The Situation of Contemporary Khasi Music and the Oral Tradition

7/29/2019 The Situation of Contemporary Khasi Music and the Oral Tradition

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Urbanity in Snow Whites Album U Rangdajied

In this paper, I discuss some of the reasons why someone like me would find

it valuable to study popular music. I illustrate the value of such an endeavor

by focusing on a particular case study. I focus on how music with Khasilanguage text, which is written, produced and performed by a band from

Shillong , conveys a sense of place and reflect a distinctively Khasi spiritand identity.

Most of the world's population now lives in the urban area. The question of

how to understand urban politics and the emerging forms of urban culture is

perhaps the most pressing issue for the new Millennium .

A singer, whether folk or contemporary, is influenced by his environment

and his work is very largely a reflection of it (but this should not be taken asa historical analysis of a people). The attitude towards traditional Khasi

music has undergone a significant change in the recent past, wheremusicians were influenced by the forms and instrumental mixes of the west

like R & B, Blues, Jazz and Rock,so what they have come up with is thisnew strain of western/ Khasi music, all the while maintaining a

distinctiveness and uniqueness of their own.

Music and Nature:

Khasi musicians are bound together by the love for the land and everything

that it signifies. The overwhelming presence of nature in many of the songs

is a contemporary consciousness which shows this deeper longing for

spirituality. Maxter Warjri echoes the same sentiment in the song Synnia:

Shwa ba bnai un ngen banpynkut ia ka miet

Ki sur jong ka mariang ia

jingshai ki kyrsiewJ ingkyrmen ki ai ba step kan wanphai

Mei ngi sa shi sien kan aijingshai.

English translation:Before the moon sets to end the

night

The songs of nature awaken thedawnWith hope of yet another morningOnce more the sun brings light.


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This return to nature is not a way to get saved but to get connected. This

is an essential part of the Khasi experience of living.In the recent past, a critical change in the history of Contemporary

Khasi Music began. Folk material came to be adopted by popular bands,

which have felt a need for a reaffirmation of cultural roots as Desmond. L.Kharmawphlang in a poem entitled Letter from Pahambir describes;

We have suckled for so longon a wisdom of falsehood- we are ourselves

our own worst enemies.(Letter from Pahambir) (21)

Voices in their song Synnia (a metaphor ofKakrem lamet krem latang) andSoulmate in their song Shillong (where they speak of U Sier Lapalang),

uses the rich folk tales of the Khasi Hills to bring to life this presentness ofthe past.

The main focus of this paper is the album URangdajiedby Snow White.

The uniqueness of this album is the journey of self-discovery, the typical

hero figure Rangdajiedundertakes as he tries to bring wisdom and insight

back to his people. The album has to be listened in its entirety to understand

its meaning, as the whole album is a story being told. Each song in the

album corresponds to a chapter inRangdajieds life. Rangdajieds quest is a

process of discovery, grieving, searching, and discovering his own strength

(as well as his identity) in the process. It is interesting to note that while the

album draws inspiration from city life itself, folk metaphors like UThlen,

Suidnoh Thawlang, Iawbei, Um ksiar,Um Rupa reaffirms their

longing to connect with traditional roots and wisdom.

U Rangdajied traces the life of the fictional protagonist from his

boyhood days, right through his youth where he falls in love. But this love is

short lived and the love of his life ultimately dies. Finally disenchanted with

life, he lashes out at the Lei san snem. For Rangdajied the only way tosurvive is to sacrifice himself for a cause. Rangdajied is a contemporary

hero, a modern everyman struggling to find self and meaning in a world that

seems to have lost all values.

Ha iing I Pa evokes childhood memories, which juxtaposes the

lyrical vision of childhood with the dark shadows of the adult world. The


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childlike innocence ofRangdajiedis underscored by his solitude. The song

is steeped with the ideas of anticipation and disappointment. There is a void

in littleRangdajieds life, and the main root of this abyss is the absent father.

Ha jinglong khynnah rit

ha kyndong ha kamra u iai ap,

Ha syndah ka dur kpa

U shna la pyrthei,

Ha ki dienjat u kpa ia la jing duwai

U khlei u pyrta,

Ha khmat samrkhie u kpaU lap ia jingim.

The relationship between Rangdajied and his father provides the basis for the

exploration of the sensibilities of childhood.

