49

Chapter 3: The Realities of Nature and Myth

Myths form a significant part of the oral literature of the people of

North East India. The oral tales that deal with them or have a mythical base

signify the depths of a traditional wisdom that incorporate everything that

have been gathered from a rich experience of life; and are inextricable from

the oral history of the region. The richness of this region lies in its vibrant

cultures, traditions, rituals, festival, dances and folklore," the way of life of

the masses is still rooted in the traditional social base, - group solidarity and

group consciousness for collective endeavour and welfare..., creativity is

collective and participating. As a result, folklore is still a major component

of the living culture of the people of the region. It has been growing and

absorbing new elements."' ]

To many writers of this region, "legends and stories are still a

wellspring of thought and emotions that are restored in a peculiar blend of

myth and memory unique to the region."^ Most of the poets of this region

use myth and nature alongside themes of violence, corruption and politics.

Being deeply rooted in their past, these poets speak about their history and

their past, the land and its people, its myths and rituals, culture and

tradition, festivals and dances. Legends are portrayed with the "intensity of
 50

reality and reality is portrayed with the intensity of longing for a vanished

past".^ Thus:

The history of our race

begins with the place of stories.

We do not know if the language we speak

belongs to written past'*

In these lines, Mamang Dai talks about the mystery that shrouds the origins

of the people of this region. "North-Easterners are conscious that they have

no recorded history about their antecedents. Their historical past and

migration routes are shrouded in mystery."^ Although, no written records

are available these stories have been passed down from generation to

generation by word of mouth. They have seeped into the mind of people

over the centuries like "a gift of understanding generated by itself."^

An accepted practice that is never questioned is that the people of this

region go back to the past to reconnect with their roots. Their visions of the

past have been captured in the words of Robin Ngangom:

In Kangleipak once upon a time

the royal feast of Kangla bit his tail

 51

and the land lay snug within his coils,

and there was no dearth of mundane things

Here, the poet speaks of the vanished past, of how the land prospered and

flourished and was well-protected by their warriors. Kangleipak is the

historical name of Manipur and Kangla, the ancient seat of Manipur royalty.

Origin and creation myth form the substance of many poems:

The mountain is a disguise

of earth woman rising to meet her sky lover.

In this story, earth and sky are "lovers and when the sky makes love to the

Earth every kind of tree and grass and all living creatures come into being".

The lovers however, must separate, for as long as they cling together there

is nowhere for their children to live. In the Minyong tradition, "after their
/
separation, the Earth always longed to return to her husband to be one with

him again. But as she was raising herself to the sky, the Sun and Moon

appeared, and she was ashamed and could not go further. That part of her

which was reaching towards her lord became fixed for ever, as the great

mountains."^ That is how according to them, mountains stand as high as the

sky. Such myths relating to geographical places abound in their poetry.

 52

Mamang Dai attempts to project the importance of these myths in her

society by invoking them repeatedly. She coritinues:

Drop the rainbow down,

the rain is potent drink

for spirits seeking heavenly brides. ^°

According to the Sherdukpen's story, a tribe from Arunachal

Pradesh, rainbows are "four water-spirits, white, black, yellow and red, who

live in springs among the hills and from time to time wander across the

heavens for ever seeking wives as lovely as themselves. The rainbow is the

path of blended colours that they make across the sky".^* These people

seem to have answers for each natural phenomenon and poets of this region

interweave these myths into their poetry. In another poem, Mamang Dai

talks about the myth concerning the creation of the world. The Singphos tell

of "a woman in the form of a cloud... bom out of the primaeval fog and

mist. She has a son and daughter, who are like snow, and from them the

earth and sky are bom. At first the earth is only mud and the sky lies upon it

as a thick cloud, but when the wind is bom, it dries the mud, thus making

the earth solid and drives the sky far away." Thus:

We are the children of the rain

 53

of the cloud woman,

112

After the earth was thus created, human beings came into existence,

emphasizing the fact that myth has become a reality.

