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BESARUt\l;2E66SPECIAL ISSUE ON GOLM

OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH : 1956-2006

DEDICATION

- The special Issue of the RESARUN, 2006 is dedicated to infond memory of our colleagues who passed away after 1999 as atoken of respect for their valuable contribution iowards

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derrelopment especially on Research in Arunachal pradesh

L. N Chakraborty

K. DasguptaL. WanchoA. K. GoshalP. K. Bhuyan

Director of Research (Rtd)(First Research Officer of the Department)Deputy Director (Philology) (Rtd)Ianguage olficer, TawangAssistant Curator, ChanglangDistrict Research OIIicer, I(honsa

Dlrector of Researcb

Editors

Associate Editors :

ShriTage TadaDirector of Research

Dr. D. K, DuarahAssistant Director (Culture)

Anjali ChakrabortyAssistant Research OfficerSri K. K. PandeyLibrarian

GOVERNMENT OF ARUNACHAL PPAP6SHDEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS

DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCHITANAGAR :79111i

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RESARUN : 2006-

THE DIDACTIC MOTIVE IN THEFOLK.TALES OF ARUI\ACHALPRADESH - A LIM.ITED STUDY

DR. K. C. MISHRA: DR. K. DEy

Folk-tales in the process of their relating the human response to availableanimal behaviour situations could point to the very psychological urge that occa-sioned the tribes themselves. comparables in the experiences and the situations inthe human vis-d-vis the animal life are likelyto provide the immediate initiative forthose tales. May be, the incomparable, because of the superiority factor prevailingin the animal world in terms of desirability of behavioral manifestations from thestandpoint ofthe ultimate good that anybehavior is expected to lead to also engagethe considerations ofthe people living in groups in traditional societies. Folk-talesare basically a gift of the traditional way ofproducing literature to 'educate' as wellas to 'entertain'. Literature as art imitates life in its very many manifestations to thepoint that at times one could delight in imagining that literature and life had inter-changed places. The normative in literature seeks its justification from the fact thatreality is oppressive in nature and literahre provides with one imaginative altemativewhere the biting edge of reality could be rendered mild and tolerable to the extentthat a hope-inspired, placating, persuasive vision courd replace the damning anddestroying potential inherent in the devastati'g diversities ofthe predicamenrgener-ating realities ofthe hurnan situation. It is here perhaps that folk-tales reflect moreconvincinglyonthepossiblemetamorphosis ofthehuman world into the animalworldwhere the bittemess of the circumstances could easily be apporlioned to the animalsand the consequent reliefby proxy (after a transfer has been effected ofthe suffeiingto another agent here from man to the animals) accounts for the restoration ofjoy to

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the plighted humanity. This also accounts for the enjoyrnent by folks rvhen a tale

(lblk-tale) is told involving a curious situation in the animal world. The process of'othering' as stated above is an ingenuous invention by the folk-adist who while

concentrating on the significance of arelieving measure in the sociai life ofhuman

beings conveniently 1nftes lssource to the animals where a solution apparently is

irvailable to the unrelenting human problem. Tlrus, folk-tales contain a need-based

educative piece of h'aditional rvisclorrr packaged to help open-up the eyes ofthe

sufl'ering fbiks to tire possibility of a changing f'ace of hurtran experience.

Arunachal Pradesh, the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency or NEirA, is

the largest arnong the seven units of the North-llast lndia with a territorial area of83,743 squar e kilometer. Strategically important due to its geographic location, it is

bounded by Tibet in the North, Assam and Nagaland in the South and South-West,

Burma in the East and Bhutan in the West. It has a population of 8,58,292 (1991

census). The state is predominantly a tribal state and the tribes here could be broad-

1y grouped under Buddhist and Non-Buddhist categories in terms of their beliefsystems with the non-Buddhists forming the greater representation. The important

feature nf the tribes in Arunachal Pradesh is that unlike other tribes in the North East

they are least influenced by the Hindu-Aryan culture of the general Indian make-up

though the Noctes of the Tirap District of Arunactral Pradesh also fclllow Assam-

Vaishnavism. The folk life ofthe people of the state is thus distinct in its own ways.

