Saturday, November 19, 2011

Just in case

I was never a Boy Scout. Of course that’s obvious because I'm not a boy. But I was never a Girl Guide either. In high school I was in the NCC but that’s another story, one which I might tell someday.

You know the Boys Scout motto is “Be Prepared”, right? (I personally think Lord Baden-Powell had decided on the motto after his name. B-P. B P). Well, Scout or no Scout, I like being prepared. Anything can happen to anyone at any time. Which is why you will find in my bag, among other things, a bunch of safety pins, a wad of tissues, a few pens, a notepad, keys, various medicines including Zandu balm, two handkerchiefs, purse, coin purse, lipstick and compact, hand lotion, earphones, comb and hairclips. Depending on the weather you might find an umbrella, scarf, a pair of shoes (I wear my rubber shoes when I leave the house and change in the office), cardigan, shawl and socks. Depending on the time of the month you might find, well you know what. Before leaving the house I always check to see I have everything I need. Keys. ID. Purse. Money. Shopping List. Phone is fully charged. I am pretty sure that on the day of the Second Coming when the heavenly bugle sounds I might say “Lord, please give me a minute to pack my toothbrush and moisturiser”.

The other day in the office we ordered mutton biryani from outside, and afterwards I collected the empty polythene covers, just in case we might need it some day. When someone laughed my reply was, “You never know!” I even keep a pair of chappals in my locker, for those days when you discover your current pair suddenly decides to quit without giving notice.

A closely related subject is hoarding things. I come from a family that never throws things away, “we might find a use for it someday”. Old clothes, shoes, textbooks, household stuff, all pile up in various corners of the house. I think one of my father’s textbooks from his college days still lies around somewhere. My school uniform when I was eight years old hasn’t left my possession. A songbook we made in our pre-teens could be found, if you have the time and the interest to dig through all the junk. When my sister was in middle school, in the late 80s, they learned knitting in their Work Experience class. For each design they would knit a small sample, about the size of the palm, and stick it on the page of a notebook, beside the knitting instructions. That book was a real treasure.

We have inherited this hoarding and being prepared business from my father, who is a champion hoarder (ask anyone in the locality) and worrier. People keep popping in the house to borrow tools or something which they thought we might have because nobody else have it. When I was in school I would be given extra pocket money, which was like, five rupees, in case we had to go for some function. Well, in those days we frequently went to this or that competition and we had to pay for our own bus fares. Never having to take the bus on normal days, that five rupees would make me feel so rich!

An old tin used for keeping knick-knacks (a missing button, a Band-Aid, a clothespin, a dead watch) has been in use for the last 22 years. We call it Bur Tawi. So if my mother asks me to get a needle from Bur Tawi I know exactly where to find it. Another strange thing about my family is, we give names to objects, more like identifiers. Fifteen years ago if my father asked if his “Chakai Khawrh Kawr” was clean we knew he was talking about his rust coloured pullover. If I say I am taking Pu Aitawna to bed no one pays me any attention because they know Pu Aitawna is an old black and white blanket. The greatest treasure was recently unearthed. It was in March of this year, I was at home when my mother excavated from the ruins an old X-Ray of my father’s. The X-Ray was dated January 1979. Can you beat that?

Sunday, November 13, 2011

A trip to Laknavaram Lake

“We should go to Laknavaram Lake, they say it’s very beautiful”. We googled the images and we were very happy with what we saw. It was decided that we should go to the lake, which is in Warangal, roughly 220 kms from Hyderabad, about a three hour drive. Aaron has relatives in Warangal and they were ok for us to stay overnight, and everyone was pretty excited.

                                                   [A picture of the lake on the internet]

25 June 2011, Saturday.  It was a beautiful morning. As usual everyone was late and it was almost 11 when we started. Everyone was in high spirits, and we talked about trivial stuff, but mostly about a person we all know (who we have called he-who-must-not-be-named afterwards) and his psycho family. There was me, Mamta, Aaron, Suman, Francis, Joy and Aijaz.

Off we went, and we had almost crossed the city when we received a call from another friend, Annie. She had been invited the day before but she declined, and on Saturday morning at 11 o’clock she suddenly decided to come. When we learned that it would take her at least an hour to get ready and find us, there followed a heated debate. Some of us wanted to wait, and some of us wanted to say “It’s too late you can’t come now”. I will not say in which camp I was, but let it be known that there were arguments and ‘group discussions’ and threats to leave. We finally decided we could not turn away someone who wanted to join us, so it was with grumbles and complaints that we waited, and waited, and waited for some more time, and it was close to 1 PM when she finally arrived and we inched away from the city.

Things went well, we drove by the beautiful countryside, including the town of Bhongir which is located at the foot of the Bhongir Fort which stands on top a big stone hill. People were no longer hostile, everyone was speaking again, and all was well.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Lunglen leh a behbawm

Thlasik a nih veleh a lunglen nghal rikngawt mai hi a mak ka ti. Khawtlang lunglen an tih ang diktak lehnghal hi mawle. Ngaih bik em em pawh neilo, nunhlui pawh ngai lo, boruak awm dan in lung a ti leng ve tawp a ni.

