This is a tribute to all those who have fought for a cause and sacrificed their lives so that we could have a better and secured life.
Born to a generation that witnessed and faced the turmoil of the armed movement, my dad too went away to fight for a cause in that turbulent part of the country. He was only following the footsteps of my grandfather who was greatly romanticized by the idea of a homeland for our people. Once upon of time, in the not so remote past we had a land of our own where we ruled ourselves as a sovereign kingdom. We had our kings, queens, and palaces until our freedom had been taken away by imperialist institutions.
Among other stories of the ‘wars’ that my grandfather had there was this touching one about him and his best friend. In the middle of a combat with the security forces, grandfather and his comrade found themselves being chased by the security forces across the hanging bridge over river Tiau Lui (a river that now separates India from Myanmar). A bullet pierced through the lower abdomen of his friend and he could not run anymore. Grandfather egged him on to run for safety (even carrying him on his shoulders), and as the wounded comrade struggled my grandfather refused to leave him alone in the middle of the bridge.
“Comrade, please run for your life…my time has come”, he shouted to my grandfather. The security forces almost closed in.
“And, please bless me with a final favor. Just shoot me to dead before you retreat….I don’t want to die at their hands”, he begged.
Grandfather pulled the trigger and fled. That hanging bridge exists till to this day and grandfather paid a final visit to there before he passed away in his sleep on a cold wintry morning.
Part II
My father took it on himself to carry on the fight for a cause that he truly believed in…a cause that cost the family a couple of precious lives. I do not know if all these sacrifices were worth it, but I take great pride in the strides that they have made. Hundreds and thousands of those who joined the movement!
Unlike my grandfather, my father never returned home to tell stories of his life in the jungle and of the various ‘wars’ he led and fought for his people. He had been captured alive and, nothing was heard of him since then. He disappeared for good! He had served the movement for eight years. It was way back in 1980. About my father, people tell that my father was always proud of the choice that he made…a choice that was hard on him and the family but served a greater purpose. And, that he put up a brave face even as he was captured and taken away. I can’t help myself saluting in tribute to a fighter whom I also take immense pride to call “daddy”.
Two lives, two generations lost. My grandfather and then my father! Was it worth it all?
As I visited the Field of Remembrance set up in memory of all those who died, disappeared or lost themselves in the movement for a cause, I fixed my eyes at the inscribing on the memorial stone of my father that reads, “At Rest… one who led, and led till the end”. And, above it was a memorial plague. The memorial plaque asks people passing by to spare a thought for those who lost their lives: “WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEM OF US AND SAY, FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE LIFE TODAY”
I prayed for my father, my grandfather and his fallen comrade and for all those whose tombstones lay there, and for those nameless souls (the forgotten fighters) whose sacrifices were never told and perhaps will never be known. And, as I wept a teardrop or two, a sense of pride overtook me and I knew it was worth it.
God Bless.
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March 30th, 2007 at 1:24 am
I give my respect to your grandfather and your father. I understand the cause and cost.
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March 30th, 2007 at 3:10 am
@ Punongchan: with all due respect – the memorial plague you mentioned is is the Epitaph of Kohima -the war fought between the Japanese and the Allied forces, i.e – the British Indian Empire – am a bit confused…..quote…
”This is a controversial epitaph for many in India because Indians fought on both sides during the battle. British Indian soldiers fought for the Allies and Indian soldiers of the Indian National Army under the command of Subash Chandra Bose unsuccessfully fought with the Japanese and the Burma National Army led by Ba Maw for the liberation of India from the British.” unquote…Wikipedia
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March 30th, 2007 at 3:41 am
@shanaz…’the memorial plague you mentioned is is the Epitaph of Kohima ‘
that’s what I thought …also, I feel like i’ve read a very similar story somewhere before..is it the glass palace? i dunno..
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March 30th, 2007 at 7:48 am
this epitaph had originate from greece i am told…then to english
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March 30th, 2007 at 9:10 am
“WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEM OF US AND SAY, FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE LIFE TODAY”
hei hi ka hriat ve dan chuan….
“WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEM OF US AND SAY, FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY”
He thu tluka thu nalh hi ka la hre tam lo khawp mai…
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March 30th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Pioneer(Painar kawng lai) ho hian an tar ka hmuh ah chuan… “When you go home, tell them of us that we gave our today for your tomorrow” tih in an ziak ve tlat thung. [Kolasib leh Thingdawl inkar.. Kolasib dai ah]
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March 30th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Watched Blood Diamond last night.
Quote:
“Sometimes I wonder if God ever forgive us for what we’ve done to each other…
Then I look around and I realize… God left this place a long time ago.”
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March 30th, 2007 at 10:37 am
insert “will” as needed
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March 30th, 2007 at 11:03 am
Keipawh father-a sawi ang hi ka hriat ve dan a ni. Dik lo pawh ni thei. A hmunah ka la tlawh ve miau lova..
“When you go home…” tih hi mizo tawng khan engtin nge an leh kha ?
” Thlang tiang lenkawl i han thlen hun chuan, tihian biahthu han hlan nang che ‘Lumlai par tlana lenlai in chen nan, kan nunna kan hlan ta” tiin.” tih a ni em kha ? Kha kha tu lehlin dan nge an tih kha ?? lolz//ka chiang lo nuaih tawh mai. A let nalh a nia.
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March 30th, 2007 at 11:29 am
@ Anonymous and others…it is just a piece of fiction inspired by stories told by people who have been part of the movement. My father, and my grandfather were not in the field of action(and they didnt die the way they do in this article!!!…dear daddy is still alive and very much kicking… hehehe) but they sure did face the repurcussions of the movement like all people did during the turmoil. Through it, I just wanted to bring into picture the agony and pain that people went through; the sacrifices that they have willingly made so that we could have a better future.