l'he folk-tales, however, are prirnarily didactic in motive. It is important here to

emphasise that sincere attempt is necessary "to show what particular features the

tale (folktale) possesses..," (Goswami, P. D. as in Datta, B. et ai 1994: 376) foreffective "insight into personal and social relationships as well as motifs and senti-

ments which seem to influence groups ofpeople, ..." (ibid, p. 377). Moreover, both

'content' and 'context' ofthe tales need be analysed and as suggested by Pentikainen

(as in Datta, B. et al, 7994 :22), "a focus on content, form, style, structure, texture,

function, nse and meaning" in analysis of folktales could be useful. [n this paper an

attempt has been made to deal with three folk-tales of Arunachal Pradesh as prev-

alent in the culturally as diverse as the tribes ofNoctes ofthe Tirap district and the

Monpas of the Tawang district. The contention is that all the folk-tales display an

avowed didactic motiye primariiy intended to guide the coruse ofbehaviour of indi-viduals and groups ofpeople in the tnbal societies.

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h putting forward the above approach and in attempting to see how folk-taresofArunachal Tribes-Buddhist or non-Buddhist_do have a tendenty to teach in howev_er rudimentary form, the foilowing parailel from Dutch Guiana (Herskovits, r 974 :

326) maybe taken to be indicative ofhow folk-tales in themselves contain a germ ofwaming against the possible dangers that the young and the inexperienced in anv soci-ety may fall a victim to for their rack ofknowiedge ofcircumvent'rg the risk by uppro_priate precautionary measures.

Kitten and little Rat were great friencls. Everyday they went to play to-gether But Rat did not larcw that he was cat's favourite fooer, and Kitten dicr notknow thar Rat was his favourite food. But one day, when rittre Rat came rtome,his mother asked him. "Ilith whom do you pray? " He saicr. ,,Mth

friencr Kitten,,.And at the sqme time, when Kitten went home, his mother asked him, said, ,,wthwhom do you play?" He said. "Ilith little Rat,,, Tlten Rat,s morher saitl to him,"You must not play with Kitten any more, becctuse you are his favburite food.,,And at the same time, too, mother Cat was saying to Kitten, ,,stupidfellow,

don,tyou know that his is your tidbit? Lthen you pray with him, you must strike him.,,The next day, no sooner did day come out on the street than Kitten cailecr tofriend Rat, said, "Aren,t you coming to play with me any more?,, At once littleRal answered him, "yest brother. There are wise peopre in your viilage, and thereare wise people in. my village, too !,,

In relating the significance ofthe story above Herskovits suggests very con_vincingly that the society's ways to save the young by establishing a form ofculture orculhre mode ofbehaviour are unique (see Herskovits, 197 4:326).

Folk{ales are a cultural product. Expressed in language, wbich arso is to servethe culh'al ends, folk-tares are primarily to justify the ways ofthe ord and the experi-enced to help avoid risk embedded in unknown situations and dangerous ,our..,including human intentions. Experience reads to knowledge wruch is said to be power.Folk-tales are thus importeurt curtural invention by the hibal societies to empower thegenerations tluoughimpartingadequate information andshlls to live lifewithoutriskinthe midst ofrislry situations.

The following picks from Arunachar pradesh are evidence that folk{ares teachno matter whatever be the tribe and its cultural belief systems.

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ITIE MONKEYS FORTHE PE

(AMonpa tblk-tale)

Once there lived tv,o friends. One was unmarried while the other v'as a

widower. The w'idower frientl had twct sons-Toshi and Dundo- who were twitts.

One da1,', the unmarried friend desired to go otx pilgrimage. LIe hatl maryt golcl

coins y,itlt him and so he becante too nutch anxious tts to who should loolc after

these coins in his absence. He then expressed his problems to his widower friendwho said, "There is nothing to worry about it, I shall look after your gold coirts"

satisf ed at this arrangentent, the unmarriedfriend handed over his gold coins in

o sealed bag to lrrs widower friend and went out on pilgrimage, Ilut, then, ottt ofgreed the vidott'er replucecl the gold coins u,ith pebble.s and vet), carefulbt ssq1.4

the bag, as it was ot the time of his friend's moving otrt.

tlfter a yeav. Ilhen. the unmarriedft'iend retttrned home, he demanded his

sealed bag of golcl coins antl got back the santefrom his friend, But.finding only

the pebbles in the bag, he asked his friend where the golden coins had gone, And

his friend replied, "you might have committed some sin v,hile visiting the holy

places and that is whlt your gold coins have changed into pebbles". The unmar-

ried fr"iend then realised his foolishness and simply said. "okay, it ntoy be so" he

then returned thanking his ft'iend for having taken care ofhis bag in his absence.

