When I first joined work in our tea garden near Gohpur, I was faced with a difficult situation: to settle a dispute between two fighting Nishi men who were engaged annually to cut Ikra sticks for use at the tea garden in the construction of workers’ houses. They were Nobam Tanyong and his younger brother Kabam Tanyong. In those days, most of the workers’ houses were made of mud plastered Ikra walls and thatch roofing with bamboo rafters and posts. They had to be extensively repaired every two years and needed minor repairs annually. The walls were lined with Ikra sticks which were only available deep inside the neighbouring forests of Arunachal Pradesh and only the Nishi workers were able to work there. We had to buy the permits and pay the royalty to their forest department in Balijan.
After the Ikra was cut, it had to be transported by tractors back to the garden. The year I had joined, Nobam, who generally cut our Ikra did not come on time as he was unwell and knowing this, his brother who was the contractor for our neighbouring garden wanted to double his profits by bagging both the garden orders. As it was getting late we decided to award the job to Kabam.
However after about two or three days Nobam appeared at the garden office and was furious to hear that his younger brother had got his contract; in fact he told us that he had asked him to inform us that he may be a bit late but he would definitely come with some extra helpers so as to make up for the time in cutting our required Ikra sticks. He had indeed come with his 2 wives, some sisters-in-law and a few other men as he had planned. He drew out his machete and told us in anger that he will cut up his brother for cheating him and was about to go off in search of him. The Nishis wore very little cotton clothes but used lightly woven bamboo and reeds to cover their bodies and did not seem to feel the cold at all. They could walk and run fast and for long distances as they had to chase and kill their prey for meat and used spear like sticks, machetes; only the headman had guns. They followed a system of community hunting and they were experts in tracking and while out hunting, used to smear their bodies with the dung of deer so as to mask their body odour. I learnt all this much later when I had gone to visit Nobam in his village and had spent some time there.
But coming back to the story I managed to restrain him and explained that we will give him the contract as before so he did not have to fight with his brother. It took some convincing but to allay his fears I sent him off to Balijan in the garden tractor with his full group. The tractor ride itself was a novel experience for them. I instructed my staff to see that the work permits were made out in Nobam’s name for our work. I believe there was a serious altercation between the brothers but after the younger brother realised his mistake he offered to hand over about 200 bundles of Ikra to his elder sibling as a fine to placate him. In fact after that I never met Kabam again in our garden though he was there in the village when I met him later.
Now the other big problem with these Nishi people is that they never accept their wages for the cut Ikra bundles in bulk and we had to pay them all individually. It was quite an accounting nightmare as, one by one, all members of the team including the children accompanying them were paid in exact proportion to the bundles claimed to be cut by each individual. After they received their money one could see the joy on their faces as they needed the cash to buy some basic essentials like salt, beedis and cigarettes, match boxes, knives and a few basic clothes. Nothing fancy and the money they earned by this annual excursion to the gardens to cut the Ikra sticks were their only means of income. Otherwise they obtained all their basic necessities from the forests itself, by hunting, trapping and fishing with different types of bamboo traps lodged between stones to snare the fish.
Nobam’s village was on a mountain beyond a place called Ramghat on the banks of the Boroi River where it discharged from the last gorge and entailed a trek which they could make well within a day but for me it took two full days. No doubt I was carrying my tents and camping equipment and my hunting and fishing gear; we had to make camp for the night before the last climb up and the Nishis, who were my escorts, were very amused by all the stuff I had and asked me various questions which took the wind out of me. So after dinner I fell asleep quite fast. The next morning we went as early as we could and reached their village just after midday. I will never forget the scene. There was a large clearing in a valley and a lot of cultivation of maize, pumpkins, various herbs and ferns. Besides this the place was full of livestock mainly pigs and a few goats and some really big Mithuns. In the distance there were also some local varieties of rice fields. The men used to go out on hunting forays and at times stayed in the jungle for up to 3 days tracking animals they had wounded. The women went daily to collect firewood and dig for all types of edible tubers which were plentiful. They basically ate twice a day; once in the morning and again in the late afternoon before sunset. No tea drinking but yes, swigs of Apong throughout the day. I will never forget the few days I spent as their guest and they made me feel at home in their own way - including the offer of a bride for me, which I politely declined!
Nobam used to come to the garden regularly for about 7 years when I was there but after we started making the brick houses for the workers he stopped coming as our Ikra requirements went down and moreover the Ikra sticks became more and more difficult to find. In fact before we completed 100% brick housing we had to use bamboo sticks for 3 years to make the walls.
In those years after my first meeting with Nobam he would come calling and visit my garden bungalow accompanied by my head clerk bringing me presents like a Jungle Fowl, a bag of maize or a woven reed piece to be worn around my chest. But I looked forward most to a small packet of the best Nishi wild marijuana which was the very best I ever had in my life. Nobam remembered how much I had enjoyed having a joint in a rolled cigarette and he specially collected the tender leaves and packed the same for me.
My head clerk was quite shocked to see me accepting this packet and the first time he wanted to stop him but on realising that I actually wanted it was taken aback. Nobam and the memories of his village are still fresh in my mind and I feel very blessed that I could savour such experiences which I am sure are no longer possible now.