It is the rainy season. The sun is shining intensely hot. Far away, throughout the day, the cicadas (gavrema and riuriuwa) are continuous in their singing. The village people say to one another that the more the cicadas sing, the harsher the sun beats down. Today has turned out just like that. Nevertheless, the working people do not sit idle just because it is sunny, nor do they stop because it is raining. Even when it rains, the farmers put on their traditional rain coverings (khophri), plough the fields, and build or repair the mud ridges (ali). Even when the sun is blazing, they work drenched in the heat. Men do men’s work, and women do women’s work.
People say that during the rainy season, if the sun beats down intensely, mangoes and jackfruits ripen very quickly. The village children climb the jackfruit trees three to four times a day looking for ripe jackfruit. If they find one that is semi-ripe (dokhra) in the morning, they check on it again by midday to see if it has fully ripened so they can pluck it. Crushing it and mixing it up, they eat it greedily like little piglets. If the sticky jackfruit latex (atha) gets stuck to their hands, they try to rub it off using teak leaves, pumpkin leaves, or taro stems.
They cannot even begin to think about what game they will play after eating the ripe jackfruit…
If nothing else works, the children smear the sticky jackfruit latex onto a split bamboo stick (phathw sinja) and head out along the roads to catch dragonflies (gandoula). When the sun is hot, countless swarms of dragonflies fly around like bees. They make a chaotic, bustling commotion around the dry branches of trees. What a sight it is to watch different kinds of dragonflies gathering on the dry branches of trees lined along the roadside! It looks incredibly beautiful to watch.
The Lab Phithri, Gandoula Raja (King Dragonfly), Sonani Gandoula (Golden Dragonfly), Siboldi Gandoula, Sisilia Gandoula, Ruphathi Gandoula (Silver Dragonfly), Saynani Gandoula, and Sikhri Gandoula—all of these are so beautiful to look at.
These days, because of the intense heat of the sun, the mangoes on the tilted tree near the courtyard of Raji and her family’s house have ripened in abundant clusters. Every now and then, ripe mangoes fall onto the road, and passersby pick them up and eat them. Only those who get to eat a ripe mango while walking down the road truly know how much joy it brings. Raji’s family’s mangoes are sweet to eat, fragrant, and deeply aromatic. While most people’s mangoes turn very sour when unripe, Raji’s family’s mangoes do not taste sour. Whenever the village folks talk about mangoes, Raji’s mangoes immediately come to mind first. Today as well, about five of the village girls gathered and turned up at Raji’s place, declaring that they must have a feast of these mangoes.
After chatting for a short while, Roji and her friends took a long pole (danda) to pluck the ripe mangoes. However, even by stretching, they could not reach the mangoes at the very top with the pole. Even after bringing out the wooden mortar (uwal) kept inside the house and standing on top of it, they still couldn’t reach. The mangoes at the very top were the biggest, most vibrant, and perfectly ripe ones. They began to wonder how they could possibly pluck them. Finally, Roji made up her mind to climb the tree to pluck the mangoes and began climbing up. Her friends warned her not to climb and tried to stop her, but she did not listen and boldly climbed up anyway. Seeing her elder sister climbing the mango tree, her younger sister Dengkhw ran to inform their mother.
“Mother! Big sister Roji has climbed the mango tree. Even though she was told it is forbidden to climb, she went up anyway!”
The moment she heard the news, Rwisumwi flew into a rage.
“What mischief is this?! Does she think she was a boy in her past life? Wait, I am coming right there! She simply refuses to listen. Even though girls are forbidden from climbing trees, she completely disregards it. Today, I am definitely going to give her a beating with a stick for being so stubborn.”
Without wasting a single moment, Rwisumwi grabbed a stick and marched over to the base of the mango tree. Looking up into the branches, she saw that Rajia had climbed incredibly high and was using a small stick to poke and dislodge the ripe mangoes. The ripe mangoes were raining down onto the ground with soft plops (tholthob-thalthab). Seeing this, Rwisumwi looked up and yelled out to her.
“Come down right this instant! What kind of monkey are you acting like? What kind of man do you think you are to be climbing trees? You never listen no matter what is said to you; I am absolutely going to discipline you with this stick today!”
Hearing her mother’s booming voice, Roji slowly began to climb down to the ground from the high branches. Her face turned pale with fear. She thought to herself that she was undoubtedly going to get a beating from her mother today. The moment she stepped off the tree and stood on the ground, Rwisumwi struck her daughter Roji a few times across her thighs. Bright red welts began to appear on her skin. Crying loudly, Rajia ran into the house and locked herself behind the door inside. Roji’s friends completely lost their appetite for the mangoes. They had all gathered together so happily, looking forward to a joyful mango feast. They gathered the fallen mangoes from the ground into a basket and brought them over to the house. None of them felt like eating the ripe mangoes anymore.
Upon returning to the house, Rwisumwi spoke to Roji’s friends in a comforting and explanatory tone…
“It is not proper, my dear girls, for females to climb trees. If women climb trees, people criticize their character. They say it diminishes the honor and respect of men. There is even a belief that if a woman climbs a tree, the tree itself will dry up and wither.”
The young girls listened to Raji’s mother’s words in dead silence. Looking closely at their expressions, Rwisumwi continued speaking.
“In the old days, our grandmothers used to tell us that if women climb trees, the trees lose their ability to bear fruit. Furthermore, if men happen to see a woman climbing a tree, what will they think? Men might secretly enjoy watching women acting improperly, yet they are the first to slander them and ruin their reputation. They eagerly look for flaws in women, but they will still judge them harshly. That is why women must carry themselves with restraint and discipline as much as possible. Women should never behave recklessly or expose themselves inappropriately in front of men. In the presence of men, one must speak carefully and keep one’s conduct under strict control. You must never display unrefined behavior before men.”
Roji’s friends stood there listening silently. They did not offer any reply to Roji’s mother. Meanwhile, Raji thought to herself that her friends were probably getting scolded because of her actions. They had come over with so much excitement to have a mango feast—how could they enjoy eating now with a heavy heart? They had already prepared everything: the chilies, salt, garlic (sambram guphur), and fresh mustard oil to mix with the mangoes.
Locking herself inside the room and burying her face in the bed, Raji was also quietly straining her ears to catch every word her mother was telling her friends. She had heard this phrase—that it is forbidden for women to climb trees—over and over again throughout her life.
Roji’s friends did not end up having the mango feast there. Since Roji’s mother had gently and reasonably explained things to them, they each simply took one or two mangoes in their hands and prepared to leave.
Songita had picked out two of the largest ripe mangoes. Looking softly at Roji’s mother’s face, she said politely:
“Goodbye, Aunty (Ayong). We shall leave now.”
In this manner, everyone took their leave of one another. Rwisumwi then went inside the house to sit with her daughter Roji and gently advised her further. Seeing her looking so sullen and upset, her younger sister Dengkhw also tried her best to crack jokes and tease her to make her smile.