Reviving Tangkhul culture
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: August 30, 2012 -

Members of Khamashit, a Tangkhul folk music fusion group performing during a film festival at Ukhrul :: Pix - HL

The initiative taken up by Independent Filmmakers in organizing a short film festival on Tangkhul culture for school children could very well be that proverbial first step to a journey of a thousand miles towards reviving the rich Tangkhul culture which are almost at the verge of extinction today.

Even if only three short films were screened during the course of the day-long festival, the message conveyed through them was loud and clear to be missed by anyone in the full-capacity Multi-purpose hall of Mini Secretariat, Ukhrul.

While the 58th National Award winning film for Best Ethnographic Film in the non-feature film category, Songs of Mashangva, directed by Oinam Doren, truthfully captures the travails of Guru Rewben Mashangva, who has dedicated his life to popularization of Tangkhul folk music among the people specially youths whose lifestyle and imagination have been taken over by western pop culture, Ngathingkhui Jagoi’s film The Dying Giant is an attempt to save the age-old practice and cultural tradition of Lengvei, a competition of showing strength among Tangkhul men while carrying giant paddy loads from field after harvesting.

The spectators were also given a special treat to an almost forgotten custom and rituals of evoking the blessing of rain-god among the Tangkhul people whenever there is scarcity of rain throughout a promotional screening of Rites of Rains co-directed by Chaoba Thiyam and AS Pamreiso Shimray.

There can be no two arguments over the richness and ebullience of Tangkhul culture and tradition since the days of yore.

However, the significance of much of this cultural wealth including folk songs and music have been either lost or simply neglected after embracing Christianity.

Now a situation has emerged where most of the Tangkhuls and more particularly the youths have been swept off their feet by the increasingly dominant western pop culture, thus making them hard to recognize or even understand the cultural legacy of their forefathers.

In such a scenario, the initiative of the Independent Filmmakers is laudable and it would surely help in generating interest on Tangkhul culture among the youths.

The community is also fortunate enough to have such die-hard cultural activists like Guru Rewben Mashangva, who, despite facing numerous hardships, did not dishearten from walking extra miles to meet old people in remote areas to talk to them and collect songs and instruments which are unique to Tangkhul culture and tradition.

It is to his credit that Tangkhul folk-culture has once again caught the attention of the world. The sound he produces from his Tingtelia a traditional violin type instrument, which took him 7 years to modify to suit his needs, and the Yankahuii, a long traditional bamboo flute, are so distinctive to the ears of his listeners that one is simply transported to an altogether another realm.

By the way, when he can create such magic, why does he have to strum a guitar every time he takes to the stage? Just curious to know.