not for Lepcha girls

The origin of the Lepcha Tradition of Lungten Bree started in the high villages of Upper Dzongu. The Lepchas believe that one Tarbong set his eyes upon another Rongmith who went by the name Nareep nyom. When he tried to woo her with his Rongkup charms she told him to come and ask for her hand to her parents in the village. The tradition of naamko bree started with the efforts made by Tarbong to wed his loved one the enchanting Nareep nyom.

A typical Lepcha wedding is not mere union of two souls but of two clans and as such requires sanction not from only from the elders of the family but from the departed souls of the ancestors. It is more of a spiritual union of two clans and as such serves to unite the community in both spiritual as well as mental levels. The tradition of Lepcha wedding serves to elaborate the very existence of the entire community among the hills and rivers of the Nye Mayel Lyang. Lepcha folklores are full of myths and legends of the great couples. In fact every male figure usually has a female counterpart. Eg. Fudong thing and Nazong Nyu, Thekong Tek and Nyukung Ngal, Punu Gaybu Achyok and Nalimit Pundee, Tarbong and Nareep Nyom, Rongnyu and Rongneet, Tendong Lho and Maenam Lho. This observation of the Lepcha myth categorically proves that the Lepcha tradition celebrates the union of the female and male.

So to deny this union and abstain from marriage amounts to denying one’s very heritage and one’s unique cultural identity.

As compared to other neighbouring communities Lepchas are more of Hunters and gatherers than agriculturists. The minimal agriculture practised by the Lepchas for ONGREY ZO and MONG is more of shifting type. The Lepchas traditionally never cultivated crops for commercial purposes. Thus the practise of wedding to increase manual labour did not feature in the social framework of the Lepchas unlike may communities we know. Today the advent of modernism also has not restricted the age old norms from being practised with rigid allegiance. But most Lepchas are still very wary when faced with matrimonial suggestions. Its time we packed our apprehensions and make bold decisions to carry on with what our ancestors left us.

The advent of modernism has brought about a social revolution and most of us have evolved to embrace what the times has to offer. We no longer have to toil out in the fields or hunt in the forests to scrape our meals for our extended families. Most of us have with our effort and trials secured decent paying jobs which I suppose can surely support two souls. In fact most Lepcha ladies too have joined the bandwagon of employment and are in some cases taking home packages that even we can’t imagine. Some Lepcha spinsters choose to marry non-lepchas as they are not offered with good Lepcha choices. But deep down they surely know that they would have preferred a Lepcha man. So this is where we fail to grasp the opportunity and end up in the corner with mere speculations that she would not have approved. There is no harm in trying once. The worst she can do is deny your attempt. And again with most Lepcha ladies in my mind I can safely assure that there are very less cases of denials. After all it’s not everyday she gets a good lepcha man like you asking for her hand in marriage. So just take the plunge maybe you will learn to swim later. If not there are zillions of akus, aneus, moteems, and boteems and anums and anoms who can lend a helping hand. Common we are Lepchas we are at the best when we are helping.

There is a certain hesitation in cases of unemployed bachelors. But its my observation most Lepcha parents are not so strict regarding the groom having regular service or etc. They would be more than pleased to hold their heads high in the community with a Lepcha son-in law. And as a man to another I would say you should at least have the courage and determination to support her before you go out asking her hand.

happy namsoong

woopsa...here we are ..and here goes at the top of my voice....NAAM AAL NAAMBUN SA AAACHULEY< SUTHONG NAAAM AAL SA AACHULEY>>>>rongkup naambun sa aachuley...mutanchi rongkup....aacchuley....to one all...
after all the year has come to an end and i sincerely hope the tiger year has lot better for all of us....

Single Lepchas and 2012

Khamri Ren and renyu song

This was brought to my notice by one of our active Shejum member Ren Simon lepcha. Though this was a scattered problem before and most of us just joked about it over a pack of cigarettes  and may be Pothyut or two. But now that we are heading into our uncertain future this surely multiplies our problems.Yes dear Ren and Renyu song-our community is dwindling in numbers and the icing on the cake is that more and more of our Anums and Anoms are opting for singlehood. I never realised that i would be blogging on such an issue but now this is another of the numerous threats to our community.

