Mizo literature, particularly songs, comprises largely of gospel or worship songs and songs that speak of the beauty of the land and nature, often called “Ram Ngaih” or “Ram Hmangaih Hla”. R.L. Kamlala (1902-1965), a Mizo writer was an individual who may be characterised as one, who, at one point in time, was torn between the two; leading to subtle contradictions in his songs. According to Revd. Chuathuama, in the Forword he wrote for his edited book, R.L. Kamlal Kut Chhuak, after he finished Middle School in 1929, R.L. Kamlala went through a phase where he was deemed as mad due to his anomalous behavior caused by a spiritual awakening and was even imprisoned for a while. Yet, many of his well_known songs were written during and after this phase of his life.
R.L. Kamlala himself admits to the changes taking place within himself and reveals how in 1932, he was confronted with Christ and how this affected his literary work to an extent, causing to the contradictions within himself and within the subjects dealt with in his songs. This occurrence gave him a new and clearer perspective of the word of God and also affected his mentality and his approach to things in general. He even claims that it caused a conflict between his inner and outer being. The songs that he wrote while he was in this state, as he himself puts it, “Ka Hla”, “Ka Hla Chuam” or his “Mihrinna Hla” are nine in all. He felt he was no longer in the position to call them Christian Songs or “Kristian Hla” due to their content and yet, on a closer study of these songs, it may be pointed out that they still consist of themes relating to Christianity to some degree. Moreover, it is significant to observe that R.L. Kamlala, a man of God, even considered mad after a spiritual encounter, used themes entirely opposite of the teachings found in the Bible in some of his “Mihrinna Hla,"
Zawlvanbuk, one
among R.L Kamlala’s
Mihrinna Hla is
a song that reflects the
traditional Mizo culture
of young Mizo
men who spent
a majority of
their time at
Zzawlbuk, a traditional
bachelors’ quarters of the Mizos.
Zawlbuk mainly as
a dormitory for
all unmarried men
and as a
“social institution where
education, entertainment, skill
and personal development,
and security of the tribal
community were (almost)
entirely centred.” (Pillai
130) R.L. Kamlala
in his Foreword
included in R.L. Kamlala
Kut Chhuak mentions
how only the
first and fifth stanzas
of the song
are his, and
that the second
to fourth are
actual songs sung
by the Mizo
bachelors who gathered
at Zawlbuk.
R.L. Kamlala opens the song with a scenic description of the land, and how when the weather was gloomy with no sunshine in sight and when the climate
was
not suitable for work or play, the bachelors would gather at Zawlbuk and sing songs to entertain themselves and to pass the time. The next stanzas consist of the songs sung but it may be suggested that R.L Kamlala is in favour of and agrees with what was being sung about. The young men in the song are singing and persuading the others to come back to where they belong- to Zawlbuk and use metaphors to signify certain things. A number of contrasts, revealing the contradictions in R.L Kamlala’s songs can also be detected in this song.
In the second
stanza, a comparison
between Heaven, a paradise out
of this world,
“Van Pialral” and
a heaven on
earth, within this
life, “dam lai
Pialral” is seen.
The writer, or
in this case,
the singers are
saying that “Van
Pialral”, a place
everyone has been
searching for is
too far away
and are asking
those in search
of it to
come back, telling
them that this
world, here and
right now is
“Pialral”. It also
stresses upon the
fact that people,
with all our
differences are the
same and pleads
everyone to just
be and not to
worry about the
rest too much.
It uses metaphors
of “day” - “Chhun”
and “night” - “Zan”
to denote this
difference, saying,
“Chhun leh
zan thim kara
leng kan dang
chuang lo,
Haw rawh
tinkim sei I
dawn lo vang.”
(Chuauthuama 103)
Perhaps the first contradiction within R.L Kamlala that can be seen in this song is in how he includes these two very distinct and opposing things- that of Heaven and a paradise on earth. In many of his “Kristian Hla”, he has profoundly written about Heaven, his desire to go there and often imagines and romanticises the beauty of it, what it must be like and the utmost pleasure and happiness that it would give him. He is aware of the evils lurking and the sadness that prevails in life and it is his faith in God that assures him that everything would be perfect in Heaven and many of his songs often depict this longing. He extensively talks about the sadness in this world coming to an end once he enters Heaven. For instance, in the song Tunah A Thar Hmangaihna Eng, he talks about how troubles and pain surround him in life and longs for Heaven, saying that once he reaches that place, he would not miss the world at all;
“Ka dam lai
ni hi a tlak hma
zawngin,
Ka tan
chhum a zing
thin;
Nakinah chu ram
ka thlen ve
hun chuan,
Ka ngai
lawng khawvel hi.”
( Chuauthuama 2)
The song Lei Hrehawm Hmun Reh Takah Hian also clearly depicts his unhappiness here and how the thought of reaching Heaven one day gives him a sense of hope and happiness;
“Tuipui rala ka Lalpa ram,
Thlirin hlimna ni eng chuan;
Ka rilru ngui a rawn tihlim,
Ka lungngaihna thim a en.” (Chuauthuama 7)
Such instances in his songs reflect his spiritual being and faith in God, yet when looking at his “Mihrinna Hla” like the song Zawlvanbuk where he includes songs sung by the bachelors, it may be assumed that R.L Kamlala tends to contradict himself. In the song, he seems to be in agreement with the idea that Zawlbuk or on a larger context, the world and this life right here and now is good enough, claiming that a better place or happiness cannot be found elsewhere;
“Kan lenna ram hi a lo nuam thlir ve rawh.