Some of the myths and legends are concerned with the coming of the

first progenitors of their own communities. In relation to this, in one of her

poems, Temsula Ao refers to an Ao-Naga myth:

Lungterok

The six stones

Where the progenitors

And forebears

Of the stone-people

Were bom

Out of the womb

Of the earth*^

According to the Ao-Naga myth, "the first people, three males and three

females, emerged out of the six stones at a place called Lungterok," which

literally means 'six stones'. The males were Tongpok (of the Pongener

clan), Longpok (of the Longkumer clan) and Longjakrep (of the Jamir
 54

clan); and the females were Longkapokla (of the Pongener clan),

Yongmenala (of the Longkumer clan) and Elongse (of the Jamir clan).

Tongpok married Elongse, Longpok married Longkapokla and Longjakrep

married Yongmenala. "This was the institution of exogamous marriage

established by the first fathers, which continues till today and is an

inalienable tenet of Ao-Naga social custom."^^ Here Temsula Ao articulates

the mythical sense of history that characterizes most communities of the

region. She has been able to bring out the historical and mythical

foundation of her own society in a poem that reminds the Ao-Naga society

of their roots.

In one of his poems, Ngangom mentions the mythical ancestor of

Meiteis, Poireiton, who is believed to have led his people all the way

carrying fire with him to find a new settlement. This is how they came to

live in their present land that is Manipur. According to their myth, they

migrated there as a result of an epidemic. Thus :

On a grey dawn we joined Poireton

with provision of fire in his guest

for men free from disease and death

 55

we the companions of Poireton^^

Through these myths, they trace their roots to the past by their

attempts to understand it through a process of articulation and writing.

Poets like Nongkynrih draws upon his own myths for purposes of moral

education. As a poet, he would like to remind his people, "of the virtues of
17

their ancestors' ways and the necessity of perpetuating them." In this

poem, he talks about Ren, a fisherman from a village called Nongjri, who

falls in love with a river nymph and goes to live with her in the river

leaving his old mother with this consolation:

" Motiier," he had said,

"listen to the river.

As long as it roars

You will know that I live."^^

Here, "symbolically, Ren is asking later generations to listen to the

sound of his people's life."^^ According to the poet, the sound of his

people's life and their way can only be voiced through one's mother tongue.

That is why, he feels that writing in it would help the soimd of his people's

life grow stronger. Through his mother tongue, he would be able to reach

out to his own people and impart their past culture and tradition through his
 56

writing, there by, helping them in preserving it. However, Nongkynrih also

continues to write in English.

Many places in the region have names associated with myths and

legends linked to them. Nongkynrih speaks of the gorges of Sohra or

Cherrapunjee which is associated with the legend of U Thlen or Thlen, a

supposedly man-eating, blood-sucking serpent who is still alive:

Where the serpent's death throes

cut deep wounds into the land

lie deep gorges like fiendish mouths

yawning for desperate victims

According to the legend, the gorges of Sohra or Cherrapunjee were

caused by the death-throes of the Thlen which once supposedly stalked its

wilderness. Its death-throes were so powerful that they made deep cracks in

the land creating the famous gorges known as Ka Riat Mawriew.

In his poems, Ngangom evokes the spirit of the waterfall associated

with the legend of Ka Likai:

We passed weeping stones

silent faces of stone wrinkled with pain

and a young wind scouring the gorge.

 57

I descend the broken course

of a shrivelled stream to the green pool

sunk by the waterfall.

Ka Likai was a young widow who had a girl child. She remarried a man

who later murdered her child out of jealousy; cooked and served her the

flesh of the child. After discovering this heinous act, Ka Likai jumped to

her death from the edge of this waterfall.