First and foremost We lepchas are already a minority in Nye Mayel Lyang.....(Sikkim and Darjeeling District). So in this democratic nation of ours, maybe our voice is really too small to be heard in the corridors of the law makers. Not that i have any problems with the government but yes i do realize that the loudest of the wailing babies is always nursed first. So no matter whether we don't raise our voice every time we are unjustly treated we always have been at the receiving end. We have always played the perfect host -"Nung Nahan"(Thank you Fr. Samuel) wasn't it?

Now with modern education and amenities more and more of our Lepcha Anums and Anoms embracing the freedom of Singlehood. And this surely seems to have some effect on the overall well being of the community. I am sure when the time comes for us to show our numbers  even to claim our basic fundamental right then i am sure we will have nothing to do but shy away. HAHAHA doomsday-hello 2012.

Lepcha (chinese )lady's issue

khamri

The Indigenous Lepcha Tribal association kolkata branch had a meeting yesterday(08.11.09) in my residence here in Kolkata to discuss over the issue of one Lepcha lady who was married to a Chinese here in Kolkata.She was widowed 20 years back with one son who is 30 years old today. The issue lies in the fact that her husband's family had mistreated her for a long time and she being a lepcha lady whose TAAMZUK (respect) was at stake, never went to her Lepcha family (In Manigombu, Kalimpong) for help. Recently the matter had gone out of hands as she was ousted from her home by her late husband's brother and sister.

Way back in 1994 when she already was a widow, seeing her plight her bro-in-law from Hongkong had bought her a lady's beauty parlor so that she could earn a livelihood. She was also a favoured daughter-in-law of her mother-in-law who too was a Lepcha married to a chinese man. She took care of her late husband's family with the earning from the parlor. She even recruited a Lepcha beautician from Dzongu named Saharmith.Saharmith and this aneu made a good earnings from the parlor and could support the entire family. But things took an ugly turn when her sis-in-law married to a Nepali from Kathmandu intervened. The parlor earnings became a major bone of contention whenever she came down from Kathmandu to claim her share. In fact the simple Lepcha lady never made an issue while sharing the earnings with this already married sis-in-law. So humble was she that she even took all the abusings of this wicked sis-in-law with silence and never complained.This had been going on for sometime when Aneu decided to buy herself a bigger flat with the earnings. The wicked sis-in-law from Kathmandu saw a conspiracy in this move to ouster her from her share of earnings and launched a violent opposition to the buying of the flat. Here even the innocent Saharmith was blamed for instigating aneu to buy the flat. The sis-in-law immediately called a meeting with her brother who was still in Hongkong and schemed to remove Saharmith from the parlor who she claimed was the strength behind the Aneu's bolder moves. The stupid Hong Kong Bro-in-law too saw this as a conspiracy against his remaining siblings. So convinced was he by his sister (from kathamndu) that he fired Saharmith from the parlor and made her homeless in Kolkata with mere Rs.1600 in hand. In order to clip the alleged wings of this old aneu he even made a new partnership agreement (aneu was the sole owner before) whereby he retained a greater partnership in the Parlor earnings.All this went without any complaint by the Lepcha aneu.

But recently  this Hongkong Bro-in-law returned and started getting more influenced by his sibling's complaints against aneu that first he threw his own nephew out from the home and then to make matters worse he threw out his aged Lepcha sis-in-law who had always worked for the better of this cruel chinese family. He with his cruel sister managed to seize all the savings aneu had before having her thrown out.

This is where i stepped in. Since they did not have any home to put up in i took them in and kept them at my place for 2 weeks after which Saharmith (now a successful beautician with another partner) found a rented place for them and started supporting mother son duo financially.

We brought this issue to the notice of the Kolkata Shejum who was gathered here in full force sans the always irregular president. The shejum seeing the plight of this old Lepcha lady and her son have decided to take up her issue with full participation and conviction.

Well i guess this is where the Kolkata shejum really express their conviction to work for the Lepchas......hello other Shejums of different parts of the world..there is a lesson to be learnt here....

