Kut Its essence and significance

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Kut: Its essence and significance

By: Ngamkhohao Haokip *

Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins, it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols.
— Thomas Mann

The onset of autumn has once again heralded Kut time. While preparation for Kut-celebration is going on in full swing, it is hope that occasional opinion like this may have its positive significance in celebration of Kut.

A cultural show during Kut celebration in 2005.

Origin: It is not exactly known when and where did the Kukis (in their undivided sense) started celebrating Kut as a post harvesting celebration.

However believes are that they have inherited it from their ancestors, whose progenitors are possibly, as believed by some scholars, the descendants of Manasseh, one of the lost tribes of Israel. The second theory is that they began to celebrate it while reigning in Burma, especially in the Chindwin valley region.

One of the earliest known feastings in record is the one Pu 'Chongja' performed before he left for 'Chunggam' which is rather recorded as 'Chon' a kind of feasting over an accomplishment.

Whatsoever it might have been as to its genesis, it is undoubtedly very clear that Kut is one of the oldest inherited traditional festivities of the Kukis.

Therefore, in its oldness lies its traditional values wherein smear the unexplored side of it which younger generation needs to unearth and harness the intrinsic values that can definitely foster fraternity and unity among the Kut-celebrating-people.

Kut as a traditional celebration: Firstly, Kut is Kut. There are not any names that can befittingly take the place of Kut. It is a word common to all Chin-Kuki-Mizo groups of people.

All this groups of people equally gives importance to Kut. Besides, it being one of the most important Kuts of the Kutte family, it has undoubtedly become the most accommodative festival of our state Manipur.

Moreover, Kut of today has also progressed toward being less inviting in its style and significance to the people who celebrates it, but on the other hand, Kut became a celebration of nothingness for non-celebrators, anti-traditionalists.

In essence, Kut implies nothing less than traditional celebration of joyfulness over the bountiful harvests. Here, the word 'tradition' has connotative intent.

Things of the far past that are handed down to the succeeding generation should bear to us non-simplistic social behaviour that cannot be denied in the course of our struggle for social survival. Sans that characteristic learning, the worthiness of remembering the undying past would prove futile.

Breaking with tradition of Kut in its celebration will do more harm that the celebration itself in the present ways and methods of wrongful glorification.

By inheritance, either the village chief with the lift given by his council of minister - 'Semang-Pachong' or the Priest - 'Thempu' initiates the magnification of year-end collection of the fruitations of labour.

After satisfying himself that harvesting along the village is over and that, there is no epidemic neither in the village nor in the neighbouring villages, which can dwindle the festive mood of the people, the village chief, in consultation and with knowledge of his council of ministers and the Thempu would ask the village 'Crier' to announce the arrival of Kut and that every villagers should prepare for the same.

The interests of the aged, young, widows, widowers, and orphans are not in the least of importance in the celebration. Any quantity of harvest and whatever amounts of contributions are made for the celebration is considered bountiful in the sense of the celebration.

The distinctiveness or singularity of Kut lies in the fact that routine (customary) barriers, but not the kind of customary barriers that we hope to get the license for preventive pronouncements of the village Priest relating to sacrifices and other encumbrances that are believed to have definite expediencies are untroubled on Kut day.

By chanting, the Priest invoked the Supreme God - 'Chung Pathen' for his blessings upon the villagers and for all humankind. The Thempu also chants for all kinds of prowess for the villagers.

Not only these, Kut day is a day that is eagerly waited for by those debtors to the village or to any individuals for on this day their burdens of debts are written-off of their shoulders.

In addition, all kinds of unsettled cases like fights, disputes and the likes are settled for peace. It is indeed a day of peace and harmony in the village that is celebrating Kut.

Traditional Kut is also an annual session of village assembly wherein members of the Chief's Council if necessary, are scrutinised according to their yearlong performances thereby enabling the village council to drop any unaccountable members. In that process, better and honest, say competent, members are put to the council of the chief.

It is in this assembly that programmes, policies and plans concerning the village, including agriculture, water, forestry, health and customs are discussed.

Moreover, sometimes-even matters of inter-village relations are tabled for discussion. Tradition has that the occupations of each individuals is taken into account while featuring the welfare and developmental issues of the village.

Kut tradition v/s modernism: It is needless to repeat saying that Kut is a long-established event of the 'Eimi' society. It's attractiveness and its binding force among the people were so enchanting and peaceful that lobbying for its recognition as a state festival was readily consented to by the State Government.

However, it is sad to observe that the people who have Kut, as their grandest festival could not really use it for promoting the desire goal of bringing back unity and fraternity amongst the one-time united ethnic group.

The convention of Kut celebration, as pointed out above, is bringing together all and sundry at the same level of festivity and equality in the fostering of love, closeness and perhaps, all the social cohesions desirous of any civil society. This is the virtue that our Government, especially in democratic society today, likes to cultivate as a long-term purpose of all efforts.

Unlike the Kukis, conversely, in today's world different ethnic groups seems to have revived their attachment to their traditional ways of life so as to foresee a ray of hope of cementing on a stronger basis their common goals by such a step that is also appearing to be coming into the light of the day.

The Kut-people, in their effort to strengthen their bone of oneness did felt the need to preserve the culture of Kut as far back in 1980s. Those leaders, it is believed, were more or less convinced that socialization of Kut can proved worth doing in view of the then prevailing wave of balkanising the unified Kukis on the theory of divide-and-rule policy.

Later on, it became less local and its celebration became wide spread. But as time passed and when the reign of control of Kut celebration shifted mainly to the so-called politicians and bureaucrats, the custom of it being a social forum was swiftly changed to become more a political forum.

The ideals of the revived initiators for social platform for bringing about social change for good future became marred till today and in its stead comes what not. Now, it has been transmuted as a platform for canvassing and propagation of one's ego and all kinds of social evils.

What Kut should and should not be: It is not apropos unhappiness on its being recognised as a state festival coming together with financial assistance either from the State Government or particularly from tourism department, but the fact remains as to why Kut is a festival for celebration.

Not at any time was it a celebration of English fluency and it were never an observation of half-naked materialistic skins of beauty with an objective view as object of lust.

Kut is also neither a Christian conference despite the fact that it is, to a greater extend, a ritualistic and religious one.

To the taste of subscribers of neo-modernism, if one likes it, Kut can be a celebration of achievements like the recent recognition of Kom dialect as one of the Kut-people's dialect.

Similarly, gold medallist MC Mary Kom, and other such achievements, can be equally fittingly featured as part of Kut celebration. Her achievement can be called up to date or modernism.

In the traditional games of Kut wrestling used to be an exclusive game for the man. This turning is modernism in the little true sense of the term.

Total deviation like the one we do now from traditional to non-traditional and non-modernism is not the modernity we thought to be and therefore that can never bridge between the past and the present. Presentation of a few cultural items cannot be an excuse of non-total deviation from tradition.

There are nobler lessons unexplored on the other face of Kut's coin.

It is good to learn unity, love, morality, sincerity and honesty that Kut of our forefathers left for the posterity and us. It is worthless to observe Kut in the present manner if it's not going to be worthwhile to learn from tradition of our great past.

Are the shows of today's Kut worth implanting in the minds of our youths who we expect to lead us next?

Ngamkhohao Haokip wrote this article for The Sangai Express . This article was webcasted on October 30th, 2006

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