One notices the process of acculturation that has taken place in the

region over the years. There is the "Aryan-Hindu influence over non-Aryan

non-Hindu tribal stocks, leading eventually in a great many cases to

integration, assimilation and absorption of the erstwhile tribal elements"

into a non-tribal complex. This is reflected in the considerable volimie of

folklore present in the region, that have been Hinduised and Sanskritised;

some of them are associated with the great Indian epics like the Ramayana

and Mahabharata. Chandrakanta Murasingh, says this of himself:

Death is my ultimate glory

For I am the last-bom of Hidimba

Here, the poet refers to Ghatutkach, the son of Hidimba, princess of

the Kachar Kingdom now Cachar district, and Bhim in Mahabharata. He

 58

laid down his life for the Pandavas in the battle of Kurukshetra. Murasingh

wants to portray Ghatutkach as a victim of Krishna's politics. In the battle

between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, Kama of the Kanravas wanted to

kill Aijuna, In order to save him, Krishna put Ghatutkach in the front

instead of Arjuna. He was killed subsequently. The people of North East

India are likened to Ghatutkach the imwary victim, who have always been

exploited by politicians from the mainland India.

Monarchy was an institution that thrived in the past. It is recalled in

ambiguous tones of unresolved feeling, for it is associated with conflict and

misrule for many poets. Nilmani Phookan mentions one such Ahom King

named Gaurinath in one of his poems:

Keep both the doors open

Gaurinath is arriving^'^

Gaurinath was a cruel king of medieval Assam who had an illicit

relationship with his maid. He remembers the sexual exploitation of the

king which resulted in a revolt. Helpless women have always been victims

of such man in power, a fitting comment for many present atrocities

committed against women.

 59

In another poem, Phookan talks about a rebel named Bhotai who was

supposedly killed by the Ahom King:

Hey are you awEike

It's me your Bhotai

from under the hyacinth flowers

Bhotai was a rebel who disapproved of autocracy. He is an inspiring figure

for the present generation and his voice is heard by others today.

The enchanting love stories of the past are reflected in poets like

Ngangom who makes use of Khasi myths in his poems:

none remembers the passing of Manik Raitong

and how he planted his bamboo flute

for earth to play music in spring.

He narrates the story of Manik Raitong, who was orphaned early in life. He

had an illicit affair with the king's (syiem) wife.When the King knew about

the affair, he ordered U Raitong's death. He was an accomplished musician

before his immolation. U Raitong drove his bamboo flute into the earth. It is

believed that the bamboo flute took root there. He speaks about another

love story, that of Khuman Khamba and Thoibi from Manipur.

 60

It was Khuman Khamba of Manipur

who told Thoibi that he belongs

to one woman in all the land,

27

These poets celebrate love traditions that are still popular among the people

of the region.

The peaceful coexistence of man and beast is an aspect that is often

spoken about as being a part of the idyllic life. Mamang Dai presents one

such relationship in her poem:

The tiger runs swiftly fi-om my father's house

calling my name.

Brother ! Man Brother !

Have mercy for our destiny.

According to the Arunachali belief, man and tiger were brothers. The

killing of a tiger amounted to the killing of a man and the rituals associated

with it are rigorous. Similarly, when a man is attacked or killed, strict

rituals are performed to select a man to lead the hunt to find the tiger. The

poem has a deeper meaning. It delivers a social message against the

destruction of the ecology.

 61

Chandrakanta Murasingh talks about a monkey who take a woman

for his wife. He tricks her into marrying him by taking away her clothes

while she was bathing in the stream. They have a child named Tote:

A chong full offish for Totema to bring.

Days on end did I spend

Gazing into the water of the spring

Getting used to life by waterside.

Here, the poet tells us how the monkey tries to please his wife by bringing

fish for her but his effort is in vain as the woman can never love the

monkey. In another poem Murasingh talks about how the monkey was later

killed by the wife:

It's the near one, and the dear one

Who edges me towards the broken plank of the tong^^

The woman pushes him fi-om the tong (tribal hut on stilts ) by tricking and

killing him. The monkey is symbolic of an uncivilized world. The poet

speaks about the incompatibility of the two worlds - civilized and

uncivilized worlds. These two worlds are poles apart and are incompatible

with each other.

