Human emotions and Folklore

Why do we need stories!

Why do we seek the surreal!

Why do we let our minds wander the vastness of imagination!

Why do we, humans, are human!

In real world, there are limitations to every aspect of a life. A lifetime has a limit. Well, though the universe is infinite and ever expanding. We still are not even a fraction of it. So, in a way, we have limits.

But, this peculiar organ called brain, makes us think otherwise. People tend to make themselves immortal. One way, in the real world, is to create a legacy, and even after long gone, their memories remain for hundreds of years, perhaps thousands.

A lifetime is limited, but its memory can be stretched to any limit. Infinite even.

Now let us come to the imaginary world. This world gives us all the courage to make anything and everything impossible, possible. Here we can tell, “Hey! Imagination is just a beginning”.

We can create and live it. Do make-believe.

Now embarking on the topic of interest, Human emotion and folklore. We are really, highly, evolutionarily, sentient and to-the-core sentimental beings. Our emotions are our wealth. We are called humans because we have conscience.

And when Conscience meets emotions, there is magic! There is creation of imagination that drives us to seek anything we know is not actual in the real Earth. This has been done in many-a-ways. One among them is Folklore.

Ancient Earth had people create stories. These stories were stories for them, which became legend through the passing of generations, and at present we know them as folklore. Folk mean people; people from different cultures and lore means tale. In short Stories of People. Folklores were transferred orally at the beginning, and gradually started to be documented.

Folklores were mainly created for children. But its creators were adults. These adults filled their lore with high imaginations. Well, not imaginations for children. They tend to believe them.

I remember, when we were kids, Grandmother used to tell-tales. And we would listen to her in rapt attention with ‘Oooh’, ‘aah’ ‘haaaww’ ‘woooww’ and sorts of from our exclamatroy expressions. We had stories of angels, animals, demons, aliens, plants and so on. They heightened our emotions.

Kids, as we were, were unruly! That is itself an emotion. Now grandmother had the job to tame us. How would she do it?

Well, she would create emotions in us, which will eventually calm us. And these emotions were in the form of folklores. The nasty kids, sat down on the floor, heads up to Grandma’s face and eyes wide open. Hands on lower jaws and legs criss-crossed. The lion cubs were tamed! Finally !

She would tell stories of Ghosts and talking animals. We used to get scared out of our wits, trembling at the mere mention of a ghost. At the same time astound that even animals can speak. There were magical queen and evil queen as well stepmothers and a humble soul.

Children tend to catch things fast. They tend to believe whatever is fed to them. And hence, this is a perfect time to feed values worthy and wisdoms of life. Kid’s hearts are tender, filled with pure innocence and an emotion greater than anything.

Elders know that folklores can be entertaining with limitless imaginations but at the same time impart valuable lessons which will guide them kids throughout their life.

Kids cry when the innocent daughter is killed by the evil stepmother. But when the daughter resurrects in the form of a flower or a fruit of in any avatar, they are overjoyed. Kids do not ask how is that possible for human to be born as a flower, but the mere rebirth is a happiness in itself. The emotion at that level is something we can value and understand for life.

Every culture of this beautiful earth has her own folklores. English folklores are of Robin Hood and King Arthur. Indian Folklores are those of Panchatantra, Jataka tales, Akbar-Birbal and the likes.

I used to hunt into book stores for them, ask my mother to buy them for me. And when the dark of the night loomed in the sky, I took the book in my tiny hands and coax her to read me one story before the Goodnight kiss.

Animal tales, Village tales, Foreign land tales, anything but one story each night. And then I was presented the children books of Assamese Great Lakshminath Bezbarua, “Burhi Air Shadhu and Kokadeuta aru nati lora.”

Bandor aru xial, Gongatup, Xorobjaan, Tejimola, you name it. My favorite was Xorobjan and that famous line, “Etia he porile foringor moronor pal” has been embedded in me for ages. WOW! look at his sheer luck, and the awards he got out of it. Coincidence for him, but so brilliant. His name is Foring and the thing is the person’s hand is also a Foring.

Another line is “Haa doi, ajie khai loo…” Another coincidence, Foring meant the curd “doi’ with expresson of “haa!”; hence Haa!Doi” and the thief was the queen whose name is also Haadoi. And hence, she was shocked and he was rewarded. Foring’s sheer luck. Is not it.

Such are these folklores. So intriguing and so much of zeal. Adults know a crow cannot talk like humans, yet they tell their kids otherwise. And kids believe them. Why not. After all this is what folklore is about, delimiting the constraints of real world.

Folklore has a power.

A power to drive us to goodness.

A powerhouse to have us make emotional and at the same time wise enough to know when we tremble under our actions.

Even now, when chance makes me, I Read Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha’s legendary gifts to India. I still though an adult laugh heartily at those funny Jataka Tales and Panchatantra. I forage through my old bookshelf to find the dusted books of Burhi Air shadhu. The mere cover of it makes me nostalgic, bring back all the emotions before my eyes, my childhood and my infinite belief in these mind blowing tales.

So grab a folklore, it can be European tales, or South American or Indian or our very own Assamese tales. Pick one today, relish in you long lost hidden emotions and relive the kid you were once. 

I first published this article in my University Departmental Handwritten magazine, 2018.