My sweet memories of Mizos

August 16th, 2012 10:30 pm by Awmtea Khiangte

S. Gurumanickam – Assistant Engineer at the DD Kendra, Chennai-a mi chuan The Hindu (August 12, 2012) khan he thu hi a rawn ziak a, a ngaihnawmin ngaihdan pawh min siam ve khawp mai. Full article chu a link-ah khian a chhiar theih e.

 

mizo

“I found the Mizos practise honesty and trust effortlessly. Why don’t we give it a try?”

There is a lot of misconception about the North-East in many parts of India. That people there are “culture-less tribals, head-hunters, that they eat wild animals,” etc. In short, there is a definite, palpable and unmistakably condescending attitude towards the people of North-East in the mainland. The general apathy and animosity sometimes manifests as hostility we see elsewhere.

Initially, when I was called a mainland Indian I was irked. Why should I be singled out? Are they not Indians? Soon, I realised there’s a Himalayan difference between ‘them’ and ‘us’. I experienced this the day I set my foot on Mizoram. And when you ask for the luggage they will never ask for your identity or to prove yourself. They simply trust you and hand over things. Phew! They implicitly trust others!

The Mizos celebrate Christmas as a society. Everybody contributes money. Vehicles passing through their areas are stopped and occupants, Christians or not, are asked to contribute. Once you donate, they give you a flag (a piece of yellow/green cloth tied on a bamboo stick). If this flag flies on your vehicle, they don’t stop the vehicle again.

My fellow mainland Indians settled there were put off by this Christmas collection. They felt that being Hindus they need not donate money. But they may be subjected to harassment by drunkards. So they came up with an ingenious idea — they simply put up their own flags on their vehicles (jugaad!) without paying money.

This is not to simply sing paeans to the Mizos. They have their own foibles. Many of them drink or chew guthka. Drug-addiction is rampant. Teenage pregnancy is common. Women, more so spinsters, face harsh treatment from society. Yet. . . Yet, people-to-people they practise honesty and truthfulness as a trait. They honour their word. Crime is unheard of. It was my experience for 10 years in Mizoram.

My fellow Indians from the mainland have long had a grouse that Mizos haven’t tried to learn Hindi or assimilate with Indians. I differ. Let them be Mizos, be honest and truthful. Let us not corrupt them. Maybe, Mizos too have something to learn from the mainland. Let good things be exchanged. Not guthka or cheatsing.

If someone has to change, I think it is we the mainlanders.

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18 Responses to “My sweet memories of Mizos”

  1. 1
    Rinzova Khawlhring Lalhnam Says:

    1st teh ang

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  2. 2
    VaiVa Says:

    A lar tawh khawp mai :)

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  3. 3
    Art-a Says:

    a tha lam zawngin a ziak hlauha a lawmawm e. A chhe zawngin a ziak ang tih a hlauhawm kher mai.. a thiam zek awm sia :-S

    Rinzova teh vawng chu mawng suzi ka pe siah chak mang e :-P

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  4. 4
    H.Vangchhia Says:

    A puitlng khawpin ka hria, a positive zawnga an ziak hlauh mai hi (Y)

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  5. 5
    saint sammoo Says:

    thu a thiam hrep mai..,. nia, a chhe zawng pawn ziak duh se.. a ti thei phian ang..,

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  6. 6
    bbney Says:

    The Hindu-a a chhuah ni khan kan thawhpuinu pakhatin office ah a rawn keng a, midang an chhiartir sap sap mai chu nuam ve duh tak a ni.

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  7. 7
    ɪ̣uɪ̣pnoɥ Says:

    Hmanni Charice_duatlaii nèn kan inhnial thukhawchanga kan sawilan tawh kha a ni a hë thü hi.

    A ṭha phian (Y)

    Mahsé a thlûk khi han ngaihtuah chiang u la, mizote chu hnamchawm ( ;-) ) rinawm vè bur deuh rohvah min dah a ni ber e. Thudik vek a sawi lo bawk a, ka läwm fahran lo, min fakna mah ni sé.