 62

Nilmani Phookan draws his images from one of the folktales. He

talks about Tejimala:

As if I've heard it first

so lonely

Where are you from, o boatman

My mind's got transfixed

on the damson leaves

Tejimala was killed by her stepmother while the father was away from

home on business. She turns into a rose plant and blooms on the river bank.

As the father was returning home in a boat after six months, he sees the

flower and as he was about to pluck them for his daughter, the plant speaks

to him, unveiling her identity. The grief and loneliness of Tejimala is

captured by the poet though words of grief and shock.

Rituals, traditions, dances and festivals form an important layer in the

poetry of this region. Rituals are performed on different occasions and have

a "pronounced roles to play" in folk religion as is the assertion of

"identity". Mamang Dai describes the rituals performed during funerals:

When the singing rises

 63

death itself will cease.

Blue beads in your hair will turn you.

Here the poet explains the strengthening of ties through women who tell

stories and men who sit near the dead. They sing songs of lamentation

recalling childhood and youth, as the relatives of the deceased fasten beads

and sacred twine to their hair and wrists. In the same way, Temsula Ao

mentions a ritual, the 'genna' which is practiced in Nagaland on many

occasions:

Next I erected the circle of 'genna'

Around the still and bloody duo^'*

While returning from his jhum fields, the man comes across a doe

and her new bom and without a thought kills them with his spear. He

grieves for his action, "Grief engulfing my suddenly / Tired body, I stood

there numb". He hurriedly covers it with wild grass to mark his shame,

asking for Nature's forgiveness. Then, he erects the circle of'genna' around

them in order to keep people away from the place. 'Genna' signifies a place

that is unclean, sacred or tabooed, a prohibited area.

 64

Dances and festivals of the region liave meaning located deeper than

the show. Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih talks of the 'Weiking' festival and

sees its relation to the social:

Weiking ! Weiking!

Spring is back, begin your whirling motions

and let our life live on.

Mamang Dai also talks about the dance called Tapu which is

performed by men during the time of commimity fencing:

That dying is not so hard

if the image survives.

When the wind is young

sow celebration,

seize the branch of lightening,

dress the thorn wood stem

for conception. ^^

Today this is viewed as a 'Svar dance performed to exercise

malevolent spirits, but once there was a belief that women who had borne

no son could put on male attire and join the dancers in the hope of

conceiving a son".
 65

In yet another poem, she refers to the "ponung" dance of the Adis

performed by the young girls of the village for many days and night during

the festival of "solung":

We danced so long

we broke all our bracelets

'in

to please a fancy.

The poet tells us how the girls dance to the chanting of the priest recounting

the legend of birth and creation. On one particular night, the young dancers

who travel the road are instructed to stay awake and be alert as a misstep

may spell illness or early death.

The overwhelming presence of nature in the poetry of North East

India is heard in the "river with its magical voice, the twin gods of water

and mist, the land heavy with memories, the forest that lingers..."^^ Poets

like Mamang Dai turn back to nature for soul searching reasons that are

known only to her:

The sun brands the eastern mountains.

the flash of summer revealed

intricate nature,

divinity in trees.
 66

A river of Stars.

Though myth £ind nature sometimes form the core of their

poetry, they are never used as vehicles of escapism for in "losing their way,

completely in the violent cultural changes of times, there is bom a desire in

them to rehabilitate the past as high culture", '^^ and to forge a renewing

relationship with nature. Though they seek solace in their past and in

nature, these are used to help them coniS-ont their present:

I know, from faces that I meet

in this lives that have crumbled

that the past lives in these eyes

that the jungle shows, sometimes. "**

These poets resurrect the beauty of their land as Nongkynrih does

when he recalls the beauty of Cherrapvinjee, his native place:

The ears had listened to the fimes of the waterfalls,

the music of the trickling streams,

and screened by the fog

those remain my Cherra's only reality. '^^

 67

The fog reminds him of the past beauty of Cherrapunjee, with its 'cedar-

dotted hills', the place where he grew up and is filled with its memories. He

expresses his sadness to see his land become barren:

And this is Cherra,

with shreds of the beautiM past

but going bald all the time

Temsula Ao laments the abuses heaped upon her land:

Alas for the forest

Which now lies silent

Stunned and stumped

With the evidence

Of her rape. "^

Disappointed at the environmental degradation that has taken place in the

region, the disappearance of forests and its barrenness all over the region,

they recall the virgin forest of the past with their tall trees that seem to be

"Unpenetrated/ Even by the mighty sun".

