Human Turning Into A Bird :: Mina Uthum Onkhiba
Fungawari Singbul by B. Jayantakumar Sharma

Translation by Bidyarani Thingujam *

An illustration of Folk tale 'Mina Uthum Onkhiba' by Sibananda Thokchom

Long long ago, in the land of Kangleipak, in a village called Heirem Khunja, there lived a poor man called Kachenglaiba who used to beg door to door to feed his family.

One day, in the land of Khuman, there happens to be the festival of Ukrong Hongba of the Khuman clan. Ukrong Hongba is a festival held in the first week of Mera (September-October) every year.

It is the substituted form of the ceremony of the deceased as a symbol for his or her daily or annual rites. In connection with this rites people assemble along with offerings of various foodstuffs.

People came from far and near to participate in the festival and Kachenglaiba also came to participate in the grand feast. The feast was laid and everyone present there took their seats and started to eat.

But Kachenglaiba was left alone and not a place was there for him to sit. Even the Banana leaf( serving plate) was not laid for him.

Seeing this, Kachenglaiba got very angry and suddenly stood up and challenge the king, "Hey Khuman King! Don't you see what's happening around here? If you want to celebrate this ritual, you must try to satisfy everyone. You should be ashamed of yourself as one of your guest is not getting anything to eat".

Hearing this, the Khuman king and the whole clan was very ashamed of themselves. At the same time they got furious at the attitude of Kachenglaiba. Seeing the commotion, Kachenglaiba suddenly got scared and he immediately left the place.

He thought of the king's soldiers coming after him and ran as fast as he could and at last reached a fish farm. After searching for a proper place, Kachenglaiba hide there for some time.

He spend the night there suffering in the cold and without eating anything. Then from a miracle, Kachenglaiba turns into a local bird called Uthum Thumbicha.

He spend the night eating raw fish. Meanwhile, Kachenglaiba's wife was very worried about the whereabouts of her husband. She looked here and there for her husband and also inquire from her husband's friends.

She then heard the story that happen at the Khuman king's place. She came out in search of her husband and at last reached the fish farm of Laitang lake.

There she saw that her husband has turn into a bird and hiding there. She got furious at the attitude of her husband who didn't think a bit of his family and hiding there like a coward.

Looking at her husband, she said, "You coward! Instead of looking after your family, you just happily turn into a bird and living here. From this day onwards, you just lived your life in the form of Uthum Thumbicha. In the land of Kege Moirang, at the wake of dawn, you must cry "Tum-tum" to wake up everyone". After saying this, Kachenglaiba's wife cried and left the place.

It has been said that, it is an act of cowardice to challenge someone greater than you. As the meek Kachenglaiba challenges the Khuman king and later fearing that the king would kill him, he hide near the lake and then turn into a bird and spend the rest of his life as Uthum Thumbicha who cries "tum-tum" in every wake of dawn.


** From Manipur folk tale Book called "Fungawari Singbul" by B. Jayantakumar Sharma