@ Shanaz Kimi…Yeah, you are right about the Epitaph of Kohima. Does’nt the Epitaph sum up the spirit of movements such as the Mizo, Naga movements as well? As I said above, it is just a work of fiction and it was just my wishful imagination where I dreamed of such a “Field of Remembrance”(like the one in Kohima) for our Mizo brethen who sacrificed their all. They sure deserve one. Wad ya say???
Have a good day!!!
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March 30th, 2007 at 11:47 am
” Thlang tiang lenkawl i han thlen hun chuan, tihian biahthu han hlan nang che ‘Lumlai par tlana lenlai in chen nan, kan nunna kan hlan ta” tiin.” tih a ni em kha ?
Ava han mawi tak em, or maybe like G-Wiz said in my old topic CHILD OF THE EARTH mp3 . i’am a kind of guy whose alway digging. the root of the composer’s heart when it comes to Mizo’s hla thu..
Tu letlin nge ni ?
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March 30th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
“WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEM OF US AND SAY, FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY”
Khiti khian a dik thlap e…a thlalak ka nei thrin aa…mahse heta hian ka keng thla lova…ka ron dah tel thei lo tlat mai
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March 30th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Same here @father, he thu ropui zia leh nalh zia hi chu a la lang chiang don chauh. “their’s not to reply, their’s not to reason why, their’s but to do and die”( The Charge of the light brigade byAlfred, Lord Tennyson) he thu nen hian a nalh ka tih dan chu a in ang vel a ni. “into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell” tihin an zui leh nen a thu nalh dan hi o mak ka ti a ropui ka t bok. Sipai mim tih ngaihsang phah kop mai. Mizoram khi kan ralmuan druh a vangin sipaite poimohna kan hre phak ve lo a, sual t thin viau mah ila a hun a lo thleng hunah chuan kan tan an nun an hlan don a nia, an ropui zia hi hriat sak ila i chiomoi thiam ang u. Se trafic police ho chu ka ti lo trul lo deuh2ah mi man an hrat e mai.
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March 30th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Damten laitual i lawi hun chuan, tihian han hril ta la ami zaleng tawn’an. “In hmalam hun thlir zelin, kan hlan e, kan nun piallei thuahriat hnuaiah”
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March 30th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
TUnah chuan an siam thra tawh a, Solomon’s Cave chhaka Mahatma Gandhi lim a dinna khi in hre threuh anga. Khitah khian ti hian an han ziak pek bawk a, “Non-Violence is the first article of my greed” tiin…. greed tih hi creed tih tur ni chuan ka hre sia, dangdai thin ania aw…tunah chuan an thlak tawh.
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March 31st, 2007 at 12:01 pm
A khai a.. ka pu SAKA dup dup chuh!
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March 31st, 2007 at 2:47 pm
a hria in awm chuan …..lengpui airport kawng sir a BRTF ho in mizotawng nuih zat thlak deuh deuh an ziah hi han phawrh ula lolzzz
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December 16th, 2008 at 1:50 am
“When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today,”
tih a ni zawk e. “For your tomorrow” tih a ni lo! John Maxwell Edmonds (1875-1958) kha he thu saptawnga rawn chhep chhuaktu nia ngaih a ni.
Tihtak emah chuan, Grik Lyric Poet Simonides of Ceos (556-468BC) kha he thu lungkuai tak phuahchhuaktu hmasa bera ngaih a ni, Thermopylae Indona (480 BC) chungchang a phuah, saptawnga hetianga an lo dah
tawh a ni
“Go tell the Spartans, thou that passest by,
That faithful to their precepts here we lie.”
tih thu atanga lakchhawn ni ta ber awmin an sawi asin. Saiha chhak Niawhtlang daifemah sawn Mizo tawnga mawi taka lehlin, hoarding-a an tar ka hmu tawh a; chutih hun lai chu 1996 daih tawh kha a ni a, la intar tak ang maw?
Thermopylae Indona leh Estheri hun dawn vela Persia Lal Ahasuera-te ramchhuah hun lai kha hun thuhmun a ni bawk e; a nupui inla-high tak Vasti a mak hnu khan Estheri a nei nghal mai lo va; Estheri a neih hma kum sarih emaw vel zet chhung khan Grik-ho va runin a khawsa hrep tih hriat a manhla. Sawi thui lo mai teh ang, kan tui ta deuh a nih leh … chhunzawm leh mai dawn nia.
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December 16th, 2008 at 2:24 am
WW11 a Kohima tennis court indona hriatreng na ah khan…British sipai thusawi angin an ziak tlat a ka hriat chu..
https://www.holidayiq.com/desti.....tos-1.html
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December 16th, 2008 at 10:08 am
He thu an ziahna Kohima hi ka kal tumin ka hmu ve a, kha tih hun lai khan eng teh chiamah ka ngai lem lov. Tun hnua ka han ngaihtuah let hian ‘Pasaltha’ tak tak te tawngkam a ni tih ka hre chhuak thar leh.
He indonaah hian mizo pa ngei pawh engemaw zat an tel ve a, an thlan te kan zawng a, mizo thlan pawh hmuh tur a awm ve.
” Thlang tiang lenkawl i han thlen hun chuan, tihian biahthu han hlan nang che ‘Lumlai par tlana lenlai in chen nan, Mizoramah Alkatra chhuangin kawng kan siam e…”
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