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Down Memory Lane

The Women-centric Khasi Society

Ms Pushpa Nag, one of our members, shares her childhood memories of Shillong with Mousumi Gupta.
More than speaking about bungalows with manicured lawns, crystal-clear water falls, lush green valleys and mountains surrounded by walking trails which they used to take to school, Ms Nag was more excited to speak about one of the most interesting tribes, the Khasis, who mainly inhabit the Khasi and Jaintia hills in Meghalaya.
“Khasis form the chunk of the population in Meghalaya. I felt proud when I saw women’s empowerment in its most effective form among them. The young generation is given the freedom to choose life partners. In their culture, the girls cannot be forced into marriage. Moreover, she may end the marriage at her will with no objection from the husbands. After marriage, the groom comes to live at the bride’s house,” said Ms Nag.
“Khasis follow a matrilineal system of inheritance and only the youngest daughter is eligible to inherit the ancestral property and is the custodian of the family property,” said Ms Nag.
Asked about the unique feature of the Khasis, Ms Nag explained: “The descendants are recognised from the mother and not the father. According to their laws and tradition, the mother inherits the children and property but not the father. The property rights are given to women and all the decisions in a family occur under the senior-most female member.”
“The men in the society cannot have a house of their own; they have to either live in the house of their mother, sister, wife or daughter. Even the most efficient male members of the clan cannot do anything on his own and are considered second only after the women.”
“They are very hardworking in nature and their respect for any type of job is something to learn from them. There was a maid in our house, who belonged to the Khasi community. The maid’s daughter used to come after school to our house to help her mother in work without any hesitation. The girl used to study in a reputed school.”
Sealing her respect and fondness for the Khasis, Ms Nag said: “I salute this music-loving tribe who are warm-hearted, simple, devoid of complex doctrines of any kind and still guard their heritage.”
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The Tough Fight

One of our members, Ms Champa Rani Das, narrates how she coped with a critical medical emergency while raising her daughter more than 50 years ago. The remarkable courage and composure she showed at that point of time was commendable.
“A shrill cry of our one-and-a-half-year-old daughter startled us, and we found that she had accidentally swallowed the ampoule cutter while playing. We were in Amla, Madhya Pradesh, as my husband (an Air Force officer) was posted there then,” recalled Ms Das.
“After being dumbstruck for a moment, I regained my courage and rushed her to the nearby defence hospital. An X-ray showed that the cutter made of iron was somewhere lodged near her lungs, which needed surgery. They referred to the nearest air force hospital in Jabalpur as they didn’t have any arrangements to carry out such complicated surgery.”
Narrating about the turn of events, Ms Das said: “I, along with one of the soldiers, booked two tickets for Jabalpur and my husband stayed back with our nine-year-old son. The overnight journey reached us to Jabalpur and a pre-arranged ambulance took us to the hospital without wasting time. The doctors suggested another X-ray the next morning just to find out the location of the cutter. We had no choice but to stay in the hospital.”
“The next morning my daughter started to cry uncontrollably, and I found that the cutter was coming out with the stool. I immediately called the nurse and with little effort, it came out. Thinking that the trauma was over, we came back,” she recalled with relief.
“My daughter started to be in her usual jovial mood. Then one day, when I was busy preparing breakfast for the family, I noticed that she started to bend down. As I rushed towards her, I found that she was running a high temperature. Sensing danger, I took her to the air force hospital again and Benz, who was a very reputable doctor in the hospital, attended to her immediately, leaving all patients.”
“The fever was beyond control, so the doctors kept her covered with ice leaving the face out. The agonising wait continued throughout the night and the next morning, the doctor came out relaxed and informed me that she was out of danger. The doctor then narrated me about how a panel of doctors had fought death throughout the night to save her because she had acute septicaemia and the fluid in her backbone had also got infected. I got my daughter back from sure death and she is hale and hearty now.”
“It was the sheer power of endurance of my brave daughter and definitely because of doctors’ efforts that imminent death could be avoided,” said Ms Das with pride.