Listening stories from elders has always been fascinating for me especially in my childhood. The stories that the elders used to tell us were about, spirits, fairies, animals, tress and mountains which is natural for the people living very close to nature. My mother use to tell me stories about animals. She used to believe that there are some animals which are very sacred and supportive to human life. Whenever we feel lonely in home and be fearful, she used to tell us that nothing bad will happen to you because there are protecting animal in home called Khangi in local language. She used to be very careful to perform different rituals to please the Khangi. She used to believe that the khangi in our home are in the form of Squirrel and snack. Therefore, whenever she used to see the animals, she would ignite olibanum (lobaan) to please the sacred animals. She believed that its anger would be harmful for people and animals.

One day, almost twelve small chicken of my home was eaten by the squirrel which was quite alarming and unusual for my mother. The animal which my mother used to respect as protector had eaten dozen chicks at a time. She started shouting that somebody has made khangi angry therefore the khangi has become harmful. She ignited fragrance around the home and started seeking help from khangi to forgive to those family members who have been cause of that anger. My eldest brother is in Army, who without telling my mother, shot the squirrel with gun. When my mother knew about the killing of the squirrel, she became very apprehensive. She believed that, the khangi has been killed therefore the life of my brother who has killed the squirrel will be in danger. So, she ordered to slay an animal and arranged benevolence to offer sacrifice to please the khangi.

My mother used to believe that khangi is a source of blessing. Therefore, she used to advice to avoid disrespect for the it. There used to be different rituals to please the spirit. Khangi was also known as sheer. One of the six wooden pillars of our home was dedicated to the sheer. If any food is cooked by milk and ghee, a small amount of the food was dropped over the pillar dedicated to the khangi. The pillar was called sheero thoon (pillar of sheer). The people of area used to show great respect to this pillar. When new pillarless houses were built, old people showed their concerns. They said that how can blessing enter into home without this pillar.

There used to be a snake also, roaming around our home. My mother call shreen khangi means sweet khangi to the snake. She used to keep milk for the snake despite the fact that snake was considered be very dangerous in our area.

Early in the morning, when mother used to wake up, she used to ignite the fragrance of Juniper forest and she used to call to the khangies to seek their help to protect home. She used to be fearful from the anger of the khangies.
Alwaez Muhammad Aslam Shah