Tawngkam thiam deuh chu ni ila, nisat dan lo danglam ta te, tlema boruak a lo vawh sung dan te, kawrlum hak a lo ngai ta te hi engtin tin emaw ka'n sawi kual vel duah tur a nia le. Mahse han inpuang lawk ila, Mizo tawnga thuziak chhiar hi ka thatchhe em em a, chutah pawh thupui fun deuh hi chu ka la chhiar peihlo lehzual a. Ka chhiar peihloh zingah pawh tawngkam in tih thiam tum lutuk a ziak kikawi vak vak ho hi ka chhiar peihlo fal a. "Tawnni her leh hma loh zawng ar ang ka vai nang ngai reng hian a riangte hi" tih vel ho hi ania ka sawi chu. Hlathu chu ni se ka hrethiam, fiction/non-fiction ah hetiang tawngkam an rawn hman kual duah tawh hi chuan ka chhiarzo lo tlangpui. Fiction an han ziak a thenkhat chuan, mi pangngai ina kan hman ngai reng reng loh tawngkama an han tawng tir ta vak vak mai thin hi chuan a ti lem zo vek in ka hre thin. Fantasy emaw historical novel a nih law law si loh chuan tawngkam pangngai hi hman tir ve hle hle mai tur.

Lunglen chhan hi a mak khawp a. Thlasik lunglen hi pakhat ni ta se, khawtlang lungleng a dang leh (A pahnih hian a khaikhawm theih fo bawk a, tuna ka awm ang hian). Thil mak pui pui, awm lo deuh deuh hian lung hi zuk ti leng thei tlat a. Hmanah kan hostel hnungah hian rel kawng hi a awm a, junction tereuhte a awm bawk a. Zan rei, reh thep thawp tawh hnua rel rawn tlan ri ruai ruai khan ka lung a ti leng tlat zel a nih chu. Zinkawng, haw kawng nen ka inkawptir tlat vang pawh kha a niang e. Mahse ti ila, tunah hian kan in chung zawna thlawhna a rawn thlawh rik dur dur te hi chuan ka ning em em thung a, liam vat vat se ka ti thin. Aizawl-Gauhati pawh bus leh sumo in vawi tamtak ka lo teihawi vel tawh a, bus leh sumo erawh chuan lung a ti leng eih lo bawk.

Hun kal tawh thil min hriatchhuah tir tu te hian kan lung a ti leng ni ta berin ka hria. Kan la tawn miah loh hi chu ngaihtuahna zawng zawng nena tan chiam hnuah tlem te in a rawn leng ve det maithei. Thil maksak deuh ka rilru a awm reng chu, mi kan ngaih hian anmahni mimal tak kha kan va ngai nge, anmahni nena thil kan lo experience tawhna kha kan ngai nge, kan inhre rei tawh lutuk a anmahni ngai em em lo mahila kan nunhlui kha kan va ngai? All of the above hi a nih hmel.

Pakhatna: A mihring kha kan va ngai em em. An felna te, an bula awm nawmna te, min tihhlimna te, an rilru tha lutuk te, a tam mai, an personality kha a nih ber chu, khami khan min ngaihtir ta em em a.

Pahnihna leh Pathumna hi khaikhawm daih teh ang, ka thliar hrang thiam lo: Chutia han inkawmngeih em em pawh kan ni lo a, mahse kan inkawm ve lai khan thil hlimawm tak tak te kan lo ti a, hriatreng tlak tak tak te pawh a niang chu. A hnuah kan inkawm zui ta lo. Inkawm leh ila khati khawp khan kan inkawmngeih leh kher tawh lo ang. Mahse kan nunhlui kan ngaih avang khan a huna laia mihring te pawh kan va ngai tel ve ta.

Ziah leh tur ka ngaihtuahna lamah ka lunglen a bo zo.

Mizoram time leh vairam time hi sawi daih teh ang. North East hi time zone hrana awm tur tih vel kha vawikhat lai khan kan han sawi hlut a, a reh leh ta chu a nia hei. Mizorama han haw hian khua te a lo var hma a, mi an lo tho hma a, time zone hran ang deuhah pawh lo ngai ta ila. In adjust hi a har duh khawp mai. Dar 7 a thawh te chu tho tlai kan ni a, mahse chhungten min hrethiam a min kaitho duh bik lo a. Chaw min lo eisan a, an eikham tawh dawn lamah min rawn kaitho a, midang ruala chawei loh kha chu ni heklo, mumang nen nuaih a chaw han ei kha chu ei tui a har khawp mai. Mahse ni 2/3 hnuah chuan kan in adjust ve mai. Chutah tlai dar 6 velah tlai chaw kan eikham leh vek tawh, zan a rei duh khawp mai. Inkhawm loh phei chuan zanah hian TV en chiah tihtur a awm tawh.

Mi te chuan tlangrama han haw hi a thawventhlak an ti a, kei chuan a thawipikthlak ka ti tlat a nih chu. Aizawl ngat te phei chu a tawt sia, kawng zim te a awm a, lehlam ah kopang, lehlamah inchhawng sang deuh a lo awm uaih a, anih loh leh in leh in inkarah kan kal rek rek a. Ka thaw a ipik thin. Min ti claustrophobic vek zel. Mahse a thawventhlak ka tihna ve chu engmah ngaihtuah a ngailo kha! Chhungte bulah thlamuang takin kan awm der der a, a nuam e! Rawngbawl, gas lak, inluahman pek, bazar, insuk, electric bill pek etc rilru atanga han paihbo hmak kha chu nuam ve tak a ni. Duhtawk teh ang.