FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS
In a single turn of the clock’s hand, life happens. In an attempt to reminisce beloved memories of a time that have become only vague impressions in our mind, The Northeast India AV Archive collects, documents and preserves family photographs. The family, a replica and the foundation of the wider society, intricately mirrors its elements and framework. The family photographs therefore, inform us almost immediately about the world in which they were taken. They help us understand the past in its essence, the spirit of the people who lived then, their dreams, and their endeavours and challenges too. They throw light on the continual changes that take place within a society, and the shifts in the practice of culture and tradition within a community. There is a sense of honour in preserving photographs, as if preserving our relationships and experiences, people and places that are too important to be forgotten, and moments that we wish to remain in endlessly.
Pearlymon Lyngdoh Lyngiong Ryntathiang
These photographs were contributed to The Northeast India Audiovisual Archive by Kong Pearlymon Lyngdoh Lyngiong Ryntathiang and her grandson, Herman Manik Lyngdoh. Kong Pearlymon Lyngdoh Lyngiong Ryntathiang is one of the first Khasi ladies who worked with the Forest Department which was first a department within the Government of Assam, then the Government of Meghalaya. Kong Pearlymon had worked with both governments during the course of her career. In an interview with The NEIAV Archive, Kong Pearlymon recounted her stories of a Shillong which was once the capital of an undivided Assam, then of Meghalaya, of a Shillong which exists now only in fragments in the memory of a few: a Shillong in which the Ïewduh was clean and the Wah Umkhrah crystal clear.
