If you’re a parent, there’s a high chance that you spent weeks or even months thinking of the perfect name for your child. You may have consulted baby name books, you may have taken inspiration from family or friends who mean a lot to you, or you may have just plucked the name from thin air. Well, in this Indian village, every baby born is assigned a unique song that will live with them until the day they pass away.

The Village In Question

Of course, we can’t understand more about this tradition until we know a little bit more about the Indian village in question. Kongthong can be found in Meghalaya, India, and it’s nestled on the hillsides and away from any hustle and bustle of the surrounding cities. Because of this, the people who live here largely stay within their village and create unique bonds with their fellow people.

Assigning A Song

What’s so amazing about the people who live here, though, is the fact that parents not only give their children a name when they are born, but they are also assigned a 4-6 second song that is completely unique to them. It’s been noted that these songs are normally inspired by nature and the world around them, and one mother stated that “the composition of the melody comes from my heart.”

Never Repeated

This particular tradition has been in place for centuries, and it’s important to the people of Kongthong that a melody is never repeated. When someone in their village passes away, that tune passes away with them. To outsiders, it can seem as though many of the tunes sound similar - therefore seeming to be a little confusing - but that’s never the case in Kongthong. Every song is completely unique, and the villagers know the intricate sounds that make up these tunes.

Would you like to have a song associated with your name?