Latest news with #Khasis
Mint
2 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Mint
When Nagas smoke meat, they preserve the past
Naga Smoking Techniques with Toshi and Annie Jamir What alchemy of fire and wood turns a portly pig into silken-fleshed deliciousness? I was hoping Annie Jamir, the owner of Longchen homestay, would detail out the processes, but she directed me to her husband. 'Talk to Toshi. He's a smoking hound. He's hardcore,' she said. Clad in a black hat, white polo tee, and khaki shorts, Toshi joined us at the machang, an alfresco bamboo platform where breakfast was served the next morning. A purist at heart, he regards smoking as a true labour of love. 'You gotta slog to get it right. There are no shortcuts,' he said, his passion for the art reflecting in the seriousness of his expression. The rituals of cleaning, curing, and smoking were muscle memory to the aficionado, who credited his early training to his mother. 'Mum was a Khasi from Shillong, but more Naga in her ways than dad. She taught me to use every last morsel of the animal, including the hide,' he shared. Later, as an officer in the Assam Regiment, Toshi upped his smoking game by observing his batchmates. 'The regiment was a mix of people from different northeastern tribes—Kukis, Khasis, Bodos, Jaintias, Nagas, Mizos, and others. Each had his own technique and process, and we learnt constantly from one another,' he recounted. Also read: How bamboo shoot flavours the cuisines of North-east India Thrown on the frontlines for months on end, smoking meat meant survival. 'Wild boar, deer, jungle fowl, monkeys—we hunted and smoked it all. We had such a gala time, we even forgot our families!' he said, guffawing. The retired military man makes the most out of the working farm around their homestay—from the hogs penned in the woods to the open outer kitchen where he smokes meat throughout the year. Though smoking techniques vary across the sixteen Naga tribes, the tried and tested method followed by Toshi is broadly representative. Sourcing his pork from the neighbourhood butcher, he insists on cleaning and cutting the carcass himself. Salting, which dehydrates the meat and serves an essential anti-microbial function, is the crucial next step. Toshi also uses a coarse, dry rub of cracked pepper mixed with red chillies or dried lemon leaves to flavour the meat. 'You can use any spice you like. Just keep it simple,' he said, adding that the flavour of the meat must not be overwhelmed. Smoking organically over traditional bamboo racks, Toshi likes to build and tend his fires manually. The charred appeal of smoked meat, he explained, derives in large part from the chemical properties of hardwood. Cellulose and lignin, present in the cells of wood, yield aromatic compounds during combustion, imparting a toasty scent. The Maillard reaction, responsible for the browning of meat, does the rest, imbuing the flesh with subtle savoury, sweet, and bitter flavour notes. The end result—a preserved, flavoured, and partially cooked hunk of meat—is used by each of the Naga tribes differently. Toshi swore by his signature dish, a searingly pungent smoked pork and bamboo shoot curry. 'It's sure to make you sweat,' he promised. Luckily, tamoming, the Changki delicacy the couple fed me, was anything but lethal. Made from smoked pork cooked with mashed potatoes, tomatoes, and dried chillies, its taste was mellow, with the subtle spiciness from the herbs gently seasoning the dish. My session with the Jamirs was revelatory. When Nagas smoke meat, they keep alive the most ancient method of preserving food known to mankind. Transcending mere utility, the ritual channels a primitive, almost atavistic, desire to connect with our prehistoric past. Eons ago, someone put some flesh over flame and turned it into a piece of smoky scrumptiousness. It must have felt like abracadabra then. To me, it still does. RIKYNTI SYIEM'S SMOKED PORK WITH BAMBOO SHOOTS Serves 4, time taken 1–1.5 hours INGREDIENTS Smoked pork ½ kg Garlic 6–8 cloves Black sesame Roasted and pounded, 1 tbsp Bamboo shoots 4 tbsp, chopped Green/red chillies 3–4 Salt to taste METHOD Wash the smoked pork and boil in water. After boiling for about 30 minutes, add bamboo shoots. Boil for some more time. Add crushed garlic cloves or garlic paste. Add black sesame seed paste. Add some chillies and salt and cook till the bamboo shoots become tender. Serve hot. Also read: Once derided as 'stinky', Naga food now fuels entrepreneurship Excerpted with permission from 'An Invitation to Feast' by Sona Bahadur, published by Aleph Book Company.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Time of India
Machete to ‘kill' Raja bought in Guwahati: Cops
Guwahati: The 'dao' (machete) allegedly used in the murder of Indore tourist Raja Raghuvanshi was bought somewhere in Guwahati and did not resemble the ones used locally, the police said on Monday. The recovery of the 'dao' on June 2 led to the discovery of Raja's body near the Weisawdong Falls the same day. Raja and his wife, Sonam, who were on a honeymoon trip to Sohra, had gone missing on May 23. While Raja's body was found, Sonam remained untraced until she surrendered to police in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday night. Two days after the recovery of Raja's body, police sources said the machete recovered from the gorge does not resemble those traditionally used in Meghalaya, and the handle of the machete is also uncommon in the region. Besides the 'dao', police also found a smashed mobile phone in the gorge. The probe was carried out by a SIT led by SP (City) Herbert Kharkongor. The team includes four deputy SPs and two sub-inspectors. East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem said preliminary probe reveals a cut injury with a sharp weapon on the back of Raja's head. The traditional 'dao', called the 'Khasi dao', is a traditional single-edged sword used by the Khasis in Meghalaya.