Mother tongue

Khamri

This is highlight a certain event that took place in the West Bengal Public Service Examination (Forest Service) 2008 interview which was held on the 30.10.09. A lepcha candidate had passed both the Preliminary and Mains examination and was selected for interview. The candidate had opted for Nepali as in the examination as the choices available was Bengali, Urdu, Nepali only. But in the sec12. of the Application form the candidate had opted for Lepcha as mother tongue and stated that He/She did not belong to the Nepali speaking community (which includes all the nepali caste including the recently scheduled tribes Subba and Tamang). The candidate was proficient in both lepcha and Nepali and as such had secured good marks in her Nepali papers. The interview panel insisted on the Sec 9 of the application form which states that "if you are not a Nepali speaking community from the hills then Bengali is compulsory". The candidate had already made clear that Lepcha language was the mother tongue but he/she could easily speak read and write Nepali to which the Panel asked to write his/her name in Nepali. He/she successfully wrote the name in nepali but then the panel suggested that he/she read a Bengali newspaper to which he/she replied that he/she can't read Bengali but could easily speak and communicate in the language. Here the Panel insisted that since he/she did not belong to the Nepali speaking community he/she had to read bengali. The panel insisted adamantly and finally the candidate tried to explain the co-existence of both Lepcha and Nepali community in the hills but the panel refused to budge from their position. The candidate was taken to the Joint Secy. of the commission who also could not give any assurances.

We Lepchas are a recognised Scheduled tribe under Article 342 of the Constitution of India and also under West Bengal Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe Recognition(Identification) Act, 1994 & SC STs Welfare department Order No.261-TW/EC/MR=103/94 dated 06.04.1995). Lepcha language is recognised as tribal language and its safe gaurd is enshrined under Articles 29,30,350A of the Constitution of India. For this matter Sikkim Government has taken developmental steps by including Lepcha language in the education right from school education (since 1975) to degree levels (2003 onwards). The Sikkim government's initiative is much appreciated here as  the Lepcha language (the indigenous language of this region) has developed and borne fruits for the Lepchas of Sikkim.

Historically too lepcha language found equal acceptance in the Court of the Chogyals of the erstwhile Kingdom of Sikkim(Nye Mayel Lyang). In fact the deed that was issued to the British handing over tract of the Sikkim called Darjeeling (present day west bengal) by the Chogyal Tshugpud Namgyal in 1835 was issued in Lepcha Language. The language was the official language of the Darjeeling district till 1911. This clearly illustrates the importance of the language which was once used by the royals too.

 But in West Bengal where the officials involved in the Panel for such interviews, fail to recognise this important and protected Tribal language of the people who belong to one of the districts of their own state, clearly highlights parochialism and linguistic ignorance of the panel.

Is this a genuine case of ignorance or just a  tactic to catch the candidate off-gaurd?

here i would like to highlight few important events that usually takes place during such interviews. The first candidate usually gets the toughest of the lot cause the panel has just stepped in and wants the candidate to deliver and in some instances the panel also has members who wants to show off their knowledge.The panel has the entire record of the candidate in front of them so they can ask questions related to the candidate's records or some times questions which the candidates do not have any idea about. But the underlying purpose  is to check the personality of the candidate and the response in different situations. Well this is what i think that usually takes place.

But here the case is entirely different-the mere fact that the candidate was taken to the Joint Secy (outside the  interview room )clearly illustrates that the panel knew the incident had become volatile and needed the Joint Secy's intervention.

But the adamant attitude of the panel suggests their ignorance. The years of effort and hard work involved on the part of the candidate for this (not so easy) examinations have gone down the drain just because some bengali officials did not know about their own state.

Think my dear Friends Think.....where is this pitiful state heading into....

Renyu Hildamith----Aneu to me

Khamri Renyu Ren song

Actually i was busy with my work so could not update the blogsite as promised. Anyways things have happened since my last blog and i would just like to update my readers. I got my copy of the AACHULEY a quarterly magazine published by the Lepcha Literary Organisation of Kalimpong (that would be RONG RINGMOM KURMOM Kalimpong in Rong aring). In fact all those interested in the Lepcha activities should subscribe to this magazine. A lot of handy information can be compiled from these magazines. Interested parties could contact the INDIGENOUS LEPCHA TRIBAL ASSOCIATION headquarters in Kalimpong or you could also visit www.indigenouslepcha-tribalassociation.com for more details.

