National salute to ‘Jingkieng Jri’: Padma Shri for Hally War today

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, May 24: As the President of India confers the Padma Shri upon Hally War on Monday, the honour signals a rare national bow to the Khasi “bio-engineering” that has outlasted modern infrastructure in the rain-battered gorges of Meghalaya.

War, a craftsman from the Pynursla region of the East Khasi Hills, is among the recipients recognized at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-I at Rashtrapati Bhavan. While modern concrete bridges in the state often succumb to the monsoon, the living structures War has spent 50 years tending—the Jingkieng Jri—only grow stronger with time.

For decades, War has walked the dense forests of the southern slopes, guiding the aerial roots of rubber fig trees (Ficus elastica) across rivers and steep ravines. This ancient practice of “growing” infrastructure is now recognised as a pinnacle of Indigenous Knowledge Technology (IKT).

“This is not just an award for one man; it is a recognition of our ancestors’ wisdom,” said a resident from the Pynursla area. (Contd on P-7)