II
The following couplet, which is not connected with the foregoing, calls perhaps for some explanation. The words, of which a free translation is appended, are supposed to be uttered by a Kachári damsel, the village belle, to a fickle lover, who, after paying court to her for a time, deserts her and marries another. The faithless swain is a man of some little importance in the village community as a dāng dāliyā, or drum-major, one of his functions being to beat the big drum (madal) at all festivals, marriage processions, &c. He has the misfortune to lose his wife after a month or two of wedded life, and then would fain return to the “old love.”
Armed therefore with his big drum of office and apparelled in his gayest attire, he presents himself before the Kachári belle and renews his suit for her hand. Now the average Kachári maiden has a wholesome sense of her own value (in married life she is not unfrequently the “better man” of the two), and no more relishes being “jilted” than her sisters in other and more civilised parts of the world. She at once, therefore, repels his advances in the most positive and unqualified way; and not only so, but in the presence of a large bevy of scornful village maidens, all highly resentful of the faithless lover’s fickleness, she proceeds to pour contempt on his suit in the following severely sarcastic couplet (”facit indignatio versus”):—
Dáng-dáliyá, dángdáliyá.
Mozáng mozáng gán-blá-ba
Náng-kho náng-li-yá; nang-li-yá
Handsome raiment though you wear,
I’m not for you, I do declare.
(The original Kachári verse is singularly emphatic.)
Or
“You come to me in bright array:
I’m not for you; be off, I say.
This dandy swain my mate would be?
No ‘second-hand lover,’ girls, for me.”
The above couplets may perhaps be fairly looked upon as typical illustrations of the Kachári temperament and character, and it may be inferred from them that human nature among this interesting race does not greatly differ from human nature in other and more civilised countries of the world.
It may perhaps be added that whilst the Garos living in the plains observe both the January and the April Bihus, their brethren in the Hills ignore both, though they would seem to have certain special harvest festivals of their own. The people of the North Cachar Hills, on the other hand, seem to observe only one annual Bihu, of the nature of a harvest home, at any time between October and December. These Kachári festivals are almost always attended by an immoderate consumption of the national rice-beer, not to say by actual drunkenness in not a few cases. On the other hand, they have their good side in that they help to keep the people to some extent beyond the influence of the destructive vortex of Hinduism, in which their simple primitive virtues might otherwise be so readily engulfed, and the adoption of which in whole or in part is invariably accompanied by a grave and deep-seated deterioration in conduct and character.
[1] See S. Matt. xxii. 37, or (what was written many centuries earlier) Deut. vi. 5, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” [↑]
[2] Modai (Assamese: deota, devta), a god, spirit, &c. Hām-na (Hindustani pakar or Assamese dharna): to catch, lay hold of, &c. Hence “Modai hāmdang, an (evil) spirit has seized (me),” “got hold (of me).” [↑]
[3] Nă, house (ghar). Gámi, village (gáon). [↑]
[4] It is probable that her great function, i.e., guardianship of the paddy field, is indicated by her name; for mai = paddy (Assamese dhán); and na (náo) = to watch over, keep (Assamese rakha); hence mai-náo = “the protector of the rice-fields.” [↑]
[5] See “The Koch Kings of Kamrup,” by E. A. Gait, Esq., I.C.S. [↑]
[6] I have seen such a puja on the Manas river. The principal offering to the river god was a duck. [↑]
[7] Cf. St. Luke’s account of the “Pythonissa,” Acts xvi. 16–18. [↑]
[8] Cf. Khasi birth custom, p. 124, “The Khasis.”—[Ed.] [↑]
[9] Cf. the Jewish ceremonial described in Leviticus, xii. [↑]
[10] Cf. the well-known instance of “man Friday” in Robinson Crusoe. [↑]
[11] It will be remembered that the Kacháris are sometimes spoken of as “Children of Bhim” (Mahabharat), who is said on one occasion to have eaten up unaided the meal provided for himself and his four brothers. [↑]
[12] Assamese, gā-dhan, body-price.—[Ed.] [↑]
[13] See Genesis, xxix. 20. Very eloquent in their simplicity and straightforwardness are the words in which the sacred writer describes this “tale of true love” in the days when the world was young. “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.” “The labour we delight in physics pain.” [↑]
[14] This may be a survival of the old practice “marriage by capture.” [↑]
[15] Another instance of the prevalence of a belief that spirits cannot cross running water without assistance. (Cf. The Khasis, pp. 135, 141.—Ed.) [↑]
[16] The interesting thing is that a Visu festival is also in use in Eastern Bengal. The matter is one which might be investigated, say, by the Vangiya Sāhitya Parisat.—[Ed.] [↑]
SECTION V
Folk-Lore, Traditions and Superstitions
On this section of the subject there is no need to dwell at any length; indeed, materials for the purpose are to a great extent wanting. Of traditions, properly so called, whether historical or otherwise, the Kacháris of this district would seem to be almost absolutely destitute. Nor can they be regarded as a superstitious race, for it is only when suffering from a serious outbreak of cholera, Kálá-azár, or other like public calamity, that they make frequent, and sometimes costly, offerings to their deities as shown in some detail in the preceding section. As a rule the people are of a bright, cheerful disposition; and as a planter friend once remarked to the writer, of all the various races employed on his extensive tea estates the Kacháris were the only people who might be frequently heard whistling merrily as they went to and from their daily toil. Moreover, the subject of Kachári folk-lore has already been effectively dealt with by a writer fully competent to do it ample justice; and perhaps the objects aimed at in this section will be best attained by re-issuing three or four of the more characteristic and typical of the interesting series of Kachári folk-tales collected by this writer, some fifteen years since, from an intelligent member of the Kachári race still (1906) resident in this district (Darrang).[1]
Kachári Village Interior (Kamrup District).
From a Photograph by Mrs. H. A. Colquhoun.