Each person in the village ofKongthong, 65 km fromShillonginMeghalaya, has two names one in words, the other as a whistled tune. For centuries, the village has nurtured the whistling code, Jingrwai Iawbei. Now, down to the last 700, thecommunityis pinning its hopes on a long-promisedUnescoheritage tag and a school to help preserve thisoral tradition.
Meghalaya has long been trying to get the whistling nomenclature system on the Unescos list of .