Voices in the Wind

Edited by Namita Gokhale & Malashri Lal

Penguin Viking

Mountain Myths meet Modern Lens

By Chetna Keer

The title "Voices in the Wind" is a harbinger that this book is like a mountain breeze which meanders into crevices and crannies to carry forth forgotten whispers from far and wide.

 

The aesthetically produced anthology of folktales from the Himalayas is a literary collage spanning four varied topographies of the majestic mountain range. It covers the Western Himalaya, Central Himalaya, Central-Eastern Himalaya and North-Eastern Himalaya.

 

Culling folklore embedded in such sprawling and scattered geographies is no mean task. The extensive research by scholars and folklorists is evident in the spectrum of the stories.

 

Myth and memory map out their vivid palettes. Oral history fashions the brushstrokes that fill this literary canvas.

 

The anthology weaves in motifs that thread together the tales with commonality  -- myths to mysticism, superstition to sacred spaces, canons of cosmic creation to beliefs governing life, death and rebirth. The tug-of-war between good and evil, the moral dogma driving folklore, is also encoded extensively in these Himalayan folk narratives.

 

Yet, in this unity there's diversity. Each Himalayan geography tosses up its unique leitmotifs and symbolisms, springing from distinct cultural history and social mores.

 

The first segment covers the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. Quaint tales from Dogri, Gojri, Bhaderwahi and other folklore enliven this section. 

 

Tales like "A Pomegranate bud", "Crow-Girl and Kaw-Bab", "Ban Budhi - the Jungle Witch" strike a chord. Deserving particular mention is the tale "Mahadev Bishta - The Clever Thief of Kashmir". It pays an ode to the Robin Hood-esque figure whose wisdom is reminiscent of Birbal's ingenuity.

 

The tales in the next segment, Central Himalaya, span the regions of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

 

As the geography shifts, so do the motifs and beliefs threading the tales. Since both regions cradle sacred landscapes and are revered as the abodes of divinity, Dev sthan or dev bhoomi, there is a palpable subtext of spirituality, sacred spaces and supremacy of nature's forces. 

 

A distinct thread that runs through this segment is ecological crisis or concerns that are as much rooted in ancient challenges as they are rife in contemporary life.

 

Be it "The Legend of Sui Mata", or the myth of "Boindra Dev of the Shimla Hills", the role of ritualism - sacrifice of humans or beasts - as a community tool for appeasing or averting nature's wrath is aptly underscored. Boindra Dev emerges as a forefather of modern ecologists with his plantation drive of deodar and kail seeds on barren land.

 

The Himachali tales especially struck a chord since having stayed in the Himalayas to pen much of my Gulmohar Trilogy, this region's folklore had fallen on one's ears, courtesy a chattering 'khaadu' caretaker.

 

Among the Kumaoni tales, a tale that brought on a smile was rooted not in profound theories but in pure pragmatism. Hill folks are not only a repository of centuries of oral history, but are also a treasure house of sheer pragmatism in day-to-day life, as is borne out in the tale "Roll My Pumpkin!". Reminiscent of a childhood fed on fantasy and fables such as "Little Red Riding Hood', it is steeped in the ingenuity of mountain folk in fending off jungle beasts out to prey on a granny on a visit to her daughter.

 

The section on Central - Eastern Himalaya spans  the folklore from Bhutan, Sikkim and North Bengal.

 

The personification of nature's forces is what imbues these with a human face in folklore. Myth is culled from memory, personification is what makes myth a memory. This is evocatively brought out in the Lepcha tale, "The Story of Teesta and Rangeet". The personification of the two rivers as lovers makes it linger long after the pages have been turned.

 

Most of the tales are peopled by customary creatures that are a staple of fablehood. Witches, sorceresses, snakes, pythons and the ilk. Interestingly, not all cultures and beliefs imbue evil or villainous roles to the snake species. There are tales such as "The Snake Prince of Ladakh" , "Himal Te Nagrai', "Naga King, Karkotaka"", "Budhi Nagin" and others that portray these creatures in either heroic or humane roles. "Champawati" personifies the dual characters of a python, in an almost Seeta-Aur-Geeta or Dr Jekyll-and-Mr Hyde-sque fashion.

 

The specific geographies spout their own visual vocabulary and cultural emblems. If one gets glimpses of the Kashmiri 'Raade' festival, one also learns of the Pi-me festival of the North-East. The linguistic diversity driving mythical names in different Himalayan topographies is also brought forth. Fairies are intrinsic to fables, but one learns of their unique Himachali nomenclature in "Saonings of Kinnaur".

 

The tales from the North-Eastern Himalaya toss up this topography's unique sights, sounds and smells. Each folk culture perpetuates its own template of myth-making about cosmic creation. 

 

Several stories in this section thus are a mirror to the bedrock of  beliefs about nature's phenomenon. Be it the Dimasa myth, "How the Rainbow Came to be", the Khasi fable, "What Causes the Shadows on the Moon" or "The Legend of Lake Shilloi", these tales best bear testimony to the deeply entrenched grip that myth-making about scientific phenomenon has over popular imagination. 

 

The vagaries of nature spawn their own share of myth-making. This is beautifully borne out in the Garo tale, "The Origin of Rice", where the Wind God and God of Hail and Rain get into the act in aid of the grain.

 

The unique flora and fauna of the North-East are paid a befitting ode in "Pago-Rip: The Gift of God to the Lepchas" and  "Kherenghar: The Heavenly Flower". 

 

The aesthetics of the volume deserves special mention. Each segment is artistically symbolised by an element of fauna from the particular Himalaya, be it a bird or beast. Enlivening the pages are woodcut printing visuals by noted Assamese artist based in Vadodara, Nalinakshya Talukdar.

 

At the last few pages are turned, with its warp and weft of vast topographies and vibrant folklores, the book wraps one gently like a Chamba shawl. Embracing in its sweep, warm in its deep core of myth meets modern lens.