Society In Meghalaya

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A Different Take on Society-- found in Meghalaya  Pragya Haloi  Upasa Borah A young man, born and brought up in his mother’s household is instilled with norms and customs only to be married off to another household, one with a completely different environment and a new set of norms and customs to follow. On the other hand his younger sister who is entitled to the family inheritance gets to continue her life in the same household. Can you imagine how scary and intimidating that process might be for him? For many of us who are born into a patrilineal society the workings and traditions of a matrilineal society is a novelty. The very idea of marrying off our brothers and sons to another household to be borne by their wives seems comical.…show more content…
It is slightly different from a matriarchal society where the lady gets to rule the clan as well. Theoretically, there exists three components of such a system, viz., continuation of mother’s last name through generations, a matrilocal residential system where the husband lives with his wife’s family after marriage and inheritance of property by females. The origin of this form of social system is still a topic of debate but the commonly believed reason was that it was adopted to prevent the division of property. Anthropologists and evolutionists believe that most societies in this universe have eventually evolved from matriarchy to their present form of patriarchy. The male members of the family were sentenced to military and there was nobody to look after the household. As a result the tribes resorted to matriliny whereby the females began to take part in the matters of land, social rank and family name. Although the men retained the political power the rights to these powers passed down through the female…show more content…
The womenfolk does most of the work and runs the family. She has a complete say in decisions of the family. She is supposed to run family businesses and provided for the clan. The men, on the other hand is expected to do the agricultural work, viz. plough the field, care for the cattle and the like. Oftentimes what happen is the men lie idle and drinks his time off. They feel suppressed and dominated in their women’s world. Some of the men has formed the equivalent of a “men’s liberation group” called Syngkhong Rympei Thymai (SRT) back in 1990. SRT has only about 3,000 members, but most are silent members who are too nervous to publicly challenge matrilineal traditions of the Khasi-Jaintia society. "We hope things will change and we will get a more meaningful role to play in our society. But we cannot force a change," says Anthony Kharkhongor, a SRT member. Shillong is the capital of Meghalaya. It is also a budding educational hub with institutes like IIM Shillong, NIT and NEIGRIHMS. Life as such is completely different there. With music in its free spirited soul, Shillong has influenced a lot of its neighbouring places. Several campaigns and seminars are held to discuss what is prevailing and what needs to be changed. A change definitely is on its
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