Based on a popular lore in Sohra, Kynpham's adaptation and translation of the legend of U Thlen

presents an interesting interface between humans and the natural world. There are a lot of factors
which shed light on the essentialized dimensions of the interaction that impacts conduct and sociability.

Behind U Thlen's growth into a human-consuming serpent lies the upbringing he had, and before he
could have chosen any other path for himself it was the kind of parenting he received which was
responsible to a very large extent for the direction in which he embarked.

The moral lesson that is initiated at the beginning of this legend is impactfully striking in what he held
for the subsequent time. Nurturing of evil and the facilitation of greed here emerge as the crucially
determining conditions which make U Thlen's movement towards the depraved road inevitable.

The legend has the elements of the classic fable in which the conflict between good and evil is
transposed upon a larger social matrix where the involvement of the people becomes a test of
endurance, character and temptation.

The legend of U Thlen presents a woman named Ka Kma Kharai, who had fallen into the way of harlotry
and was rejected by her father. Finding herself an outcast, she moved out of her parental land and
relocated to a cave in Sohra. It was here that she gave birth to a child, whose strange shape and
'demonic' attributes made him different from all others. Known as U Thlen, this demonic creature had
the shape and figure of a python and with his mother insistent upon feeding human flesh from the
beginning, that was what U Thlen grew up having as the regular diet. The gigantic size of U Thlen took no
time to gobble up human beings, and it took quite some time for people to gauge the actual reason
behind the disappearance of individuals without any trace. Eventually realising that the disappearance
of people was no accident the people approached Suitnoh, a venerable man whose expertise in handling
matters of this kind was well recognised. Sunitoh, having access to the spirit world, visited U Thlen one
day and offered him a gift, which U Thlen wanted in the form of pork, as he said that he had had too
much of human flesh. Having secured his trust and confidence, Suitnoh prepared a large iron ball which
was heated to such an extreme that it resembled a huge rounded piece of meat. Taking this heated iron
ball and having lured U Thlen to the mouth of the cave, Suitnoh drove the fiery stuff into the wide open
mouth of the monster who unsuspectingly gulped it. The immensity of the heat burnt up the insides of U
Thlen and he eventually died.

With the desired feat accomplished, Suitnoh called upon all the people of the region to consume the
meat of the dead monster on the same day, cautioning them none should take any piece of meat home.
With such a directive, the people complied and all had a great feast and U Thlen was consumed in Sohra.
However, an old woman secretly took some meat for her son who could not attend the feast and when
she forgot to dispose of the meat, a small snake from the basket started talking to her. Although she
realised that U Thlen had manifested again in the form of a snake in her home, it was too late to do
anything. U Thlen promised that he would make her wealthy by showering her with riches, which he did
and she succumbed to this temptation. On the other hand, her refusal to accede initially had resulted in
the disappearance of a few of her relatives, and the cycle of human consumption by U Thlen began
again, though on a smaller scale. Kynpham's retelling captures the many dimensions of the legend of U
Thlen. The consequence of anomaly which moves to intentionally harm people is seen in this fable.
At the same time, there is also the recognition of the fact that not all forces in the world beyond human
space can be accessed or known fully. The dynamics of the relationship between the known and the
unknown finds reflection in this legend.

Furthermore, there is the opening up of deep human desires, which, if misdirected, can not only lead
people astray, but can also be the source of considerable damage to society. U Thlen's monstrosity and
his mother's movement towards evil, along with the woman who finds herse nurturing the revived form
of the serpent - all of them present aspects of deviation, each offering lesson for those who are familiar
with the legend.

The legend enables us to engage with the rich fabular dimension of the storytelling traditions of
Meghalaya, here represented through the narrative of U Thien, and encompasses an important facet of
cultural life reflecting one of the modes of enunciation in the northeast.