A short story in Mizo by Van Neih Tluanga
Translated into English by Margaret L. Pachuau
The Jackfruit Tree
The life of that jackfruit tree was even more meaningless than that of an emaciated, withered tree. It was a tree that had been tormented by different classes of labourers as well as immigrants and it bore those scars well. The lower limb of the tree had been mauled beyond recognition. Over a huge fork in the tree there hung an empty cement bag, a lone slipper, a ramshackle shoe and an old lungi. On the other fork, there sprouted a couple of tender young leaves of the jackfruit tree. And beyond all this, as far as one could make out, one could perceive a huge rain bearing cloud high up in the sky and it abounded in such a manner that it seemed as though the sun would no longer shine on the face of this earth. One could also note that the rest of the jackfruit tree was struggling for survival, with young shoots as well as shriveled leaves.
A piece of rope was fixed firmly amidst the branches and there was a huge sheet of waterproof cloth securely attached to the other end of the rope. At the interconnecting point of the rope and the sheet was perched a loud speaker and below it there were several community benches. A number of people sat on these benches. They were mainly people who were very down to earth …ordinary people like you and me sitting neck to neck. And upon gazing carefully you could even see well known faces there. And gazing beyond those faces, one could notice a coffin that contained a human form. It was nevertheless, a very ordinary coffin; yet it was complete with a tiny bunch of flowers atop the lid.
Beyond the cameraman one could catch a glimpse of the grieving family. You probably would not know them too well. And lest you did not know the person in the coffin, I shall reveal all. And even if you do not want to hear about it, I shall still make it a point to tell you: the person in the coffin was my lover, someone whom I cannot forget. I shall tell you now and you will undoubtedly be astonished. Some twenty years ago, she was indeed my very own damsel. Now, in retrospect it may sound as if I was calling her by that term just because there are not too many who would know about this incident or perhaps one could even put it down that I was conjuring up tales now that she was dead. But actually, I am the kind who could just always claim, “I hardly touched the hem of her skirt!” Yet, in spite of all this, she was my very own. I shall tell you about it and you too will find the incident rather unusual.
Twenty years ago, the place where this jackfruit tree grew was merely a leveled piece of land. There were no other trees in that area and children would use this jackfruit tree for a goalpost while playing football. There was a house situated nearby and I often went in and out of that house, perhaps just about as often as its owner. It was not as if I frequented that house because of its material comforts, nor was it because I was impressed by the goodness of hearts of its inhabitants … Pi Pari and her daughter Nonovi. Actually, it was because of the black trunk underneath the bed in the confines of their bedroom.
On the side of the box was inscribed the letters “L.S.Lushai” and inside the trunk were bottles of drink. They always had at least ten such bottles and they would hide these and I kept their secret because drink was the one thing I loved most. L.S.Lushai was the erstwhile owner of the house and he was married after he joined the army. Hardly had his daughter turned three when the insurgency began and he fled the army and went underground. After that there was no news of him. During the peak of the insurgency the army would often conduct searches of various houses. While displaying the photos of soldiers of the Indian army signified in a sense an element of peace, yet for this mother and daughter duo, it was not quite the wisest measure to display the father’s photograph. In fact, they had to do away with all his belongings altogether.
They dug a hole in the ground and they buried all his belongings under the reeds of grass. At peacetime, when they dug out his belongings they discovered that a rat had made a nest inside the trunk and everything had been chewed to shreds. Only the trunk was left undamaged. They did not use it for anything else. There was little else to do with it, except to put it to good use for making their living. So, for the mother and daughter duo, it became their treasure chest. Musing upon the past, once in a while, Pi Pari would reflect pensively in moments of nostalgia, “How I regret having destroyed even the minutest of his photographs.”
https://mizowritinginenglish.com/2007/11/jackfruit-tree-vanneihtluanga.html ah a bak zawng a chhiar theih e.
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(Y) 
April 19th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
1st of all, i’ll comment later
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April 19th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
link dangah ka chhiar tawh
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
ekhai! Diksonari nena chhiar angai nih hi…keini ang tan chuan!
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
keipoh ^-||RaLtE||-^ tih ang khian nakinah comment leh zok teng!!!
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
A ngaihnawm phian mai hrethiam vaklo mah ila a riruang ka man deuhin ka hria…..ka thian tha berin min liamsan lai te poh min ngaihtuahchhuahtir e a…..
Keipoh thiam leh thiam lovin thu ka han phuah ve nial a,a changkhatna hetiangin :
”once i went back
To the place where my memories lay
There lies beneath the trees,the old grave
The place where a part of me was laid” heh :lol:
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
Margaret L. Pachuau hian fak a phu ka ti. Ṭawng let tur chuan kan leh tur ṭawng leh kan lehna ṭawng thiam a ngai viau ang.
Van Neih Tluanga tih lai hi ka helh tlat pek! Vanneihtluanga thu leh hla lam a mi ril tak kha ani lo’m ni?
La-ui kung = Lamkhuang kung = Thei-ara kung = Jackfruit Tree
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
He article hi alawm chhiar leh chaka ka zawn ka zawn thin chu. ‘Lamkhuang’ tiin a title a pe a, article tih lemah short story huangah ka dah zawk mah. Mahse, a Mizotawngin ni thei se ka va duh ve mawle… Khawngaihin a Mizotawnga nei in awm chuan min lo share teh u.
