It has been a pleasure and a privilege to associate myself with a work of considerable interest being presented to the reading public in order to bring to them a glimpse of a cross-section of culture of a remote part of our country inhabited by simple tribal groups of people known as Khampti and Mishmi. I have known Sri Amalendu Bikash Kar Choudhury since he had come as a student in the post-graduate level at the University having developed himself later as an exponent of Indian Music. The book he is presenting here deals with music which he could find and appreciate among the tribal people of Arunachal. Secluded and sheltered within inaccessible regions of rugged terrains the tribals live a life full of spontaneous love for life imbued with joy derived from the abundance of nature rich with variegated wealth of colour, rhythm, warmth and beauty. The music that wells up among the unsophisticated boys and girls of these tribal people gives a warm glow of their purity of soul, their oneness with the nature around, the trees, the hills, the animals and above all the mighty river Lohit which fertilises their lives with rich and abundant place of liveliness and joy. Shri Kar Choudhuri had a unique opportunity to be in the midst of these people for quite a stretch of time sharing the innate qualities of their lives, the overflowing rhythm of tunes which they shared with nature around them. He has made full use of his deep and sympathetic understanding of these people, particularly the music that exists with them as integral part of their lives. The book contains a very worthwhile and rich portrayal of this enormously wealthy aspect of the life-tune of a remote group of our own kinsmen who still retain some of the unspoilt elements of culture in their pristine form.
This book is an outcome of intensive study on the Khamptis and Mishmis residing in and around Lohit district and in the surrounding areas of Tezu, the district headquarters of Lohit.
The Khamptis and Mishmis are extremely simple and hospitable tribes without any ego or suspicion of outsiders.
In doing this work I gratefully acknowledge my debt to my Khampti and Mishmi friends like Shri N.M.A. Khampti, Chow-petcha and Jonai Lamboo. For this work my initial inspiration came from Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, the reputed and popular artiste of Assam who advised me to start the work from the day of my arrival at Tezu. Keeping in mind his advice, I actually collected material everyday from the local people, the outcome of which is the music-chapter of this treatise.
This will be, perhaps, the first publication on the life and culture of Tezu and its surrounding areas with special reference to their music.
Touring in the hilly terrain of Arunachal is rewarding although it is very difficult for want of communication.
The tribal people are friendly, sympathetic and co-operative.
I started my work from my headquarters at Tezu. No authentic information was available on the dialect, literature and specially on music. Information on them was collected during my long stay at Tezu and thus this writing will present perhaps, for the first time, a firsthand account of the music of Khamptis and Mishmis.
In the music-chapter what I described was possible only because of my day to day participation in the local events.
I thank my engineer friend Sardar B.S. Lall and District Statistical Officer of Tezu, Shri Nripendra Kumar Burman who gave me enough local information in doing my job.
I am grateful to my Bulu Di, respected Bulbul Sarkar, Deputy Chief Producer, Western Music, All India Radio and Shri Kshitish Chandra Bardhan who had kindly gone through the scripts and suggested some corrections.
I express my gratitude to Shri Rathin Mukherjee and Shri Sripati Prasad Ghosh of Firma KLM Private Limited and Shri Ajoy Singha Roy, Editor, INMUSICA who have encouraged me in publishing this treatise.
I thank Prof. Niharbindu Choudhury who has prepared staff notations for its music-chapter. My revered teacher Dr. Kalyan Kumar Ganguly has written Foreword of this book. I remain ever grateful to him.
I acknowledge with gratitude the help I took from District Statistical Office, Tezu, Arunachal for the map printed in p 60. My thanks are due to the local papers, journals, periodicals and other important books referred to in this book in its different chapters and I thank Prof. Nalini Roy, Sarvasri Nihar Ranjan Mukherjee, Amat Kumar Mandal, Tankeswar Dutta (Tezu), Sajal Ranjan Maiti, Gautam Sengupta, Arun Das, Bishnu Saha, P. C. Barman and Smt. Asha Yalmo for their help in the preparation of this manuscript.
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