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Pradip Kurbah: 'Major OTT platforms don't even consider screening our films'
In the film, what is it that prevents the six protagonists from migrating to urban areas despite having a very tough, isolated and secluded life in their village? Before working on this script, I explored many villages in Meghalaya where I found some villagers, who, despite leading very tough lives, have decided against migrating to the cities. They are so emotionally connected to their land that they are worried about what would happen to the region if they moved out. Many of these natives have seen their neighbours moving out for better opportunities and in some cases, even their children have gone away, but still their connection to the entire space holds them back to their roots. There is an interesting motif of a choir group that appears whenever somebody is close to death. What was the idea behind the linkage? For me, the choir in the film is a very personal element. It was not actually a creative decision. It came from memories and emotions because I've experienced silence and sound in our Khasi Hills. And in the culture of Khasis, choral singing is more than just music; it's a part of our spiritual life, social life, mourning, and celebrations. It is connected to how we share sorrow, how we find comfort, how we speak when words fall short. I remember how these voices would fill the space during funerals, quiet evenings in church, or even during moments when no one knew what to say, and often these voices stayed with me, like echoes. For me, they are the connection between the living and the dead, the seen and the unseen. In the film, they embody the spirits of the past, of the land, of the people we have lost. They can be seen guiding the viewer through this emotional landscape. And as for the characters who witness them before death takes them away, they are like angels. Please take me through the film's cinematography and visual language. We shot the film with a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera. For indie filmmakers like us, we cannot even think of using high-end cameras or fancy equipment. We used a gimbal for hand-held shots. While writing the script, I was very sceptical and worried about the whole visual approach because I didn't want to go for cuts. I wanted very long takes to capture the feeling of isolation. I felt that if we frequently cut, we might lose the whole sense of the vast landscape. So, my team and I decided to make a short film first to explore what we had in mind. That's how we made Path, which went on to win the Second-Best Film at IDSFFK in 2022. Then it traveled to Taipei and Greece. That's how we got the confidence to extend our visual approach to Ha Lyngkha Bneng. The cinematographer Pradip Daimary and I were clear right from the beginning that we wanted to avoid close or tight shots. We wanted to stay wide to allow the characters to exist within the environment in a way that visually expresses their emotions. Are there any filmmakers who have influenced your approach when it comes to wide landscape shots and languid visuals? To tell you frankly, I was initially very much inclined towards commercial films. I could not even imagine a film without songs and all my initial works were mainstream in nature. It was not until I met fellow Meghalayan filmmaker Dominic Sangma that I was introduced to an entirely different kind of cinema. Then, I met a very promising filmmaker from Sikkim called Tribeny Rai, who has just completed her first feature now. They both asked me to watch the films of Bela Tarr, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and the works of Iranian masters. I realised that this was real cinema. And also, when I saw Dominic's first film, (2018), I was so impressed by it. Being a self-taught filmmaker, you learn only by watching other films and listening to the filmmakers talk about their work. How do you raise funding for your films, considering you're an indie film maker? How much went into making this film, and what is the process of recovering the investment? For films like these, we rely on the collective funds of the cast, crew, family members and friends. Ha Lyngkha Bneng was made for about ₹70 lakhs. It's a challenge to recover the money poured in. We just have two theatres in Shillong and getting films screened here is so difficult for us. So, I decided that rather than screening, let's travel and take our films to all the rural places and screen them. That's the best way to recover the investment. With this film, I did approach the government of Meghalaya because they have come out with their own OTT platform to support local filmmakers. They have agreed to support our film. But still, recovering our money will take a lot of time. As for the major OTT platforms, they will not even consider it. That's sad. I was assuming that with the popularity of Rima Das' Village Rockstars (2017) on Netflix, major OTT platforms might now be interested in films from the Northeast. I had made a National Award-winning film called Onaatah: Of the Earth (2016), which was picked by Netflix. They streamed it for three years. The late Satish Kaushik saw the film and bought the rights to it and remade it into Marathi. Later in 2019, after I won the Kim Jiseok Award at Busan for my film Market, I approached Netflix again, but this time they rejected the film. I approached other platforms as well and was turned down as they wanted stars or 'recognizable' actors in the film. Ha Lyngkha Bneng does not have any songs. The only music in the film is the choir songs and a few English songs sung by the characters. Did you grow up listening more to English songs, or was the native Khasi music also part of the culture? Yes, Khasi music is very much part of our culture, but we have been very much influenced by Western music. I've used some old Khasi songs previously that are not available on any platform. I sourced them from the All India Radio