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
“There is a beauteous place
The wonderful place of the saved
A blessed, glorious place
Way beyond the clouds”
Ram engmawi tak chu a awm,
Tlansate lenna ram chu;
Mawi leh duhawm tak mai chu,
Chhum zinna piah lamah.
He hla a tawpa a dah te hi, a hla mawi lo tih tawh sa nen ka duhna a tizual bawk a.
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Misual zinga lushai rimnam awmchhun, hmanlai mizote khan an hming tawpah lushai an dah vek hlawm a…. Tunah chuan Sailo, Paite, Pawi, Ralte, Khiangte, etc.,
Saptawngin kan comment ve duah a, mahse ka delete leh ringawt!
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
A Mizo version ka vin chhiar chak ve!
Ka lawm e
–LVK
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:46 pm
@Viking : Ka nei thin ngei a, ka zawng hmu zo tawh si lo a ni. Pawi tak tak.
Taka, nang hi… i bo daih chhung zawng khan enge i tih? I va reh rei em em ve?
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
Link dangah keipawh ka chhiar tawh tlat
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:51 pm
Lal-pu-Kawnga, lo zawng hmu teh!!! In nu a dam maw?
Mizo chawhhmeh misual a post tur zawngin ka buai em ani!
Ka lawm e.
–LVK
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April 19th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
@Viking, ka zawng hmu tawh lo chu a nih ber hi..
Kan nu a? Mi chuan ‘in pa’ an ti thin :lol: A dam e.
I chawhmeh zawng khan Thingsemim tih vel bak i hmu leh chuang lovang, i zara maipawl phurh leh tawh kan chak nen.. :lol:
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April 20th, 2010 at 12:03 am
@Viking Lal-Viking Chengkawl post a hun chiah, i va thang bo rei ve.
Ka lawm e
-DTP
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April 20th, 2010 at 12:14 am
Dorothy Lalrinkimi in Aizawl in, “Indian (ka helh sawh beh, Mizo tih nise!) bamboo dance (helh leh zual) breaks world record,” tih BBC a athawn ve ang ngawt kha chu a ni lo e.
https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8564318.stm
Margaret hi a ziak tha fu mai, chhiar a hahdam phian mai. VAN NEIH TLUANGA tih erawh ka helh awl awl.
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April 20th, 2010 at 1:31 am
@ mamambung: Vanneihtluanga hming hi i ziah dan hi aman a ziah chu ka la hmu lo va, a duh a ngem aw..nangman i rawn ziaksual zawk nge?
Amaherawhchu engtin nge a Passpost-ah First Name leh Last Name a dah kan hre lo va, i rawnziah ang hian a hmang ve thei tho bawk.
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April 20th, 2010 at 1:38 am
Zangkhua a va bungbu chiang ve le. “hem of a skirt” tih hi a mawi ve thuak mai, HEM hi ‘hmawr-fem’ tiin kan hmang tak na a, Juda shawl talith-ah chuan “pehbuk tawn khawm uai nelh nelh” sawina a ni daih thung. “water proof cloth” hi “tarp” ti ta mai ila … “interconnecting point of the rope and the sheet” tih duah aiah hian “knot & lashing term” nalh tak a awm theih a rinawm mang e.
A ngaihnawm tham reuh tlat, thu raipuar a pai hnem riau leh nghal! Ernest Hemingway-a style ka hmu riak riak tlat!
Uluk deuhva ka chhiarin ‘KAPDAILOVA chheu chheu kha’ mitthlaah a rawn lang chiang khawp mai! A ziaktu Natlua hian a hre chiang a, a lettu hi chuan Kapdailova chu a hre tawh ngutin ka ring lo thung!
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April 20th, 2010 at 9:03 am
Ngaihnawm hmel hle mai.
Silent Night=Zanthiang reh
Holy Night=Lai takin :lol:
Hei Lamkhuang kung chu…
https://img534.imageshack.us/im.....gp7084.jpg
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April 20th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
OOpps!!! My bad…an site a an dah ang2 in ka lo post pek anih khi mole..keipawn ka chhiar lai hian Vanneihtluanga tih jok om tak ka tirilru a…
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April 20th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
kei pawh a mizotawng khan ka chhiar tawh, Vanneihtluanga thu leh hla hi chu ngaihnawm ka ti ve hrim hrim..
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April 20th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Engtik lai emaw chuan a zotawngin ka chhiar tawh ngat mai a. Margaret hi tunge aw ?? A let thiam hle mai, ‘reflect pensively’ tih lai hi ka duh riau a..keini chuan hmang ila a adjective zawk, ‘reflect in a pensive mood’ te kan ti mai mai awm sia..
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September 27th, 2011 at 4:01 am
Prof. Margaret Ch. Zama hi Mizoram University-a English dept. a head ani.
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September 27th, 2011 at 4:50 am
#23 hi, min ngaidam mai teh u… Margareth Ch. Zama a ni a hairehai. Hmeichhe hmingin bul a tana mipa hmingin a hming a titawp. Mihring pawh hi Hermaphrodite kan lo awm tawh tihna em ni
Professor lai nisi huiham.
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July 16th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Mizo tawng a ziah zawk kha chhiar tur ka duh ngawt mai. Hria in awm mial em?
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