Sound of Music: In Meghalaya’s Kongthong, People Sing Their Names

Eeooow, Ooeeo, Ooeeeii!

It’s not a typo nor has the author of this article written gibberish. These are actually the names of people in Meghalaya’s Kongthong village. And, one is not supposed to read them – these names are meant to be sung.

The musical names are called ‘jingrwai Iawbei’ in the local Khasi parlance.

JINGRWAI (noun): SONG

IAWBEI (noun): CLAN ANCESTRESS

The Khasis live in a matriarchal setup. These names are a dedication to the woman who started the clan – or ‘clan ancestress.’

This tradition has been documented in a new documentary named My Name is Eeooow.

A cluster of 12 villages in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district follow this custom. The area is collectively called ‘Khadar Shnong.’ Unfortunately, there’s no recorded history of the tradition. So, no one knows when the tradition of song names started. It has been passed generation after generation.

Oinam Doren, director, My Name is Eeooow

‘My Name is Eeooow’ – The Film

My Name is Eeooow was produced by Centre for Cultural Resources and Training and directed by national award-winning documentary filmmaker Oinam Doren.

Since Doren is from Manipur, it was difficult for him to understand Khasi. His crew, which was primarily from Shillong, played a key role in the making of this documentary.

The film has already won awards across festivals in the UK and Italy.

The Names are Getting Lost

The villagers of Kongthong have two names – a regular name and a song name. Even the song names have two versions, a short song and a long song.

The short song is normally used at home. The longer names are used in the forest. The locals believe that the long names can confuse the evil spirits and help keep them away.

Oinam Doren

In these areas, the mother comes up with a song when a child is born.

However, Jingrwai Iawbei’ is slowly losing its traditional roots, primarily because of the influences from outside the village.

Internet and mobile phones have penetrated villages. So has music from outside. One lady named her child after the Bollywood song ‘Kaho Naa Pyar Hai’!

Oinam Doren, Director

Even marriages outside the community are affecting the ‘song name’ tradition. As men get married to women from other villages where this custom isn’t practiced, their children are named after the mother. There are regular names, quite unlike the song names of Kongthong.

Film Footage Courtesy: My Name is Eeooow and Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT)

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