as those songs had been recorded there itself. Apart from Western songs, we have been heavily influenced by Bollywood songs also. What's happening with the Kelvin Cinema Festival in Meghalaya? Dominic Sangma and I put up two editions in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Then we thought of doing the third edition and suddenly the main people who were behind us backed out because there was no support from the government. We then tried to approach the government, but things are so difficult. Let's hope we can resume it again as the festival was a great way of bringing together small films from the Northeast. Unfortunately, the discourse on cinema from the Northeast is thin. I'm acquainted with the work of Jahnu Barua, Dominic Sangma, Bhaskar Hazarika, Lakshmipriya Devi, and a few others. Tell me some more good films. Manipuri filmmaker Haobam Paban Kumar's Loktak Lairembee (2016) is an amazing film. Then there's another lovely work from Manipur called Our Home (2022) by Romi Meitei. Keep an eye out for Shape of Momo by Tribeny Rai. It'll be travelling to film festivals soon. What kind of films do you want to make in the near future, and what kind of cinema culture do you wish to foster in Meghalaya? I always tell young and budding filmmakers from Meghalaya that it is very important for us to tell our own stories. Don't focus on what others are doing. We have such a unique and rich culture. As for me, I want to continue making the kind of films I have been making — human stories about our folks. I'm currently working on the script of my next project, which deals a lot about mental health as that's a major issue we are facing nowadays out here. Whenever I go to a crowded place or somewhere and I look at the faces of people, I see every individual looking so lonely. I don't know why, and this is more so, especially after COVID. People here have this fear of being left alone and that is creeping inside the people in cities, too. There was a time in Shillong when we knew our neighbours very well and would talk, discuss and also share our food. But nowadays, that kind of bonding has completely gone. And social media has only aggravated the problem. People are so lost in their mobile phones that real conversations rarely happen. The sense of feeling and isolation has increased more. In Ha Lyngkha Bneng, I've tried to show that despite being set in the future, the characters are leading a very old-school way of life without technology. As a result, they have to rely on each other, and it is because of real communication between them that they have such a strong bonding despite not being connected by blood. Arun AK is an independent journalist. Twitter: @arunusual
The Hindu
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
UAPA tribunal upholds Centre's decision to declare HNLC of Meghalaya as ‘unlawful association' for another five years
An Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) tribunal has upheld the decision of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to declare the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) of Meghalaya as an 'unlawful association' for another five years. The MHA informed the tribunal that 15-20 cadres of the HNLC, including its leaders Sainkupar Nongtraw (General Secretary) and Bobby Marwein, are currently based in Maulvi Baxar district of Bangladesh. It said the cadres use WhatsApp registered on Bangladeshi SIM cards to make extortion calls to businesspersons in Meghalaya. The Home Ministry submitted that the HNLC was formed in 1995 to achieve 'self-determination and liberation for the people of Ri Hynniewtrep (land of 'Khasis') from alleged authoritarian rule by the Indian government, aiming to protect the 'Khasis' and other tribes of Meghalaya from alleged exploitation and preserve indigenous culture.' The MHA said the HNLC maintained operational and training links with insurgent groups such as the United Liberation Front of Asom (I) and continued violent activities, extortion, threats to government officials and recruitment targeting vulnerable youths with anti-India rhetoric. It was also a member of the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia, the MHA said. The Ministry said the HNLC used social media platforms, including Facebook (Meta) and WhatsApp, as tools for radicalisation and recruitment of unsuspecting youth into its fold. 'The organisation's active use of such digital platforms for indoctrination and mobilisation is evidenced by the arrests of several youths across different districts of the State who have been found to be working as over ground workers for the HNLC,' the MHA said. The tribunal was informed that WhatsApp was served notice under Section 91 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to furnish details about two Bangladesh phone numbers that were used to send threat calls and messages to people in February 2024. However, the social media intermediary was yet to respond to the notice. Illegal activities The MHA added that the HNLC was involved in illegal activities such as killings, abductions, robbery, arms smuggling, cattle smuggling and extortion. From November 16, 2019 to June 30, 2024 as many as 48 criminal cases were registered against the association or its cadres, which included nine incidents of planting and explosion of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). During the same period, 73 cadres were arrested and three others surrendered. Further, 14 arms, 2,741 ammunition, 23 detonators and one hand grenade were also recovered from its cadres. Justice Soumitra Saikia, who presided over the tribunal, said in an order published this week that 'the HNLC continues to engage in armed insurgency and unlawful activities with the intent to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.' The HNLC was initially declared as an unlawful association under the UA(P)A, 1967 in November 2000 and the declaration has been continuously extended since then. It was last banned in December 2024.
