Kabui Kei Oiba- The Tiger HeadI Manipuri Folktales- PHUNGA WARI

The term “Phunga” refers to a fireplace, usually placed in the kitchen and “Wari” means tales or stories in the Manipuri Language. In the evenings, the children of a household gather around the fireplace while their grandparents share traditional stories. When the individual terms “Phunga” and “Wari” are put together, they translate to “Folktales”, stories passed down from generation to generation. 

This is the first episode of a three-part podcast series, each featuring a folktale narrated by an elder in Manipuri to capture the authentic beauty of oral storytelling. Each Manipuri narration is immediately followed by an English translation in Rajkumari Reekiya's voice. 

Rajkumari Reekiya, a 5th Semester student of the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English at The Assam Royal Global University produced this podcast series as part of her Summer Internship with NEZINE. 

English narration of this episode 1 (Kabui Kei Oiba- The Tiger Head) I Manipuri Folktales- PHUNGA WARI begins at [11:57].

Credits:

Special thanks to Thingbaijam Ramananda Singh for his contribution.

Music:

Harish Kangjam

Transcript

Episode 1 (Kabui Kei Oiba- The Tiger Head) : Manipuri Folktales- PHUNGA WARI

In the emerald land of Kangleipak, now called Manipur, lived a village shaman named Kabui Salang Maiba. He was known far and wide, not for his strength, but for his gift of healing. He had a family, a home filled with warmth and yet, like many before him, he yearned for more. Not just to heal but to master nature itself.

One night, his gaze landed on a brinjal lying on the ground and a tiger skin hanging on the wall just behind his son, igniting his urge to seek power beyond human reach. He reached over and picked up the brinjal, and slowly, gently, his fingers began to rub its surface while chanting a mantra only he knew. Within moments, the smooth skin of the brinjal began to wrinkle, aged as if touched by time itself. Seeing this, the healer turned to his wife with a strange spark in his eyes. “I’ve done it. I’ve created a spell… I can now turn myself into a tiger,” he said softly. He handed over a piece of clothing to his wife, instructing her to use it to swing at him when he turns into a tiger, and only then will he be able to return to his human form.” He stepped outside their small home, and under stormy skies and wild winds, he chanted spells that no man should utter.

“Hail to the God of all creation,

Let the darkness be separated from the light,

Let the tiger and the man unite!”

At the end of it all, he succeeded but at a terrible cost.

The healer had transformed into something not quite man, not quite beast…a tiger-headed creature, strong as the wild, but cursed to wander alone. His wife, terrified, locked him out. His own child cried in fear. The man who once held them with love, now beat against their world with rage. Banished, he fled deep, far into the forest, where legend says he still prowls.

Not far from there lived Thabaton, a girl of beauty, laced with grace and gentle pace. She was the only bloom among seven proud brothers, each of whom loved her more than the world itself. She was born the very day their mother left this world. A cry of life, as another faded into silence. Thabaton had an admirer too, whose name was Chaorel, an awkward yet good person at heart. As Thabaton had grown, it was time for her brothers to go, to find work far from home, to gather something meaningful, to arrange a dowry worthy of their sister’s future. The brothers decided to leave Thabaton in the care of an old woman, who had lived beside them for as long as they could remember. She had no children of her own, but to them, she was family. Before taking their leave, the brothers taught Thabaton a secret phrase, one only they would use, should they return at night:

“Sana o naril o chenga pellona…
My dear sister,
Your brothers have come home.
Open the door for us.”

Thabaton nodded. The old lady stood quietly beside them as the brothers gave their final instructions. With heavy hearts, the brothers left, and peace lingered…until the tiger-headed man crept back from the forest, more beast than human, driven by hunger and madness.

