Desmond L. Kharmawphlang

Bless me, father

Opinion | Articles | Desmond L. Kharmawphlang |

Bless me, father Lying flat on his back, wild grasses teasing his face, Rimeki stared at the sky. Mesmerized by the theatre of clouds, like tufts of cotton or tula as the fluffy material is called in these parts, stretched in a pattern as far as his eye.....

The Realm of the Raconteur: Khasi Women and Storytelling

Opinion | Articles | Desmond L. Kharmawphlang |

The connection between memory and culture cannot be overemphasized. In oral cultures memory functions as an instrument that does not only connect the present with the past but that which makes sense of the world and its myriad dimensions. Humans require m.....

Woman and Child

Opinion | Articles | Desmond L. Kharmawphlang |

The trudge from her hovel to the corner by the bus-stop would be covered in the time it took her to have her first mouthful of betel nut of the day, about say, 10 minutes. With her bag of bidis and cigarettes, plastic jars of shaved and pieced betel nuts .....

Culture and Social Values

Opinion | Articles | Desmond L. Kharmawphlang |

The underlined fundamental challenge facing every society is to create political, economic and social situations and systems that promote peace, human welfare and the sustainability of the environment upon which life depends. To even begin to understand a.....