Mawphlang, March 31: Spring - the season of hope - has stirred the hearts of a group of Australian aborigines who travelled from Down Under to be a part of the second edition of the Monolith Festival, 2016, at the Khasi Heritage Village here.
To the beating of soul-stirring Khasi drumbeats, the three-day festival, organised under the aegis of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), got off to a glittering start amid an unseasonal chill. Mawphlang is nearly 25km from Meghalaya's capital Shillong.
While governor V. Shanmuganathan, who was dressed in Khasi traditional attire and inaugurated the festival, pronounced at the heritage village that he would start learning Khasi from today, members of the Budawang tribe from Australia's New South Wales have drawn inspiration from the cultural extravaganza.
"We have a lot of similarities with the Khasi people. After listening to your people, we feel we are just so similar. Although it is a very hard battle to live in today's society, it is inspirational coming here," Noel Batla told reporters at the heritage village.
Sharing his thoughts about the Aborigines, he said, "We have respect for mother earth and grandmother moon, father sky, grandfather sun. We are people from the earth, we come from the land and we have utmost respect for every living thing. We are all equal and we value each other. We respect women as you do. All our laws are being supervised by our elders - men and women equally - to make sure that all our laws are carried out."?
However, he said it was a "real struggle" to hang on to "our culture" and pass on to "our children".
"Children do not want to inherit what we have left. However, coming here inspires us to keep going after knowing that you people still hang on to your culture," Batla said.
Narrating the problems faced by the indigenous people of Australia, he said, "We are still not included in the Australian law, its Constitution. We are denied the right to access our land; we are being kicked off our land. We have the highest unemployment rate, shocking health statistics and we are in terrible living conditions."?
Indigenous people in Australia constitute about 2.5 per cent of the population with 391 distinct language groups consisting of around 400 dialects, he said. "We are in a minority, and so we do not count," he added.
But an optimistic Batla said the tribes do not give up. "We keep going," he added.
Having been inspired by the Khasi culture and traditions, he said when he returns to his homeland the first thing he will do is "inspire our own people to get strong".
"We will teach our own people and pass on the struggles you had faced but overcome. We will share with them that you still have your culture; you have got your connection with land and strong family ties," he said.
In his address, Shanmuganthan defined the Khasis as people who are "kind and large-hearted".
"The festival is a window to the rich Khasi cultural heritage and genius," the governor said.
While stating that the Khasi community should move forward, he said the society should correct some of its shortcomings.