Ilottever, feeling cheated, he witited for an opportunity to take revenge on liswidower friend for having made a fool of him.

It so happened that one day the widowerfriend thought. "Why shouldn't

I too make a pilgrimage like my friend" but at the same time he thought of his

two sons as to who should take care of them. He then requested his unmarried

friend to help him if he could. And now Jinding it an opportunity, the unmarried

one snid, "Lislen mvfriend. I will most gladly take care of your tuto sons, \'ou can

leutte without any anxiety" The next morning he went on pilgrimage leaving his

two sons-Tashi and Dundo-with his friend.

After his friend departed for pilgrimage, the unmarried friend collected

twct monkeys front the jungle and named one Tashi and the other Dundo. Then

he gave them such ffictive training that they started behaving like Tashi and

Dtmdo. Wen aftera long gctp, thevtidower reached home, the unmarrieclfriend

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kept Tashi and Dundo in the hiding and was sitting with the tvvo monkeys. Thewidower friend was very much anxious to know about,his sons but when hediscovered that they were not with his friend he became angry and asked. ,,where

are my sotts"? The two monkeys then, as trained immediatery approached himuttering apa, apa' (means father, father) and the unma*iedfriend behaved as ifnothing had happened. The widower then in surprise and anger asked,,, Are theymy sons"? The unmarriedfriend repliecl ,,yes myfriend. you might have earnedthe wrath of the gods whire visiting the hory praces and that is why your sonsperhaps have turned into monkeys,,

Almost immediatery on hearing this widower rearised his owt mistake cfreplacing the gold coins. His anger wc6 repraced by sorrow ancr he aporogized"Friend, please excuse me. Now prease bring my sons out ofthe hiding and I amreturning you the gold coins,,

THE DOGAND THE GOAT

(A Nocte fotk-tale)

In happy old times dogs and goats were goocl friends. Then clogs hadhorns and they could take their horns off at their wiil. rWhire trte goats hacr nohorns' once there lived a dog and a got together one cray whire they werehusking rice in a mortar with the same pestre the horns of the dog were causingtrouble to the goat. Then at the reEtest of the goat, the rJog took off his horns.Wen the husking was ove.r, the goat picked np the l.torn,r and put tltent on ltisIrearl. Then he asked the dog, "how cro I rook v,i.tr.t vour horns? Do I rook beauti-ful? Do ),ot,r lrci;;: match u.t,il an my head?,,The dog,said,t,e,g,but the dogwanted his horns bacic, as he,iert awkutard tt,ithottl his rtorns as rte x,as rong usedto having them on his heacl, But tlte goal no\r, liked the horns t,ery *rrh ordu'ould not be in a mind to returtt them n rhe trog. The dog noticing the noocr andthe intention of the goat.finaily got anglt and rushed at the goat to craim hishorns back for himself. The goat ran off the place with the horns fixed perma_nently on his head.

Front that day dogs rost the horns and goats cante to have the horns.Wenever the dog chases the goat, the latter runs away saying ,nte... me...,

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which in Nocte language means I will not give. I will not give.

THEPRICEOFTHEJOKE

(A Nocte folk-tale)

Long, long ago all the animals of theforest. Such as tigers, lions, cleer,

snake, tortoise, etc. were goodfriends. One day as thelt were wanclering in the

.forest, cyclone, lightening and thunder broke out. Frightened, the animals ran in

dfferent directions and hid in thejungle, but the tortoise hicl himselfunder a big

rock nearby. Everything was calm again. The animals canxe out of their hiding

crnd assemhled over the rock under which the tortoise was talcing shelter. They

began to talk to each other about the big horror. When they did not find the

tortoise with them they became worried thinking that it was killed in the cyclone.