One can only understand the album if one realises what motivates

Rangdajieds actions.Rangdajiednow discontent with life (after his beloveddies) wages war against the Lei San Snem, championing a defenselessmankind. In his rage he cries out:

Kin lympat ki khliehKin lamwir ha ktieh

Kin iap hala kremNgan pyrta jam ia ka tien-bleiNgan shim u kwai na dwar u bleiNgan pan jasong na ka Iawbei

Ngan mih ialehNgan theh umkoi ia lei-san snem

Ngan teh ia ki da niuh IawbeiNgan mait ia ki da wait Thawlang

Ryngkew ngan long.

English translation:Their heads whipping in frenzy

A madness in the slushDeath sweeps their caves

I will plead for the words of GodI will pluck death from its threshold


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For jasong(1) and blessings I will ask from Iawbei(2)I will then venture

To sprinkle umkoi(3) on the Lei san snem(4)To remind them of their roots

I will use the sword of Thawlang(5)I will be the earth.

1. Rice wrapped in plantain2. Original mother of the clan3. Water used to sprinkle the dead4. Five year deitya reference to the five year term of politicians5. First uncle

Iaid ko mynsiem haunts us because we can identify with Rangdajieds

grief. It might sound sadistic to say that this song takes a turn for the betterwhen it goes from sounding like an indifferent writer imagining pain, to a

wounded writer remembering it. That is how art works.Like many, if not all, protagonists, Rangdajied is someone who

doesnt fit in. His sense of self is uncertain, as is his place in his community.

It takes the tragedy of his mothers death, the lack of intimacy and emotional

bonding between him and his father and finally the death of the love of his

life, to propel him into a search for himself.

If one were to read the album like a novel,Rangdajiedwould be a Tragic

Hero, because in tragic literature the actions of the protagonist, no matterhow well-intentioned, lead to disaster. So the sense of futility is heightened

when the Gods or Lei triumph and Rangdajiedis slain. The loss in thebattle is ephemeral and can easily be forgotten. Therefore the focus shifts

from Rangdajied to his Sword in Wait Rangdajied. It now becomes apermanent symbol of the continuation of the war against the corrupt

practices within the society.

How does the band see itself in the urban jungle?

URangdajiedexplores the predicaments that a modern youth finds himself

in.

The song KiMawlynnai reflects the impersonal nature of modern living and

the obsession with amassing power and wealth at the expense of personal

fulfillment. The songwriter muses:

Balei ngam tip nga mareh stet?

J ingim kan kut ngam tip syndet

La syep nga theh khlem kut..


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English translation:

I question my headlong run

For life will end a sudden death

Though my sweat endlessly runs.

In the race for material gain and personal power, there will inevitably be

people who are left behind, and these people are increasingly dissatisfied

with their lot in life, whether one is successful or not, one stands to lose.

Modern life and the pursuit of wealth are portrayed as losing games.

You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you

think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social

conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation..That's

the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world. ~Octave Mirbeau,Torture Garden, "The Mission," Chapter 8

The song Lei San Snem, berates political leaders for being power-

hungry and being interested only in their own well-being. The so-called

leaders are just gluttons with a huge appetite for power, like the Thlen.

This song hits out at the power-hungry nature of political leaders who are

supposed to serve society but who are interested only in serving their own

interests.

For all this, the album does not end in despair; Ki Mawlynnai is an artistic

comment on the central theme of the song that mans pursuits are

insignificant, and the only thing certain, is that life rolls relentlessly on.

The uniqueness of the album

What is unique about this album from other concept albums is its explicit

use of folk metaphors.

The story of Snow white is folk in origin .There is one very interesting

aspect of the fairytale that I would like to dwell on. All of us would

remember the oft quoted

Mirror mirror on the wall,

Whos the fairest of us all?

Perhaps what the band is telling us is that music is a direct reflection of the

values of our culture.

So, in conclusion I would like to say that I am glad the band has left the

album so open ended, or more appropriately, so circular. As we listen to the


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album, the question of what happens to Rangdajied should become less

important as we begin to apply the albums themes to our own lives. Snow

white has taken it upon them to convey this timeless story of the survival of

the human spirit despite all odds.

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The Situation of Contemporary Khasi Music and the Oral Tradition