Ohha-ohhey… ohha-ohhey… They repeat in rhythm as they dance in a circle. The men wear a kilt and a shawl across their bare chest. The women are draped in long skirts and their chunky neckpieces clang in tune with their movements. Their commander is at the centre with a spear in his hand; his head gear, the pasi, is decked with plastic flowers to signify his status. The men and women dance and hum in harmony and tradition comes alive in this recreation of the seed sowing rituals of the Tangkhuls.
“The soothing call is meant to instil a sense of unity in the people working in the fields,” explains Mercy Hungyo, a Tangkhul who has been living in Chennai for six years. The Tangkhuls are a Naga tribe predominately from Manipur. Luira Phanit, their seed-sowing festival marks the beginning of the plantation season, which is a state holiday. Everyone dresses up in traditional attire and celebrate with wrestling, cock fighting, tug-of-war and pole climbing.
Organised by the Tangkhul Student Union this weekend at the YMCA grounds, the festival was celebrated in Chennai for the first time, drawing over 1,000 Tangkhuls from the city.
The community came together to perform Tangkhul rock music, narrate folk songs, pray and celebrate the season. Young Tangkhuls strutted across the stage, showing off fusion ensembles made of their traditional hand-woven cloth for the fashion show. The men sported trendy, ethnic black jackets, with Tangkhul tribal design motifs. The women wore dresses made out of their traditional cloth, and wore chunky plastic chains around their hair and necks. “For us, wearing dresses in Chennai is very difficult because people stare and make fun. We also can’t wear the traditional material here because it’s too humid,” says Worsingthi Shimra. Their distinct fashion has not yet found a market in Chennai: head bands, necklaces, jackets and dresses are usually brought from home.
The Tangkhuls’ traditional cuisine includes a lot of meat — beef, chicken, dry fish, pork. There’s the recently-opened North-East Kitchen in Egmore that serves their fare and the Naga Reju in Choolaimedu, which serves similar cuisine. However, home-cooking is a challenge as traditional ingredients like fermented soya beans, bamboo, king chillies, and rice bread are not available in Chennai. So, they’ve learnt to adapt their cuisines or make South Indian staples at home. “Now, we eat rasam-sambar,” laughs Mercy.
Even though there are no official statistics, estimates claim that there are around 2,000 Tangkhuls living in and around Chennai. With Christianity being the pre-dominant religion, the Tangkhul Baptist Church in Vepery brings them together every week. “It’s possible that more than 100 Tangkhuls come here each year… the number is increasing every year,” says Nimlei Khamrang, the pastor, adding that the education system and job opportunities bring many Tangkhuls here.
Fashion student Zeinorin Stephan, who moved into the city just two months ago for an internship, says she already has many friends in the city; many from her town have moved to Chennai and most people know each other. “We are closely knit because of our social values,” she explains. Though Zeinorin complains about the weather, she is already at home here because, she says, the people are nice and the city, welcoming.