Just then the tortoise came out of the hiding. Others could not recognize him.

Then he said, "See me, in such a place I was hiding that you all have made my

backflat as you all stood over me". The bear then said, "I have seen it entering

under the rock"

On asking the reason why he had taken so long to tell it the bear replier.l,

"just for ntaking fun"

The other animals then became very angryt anfl beat the bear on his head

by the stems ofplants as a result ofwhich, the head ofthe bear broadened out.

The two Nocte folk-tales here are expressive in distinct terms of the didactic

temper that informs those tales. Besides brining the people in the Nocte society ofTirap district ofAmnachal Pradeshnearerintheirconcem aboutthe immediate animal

kingdom that could be around, the folk-tales go to serve one important purpose- in the

folk-tales events occurring in the animal world are dealt with whereby an attempt is

made to ascribe behaviours to animals and sdcial sanction behind such behaviours is

critically commented upon. Moreover, by not making any direct reference to the soci-

ety and the people, an exaggeration of effects is very carefully worked out to wam the

human counterparts against the disastrous and ruinous consequences that might affect

them ifthey eith6r deliberately lied out of a sense ofjoking (as in the case of the bear

who instead of sharing in the synpathies of all the other animals present there and

eminentlyupset at theprobable misfortune ofthe tortoise prefened to indulge in kind

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ofa sadisticjoke-cutting to the gross neglect ofthe basic concems or duties ofrespon-sible collective living) or allowed others to take undue advantage..of their imo..,.,..,simplicify and regardfulness towards others needs and fanciful desires (as in ',The D.gand the Goat"). In the bear story it stands out as an important desirable code ofresponsible behaviour that one shares adequately involved in the affairs ofthe collec-tive iiving, or else, one needs to be aware offlre grave punisirment that the collectivewrath could bring to him for his alleged and also proven misdemeanour. one rnayjustlike to underline the importance of individual contributing to the comfort and securty ofthe whole groups ofpeople, The flattening ofthe tortoise is a case ofaccident thecause ofwhich maybe in the general igrorance ofthe animals about the former shelter-ing under therock on which all were standing. The accident could also have provedfatal. This grave possibility adds to the seriousness ofthe alleged criminality ofthe bearwho kept the secret to himselfand exposed thereby the tortoise to the subsequentphysical deformity. The accountability of the individual before a whole society thatstands to run a risk for casualness in aftitude of any of its members as a must stands outas the most important lesson from the Nocte folktale on the social discipline of theanimals on one hand and the general concem of the animals as a whole about the well-being ofindividual memben. The tale emphasises on the social organizational aspectsof the Nocte people and it also is a testimony to the cooperation that prevailed rn thetraditional Nocte society. 'The dog and the Goat,'however, is a tale with an apparentappended waming to the individual as well as the Nocte society as a whole to guardtheir individual as rvell as collective self-interests without ever foolishly fallmg a prey tothe crafty designs of the wicked selfish and deceptive people who may be havingintentions of looting the simple, innocent and credulous among Noctes oftheir valuedpossessions. May be the Noctes have been traditionally kept wamed about the neces-sity to guard against the approaches of others who despite feigning friendship and close-ness may also tum out to be the agents ofthe devil, The tale insistently appears to bebegging ofall to keep alert and awake sincc uncritical and unquestioning reception offair-weather friends maybe danguous in the long run. It is a powerful eyeopener againstdeceit that is dangerous in friendship, ofcourse the depth of which is not truly gauged.Friendship couldberuiningifnotappropriatelytesred- thatilluminatinginsightcould savefrom falling into the hands ofthe dukes and the touts. The folk-tale ( The Dog and theGoat) is an indirect address to the Nocte society to take care in all its advances towardsfriendship with others, especiallyperhaps against the crafty and cunning people ofthe

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advanced and modem societies whose eyes mightbe set on theNocteJand (then possi-

bly for tenitorial aspirations rurder the prevailing anangements ofthose times)

