Only goods and no currency changed hands at the several centuries old Jonbeel Mela here near Jagiroad, about 70km from Guwahati, from the wee hours till noon on Friday as thousands of people belonging to Tiwa and other tribes coming down from the hills of Karbi Anglong and neighbouring Meghalaya were engaged in the annual ritualistic barter trade with the Tiwas and other communities living in the plains to keep alive the world’s ancient trade system.
While the Sun still struggled to lift the veil of fog to have a glimpse of this ancient trade system kept alive by the Tiwas, a colourful tribe living in the plains and the hills of Central Assam and also spread in Meghalaya, Dipamoni Malang and Rumi Khorai from Marjong, a Tiwa village in Karbi Anglong had already emptied their stock of Turmeric, ginger, pepper, bamboo shoot, pumpkin, ash gourd, green chilli from their jhum (slash and burn cultivation practice) fields and also medicinal herbs. They were ready to return home with plentiful Pitha (traditional Assamese rice cake made during Magh Bihu), dried fish, chira (flattened rice) Sandoh (roasted and grounded rice) they got in the barter trade with the Tiwa and other community people living in the plains. The threeday annual fair held under the aegis of traditional Tiwa King Deep Sing Deo Raja began on Thursday with a large number of hill Tiwas coming down and built small makeshift hut with bamboos they had brought and spread thatch on the floor to spend the night and the King joining a community feast.
“My father used to trek through the jungle route for several hours to come to this Jonbeel Mela and to take part in the barter trade. Now our village is connected with motorable road. About 60 people from our village hired three vehicles and it took around one and half hour to reach here. We take pride in taking part in the mela to keep alive the ancient tradition of ritualistic barter trade,” Dipamoni told The Hindu . Others from her village too agreed. They were having lunch with jhum rice, chicken, fish, pork meat cooked in bamboo tubes, and also in utensils they had brought along.
Tiwa people from the plains of Morigaon district like Kamini Bangthai, Kuhimai Bordoloi bargained with their tribesmen from the hill to get fresh jhum produce like turmeric, ginger, pumpkin, ash gourd in exchange of pithas and other eatables they had prepared overnight and brought to the mela during the wee hours of Friday.
Apart from the Tiwas, the Khasis from the Meghalaya hills also took part in the barter trade.
Narayan Puma from Hadaw village in Karbi Anglog, who grew up spending his youth in the village youth (bachelor’s) dormitory (called Chamadi in Tiwa language, every Tiwa village in the hills has a youth dormitory where the village youth are required to spend nights and imparted training livelihood, craftwork during the day) where he learnt the lessons of the tribe’s rich culture and heritage, said that knowledge about the barter trade system had been passed on from generations to generations by his tribesmen and it gives them an opportunity to learn about the life of people living in the plains.
As soon as the barter trade was over by noon, it was time for the visitors to flock to the makeshift markets of household goods and spend the currencies with them to choose and buy from a range products including wooden furniture, quilt, mattress, fishing implements, wooden rice pounder, bamboo and cane products, wooden and plastic toys, agricultural implements, utensils. Some visitors could not resist the temptation of taking a ride on the giant wheel in the mela venue. Hundreds of people took part in community fishing at the Jonbeel, a large wetland from which the annual fair got its name.
“Over the years the Jonbeel Mela has grown very big. It is not just confined to the Tiwas from the hills and the plains alone and every year the number of people from other tribes and communities are also increasing. We believe that this historic Jonbeel Mela is over 600 years old. The Gova King had introduced this mela to foster unity among the people from the hills and the plains. Increasing participation of more and more people from different tribes and communities is a true reflection of this,” said Jursing Bordoloi, Secretary of the Jonbeel Mela Organising Committee.
