UMSHARANG (Cave in the valley of the)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A cave of unspecified nature is reputed (note 1) to have been used for seven years as troglodyte living quarters by the seventy-one-year-old, if not septuagenarian Bris Sibon Basiawmoit, lovingly called Mei Deng by those close to her and accompanied by her fish and hens (northeastvigil.in accessed 2006.08.06). ETYMOLOGY: The Khasi appelation -i mei- (SINGH, N 1906: 131), also found spelled ”i me” (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: LXI), signifies the mother (SINGH, N 1906: 131); one's own mother (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: LXI) and -deng- (Khasi, verb, transitiv), binomial imitative ”deng kup” (SINGH, N 1906: 65), means to put on (jewels); to adorn with ornaments (SINGH, N 1906: 65); to adorn, to beautify (SINGH, N 1920: 9, 40). SITUATION: Somewhere on the stream Um Sharang (note 2) and not far from the Umroi airport (note 3) in Ri Bhoi district. CAVE DESCRIPTION: The cave that Basiawmoit calls home has a tiny bedroom and a living room just enough to accommodate her four-feettwo-inch [1.27 m] frame. She effortlessly moves from her -rocky bedroom” to the kitchen and invites curious cameramen to photograph the inside of her cave. … Each of the cave’s tiny rooms have dwarf-sized wooden doors and neatly carved out windows. A small bamboo extension at the rear is the only artificial touch to Basiawmoit’s cave.A cave of unspecified nature is reputed (note 1) to have been used for seven years as troglodyte living quarters by the seventy-one-year-old, if not septuagenarian Bris Sibon Basiawmoit, lovingly called Mei Deng by those close to her and accompanied by her fish and hens (northeastvigil.in accessed 2006.08.06). ETYMOLOGY: The Khasi appelation -i mei- (SINGH, N 1906: 131), also found spelled ”i me” (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: LXI), signifies the mother (SINGH, N 1906: 131); one's own mother (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: LXI) and -deng- (Khasi, verb, transitiv), binomial imitative ”deng kup” (SINGH, N 1906: 65), means to put on (jewels); to adorn with ornaments (SINGH, N 1906: 65); to adorn, to beautify (SINGH, N 1920: 9, 40). SITUATION: Somewhere on the stream Um Sharang (note 2) and not far from the Umroi airport (note 3) in Ri Bhoi district. CAVE DESCRIPTION: The cave that Basiawmoit calls home has a tiny bedroom and a living room just enough to accommodate her four-feetA cave of unspecified nature is reputed (note 1) to have been used for seven years as troglodyte living quarters by the seventy-one-year-old, if not septuagenarian Bris Sibon Basiawmoit, lovingly called Mei Deng by those close to her and accompanied by her fish and hens (northeastvigil.in accessed 2006.08.06). ETYMOLOGY: The Khasi appelation -i mei- (SINGH, N 1906: 131), also found spelled ”i me” (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: LXI), signifies the mother (SINGH, N 1906: 131); one's own mother (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: LXI) and -deng- (Khasi, verb, transitiv), binomial imitative ”deng kup” (SINGH, N 1906: 65), means to put on (jewels); to adorn with ornaments (SINGH, N 1906: 65); to adorn, to beautify (SINGH, N 1920: 9, 40). SITUATION: Somewhere on the stream Um Sharang (note 2) and not far from the Umroi airport (note 3) in Ri Bhoi district. CAVE DESCRIPTION: The cave that Basiawmoit calls home has a tiny bedroom and a living room just enough to accommodate her four-feettwo-inch [1.27 m] frame. She effortlessly moves from her -rocky bedroom” to the kitchen and invites curious cameramen to photograph the inside of her cave. … Each of the cave’s tiny rooms have dwarf-sized wooden doors and neatly carved out windows. A small bamboo extension at the rear is the only artificial touch to Basiawmoit’s cave.