That Was Archery Match in Kagtong

31/3/12 and 1/4/12 saw an archery match between three villages in Kagtong community—Ngangla Trong, Emalagang and Kagtong. The Kagtong team was represented by the school staff as the people in the village were too busy to spare the days. The people felt the gaining popularity of Yangphel style archery match as three teams raced for the victory. It was a kind of friendly match to bond and revive the relationships between the villages. Each team consisted of six players. Whichever team could roll up 15 points first was betted to take home Nu 1200 from each team. This made the match fiercely competitive.

The days were fine with bright sun on throughout the days. The silent Kagtong was in the rhythm of cheers and laughter. The match broke the humdrum of the people’s life. As the match rolled on, the people gathered to witness the match. The second day of the match saw more people with even Assam based laboureers’ turn up for the match.

The pouring in of ‘Tshogchang’ by the village women revived the allure of the village’s age old tradition. Sitting by the side of the path, the village women served the players with due respect and smile. There were tea and juice for those who didn’t take any of the alcoholic drinks.

By midday in the second day, the competition became fierce with all teams running neck to neck. The shouts, howls and cheers became rampant, each team welcoming the teams hit and swaying away the opponents. The scorching sun blushed red on every players face. Ultimately the days were for Emalagang with 4 set win out of five possible sets during two days of archery match. The final set of the match was a consolation win for the staffs and Ngangla Trong team ednded up not taking home even a single set win.

After all it wasn’t winning or losing the match, it was a weaving of laughter, cheers and dances amongst the people. The smiles were shared and bond grew stronger. All team came together for campfire in the evening of the last day match celebrating the victory together. All was winner at last.

There weren’t dances alongside the match as in most of the matches where men play and women dance. The organizers didn’t arrange nor did the village women turn up for the dance. To this the village Tshogpa remarked that it was due to lack of young girls in the village and they were all studying in the high schools. I responded that young girls weren’t only those who could qualify to dance. I said that the older women could do far better than the girls especially in folk dances which are at the verge of being lost in this fast modernizing world.  Though the women didn’t turn up for dance during the match, few of them came for evening dance during the campfire. As the fire crackled high, the cheers, laughter, jumps and leaps along with talks weaved through the evening. All most all was drunk and happy when the programme went off with a simple dinner.

  

Beyond entertainment and get together, the archery match counted a lot in reviving our age old tradition of playing archery. The match was played with all players playing on traditional bows and arrows. Few players had imported arrows and bow strings. Such moment of playing on traditional bow was too beautiful to let go. Soon the traditional bows would forever remain over the hearths collecting dusts and soot when everyone find it fashionable to own compound bows. To this day compound bows haven’t entered the archery ranges of Kagtong community. I don’t know when will imported bows find its place on the alters of Kagtong folks.

One thing I loved, adored and appreciated apart from all the refreshment the game gave me, was a wealth of cultural values imbued in an old man from Ngangla. He is Duba Wangchuk. He is popular for the talent he has in singing and dancing traditional songs and dances. Last year in my one encounter with him at Ngangla Trong he said that even after three days and nights of Choepala, the local festival his songs wouldn’t finish. His sons and daughters are equally rich in songs and dances. The school is happy that this family has agreed to assist school in teaching traditional songs and dances when they are free. This family is one future of traditional songs in this community.

It wasn’t possible for most of us to play the match with thick woolen gho on the sunny day. All the players made the gho half except that old man. Whole through the match Ap Duba was in full national dress. His gho was, indeed, thicker than all the players, yet he found cool in that dress while others couldn’t brave heat with even light ghos. This is one beauty I cherished during the match.

Further, after the relief of the match, when all gathered for the evening dances, Ap Duba made it compulsory for all the players to dance in full gho. He remarked that the traditional dances were rich in meanings and should be danced in full Bhutanese attire as a token to receive fortunes and blessings from the folk songs and dances. At one point he even questioned one of the teachers to who danced in paint and shirt during the evening gathering. The person like this is really a rare species and deserves due respect and reverence. Last year when all the traditional folk dancers gathered in the capital, he wasn’t recognized by anybody. There is an urgent need to document the cultural values he is imbued with before it’s too late.

All in all, it was really a rejuvenating experience of sharing smiles and laughter with little sense of competition hidden among the players. The texture of all the cheers and laughter would go a long way in as one finest moment to cherish and reflect on. The allure of traditional values which are still rich slants a ray of hope that traditional values would enchant the people for some more years, if not forever.