Poets like Nilmani Phookan make use of nature images to convey

messages encoded in poetry. In his poem, 'Mating Music', he describes

love and union in terms of nature:

 68

In the woods

deep in the woods

a crane calls

Open out both your arms

let a swarm of stars sink

into the aroma of your hair.'*^

He describes the chaos and anxiety that is prevalent in society at

present, caused by violence through by using images like uprooted trees and

smashed houses which can be the result of a violent storm:

The trees seem uprooted

in waters

of that mad tusker

smashing houses.. /^

Living close to nature, poets from this region elicit the soimds of

nature like the "Woodland notes of the birds, / Melody of the flute floating

from the hut on stilts" and "Bark of the deer from the northern hills" which

"the cool wind carries all the time".'*^ Anupama Basumatary describes the

setting of the sim through metaphors:

 69

You know well

how the crimson lass

enters the blue house

opening the cloudy door'^*

The picture of the setting sun as a crimson lass and the sky as the

blue house with a cloudy door into which the lass enters is an evocative

presentation of nature's best moments. These lines also emphasise again

and again the sense of rootedness that these poets keep alive within them.

Thus, they are always trying to recapture nature in their poetry .In yet

another poem of hers, she speaks about the smell of the earth, thus:

In the gamosa of my peasant father

A raw earthy smell

Still lingers!^^

Even long after the monsoon, she can still smell the earth in her

father's 'gamosa'. The lulling sights and presence of nature is a dimension

of life that many poets have struggled to express.

These poets also have great attachment to their land and their ties are

strong:

There are ties

 70

we do not talk about.

I confuse you with my penance,

but there are the secrets

of my clenched heart.^°

Mamang Dai elaborates upon the ties that she has for her land. Even when

she is far away, she recalls rivers, summer rain and the years spent there.

Echoes of it in Thangjam Ibopishak's poetry reveals a deep love for

his land:

Manipur, I love your hills, marshes, rivers,

Greenfields, meadows, blue sky.^*

And in another poem he says:

I love

these fields, pastures, hills

lakes, and green woods of Manipur. ^^

In their poetry, the land is inextricable from everything that gives

them meanmg. It forms the subject of their daily lives. Its influence is felt at

all times:

The woman stirs the ash- heaps on the hearth

Urging the smoldering embers to fine and light

 71

To begin her morning chores.""'

Temsula Ao presents to the reader a village morning, at a time when a

woman usually starts her day. She gives a vivid description of the activities

of villagers, especially of woman at the start of the day.

The simple life of a farmer is clearly depicted in Anupama

Basumatary's poem:

During the monsoon when the ploughs

The field or when he reaps the paddy

On an autumn noon and walks with

On the village path with the sheaf

Of paddy on his shoulder

He keeps on humming the notes

Of some country song^"^

The poet portrays the contentment and happiness that a farmer

derives from his land.

Even, the taste of their food brings poetry to the palette. Thek poems

are laden with exotic culinary items:

Those days I picked the upside down snails

from the stalks of growing grain

 72

and fill my creel till the neck. ^^

Basumatary likes to remove their shells and watch the tongues recoil before

she boils them.

They talk about village women "traipsing down the dirt road,"

"farmer ploughing under the summer sky", "damsels planting saplings" and

"rustling wind from the meadows". ^

Thus, the poetry of North East India consists of the mosaic of

myths and legends, rituals and dances, festivals and cultures, traditions and

people that make their poetry dense with meaning. Nature images and

metaphors derived from this mosaic give their poetry a sense of rootedness

and belonging for they go back into the past to emerge better able to

understand their present.

