THE STORIES shared in this Dupax Stories blog are narratives that I initially felt foolish to tell.
Foolish, because most of them are about the past -- like the virgin and wildlife-rich forests that Dupax and most other towns of the Philippines used to have but are now just pitiful remnants.
They are about places, creatures, lifeways, people, and events that are either too remote or “too yesterday” for today’s audiences.
Thus, it took me sometime to start this blog. Each time I would sit before the computer even if only to list the possible titles of the stories I would tell, I would be haunted with this: “Who cares about stories of old when there are tons and tons of other -- and more recent -- stories to hear or read out there?”
But then I realized that I would be more foolish, and also guilty, if I didn’t give it a try.
Why?
Because I believe that stories, no matter how old, have their reasons for being. They inspire. They bring out the rainbow on otherwise gloomy days. They give hope. (Yes, remember the oft-repeated stories of Adam&Eve, Noah's Ark, and David&Goliath.)
And also because, even if the stories here are definitely not of Biblical proportions, they have never been told. Meaning, they are original. Or, granting that other storytellers may have somehow touched their themes somewhere, their stories don’t totally look, sound, smell, and taste the same as – eherm… -- the ones waving at you in this little house, as it were.
Another “because” can be gleaned in the following story that I’m telling for the first time:
For the past ten years I have been doing what no other creature from Dupax today is doing -- that is, word hunting, fishing, and digging.
No sir, not just any word but all the words I could find to flesh out my dream to make what may yet be the very first comprehensive dictionary in Isinay, the formerly main but now dying language of Aritao, Bambang, and Dupax del Sur – three old municipalities in the southern part of Nueva Vizcaya.
The word “dying” may be too shocking. But, oh well, that’s how it hit me when I found out that in my hometown, many Isinay words that were commonly used when I was small are already Greek or alien to children, even those with Isinay parents. For example, tavungeyon (rainbow), dalimahon (termite hill), i^irung (firefly), pipingngaw (the bird swallow), and sappilan (the goby fish).
In my word hunting, I also found terms that even my Isinay father, uncles, aunts, and playmates did not use or, rather, I never heard them speak, during my childhood. Three such words are: teyantah (river bank), tahelle^ (the dancing moves of a rooster before making love with his beloved partner), mandogdoggo^ (hovering between life and death), and Duviral (Christmas).
To cut the story, it dawned on me that very much like such Isinay words, many of the stories about how Dupax was siren poto^ (many years ago) would soon be buried and forgotten unless they are passed on as oral history to its citizens and other people who care.
It is therefore this need, among other imperatives, to help prevent such a sad scenario from happening, that this little house of Dupax Stories is dedicated.
A warm welcome then, wonderful people, for visiting. Whether you are a homesick overseas Filipino, a young-at-heart senior citizen, or an accidental visitor, I have many more delicious items for you being prepared in my kitchen. So please do come back anytime you have time.
Oh yes, should you wish to enrich, corroborate, check, or know some more of the stories, please feel free to give your feedback in the COMMENTS section below. Alternatively, you can flick my ear by email (charlzcastro@yahoo.com) or tap my back thru Facebook.
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