Keerook And Other Stories From North East India

By GROUP CAPTAIN MOHONTO PANGING and VM (RETD)

Kéérook and Other Stories from North East India is a collection of ten fictional short stories based on ives and livelihoods of the people living in the region. The stories narrate tales about the unique way of ife, customs and traditions of people habitating an area with similar terrain, weather, flora and fauna called North East India. A few stories are based on recent geo-political events related to people from orth East India vis-à-vis mainland India.

The stories in the book go a long way in helping understanding the ethos of North East India. A ‘Should Read’ for a fine perspective on North East India.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Notion Press
• Release date: Oct 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9789384391607

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Kéérook

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‘T he Simyo has killed another cow and dragged it away from Raja’s kuti yesterday night. This is the fourth cattle taken away by the Simyo in the last month.’ Ojing announced to the group.

‘No...no…this is the fifth cattle killed…and it is the same Simyo.’ Corrected Gojen. Gojen was an expert tracker of the village and a good hunter.

‘How do you know it is the same Simyo…they may be different ones...? I saw the tracks in the morning…I could pick up two or three different paw marks?’ said Papali. Papali was the oldest in the group and was considered an accomplished hunter in the village.

‘See…I have been following these attacks by the Simyo…I have studied the tracks of all the attacks. The overlapping of the numerous cattle and buffalo foot prints may have misled you, Kakí …he is an old Simyo…roams around the area alone and maybe…he is too old to catch other prey like deer and boar. Maybe that is why he is settling for the slower cattle from the kutis’ Gojen said.

‘I agree with Gojen…I have also seen the tracks…it appears to be a single old Simyo. He must be hiding somewhere nearby. It appears that he lies low as long as he is feeding from an earlier kill. After finishing the meat, he attacks other cattle at one of the kutis.’ added Kalom. Kalom was another enthusiastic hunter of the village.

‘Many village elders are worried about the loss of cattle. We cannot keep losing cattle like this. That is why the Gams have called for an urgent kébang in the Músúp.’ Libang, another young hunter of the village announced.

‘That’s right…we all must attend the kébang.’ said Papali.

The kébang was planned at eleven am in the village Músúp. All the village elders arrived in time for the meeting. The Anchal Samity Members (ASM) and the Grams also arrived for the meeting. The village youth had arranged Apong and some Domí for the village elders attending the meeting. The three Gams, in their red coloured Galíng were the final ones to arrive. Apong was served to all members in édungs and domí in ékkam packets.

The kébang was opened by the head Gam. He started his discourse with the history of the numerous losses of cattle from the kutis, the likelihood of these losses occurring due to attacks by the Simyo, the effect of these losses on the poor villagers and opened the meeting for further speakers. The head Gam was followed in sequence by one of the ASM, one Gram, a village elder named Onyok, one youth leader of the village named Takom and the last speaker for the session was Libang. The ASM spoke about the losses suffered by the poor villagers and the likelihood that more cattle may be lost in the near future if no action was taken. The Gram dwelt on the fact that despite complaints lodged earlier, the forest department had not done anything to stop these attacks. Onyok gave a detailed account of all previous Simyo attacks in the village and the action taken by the villagers to solve the issues. Takom suggested that the villagers must complain once again to the forest department and the local police.

Libang narrated that despite positioning a few youth with guns in some kutis, the Simyo were smart and avoided targeting the guarded kutis or just lay low for that period. Libang said that the forest department and the local police would not do anything immediately and the villagers must find their own solutions. He said that the village must plan for a kéérook at the earliest or else the villagers must be ready to lose more cattle. Many villagers cheered and agreed with Libang’s suggestion of organizing a kéérook. Libang’s speech was followed by many smaller discussions within smaller groups in the Músúp. The villagers were discussing the pros and cons of all the suggestions made by the various speakers while their apong édungs were being refilled.