Ihe Monpa folk-tale "Ihe Monkeys for the Pebbles'- is geared to drive home

tire moral lesson tliat friendship, if polluted under considerations of lure of gold etc.,

could attract revenge thereby making tlie offender and usurper a worse loser. More-

over, in realization ofpersonal guilt, in ou,nilrg ofit, in repentance and in asking foryive-

ness, there lies a chance for the estranged friendship to be restoreci to its previous

wolking order whereby the loss already suffered by the friends due to the treachery

and greed ofthe offender could bemade up. Interestingly, such aBuddhist moral tale

works on the spiritual as u,ell as the material plares- more vee;ed in the direction ofthe

material one in consideration of its fina1 imporl. It helps correct the inter-personal

relationship, which is the actual bedrock of all meaningful social relationships at their

base. Thereby the tale also serves to nourish the creation ofan honest societywhere

mutual benefits accrue to all the individual members ofthat enlightened societybred on

a consideration oflasting love.

In conciuding this paper, the authors here do feel that didactic element is basic

to the folk-tales ofArunachal Pradesh, which, "on the whole ^

. .. are remarkably orig-

inal and seem to be genuine products of tribal creativity and imagination" (Elwin,

1968:xxi), though alongside this dominant motive there are other sigrificant social and

cultural projections as Dutta, B. et. a1; (1994:45) have suggested in discussing Elwin's

views on NEFA a fblk-tales: "There are nany stories [Arunachal tribal stories] which

contain information about the social order like he position ofwomen, the prevalence ofslavery, etc." Pelto and Pelto commenting on the uses of folk{ales forvarious purpos-

es hold : "The folk{ales and myths ofnon-literate and literate societies constitute an

archive of thematic materials that have been a rich mine of information for various

kinds of analysis. Sometimes these archives are userl to infer psychological character-

istics ofpeople ; they are often invoked for the analysis ofreligious beliefs; and they

also serye as evidence conceming the tranunission of infbrmation (diffusion) from cul-

hrre to cnlture" (quoted in Dey, 1996). Further, Herskovits in this connection remarks,

"Fo1k-tales are more than the literary expression of a people. They constifute in a very

real sense their ethnography; ifsystematized bythe student they give a penetrating

picture ofa given wayoflife" (1974:269).It is thus relevant here to re-emphasis that

the tribal folk+ales iif Arunachal Pradesh rnay be analysed cautiously and systemati-

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cally so that the didactic motive basic to majority ofthose tales could be neatly dis-

cerned and an abiding vision ofa moral society that would be capable ofcatering tothe needs ofevery member ofthe society-ofall the societies ofArunachal Pradcsh to

be specific-to live a life with all decency and dignity could be brought into fruition.Folktales in their conception contain an in-built self-check device for the entire soci-

etyusingthe insight servedbywhich the societyin question eams a capability to forlifyitself against many crippling odds which otherwise could push the whole societyto the

brink ofinevitable disaster. Tirese are apointer to quantify, on anotional basis though,

the future security-oriented practical concems on the basis oftheir ongoing experience

bomout oftheirdailyconfrontations oflife in its myriadmysterious lookingchallenges.

Could anyone thus any more say for certain that traditional societies lack in the skills ofhamessing theirwisdom to save them from calamitous situations,

NOTES AND REFERENCES:

[Notes; l. The three folk-tales have been collected by K. Dey and he thalksall the informants for their cooperation. The fwo Nocte tales are found to be prevaient

in the Nernsang-Borduria area of Tirap District,

2. The titles for the folk-tales hin'e been prnvided by thc present authols.]

References:

Datta, B, Sharma, N. C. & Das, P. C. 1994. A}{andboolq of Foiklore Material ofNorth East India, ABILAC, Gr.nvahati,

Dey K, 1996, "Museological use ot folk-literature : An approach fol a Ncw Dinren-

sion cf Museunrs of ArunachalPradcsh"- RESAI{LI!, Vol. XXI No, 1 & 2,1996,P. 34, Directolate ofRcsearch, Itanagar

Elwin, V. 1 968. lvlyths of the North-East Fronti er of lndia, NEFA, Shi I lon g.

Herskovits, M. J.1974.. Cultural Anthropology, Oxford & IBH, Nevr Delli.

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