tribal folk songs is the use of symbolism and each
song, while describing human emotions and pathos, is deeply
woven into daily chores: ploughing, sowing, harvesting, grazing
and the working at the looms or cooking. Look at this simple but
elegant song: "I cut the yarn at midnight/weaving the bihuwan
for my darling/I shall weave in the loom/I shall transplant
the seedlings/You will do the ploughing."
Or a Khasi song
which goes like this. "Three times with a hoe we dig the
earth/And three times we dance in a chain/With the hoe in both
our hands/Together with the left hand/Together with the right
hand/We race like snail fish in the stream." These easily
catch the vibrancy and vitality of life.
Most lullabies
called nichukani which form a distinct genre have their
own music. In the same way Bihu songs sung during the New Year
festival, with a dance full of life are an exuberant expression
of a very passionate life.
Rigidity of
oral traditions in primitive forms, in spite of spontaneity, is
much relaxed in folk music and there is always a gradual
change/improvement over the period it is people’s property.
And as Barua observes, Assamese tales have for long cast off the
connection with myth, magic and ritual and have become a pure
narrative form, thus adding to secular traditions.
The book is
just not a collection of tales and folk songs, myths and other
myriad record of tribal or semi-tribal, nor a mere storehouse of
folk tales or record of social history. It deals with the
subject in a schsolarly fashion, taking into account the
well-researched work of a host of earlier writers, including G.A.
Grierson, S.K. Chatterjee, N. Sarkar and Verrier Elwin and S.N.
Barkataki.
I have
mentioned Barua’s second book for a good reason since it
discusses the contribution of an eminent Assamese thinker and
writer Lakshminath Bezbaroa, the 19th century thinker, who
contributed so much to the renaissance in the North-East.
Nurtured in the Bengali tradition of intellectual curiosity and
social action, Barua discusses in detail and with insight the
role of other literary figures like Chandrakumar Aggarwala,
Hemchandra Goswami, A.D. Phukan, and Gunabiram Barua and their
contribution to Assamese literature and learning. They along
with others set the traditions of not only good literature but
also of social action. This ultimately helped the freedom
movement take roots.
There is another essay on
Assamese literary criticism. But most essays on Tagore,
Radhakrishnan and others are by and large sketchy and stray
observations.
|