For those who could not grab their last issue here is some news for you-Renyu Hildamith Rongmith, wife of Padmashree Ren Sonam Tshering Lepcha, was awarded the prestigeous National Award "SANGEET NATAK AKADEMI Award 2008 on July 14th 2009 by the the President of India Renyu. Pratibha Patil. Renyu Hildamith Lepcha has carved herself a respected position in the Rong Sukdum. She has contributed immensely to the lepcha Cultural heritage by her compositions as a musician as well as a prolific writer. If you have visited any part of Sikkim or the lepcha land in the North Bengal, i assure there won't be any region where the Lepcha cultural events do not have a dance on any of her numerous songs. In fact in my personal level too my first Lepcha  crush  was a sweet Lepcha girl dancing to one of her popular songs-"kinchum chubong sa kurvongka"......woops that was close....
She is a Legend on her own league and with legend in husband (Ren Sona Tshering Tamsang) the Rong Sukdum has stood to gain a lot in the cultural sphere.
The Rong sukdum (lepcha world) is a small world and i think we know almost everyone or atleast we know someone who knows almost everyone. So i can proudly say that I have a close acquaintance with Renyu Hildamith. I call her aneyu and well she is gentle of a lady and one with sincere dedication to the numerous cultural activities she is involved in.In fact she makes a pretty good picture in her lovely Dumbun (the lepcha female dress) and with all her ethnic ornaments. You will not miss her in Gangtok when she is making her way to office from her residence in Development Area. She is a charming lady and always willing to share a word or two depsite her fame and popularity. For those who understand Rong aring her songs will surely touch you in every way. her lyricism ranges from love lorn hearts to the intricate relationship a lepcha shares with the surroundings and nature. I know few of her songs that so closely describes what i feel about Nye Mayel Lyang that i get a goosebumps every time i play them. Some of her songs have the intro tune based on the lepcha stringed instrument called taungbuk and the few muted notes opens the doorway to atmospheric lyrics.   I remember when i first got my own Taungbuk i was so confused. I being used to the six string tuning of EADGBE had way no idea about the complexities of such a small instrument. I have come to know that she has also taught many aspiring Lepcha musicians the melodies of lepcha tune in Taungbuk.
 Hey guitar lovers you should try this Taungbuk. It comes with inbuilt wooden Pick and has only four nylon strings---no you don't tune it like your violin or your bass guitar. The tone is somewhat like a heavily muted high notes of a violin but you can work wonders with the scales. the Modes are Phyrigian and i guess minor pentatonics will help to create a typical lepcha tune. But all the same you will love the taungbuk.
 Renyu Hildamith is also involved with the Culture Department of the Govt. of Sikkim and recently she was posted in Namchi, the south district of Sikkim.So next time you are in namchi and pass a beautiful bespectacled lepcha lady in her full ethnic attire and with a bright charming smiling face....you bet your life on it.....she is Renyu Hildamith ----A Lepcha legend in flesh and bones.

SUNGLYON and the Final Journey

The SUNGLYON or the after death ceremony of the Lepcha is highlight of the belief Lepchas hold it dear of the afterlife. Whenever fate claims one of the family a MUN is immediately contacted and the preparations of the final journey of the APIL (soul) of the deceased are made. The MUN who acts as a guide for the lost APIL performs the incantations which are very heartrending in tune and the entire chanting is melancholic. It is believed that the APIL is confused about its immediate status and has to be convinced that it has to leave this world and head for the RUMLYANG (land of the GOD) where the ancestors of the PUTSO are awaiting the return. The invocations are done in TUNGBOAR RING and it guides the APIL through the different terrain of the Lepcha country starting somewhere near the present day Sevoke town following the upstream flow of river Teesta, through the holy land of the lepcha (DZONGU in north Sikkim) right up to the allotted CHU (of the PUTSO) through the LEP (gateway or a cave) which is located in the anyone of the many Peaks near and around Mount Kanchenjunga.

The corpse is usually kept in a sitting position and buried facing the great mount Kanchenjunga. After the burial upright stones (LONGCHUKS) are erected, which is but a replica of the great LONG CHUK (Mount Kanchenjunga) itself. The total process of the burial reflects the kinship shared by the lepcha with the nature and the Creator.

The adoption of the Christian and Buddhist faith by the Lepcha has seen a decline in this practice of burial. But the efforts of the village elders and different associations are slowly bringing this tradition back to the cultural life of the Lepcha.