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Monday, September 8, 2014

Love Song of Lamchwa & Pynhun

Love Song of Lamchwa & Pynhun.
Lyrics:
Yes, I love you!
Yes, I need you!
Yes, I love you -
Together - we'll be.
Together -
Share the joy,share the pain, share the sorrow,
Share the hope, share the faith and the 'morrow,
Yes I love you!
Together - we'll be.
Music Director: Wanchayma Laloo. Lyrics & tune by author.
Actors; Lummi Plain and Diana Khyriem
Enjoy beautiful lansdcape of Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya along with Lamchwa and Pynhun.
To know more about Lamchwa and Pynhun, visit: https://notionpress.com/read/lamchwa

Friday, September 5, 2014

Opening paragraphs of LAMCHWA


Nature was a silent spectator that day. India was celebrating its 47th Independence Day and it was a very hot day there on that afternoon of 15th August 1993. The heat gave no sign of the heavy downpour that had occurred two days ago. Four men were sweating profusely while they carried their baskets loaded with coal and dumped it onto a Shaktiman lorry parked beside the coal dump. Two other men were using shovels to fill empty baskets with coal. They were all daily-wage earners – happy to get some work on a day that was supposed to be a holiday.

The lorry was now half-laden with coal and it would take another hour or more to fill up. The driver of the lorry was seated on the stump of a felled pine tree watching over them disinterestedly. He searched through his pockets for his pack of kwai[1] and his beedi. There was neither a breeze nor the chirping of birds. The only sound that filled the air was that of the ‘sak...sak…’ of the shovels loading coal, the grunts of the men as they lifted their baskets onto their heads and the dull ‘thud’ of the coal as it was dumped into the lorry. The faint sound of a matchstick striking the side of the matchbox could be heard for a fleeting moment.


[1] A local legendary masticator consisting of a piece of betel nut and betel leaf rubbed with slaked lime.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Excerpts from the book LAMCHWA

1.
Coal dumped on roadside

Seven years back, coal mine owners started stockpiling their coal near the eastern bank of the stream which was near the main road. During the rainy season, acidic water from the coal piles drained into the stream and the pool, making the water acidic. The tadpoles, their parents and other resident fellow creatures didn't like this water that burned their eyes and ate into their skin. They slowly began to disappear from the pool. Now, no living animal lived in the pool; the herbs and grasses too had vanished. Only the trees and shrubs in the grove were resilient enough to remain standing there – silent witnesses to a silent massacre.

2.
Lamchwa changing the Tyre for Mr. Kiang

‘What honour? What dignity?’ Kiang retorted. ‘How could I have insulted your honour and dignity when you have none?’
Rocky replied, ‘You think so? Is that dog Lamchwa worth more to you than me? I, who have served you for much longer than him!’
Kiang replied in a firm voice, ‘Yes, a faithful dog is worth more than a snake that bites the hand that feeds it!’
Rocky was incensed at Kiang’s words. He flared, ‘A snake, you call me! A snake?’ He shook Kiang as he said this and continued, ‘Now, I will give you a taste of this snake’s poison!’ He motioned to his cohorts and said, ‘Bind him!’

3.
Lamchwa and Pynhun during one of their field trips

She returned with a jug of drinking water and placed it on the bedside table next to the glass. She looked at him and thought that he was already asleep. She pulled the blanket over him and also put the extra blanket over it. She then walked noiselessly to the door and switched off the light and was about to leave the room when she paused a second and then walked back to the bed silently. She planted a soft kiss on his forehead and then jumped back in surprise when she heard him say, ‘Kiss me here too; just half an inch below the nose, please!’
She scolded him mockingly, ‘Tut! I thought you were already asleep! Go back to sleep now. You need to rest and get up early tomorrow morning.’
‘Okay, Madam.’ He said and wished her good night. She wished him back and left the room shutting the door behind her.
Lamchwa was still smiling as he re-arranged his pillow and straightened himself on the bed. He replayed Pynhun’s parting words in his mind and it made him smile with delight. She had said to him, ‘Good night my darling; sleep well. I shall come to see you in your dreams!’

4.
One of the many waterfalls in Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya

The sun had disappeared from the horizon, but its golden rays lingered on, among the clouds and around them with an orange hue. As Pynhun looked towards the western sky, she saw the scattered clouds glowing from the sun’s last rays. The cotton ball clouds had a golden lining, that shone very bright around their uneven perimeters, and it made her wonder that whoever first said that every cloud had a silver lining had probably never seen these clouds with their bright golden lining. She hoped that the dark clouds, which hovered over their minds and hearts, also had a golden lining to them.
She rose from her seat and beckoned to Salan to walk back home, and as they walked slowly along the village path, they wrapped their hands around their bosoms; it was mid-September and the evenings were getting colder. Nature was preparing her children with this prelude to winter.

5.
Pynhun and Lamchwa - deeply in love

Lamchwa was overwhelmed with ecstasy. He began to say, ‘Pynhun... I cannot tell you... I do not have the words to express... I am so very happy that you said those words to me. All my deficiencies vanish and are perfected by those three words! Tell me I am not dreaming!’
Pynhun did not answer him. Instead she moved closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder and rested her head on his chest. He held her with his eyes closed and head leaning back, thinking that if this was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up from it!
They remained holding on to each other like that for a very long time – their hearts connected and in silent communication. There was no longer need for words - the courtship dance had ended and each had finally found its mate.