She becomes a Mangkhra (bridge spirit)—trapped between the Leimalai (domestic world) and the Eerai (wild world).
For seven nights, the grandmother ascends the forbidden hill. On the seventh night, she succeeds. But as she collects the dew in a conch shell, she looks down at her reflection. The water does not show an old woman. It shows a child. In that moment of vanity and sorrow, she commits the Tabu (the great error). She drinks the dew herself to taste her lost youth. eteima mathu naba story
To the uninitiated, the phrase is a cipher. Eteima (elder mother or grandmother), Mathu (a name or state of binding/puzzlement), Naba (to become or to fall ill). In the old Meitei tongue, "Eteima Mathu Naba" translates roughly to “The Grandmother Who Became the Tangled Puzzle” or “The Elder Mother’s Fall into the Bind.” She becomes a Mangkhra (bridge spirit)—trapped between the