{"id":128184,"date":"2020-06-15T04:09:11","date_gmt":"2020-06-14T22:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=128184"},"modified":"2020-06-15T04:09:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-14T22:39:11","slug":"axone-a-tale-told-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2020\/06\/15\/axone-a-tale-told-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Axone – A tale told wrong?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Elders from the Galo community during the Galo Welfare Society\u2019s foundation day celebration in West Siang district.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[ Marli Kamki ]<\/strong>
\nSomeone said to me, \u201cIt has to be worth the wait.\u201d This after the much-awaited film, Axone, was announced to be released digitally via Netflix on 12\u00a0June, 2020.
\nTo be honest, I wasn\u2019t that excited actually.
\nBut then the D-Day arrived, and by the same evening, a particular scene from the film, showing a reference to the customary marriage practice of the Galo tribe, was all over the numerous social media platforms, leaving many from the\u00a0community hurt and offended.
\nI must have looked at that particular video clip for, like, six times. Yes, being a Galo, I was quite baffled like the others as, having had the opportunity to attend laayap ceremonies quite a few times, I found the one shown in the film somewhat strange.
\nSo, one thing led to another and I ended up downloading and watching the film, after shamelessly asking a female friend for her Netflix ID and password.<\/p>\n

What is Axone about?<\/strong>
\nThe film is about a group of friends coming from different Northeast states who have made Delhi their second home. It follows their story and the pains they take to cook a dish using axone \u2013 a pungent-smelling ingredient – for one of their friends who is about to get married.
\nIt also rightly captures the ordeals (starting from sexist comments to\u00a0racial slurs, attacks, cultural ignorance, etc) someone from the Northeast has to go through in the national capital, and how people from different regions in the country bond over friendship and love.
\nAxone (called piiyak\/agyaa in Galo) is actually fermented soybeans, savoured by many across the northeastern states of the country. Other tribal communities in Arunachal also have their own name for it. The particular delicacy prepared in the film is the one popularized across the country by the Nagas.<\/p>\n

The controversy<\/strong>
\nTowards the end of the film, Minam, one of the central characters, has to marry Chimar. Minam is in Delhi for her IAS interview, and Chimar is in his native place. They marry according to the customary marriage rituals of laayap via Skype (a computer application tool).
\nHowever, in place of the bride, her sister is shown sitting with Chimar and performing all the rituals on her behalf. The nyibu\/shaman (who usually presides over such rituals) is shown objecting to such practise, saying it doesn\u2019t happen anymore, but relents, considering the extraordinary situation both Minam and Chimar are in.
\nNow, this particular scene (about one-and-a-half minutes long) has come as a shocker to many from the Galo community as they consider it to be a wrong portrayal of their tradition and customary practices.
\nAnd the line, \u201cThis only happens in Minam\u2019s tribe,\u201d only adds to it.
\nThis particular scene implies one thing,\u00a0ie, the existence of the practise of \u2018bride replacement\u2019 in Minam\u2019s community, and that a certain ancient ritual is associated with it.
\nMembers of other tribal communities in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, including the Galos themselves, have been left thunderstruck over the existence of such practices among the Galos.
\nMany have questioned me about the same, which must be out of curiosity, I suppose. Nowhere in the movie is the word \u2018Galo\u2019 mentioned by any of the characters, but the presentation of Minam\u2019s character clearly implies that she is a Galo.<\/p>\n

Who are the Galos?<\/strong>
\nThe Galos are an indigenous tribal community primarily inhabiting West Siang, Lower Siang and Leparada districts, the southeastern side of Upper Subansiri district and in various settlements in other districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Descending from the same Abo Tani group, the Galos are considered genetically closer to other tribal communities like the Tagins, the Adis of Shi-Yomi district, the Nyishis, etc.
\nThe Galo community has been recognized as a scheduled tribe under the Amendment of the Constitution (ST), Order, 1950, Part-XVIII.
\nAs a community, the Galos have a rich repository of indigenous knowledge, culture and traditions, which are passed down orally from generation to generation. For example: We have a unique naming pattern in our community.\u00a0We follow a patrilineal method to name our children.
\nThe last syllable of the father\u2019s name (the \u2018patrisyllable\u2019) is used\u00a0as\u00a0the first\u00a0syllable of\u00a0the child\u2019s name (the \u2018autosyllable\u2019). For instance, Jumnya-Nyamar-Marli. Here, Jumnya is my late grandfather, Nyamar is my father, and Marli, that\u2019s me.
\nLet\u2019s take another example. Say, if the father\u2019s name is Tanii, then the children may be named\u00a0as\u00a0Niito, Niiya and Niishi. Now, this may continue\u00a0as\u00a0Tani-Nito-Topo-Poni-Nikam-Kamki, and so on.
\nSince the Galo people had no written language of their\u00a0own,\u00a0this method of naming helped them in remembering their origins.<\/p>\n

