Haosi Namoinu is a

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

Meitei mythology Meitei mythology or Manipuri mythology ( mni, Meitei Mi Lai Tingi Wari) is a collection of myths, belonging to the religious and cultural traditions of the Meitei people, the predominant ethnic group of Manipur. It is associated with tradi ...

and folklore of

Ancient Kangleipak The Manipur Kingdom was an ancient independent kingdom at the India–Burma frontier that was in subsidiary alliance with British India from 1824, and became a princely state in 1891. It bordered Assam Province in the west and Briti ...

. She is the only daughter of lady Pokmabi Laoshigam Chanu and lord Senbi Loikenba. Her father was a minister of the then

Ancient Moirang Ancient Moirang, also known as Keke Moirang, was an ancient civilization that flourished in the southern plains of the present day Manipur, India. The Keke Kangla served as the capital city of the kingdom since time immemorial. The major body of a ...

kingdom, in charge of collecting tributes from the land of '' Kabo'' (present day Western

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

).Singh, Moirangthem Kirti (1 July 1993). Folk Culture of Manipur. Manas Publications. ISBN 978-81-7049-063-0.

Tragedy

After Haosi Namoinu's mother's untimely death, her father remarried with Nganurol Laoshigam Chanu (Loisingam Chanu), the sister of her mother. Spending a few days happily, Senbi Loikenba left for Kabo on the King's errand and during his absence, Haosi Namoinu was harshly treated by her stepmother. She was not allowed to go outside and play with her friends. She had to work as hard as she could to satisfy her stepmother. Her bliss of household life was much worsened. Her stepmother ordered her work after work and she completed it with no rest. She was forced to husk the rice, tired as she was, again she had to cook food for them and serve but she uttered no lamentation. Her stepmother's ruthlessness came to the highest degree and she ordered Haosi Namoinu, that if she wanted to join the feast (spring festival), she had to go to the maternal grandparents' house and bring a load of paddy rice (un-husked rice). She did so, but her stepmother was still not satisfied, and struck her head with a cookery utensil. Having been deprived of all youthful delights, the girl transformed herself into a Hari Nongnang (cicada) (or

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

in some version), with her clothes as wings and feathers, and flew away with ravishing tears.

In ancient texts

Khongjomnubi Nonggarol

The story of lady Haosi Namoinu is mentioned in the Khongjomnubi Nongarol as one of its two content stories. The following is a passage from the text describing the pitiable plight of lady Haosi Namoinu suffering the atrocities of her cruel stepmother:

Hāosi Nāmoinu

Other than the Khongjomnubi Nongarol, another ancient treatise named "Hāosi Nāmoinu", tells the tragic story of the unfortunate lady Haosi Namoinu. The following is a quote from the text, describing the ethos of the then people, their pleasure loving character and socialisation enthusiasm, in association with the nature.

References

External links