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In
one matriarchial society in India, men are bristling with indignation
as power rests in feminine hands.
Meghalaya
is a beautiful place in the north-eastern corner of India. Meghalaya
literally means the abode of clouds, and may I let you into a secret:
not all the men in the abode of clouds are happy.
The
reason is fairly simple. Belonging to a matriarchal society, these
men love to smile when feminists pass their way but otherwise are
brimming with indignation. They even tried forming an organisation
called Synkhong Rympei where men came together to protest against the
atrocities women commit on them! The organisation exists even now but
it is difficult as locals, say, to garner support for an age-old
tradition.
The
tribals of Meghalaya are, as all tribals, happy go-lucky people
worrying about their life from minute to minute. Khasi men are prime
examples of this, enjoying their drink and having many a stories to
recount to each other. What keeps them going is that after a couple
of drinks, it does not matter even if they repeat the same story
again, no one is listening, no one is hearing. As they indulge
themselves, their wives work hard earning the livelihood. As in most
hill tribes, you will find more women in the market places selling
their wares, more women working in every facet of life. Men seem like
ornaments. Actually in Khasi society even that is not true. The Khasi
women are so beautiful, that they are famous for their beauty.
In
fact that is where the whole problem arose. Khasi women with their
beauty and monetary power, tended to have the roving eye. Men from
all over the world fell for them and proposed to them in marriage.
The highly westernised society of Meghalaya, a fall out of the
colonial rule, lost no time in changing their way to match the
worlds' and while the men were left watching the women moved many a
strides.
Soon
it happened that a non-Khasi man was the head of his household while
living in Meghalaya and even gave his children his name while a Khasi
man still walked behind the name of his mother. There was then the
idea that children of mixed marriages should not be allowed a share
in the property.
But
who is to decide that because they were generally women who married
outside and they were the boss! It hurt the male pride immensely and
that is how Synkhong Rympei came to be.
In
many houses, the man is still the de facto boss of the household. It
comes naturally to the children to take the mother's name and that
property moves along the matriarchial line. Women say that they will
not let this situation changes unless and until men change their way
of life and become more responsible. The prospect seems so
frightening that sixty percent of the men themselves are against the
change!
But
this desperate bid by men who are struggling to wear the pants is now
entertaining people rather than actually moving their women even by
an inch.
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