Intimately interwoven into their poetry is this sense of history

that is animated by their deep interest in their own myths and legends.These

are the other realities that they are bent upon preserving through their

poetry. One sees that these poets are also conscious of themselves as being

the interpreters of the natural landscapes of their homeland, whose poetry

captures the essential beauty of the land, when that beauty is almost on the

brink of being wiped out.

 73

End Notes

'j.B.bhattacharjee, "North-East Indian Perspectives in History," North-

East And The Indian State: Paradoxes of a periphery, ed. P.S.Datta (New

Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd, 1995)12.

^Mamang Dai, "On Creation Myths and Oral Narratives," ed. Geeti Sen,

The North-East: Where the Sun Rises When the Shadows Fall, (New

Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006)

Mamang Dai, "North-East Poetry"Muse India the literary ejournal, Jul-

Aug 2006, 27 March 007 <http://www.museindia.com/showcont.asp7id

=286>

^Mamang Dai, "Obscure Place," Indian Literature XLIX.4 (2005):85.

^Patricia Mukhim, "Where is the North-East?" ed. Sen, The North - East

181.

^ a i , "On Creation Myths and Oral Narratives," ed. Sen, The North-East 6.

Robin Ngangom, "The Quest As Beginning," Words and the Silence

(Calcutta: Writers Workshop Publication, 1998) 22-23.

Dai, "Images," River Poems (Calcutta: Writers Workshop Publications,

2004)31-32.
 74

Verrier Elwin, introduction, Mvths of the Nortli-East Frontier of India

by Elwin (Shillong: T. P. Khaund, 1958) XXII.

' ^ a i , "Images," River Poems 31-32.

"Elwin, introduction, Mvths of the North-East Frontier of India XXIII.

^^Elwin, "The Creation of the World," Mvths of the North-East Frontier

of India 7.

"Dai, "Birthplace," River Poems 79.

*'*T Ao, "Stone People From Lungterok," Anthologv of Contemporary

Poetrv from the North-East. eds. Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, and Robin

S Ngangom (Shillong: NEHU Publications, 2003) 213.

Temsula Ao, "Ao-Naga Myths in Perspective," Between Ethnographv

and Fiction: Verrier Elwin and the Tribal Questions in India, eds. T .B.

Subha and Sujit Som (New Delhi: Orient Longman Private Limited,

2005) 161.

^^gangom, "To the Blind, the Deaf," Time's Crossroads (Hyderabad

Orient Longman Limited, 1994 )58-59.

Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, " The Writer and the Community: A Case

for Literary Ambidexterity," India-Poetrv International web. 1 March

 75

2005, 27 March 2007 <http://india.poetrymtemationalweb.org/piw_cms/

cms/cms_module/index.ppp?obj_id=6285&x=l>

^^Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, " Ren*," Anthology, eds. Nongkynrih,

andNgangom 158.

'^Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, "The Writer and the Community: A Case

for Literary Ambidexterity," India-Poetrv International web. 1 March

2005,27March2007<http://india.poetryintemationalweb.org/

piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.ppp?obj_id=6285&x=l>

^^ongkynrih, "Cherrapunji In The Fog," Indian Literature 190*

ser.XLIII.2(1999)47.

^^Ngangom, "At Noh Ka Likai's," Time's Crossroads 60-61.

Birendranath Datta, "Dimensions of Contact Among Tribal and Non-

tribal Populations in North- East India: Reflections from Folklore," The

Turbulent North-East (New Delhi: Akshar Publications, 1996) 11.

Chandrakanta Murasingh, "As I Am," trans. Prof. Saroj Chaudhuri,

Select Poems (Agartala: Smt. Shuna Pal, 2005) 63.

^'*Nilmani Phookan, "Keep Both the Doors Open," trans. Krishna Dulal

Barua, Selected Poems of Nilmani Phookan (New Delhi: Sahitya

Akademi, 2007) 73-74.

