In the Zone : Analysis and Verification
4.3.5 Providing spiritual satisfaction through code-switching
causing to lose time and money. In the above case, Manjit’s father tries to console his son because already he seems to have been repenting which is demonstrated by his absconding for a week. Instead, Naren Kutum expresses his acceptance of his son’s failure and advises him to study well for the next year’s examination. Manjit’s uncle joins Naren in the consoling exercise in Sentence 3 and 4. He switches over to Assamese speech passages monor jur and nera-nepera sesta meaning mental strength and perseverence respectively in Sentence 5. These Assamese phrases are taught in primary schools and are usually instrumental in imbibing a sense of strength in the minds of youngsters. Then he tells another comforting speech in Sentence 6 in Assamese that if a person continues his/her sincere efforts towards a goal, he/she will surely be successful one day. It is significant that here Manjit’s uncle makes a marked choice because he makes a departure from the current medium of consoling the disappointed boy knowing that his speech in Assamese with the childhood phrases will have a better effect in Manjit’s mind. Another remarkable point observed here is that the other members present in the household including the three neighbours too, pay a better attention to this speech than they did to the earlier ones as evident from their body language. Here Manjit slightly moves his head towards his uncle partly as a sign of acknowledgement of what his uncle has said to him and partly to show that he has not ignored the speech.
acts as a bhakat (priest) of the Mahapurushia Sankari Bhagawat. He along with his team members was performing puja on the occasion of Onno Prasanna (first feeding) of the daughter of Bichitra Kumar Doley of the same village on April 16, 2002. The following is an excerpt of the informal interview with Pegu after the performance :
1 Q : Ngolu agom luddom kapila Misingo:pé luman, kapila Mipagém lulusupé poridang? (While talking, why don’t we speak Mising alone, why do we use Assamese ?)
2 A : Karon, ngoluk Mising lok bhasha sorsa émnamdc ko:m, ngoluk Mising agom-sé p :l gsukuma. (Because, the language research in Mising is very less and the vocabulary is insufficient.)
3 : Émpila, prai Ahomiya sobda kobo logat pore. (Therefore, we have to often use Assamese words.)
4 Q : Ngolu Misingé télé adito du:dodém Misingo:pé agomém lungap la:dungai, kintu su:pak so ké gso du:langkula lungapla:tokuma, édé Kapila ikan? (When the Misings were in the hills, they could express their minds in Mising alone, but now after coming down to the plains and living here the vocabulary has become insufficient, why?
5 A : Ngolu-je Asomiya bhasha lo pori-ka. (It’s mainly because we have studied through Assamese medium.)
6 : Ngoluk porrou namdém ahomiyap pori-la, odokké ahomiyangém ajon jonna ngolu prai Ahomiya bhasa byabahar koru. (Whatever we learn from our schools is through Assamese and also we have friendship and other relations with the Assamese-speaking people, therefore, we often use Assamese.)
7 Q : Nolu, bhakat k d ngé pel gdouém oko bhasha-lo pel gdon? (While blessing, which language you prefer?)
8 A : Edé eta sabo logiya kotha, kapidang kindon. (That is a matter to be seen, do you know what happens ?)
9 : Misingo:pé pel gyém lo, bélé kumnébé mé:l gsuma, e:h, bhakat-sé pel gkinma émna mé:dag. (When we bless only in Mising, the party offering prayers are not satisfied, they think that the priest doesn’t know how to bless properly.)
10 : Odokké Mipagpé peté:m lopag mé:l gsudag, arrompé mé:dag. (And if we bless in Assamese along with Mising, they are satisfied, they think it proper.)
11 : Émpila, ngolu Mising pésin pel gdo, mipag pésin pel gdo. (Therefore, we bless both in Mising as well as in Assamese.)
12 Q : Sémmo:pé it l du:m lo Mising bhasha-sé yokyénémpéi mé:dang no?
(Do you think that if things continue as are going on now, the Mising language will cease to exist?)
13 A : Yokyar némpé mé:ma, anupé s :san k d :sé aiyo:pé baka sorsa-la du:yarm lo, eta homoyot Misingé Misingo:pé lula:yénémpén mé:dangné.
(I don’t think that it will cease to exist and, I think, if the new generation takes interest in developing the language, one day, Misings will be able to talk in Mising only.)
In the above interview, Bhupen Pegu says that the Misings switch over to Assamese because, first, the Mising language does not have sufficient word stock for expressing various feelings of a speaker triggering him/her to switch over to Assamese; second, they have friendship and other established relations with the Assamese-speaking people, and third, they have had their school education through the Assamese language. While saying this, Pegu gives a significant piece of information in relation to the languages the priests use while blessing in sentence 9, 10 and 11. He categorically discloses that the priests, as himself, give the blessing in Mising as well as in Assamese because if it is done in Mising alone the host is not satisfied. Therefore, the priests first bless in Mising and then they use the mantras from the book in Assamese.
Example 2
Setting : The interior hall of Bidya Pegu’s (54) house at Dibrugarh after the main performance of a religious function. The guests are being offered apong (rice beer) and they are engaged in informal talks. The head priest Dhaniram Doley (57) who hails from a village in the outskirts of the city, says in an interaction that the Mising religious practices are symbolic of two cultures. While blessing, he uses two languages, Assamese and Mising, abruptly switching between them.
1 : Mising pésin pel gdo, mipag pésin pel gdo. (I bless in Mising as well as in Assamese.)
2 : Su:pak ngo Mipagpé luyé, “guru Brahma, guru Bishnu, guru mohasoy, probhu Horowanto.” (Now I’ll say in Assamese, O, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Mohashoy, Lord Horowonta.
3 : Odokké Mising pésin luyé, “rugji-me:rang, ta:to-ya:yo nolu tatdlang ka…,”
(Again, I will say “O, plants and insects, forefathers, you hear” in Mising.)
It is seen in the above example that while invoking the Gods, the priest speaks Assamese and for the plants, animals and forefathers of the family, he speaks Mising. This specific use of language attributes to the fact that the priest learnt the customary rites of religion in Assamese from his Guru (religious master) and accordingly he practices them. He speaks Mising while invoking the plants, pests and forefathers because these are associated with agriculture which is the main occupation of the Misings at large.