India.com
17-05-2025
- India.com
5 Hidden Hill Stations Near Shillong You Must Visit!
Most people would agree that Shillong, which is located in the northeastern state of Meghalaya, is the prettiest hill station in India and the country's own 'Scotland of the East'. People are drawn to the place for its cascading waterfalls, pleasant climate, and lush greenery which effectively make this a tourist hotspot. Completely overlooked is the fact that, beyond the lively capital city, is a treasure chest of lesser-known hill stations which don't see a lot of visitors. These 'hidden gems' do wonders in offering peace, splendid views, and genuine Meghalaya hospitality. This article sheds light on seven hill stations that are located close to Shillong, which certainly do not get the attention they deserve. 1. Mawphlang Sacred Forest The Mawphlang Sacred Forest is located around 25 kilometers away from Shillong and together is accompanied by the larger Mawphlang region. This area is sprawled across huge regions of the Khasi Hills. Mawphlang is more than just a place for people who love nature, as it also has some cultural importance to it. Expounding more on this, this region won't only offer you picturesque scenery but it would also expose you to Khasis culture right from the very first moment you lay eyes on this place. You will not only find lush greenery here, as it is famous for its waterfalls and lake too. It would be interesting to note that this place is considered ancient and sacred by the Khasi tribe which makes this destination not only the dense canopy of oak trees, but also a sight which is protected by 'spirits'. The wild orchids, oaks, and ferns which can be found flourished many in numbers and built a kingdom of beauty. Visitors can also learn the indigenous flora and fauna and enjoy guided treks through the forests while respecting the local customs. Mawphlang grants you peace which shelters you away from the set tourist sites which are packed with people on a constant basis. 2. Laitlum Canyons Laitlum Canyons is considered one of Meghalaya's best-kept secrets and is heaven on Earth for photographers and adventure seekers alike. This canyon is located approximately 35 kilometers east of Shillong. These canyons have stunning views of rolling hills, deep valleys, and rivers. The journey to the viewpoint is not easy as it involves trekking through steep trails adding to the overall experience. The place gets even more mesmerizing during sunrise and sunset when golden hues are cast over the landscape. With backpackers increasingly recognizing this canyon, it is still relatively unknown to normal tourists. 3. Nongkhnum Island This is known as the largest river island in Meghalaya. It is located near the village of Nongstoin which is around 80 kilometers west of Shillong. This island is surrounded by fresh and pristine waters of Kynshi River and boasts amazing vegetation, sandy beaches, and limestone formations. With all of this natural beauty, it makes for an ideal camping, boating, and picnicking site. One of the many features of the island is the double decker living root bridge that is close by. It is a true marvel and a sustainable architecture created by the Khasi people. 4. Dawki (Ingot River) More and more people are starting to visit Dawki, and it isn't hard to see why, especially for people who enjoy boating and kayaking since it sits close to the amazing crystal-clear Umngot River. And with cave sites like Krem Liat Prah, those who wish to do some exploration will surely have a time of their life. Dawki is north of the town that bears the same name, around 90 kilometers and boasts of an incredibly stunning landscape which makes it perfect for solo treks and weekends away from the mental hustle. During the dry seasons, the emerald waters of the Umngot river are especially mesmerizing and shallows are visible. 5. Sohra (Cherrapunji) Most of Cherrapunji's remote attractions, despite being equally impressive, are relatively unexplored and overlooked by many people who wish to travel to Sohra. One such example is the Nohkalikai Falls which is the deepest plunge waterfall in India and is around 54 kilometers southeast from the town of Shillong, alongside the Mawsmai cave and seven sisters waterfall. Sohra is also home to many relatively unknown villages which have their own Khasi culture and traditions, and so are worth a visit. These unusual places are overflowing with beauty and culture and surely do not get the appreciation they deserve. Why Travel To These Little Known Places? The 'off track' marked hill station near Shillong allows tourists to experience the raw charm of Meghalaya without being surrounded by the hustle and bustle of tourists. Every place has something unique to offer. For instance, Mawphlang Sacred Forest is unique because of its deeply religious vibe. Meanwhile, the adventurous Laitlum Canyons boast astonishing views alongside thrilling trails, and the tranquil waters of Thadlaskein Lake provide a peaceful setting and calmness. Not only that, but it also promotes eco-friendly local tourism which helps rural areas grow economically without destroying their cultures or environment. Final Thoughts To wrap things up, tourists going to Shillong should not just focus on the main areas of interest. Below these mysterious hill stations lies the real treasure of Meghalaya, where nature flourishes, tradition prevails, and where stories silently long to be told.