My take<\/strong>
\nPersonally, I am elated and dumbstruck at the same time. Elated because this is probably the first mainstream film with story and characters (and the actors) from the Northeast; elated because, out of all tribal communities in Arunachal Pradesh, Nicholas (the director) chose our culture to be showcased on the big screen. I\u2019m dumbstruck because a one-minute scene in the film left me questioning myself.
\nJust like other northeastern states, Arunachal Pradesh is known for its varied culture and diversity as it is home to\u00a0as many as 29 major tribes and numerous sub-tribes exceeding more than a hundred. Every tribal community is blessed with their own heritage, rich cultural practices and traditions, which form an intrinsic part of their lives.
\nTrbials hold culture, customs and traditions close to their heart. Their wrongful depiction for consumption of the mass media is definitely bound to hurt anyone. It hurts more when the one steering the ship is a fellow brethren from Meghalaya.
\nNot just the tribals but any other community from the Northeast or any other region of the country would cry foul over similar instances.
\nDays ago, after the release of Pataal Lok, the Gorkha community was agitated by the use of certain dialogues in the series which they considered derogatory to their community. They had even filed complaints with\u00a0the\u00a0police and the Human Rights Commission for banning the series.
\nI had then vouched for the creators of Pataal Lok. I still do. The lines, although derogatory, portrayed the ugly happenings and the racial slurs used against the Gorkhas and the northeastern people in Delhi and elsewhere.
\nEven in social media engagements with many others, I had contended whether banning the series or getting its creators arrested would solve the huge divide and racial discrimination faced by our people. I had to quote scenes depicting racial slurs and abuse from the award-winning movie, 12 Years a Slave (which depicts the harrowing tale of black American slaves back in the day), to put forth my point.
\nBut this is different. Those complaining of wrong portrayal of their customary practices are not attempting to hide or run away from the harsh realities. They are just offended over what they feel – wrong portrayal.
\nFrom the little that I know and have learned, filmmaking is an art. Many have used it as a form of expression over the years. Agreed, creative freedom allows you to push boundaries, and I get the larger message that the director intends to convey with his film while using fiction to tell stories everyone from Northeast (who have lived or are living in Delhi) can relate to.
\nLet\u2019s get back to the scene again – Chimar\u2019s grandmother has just had a heart attack and she could die anytime, leading to the premise that the marriage was done for the sake of his grandmother who wanted to see his grandson married by following traditional customs before her demise.
\nThe film has portrayed an extraordinary circumstance, whereby both the bride and the groom had to marry despite being far away from each other. Different people will have different ways to perceive this scene.
\nIf one looks at it the other way, the director might have wanted to present Minam as a righteous girl who wanted to stick to her roots despite being away from home when she took part in her marriage via Skype after allowing her sister to take her place during the marriage ritual.
\nThe scene\u00a0could have\u00a0also been enacted to\u00a0spice up the plot of\u00a0the film. Only the director can tell what was in his mind. Even amongst my community, members have taken to the film and given their own interpretations, particularly with regards to the marriage scene. But most of the reactions are unanimous when it comes to wrong portrayal of the customary practices.
\nMore research could have been done before coming up with the marriage scene \u2013 which, incidentally, is the main plot of the film – or the scene could have been presented in a different way without ruffling feathers.
\nGalo marriage customs involve different transactions between the bride, the groom and their respective families. These definitely don\u2019t involve the concept of \u2018bride replacement\u2019. Whether someone has done it in the past or not, I can\u2019t say. But almost everyone I have talked to has denied the existence of such a practise.
\nThe community might have not been mentioned anywhere in the 1 hour 43 minutes\u2019 long film, but the references are too strong to just ignore. The question here is not about curbing anyone\u2019s creative freedom but course corrective measures should and has to be put in place. It is still not late, I suppose.
\nSeldom does anything aptly and actually depicting the different communities of the Northeast on the celluloid comes out. When it does, there will obviously be expectations against any misadventure. Is it wrong for anyone to expect that?
\nAnd while the entire team of Axone basks\u00a0in the positive reception of this witty yet\u00a0culturally-rooted tale, many from the Galo community in India\u2019s blind spot stand hurt, anguished and agitated over the vilified misrepresentation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[ Marli Kamki ] Someone said to me, \u201cIt has to be worth the wait.\u201d This after the much-awaited film, Axone, was announced to be released digitally via Netflix on 12\u00a0June, 2020. To be honest, I wasn\u2019t that excited actually. But then the D-Day arrived, and by the same evening, a particular scene from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-128184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128184\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}