 76

^^Phookan, "The Trees Seem Uprooted," trans. Nirindra Nath Thakuria,

Unpublished poem.

^^gangom, "Spring at Ri Bhoi," Time's Crossroads 22.

^^Ngangom, "Khamba of Moirang," Words and the Silence 28.

^^Dai, "Man and Brother," River Poems 50-51.

^Vlurasingh, "The Python's Call From The Tong-Deserted," trans. Dr.

Bamapada Mukheijee, Select Poemsl3.

^^urasingh, "Forgetting," Indian Literature 197* ser. XUY.3 (2000)31.

^^Phookan, "As if I've Heard it First," trans. Nirendra Nath Thakuria,

unpublished poem.

^^Saswati Biswas, "Preservation of Tribal Culture in North-East India -

How strong is the Non-tribal?" Tribal Studies in North East India (New

Delhi: Mittal Publications, 2002 )37.

^^Dai, "Let No Tear*," River Poems 46-47.

^'^Temsula Ao, "The Spear," Poetry from Nagaland (New Delhi: Savio

Publications Pvt. Ltd, 2005)141-143.

^^ongkynrih, "Weiking," Khasia in Gwalia ed. Nigel Jenkins (Port

Talbot Wales: Alun Books, 1995)

^ ^ a i , "Tapu," River Poems 42-43.

 77

"Dai, "Song of the Dancers," River Poems 19-20.

^^K. Satchidanandan, Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from the

North-East by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, and Robin S Ngangom

(Shillong: NEHU Publications, 2003) Cover.

^ ^ a i , "River Poems," River Poems 57-58.

'^^ynpham Sing Nongkynrih, "The Writer and the Community: A Case

for Literary Ambidexterity", India-Poetry International Web 1 March

2005, 27 March 2007 <http://india.poetryintemationalweb.org/piw_cms/

cms/cms_module/index.ppp?obj_id=6285&x= 1 >

^^Dai, "The Balm of Time," River Poems 57-58.

'^^Nongkynrih, "Cherrapunjee In the Fog," Moments (Calcutta: Writers

Workshop Publications, 1992)19.

"^^Nongkynrih, "A Day In Cherrapunjee: I," Moments (Calcutta: Writers

Workshop Publications, 1992) 22-23.

^T. Ao, "Lament For Earth," Songs That Tell (Calcutta: Writers

Workshop Publications, 1998) 45-47.

'^^Phookan, "Mating Music," trans. Nirendra Nath Thakuria,

Chandrabhaga 2°** ns (2000): 104.

 78

'^^hookan, "The Trees Seem Uprooted," trans. Nirendra Nath Thakuria,

unpublished poem.

'^^Murasingh, "Memoirs of the Woods," trans. Prof. Saroj Chaudhuri,

Select Poems 11.

"•^Anupama Basimiatary, "You Know Well," trans. Pradip Acharya,

unpublished poem.

''^Basumatary, "Dream," trans. Arunabha Bhuyan, unpublished poem.

^ ^ a i , "Ties," River Poems 14-15.

^'Thangjam Ibopishak, "Manipur, Why Shouldn't I Love Tour Hills,

Marshes, Rivers, Fields, Open Spaces," trans. Robin S Ngangom,

Anthology eds. Nongkynrih, and Ngangom 88-89.

^^Ibopishak, "Roaming The Villages At Evening," trans. Robin S

Ngangom, Indian Literature 179^ p21-24.

^^Temsula Ao, "A Village Morning," Songs from Here and There

(Shillong: NEHU Publications, 2003)12-15.

Basumatary, "The Fanner," trans. Arunabha Bhuyan, unpublished

poem.

^^Basumatary, "Snails," trans. Pradip Acharya, Anthology eds,

Nongkynrih and Ngangom 19.

 79

^^asumatary, "An Evening in Our Village," trans. Pradip Acharya,

unpublished poem.