In search of new flesh to devour, he moved into the village through the pounding storm and soon found the old woman’s house. The monster barrelled in, soaked and snarling, and threatened to eat the old lady. She gasped, her hands trembled, and out of crippling fear, she told the beast about Thabaton and suggested he devour the soft and warm flesh of Thabaton instead of her own wrinkled and bloodless flesh. Discovering about Thabaton, he soon reached her house and knocked on her door. Thabaton, on the other hand, remembering what her brothers had told her before leaving, refused to open the door. The beast only became more furious and restless and came back to the old woman’s house with an intent to appease his hunger by feasting on her instead. To save herself, the old lady betrayed the secret password.

That night, he stood before Thabaton’s door once again and whispered the stolen words with a calmness in his voice:

“Sana o naril o chenga pellona…
My dear sister,
Your brothers have come home.
Open the door for us.”

Trusting the voice, Thabaton opened the door and was snatched into the night. She screamed for help, but the storm’s cries were louder than hers.

The beast dragged her deep within the forest, into his cave, intending to devour her. The night was dark, and Thabaton was still unconscious. Even though he was hungry, he decided to wait for the sun to rise. When morning came, Thabaton found herself in an unfamiliar cave. When she stepped outside, he saw the beast feasting on another animal. Her gasp alerted the monster, and she started to question the beast about where she was and why he had brought her there. The creature replied that she was in his den and he had planned to eat her but chose to wait until she was awake. Strangely, he seemed captivated by her beauty and mused about making her his instead. The beast warned her not to try escaping and then disappeared into the forest to hunt again. Thabaton, though terrified, tried to escape from that place, but every direction she took led her to nowhere. She would always find herself right back…at the same place she had escaped from, the beast’s cave. Days passed. He brought her clothes, food, and even gifts stolen from nearby villages. A strange bond grew, not love, but something tangled and twisted. Thabaton played along, biding her time.

Meanwhile, when her brothers returned home, they saw the door left wide open. There was no sight of their sister. They rushed to ask the old woman about Thabaton’s whereabouts, but she confessed her betrayal in tears. Furious but determined, the brothers split into three search parties. They agreed on sending smoke up high if anyone spotted her first. Chaorel, who had also learned about Thabaton’s disappearance, decided to hunt down the monster himself. He met the brothers in the forest, and the search began. Each step taken inside the forest was a fight against fear and against nature, but they still moved. And finally, while looking down from the top of a high cliff, one of the brother teams spotted Thabaton, but she was not alone. The brothers had to think fast.

When Kabui Kei Oiba walked away in the forest again, they saw their chance. They called out to Thabaton in a whisper, almost too quiet to hear. They gave her a cracked bamboo flask and told her to ask the beast for water. While he was gone, they would strike. Thabaton did as she was told and handed the cracked flask to the tiger-headed man. He leapt off toward the stream. The moment he was gone, Thaba had run away with her brothers. One of the brothers burned down the house Kabui Kei Oiba had built, sending the smoke as a signal to their other brothers. On the other hand, Kabui Kei Oiba kept trying again and again to fill the cracked flask, but the water kept leaking. His mind, more beast than man, could not understand the trick.

Just then, a crow landed on a branch above and began to sing mockingly:

“Haaa Kabui Kei Oiba
Hollow at the top, hollow at the bottom,
Your beloved has fled.
Your house is up in flames
Flames, flames,
Your beloved has fled, your beloved has fled.”

Realising the deception, he ran back…only to find his home ablaze.He roared into the fire, calling for Thabaton, but she was gone. Hidden in the shadows, her brothers were waiting. Arrows flew. Spears struck. A wild chase began through the forest. Eventually, the beast reached the river. Wounded and desperate, he tried to flee through the waterfall. But Chaorel struck the final blow, and the tiger-headed man fell into the roaring waters below.

But are we sure...

Kabui Kei Oiba was really dead? The brothers watched him fall. They saw his body swallowed by the rushing river. They went home. Thabaton laughed again. The village moved on. But they say he still wanders. Not as a man. Not as a beast. But as something in between. Some stories never really end. And maybe, sometimes, if you listen close by the river’s edge, you’ll hear him whisper her name.