Khegpa, the Head Hunter
And unexpectedly, she took
quite a longer time to return home that day. And the fact was obvious that the
firewood at a nearby places was not enough for her load.
As usual, she reached home,
tired and fatigue with a bunch of firewood enough for another week or so. The
first thing the mother did was, a motherly instinct, looked for her daughter.
She wanted to make sure that she had looked after herself well, while she was
away.
'Tshering, Tshering', she
called out to her daughter loud. Silence prevailed at each and every corner of
the place. She panicked and ran here and there, looking for her, but all in
vain. Nobody at the village had the slightest clue about Tshering's
whereabouts.
No, she never did go with
any of the girl at the village anywhere because she would not return with any
of the person that the mother knew at the village.
Not losing hope, the mother
waits at the door of her makeshift for her daughter’s return singing the hymn
of
ཤོག་ཤོག་ ཚེ་རིང་བཟང་མོ་ཤོག
ཨ་མའི་བུ་མོ་ཚེ་རིང་བཟང་མོ་ཁྱོད་ཤོག
But a heart ripping rumour
it was the mother heard that Tshering was believed to be abducted by Khegpa,
the Head Hunter. And the legend has it that Tshering Zangmo on the other hand
could hear her mother sing from the dark cell under the bridge. Perhaps the
waves of the river had flown her mother's sorrow. Imprisoned and let to be
infested by the spirit and the dark force of the bridge, Tshering Zangmo is
believed to be dead, whining inside the dark cell.
And it’s still believed that a person abducted is kept inside the
dark cell under the bridge to please the spirit and the deity of the place so
that the bridge will be protected by the dark force.
My grandparents used to say
that Khegpas were just like us, but wore mask featuring different faces in
order to hide their identity. I still wonder if they had seen one.And every
time Khegpa, the Head Hunter becomes the talk of the town, it send the people
early inside their homes. Hunters would return home early. A hunt unsuccessful
won’t be a problem amidst the fear of Khegpa, herders would bring their herd
early, before dusk and nobody would travel far enough. But every night, village
men, strong and bravest of all would guard the village at every entry and exit
of the village with poison arrows and bow, even the sword.
We would feel safer in our
homes.
But it is still a matter of
wonder about why would they hunt head and what makes the human head so
significant that it is being hunted down every time there's new dam
construction. But we don't have any significant documentation evidence to prove
that whatever people talk is true. And fact if it be, there would be countless
head hunt because Bhutan's geographical landscape and hydroelectric projects
have immense provisions of bridge, tunnel and dam constructions, but the fear
of Khegpa or the Head Hunter is very occasional.
But the fear associated
with Head Hunter and disappearance of people might have something to do with
the stories every one of us has heard during our childhood days.
And some stories still make
us remember the tricks played by village men to capture the Head Hunters during
the olden times. By letting the children play outside to lure the head
Hunters, it is said that the Head Hunters were shot with poisoned arrows from
the hide out, capturing and killing them on spot.
Or is it on the basis of
another oral story, Khegpa or the Head Hunter comes into limelight when few
people, who ran out of provisions at home spread the fear in people so that
they get enough time and place to steal. Usually during those fearful times,
people tend to assemble and be in group at some large and spacious homes. This
gives Khegpas or the head Hunters the best chance to steal.
Even though the stories of
children abduction by so called Khegpa is a fear in everybody's mind, how does
the human head becomes necessary at the dam and bridge construction is still a
mystery.
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