The small discussions were broken by the second Gam getting up to speak. The second Gam summed up all the discussions and said that the villagers must not jump to any conclusions and resort to any drastic action. He said that the Simyo was the lord of the jungle and therefore, necessary respect and restraint must be accorded to the Simyo by the villagers. He emphasized that killing a Simyo is like killing another human. Therefore he suggested that another complaint should be filed with the forest department and the ASMs and Grams must personally explain the urgency of the matter to the forest officials. He suggested that in the meantime village youth should guard the major kutis. As the second Gam finished speaking Libang immediately rose to counter the new suggestion. Libang started by agreeing that the Simyo was indeed the lord of the jungle and all the villagers knew this fact. He continued that despite this fact, the villagers could not ignore the losses being incurred on account of these attacks. He stated that a few years back similar attacks by Simyo had occurred and the villagers had lost fifteen cattle to the Simyo while waiting for the forest department to solve the issue. He continued that even some villagers were chased by the Simyo and they could escape the Simyo’s wrath only due to Donyi Polo’s blessings. He further stated that cattle could not be always protected since they went out for grazing in widely spread out areas far from the kutis. Positioning village youth may even endanger their lives. He also stated that after consulting a number of expert hunters and trackers it was almost certain that it was a single old tiger which had carried out all the attacks. Libang concluded by reiterating therefore that the village must carry out a kéérook at the earliest or else the villagers must be ready to lose more cattle and maybe endanger human lives too.

The villagers again went into a huddle in small groups to discuss the new aspects brought out by the two speakers. The Gams, ASMs and Grams discussed the issue within themselves. After about five minutes, the head Gam signalled for silence and rose to speak. He announced that after listening to all the arguments and points put up during the kébang, it was decided that the ASMs and the Grams would personally file another complaint with the forest officials. In the meantime, all villagers are to go out of the village only in groups to avoid encounters with the Simyo. Travel by night was to be avoided unless extremely necessary. As far as possible the Kutis were to be guarded by youth hunters in pairs armed with guns. He concluded by saying that Simyo…the lord of the jungle would be given the necessary respect and reverence and hoped that Donyi Polo would show the right path to the villagers. The kébang ended and the villagers dispersed to execute the decision announced by the head Gam.

After lunch, the ASMs and Grams set course on foot for the forest office located thirty kilometres away to file the complaint and to try to convince the officials for an early action. Village youth armed with 12 Bore guns and ammunition were detailed to guard the major kutis. The message to go out of the village only in groups and avoidance of travel outside the village by night was announced throughout the village by Gogyings. Ojing, Gojen, Kalom, Libang and some more village youth were detailed in the Kuti guarding parties. The youth detailed for Kuti guarding duties attended to their personal work during the day and got together as pairs to guard the Kutis by night. Each pair was armed with one gun, ammunition, torch light and light bedding to spend the night. Each youth took turns to watch over the cattle in the Kutis in four to five hour shifts.

Four days later the Simyo struck again. This time the Simyo attacked when the cattle were grazing and spread out far away from the kutis in the afternoon. The missing cow was noticed only after all the cattle had returned to the kuti in the evening. The next day Libang, Gojen, Kalom and Ojing armed with two guns proceeded to the probable attack site, tracked the footprints and followed the Simyo tracks. The Simyo had killed the cow and dragged it to a bushy area under a tantari tree just about two hundred metres from the attack site. At this site, the Simyo had leisurely consumed the cow till about dawn. The group could decipher that the Simyo had taken away at least one leg for consumption later. The group lost the foot prints beyond a small rivulet about one kilometre from the site.

The group returned to the village and reported the Simyo attack on the cow and the subsequent findings to the village elders and the Gams. The Gams and village elders heard them out and informed the group that the ASMs and Grams had returned from the meeting with the forest officials and the officials had promised to find some solution to the problem. The Gams decided that some more time should be given to the forest officials to resolve the issue. The Gams also directed that the kutis were to be advised not to allow the cattle to graze too far out from the kutis. The Gams also ordered the youth to continue guarding the kutis as