Hei ang lawman dang I tawng lo vang.” (Chhawnthuama 103)
The song also stresses upon the fact that the kind of beauty found in this world cannot be found anywhere else and pleads with the others to just look for their happiness now and right here on earth. The fifth and closing stanza is, according to R.L Kamlala, entirely his and closes the song with another scenic description of the land, wherein the weather has cleared up and persuades the young men and women to get up, start afresh and go to work;
“Ai ang tho ru lanu leng leh val zawng zawng,
Ram in tuan nan kawl a thiang ta e!” (Chuauthuama 103)
This stanza consists of themes not seen too often in R.L Kamlala’s songs. He describes the world as a place where hope for the future can be found, pleading with the youngsters not to be idle and to start working and grasp the opportunities given to them by nature. The world that he has depicted in most of his songs- a world of despair and no hope, with nothing to look forward to is in stark contrast with the world he is now describing. The inner conflict he had after his spiritual encounter may become a significant feature to look at. Before the encounter, his “Kristian Hla” portrays the sadness of life and the utmost relief and happiness Heaven would provide. The encounter instilled in him a clearer concept of Christ and the word of God. However, his “Mihrinna Hla” such as Zawlvanbuk now provides glimpses of the happiness the world could give which is a clear depiction of the conflict within himself that brought out contradictions in his songs.
Another song by R.L. Kamlala that is very distinct in its subject and theme, even when compared with songs written by other Mizo songwriters is Cho Ui Val Tha, which, according to him is a song, “humorously” written for a dog who died in Bualpui village, Mizoram in 1932. R.L. Kamlala may not sound too serious in his description of how the song was written, perhaps due to the fact that it is a song about a dog, yet, the tone within it is sad and serious and captures the angst of the owner over the death of the dog.
The song opens with the writer speaking about how lonely and sad the household has become since the death of the dog and reveals how unbearable the loss is for the owners;
The rest of the stanzas excluding the last one reveal the pain caused by this death and the writer even claims that he no longer has any brothers and sisters in this world and mentions how this dog named Ranga was the only one he had. He seems to be aware of the fact that mourning the death of a dog is absurd and admits that people might talk about him. However, the pain he feels is too real that he is not in a position to worry or bother about what might be said about him;
“Relthang reng ka dawn zo lo,
A NA RANGA!” (Chuauthuama 104)
The closing stanza and the subject raised in it is very distinct and opposing to what R.L. Kamlala usually talks about in his songs. First of all, he is giving the dog a final message to go forth and continue his journey to “Thlafam khua”, a place for the dead, an afterlife and to spread the message that his master is in pain because of his loneliness;
“Kal zel la Thlafam khuaah,
I pu run hrui ang zawt la;
“Ka pu nau ang a tlei thei lo”,
Tiin hril rawh.”
A stark contrast is evident in this final stanza, wherein the writer seems to believe in an afterlife for animals, contradicting to what the Bible says. Going back to the period when this was written, a time when R.L. Kamlala himself claims to have been closer with Christ, it is interesting that he would choose to deal with a subject such as this. On the other hand, to an extent, this song promotes the status of R.L. Kamlala as a poet and shows his diversity. He is perhaps one of the few Mizo songwriters to write about animals, giving them a human-like attribute, making him worthy enough to be compared with Romantic Poets like Wordsworth, Shelley, Blake, Keats, Coleridge and others who often expressed their fascination with nature in their works through depiction of animals and sometimes using them as symbols. For instance, William Blake uses animals for his poems as seen in The Lamb and The Tyger to depict good and evil. Coleridge too based his narrative poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner around the sanctity of nature, particularly that of the albatross, a large sea bird who was a sign of good luck to the sailors and Keats had also written an Ode to a Nightingale. (McKusick, 205). These poets have given utmost importance to animals in their poems and similarly, R.L. Kamlala, by expressing a man’s extreme longing for a dog, describing the pain a man feels over its death and creating an afterlife for it shows his romanticisation of nature and the importance he places upon animals.
Contradictory he may
be to himself
as revealed in
his songs, it
is evident that
R.L. Kamlala, in
his “Mihrinna Hla”
still stresses upon
the two worlds,
one on earth
and one after
death. He has been
known to be
a man in constant pain and
his songs definitely portray
this constant ache
of living in
this world. Yet,
both through the
portrayal of nature
and its beauty
as well as
through his faith
and hope of
Heaven, a majority of
his songs provide
relief for the
sad and lonely
and gives an
insight to a
better life, a life created
by one here
on earth and
a life after
death.
Works Cited
Chuauthuama, Revd, ed. R.L Kamlala Kut Chhuak. Second Revised Edition. Aizawl, Mizoram : Synod Press, 2006. Print.
McKusick, James C. “Keats-Shelley Journal”. Keats Shelley Journal, vol. 54, 2005, pp. 204-207. JSTOR. Web 3 Oct 2017. www.jstor.org/org/stable/30213124.
Vanlalpeki Sailo graduated from Govt. Aizawl College in 2012 with English Honours. She went on to do her MA at Mizoram University where she placed first in her batch and was the gold medallist in the English department. She then did her M.Phil. where she wrote a fine thesis on Nobel laureate cum singer songwriter Bob Dylan. This critical study of the late Mizo poet R.L. Kamlala is part of her research course work then.