    Mahsé a ṭha ve hrim hrim Gurumanickam leh rawn chhuah chhäwngtupa Awmtea Khiangte (Y) (Y)

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  8. 8
    ɪ̣uɪ̣pnoɥ Says:

    Recent comments-ah ka tlar fál leh tuar ṭhin :-D ;-)

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  9. 9
    lrpa Says:

    A ziak tawi mah mah anih hi!
    Christmas donation khi ti khian an lo ti thin ani maw?

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  10. 10
    Chhuaklinga Says:

    Christmas flag niawm tak a sawi khi khawiah nge an tih thin le? YMA leh ZDU hi chuan Flag lo zawrh chang hi chu an nei zauh thin a. Chrismas donation khawn tak khi chuan min ti mengphawk deuh. :-O

    tren tren

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  11. 11
    metro Says:

    Mizo news Correspondent/reporter in a chhe zawng hlira Mizoram an ziah laiin vaipa in hetiang a ziak thei hi a lawmawm (Y)

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  12. 12
    Awmtea Khiangte Says:

    @lrpa full article chu a chhiar tham khawp asin. Khi chu laktawi chauh ani

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  13. 13
    lrpa Says:

    @Awmte..anih hi! a link khi The Hindu webpage emaw ka tia..ka lo click peih lo a. Cchiar a nuam khawp mai Mizo tan chuan..
    I rawn chhawpchhuak a, a lawmawm e (Y)

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  14. 14
    chhangteval Says:

    Jai S. Gurumanickam jee :-D (Y)

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  15. 15
    funny™ Says:

    He pa comment hi chhiar a nuam khawpmai.

    I have had the honour to have visited the North East (Shillong)
    several times to visit the Mizo family of my future wife. They, and
    the other Mizos i have met, are the most honest, trusting, giving,
    friendly, caring and open people I have ever met.
    I have travelled to many countries around the world and yet only in
    the North East of India have I experienced all these traits at the
    same time. Here, and only here, amongst the Mizos, do I really feel at
    peace. They accept people for who they are inside. You will not find a
    homeless Mizo or a beggar on the streets, the Mizo community will not
    allow someone to suffer in this way. They will share their last bowl
    of rice with a stranger and offer him a bed for the night to rest
    before an onward journey and expect nothing in return. That to me
    speaks volumes about what type of people they are. Its is not only
    mainland India that can learn from the Mizo, the wider world could do
    far worse that watch and learn from them.
    from: Steve Bolton

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  16. 16
    no_nick Says:

    @15 funny™ : Steve bolton a nupui tur chu Mizo a nih chuan, “Hnamdang pasal nei” an tih ang kha a ni dawn ani maw. hehehe.. :fth: :))

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  17. 17
    Pangpuielhtliaka Says:

    @#15 comment a “They will share their last bowl of rice with a stranger and offer him a bed for the night to rest before an onward journey and expect nothing in return” tih lai tak khian thil pakhat min ti hre chhuak zawk mai. Tlem a kan naupan deuh lai hian kan vengah Pu ****, Vanglaini chanchinbu sem thin te chhungkua ka la hre reng, gas man tur an nei si lova, Aizawlah chuan mi inluah te nih phei chuan mei nunna tur dang neih a buaithlak em hi. Buhfai chiahpuam ni khat chu an lo ei hman, khawtlangah a han thang chiah mai kha chu a zahthlak hi kan ti em em vek a, khawtlang hruai tuten an buaipui nghal ta anih kha.

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  18. 18
    ɪ̣uɪ̣pnoɥ Says:

    #15 funny (*) sawizuina chu a va ṭha angreng ve…! Mizote chu kan la tlém a, kan la hetiang vek. Mahsé kan hlemhle sï a ni. Hma chu kan sâwn zel ka beisei.

    Ka chunga mi zawng zawngte (Y) :-D

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