Mizontium, me is likely to say. Perhaps it was the fact that it was the first leg of my travels that I felt fresh enough to fall for Mizoram. Or perhaps it was the exposure to the Lushai (Mizo) hills for a city weary hill hungry Bangalorean. The high from clean crisp air, the stars I could see from about 6.30 pm (ref my post on Time), rolling hills appearing like thick mossy crumpled velvet from the air. (Google Earth anyone?), entire hillsides covered in thich profusion by bright yellow wild sunflowers (the English 'sunflower' doesnt half say it like 'surajmukhi' does, does it? Sun face is so much more beautiful than a mere sun-flower), proud beautiful people in a setting so perfect for them. But then its not merely the tremendous natural bounty which makes one love it so.
But at the same time, that sure is no country for old men. (PLEASE follow the link!) The Irish analogy is not too misplaced, I think. A strip of land between Bangladesh and Myanmar, the land of Mizos (highlanders) is very distinct from the Indian socio-political mainland, a remnant of bygone times and a forerunner of times to come! The blend of proud animalistic headhunting tribal traditions and contemporary consumerist modernism is confusing but evident. Wherever one looks, there are young men and women- inside shops at the counters and not just loitering outside shops. Amazingly, all unmarried young men are called, believe it or not, Mama! So nearly every shop sports a board proclaiming it as a Mama Shop. In fact everyone one in Mizoram is a youth as told to me by a retired army Major, in that they ALL can and usually do belong to the Young Mizo Association, an organisation which is typically tribal and Christian, public and paragovernmental, with over 3 (or is it 2!) lakh members, all pervasive and all powerful in Mizoram and all young!
Some of my other impressions are of the impressive and pious Aizawl Theological College set up in 1907, the fact that an flat airstip could actually be created in those totally undulating slopes, the ugly conveyor belt that is the Burra Bazar of Aizawl, the auto repair shops ALL along the route between the airport and Aizawl city, the good roads- "Pushpak & Mizoram made for each other", the lipstick fruit, the sweet mandarin oranges, chow-chow or scut as its called, the earnest and devout priest from far away Salem, Tamil Nadu, a Principal to boot!
Indeed, not for the old!
But at the same time, that sure is no country for old men. (PLEASE follow the link!) The Irish analogy is not too misplaced, I think. A strip of land between Bangladesh and Myanmar, the land of Mizos (highlanders) is very distinct from the Indian socio-political mainland, a remnant of bygone times and a forerunner of times to come! The blend of proud animalistic headhunting tribal traditions and contemporary consumerist modernism is confusing but evident. Wherever one looks, there are young men and women- inside shops at the counters and not just loitering outside shops. Amazingly, all unmarried young men are called, believe it or not, Mama! So nearly every shop sports a board proclaiming it as a Mama Shop. In fact everyone one in Mizoram is a youth as told to me by a retired army Major, in that they ALL can and usually do belong to the Young Mizo Association, an organisation which is typically tribal and Christian, public and paragovernmental, with over 3 (or is it 2!) lakh members, all pervasive and all powerful in Mizoram and all young!
Some of my other impressions are of the impressive and pious Aizawl Theological College set up in 1907, the fact that an flat airstip could actually be created in those totally undulating slopes, the ugly conveyor belt that is the Burra Bazar of Aizawl, the auto repair shops ALL along the route between the airport and Aizawl city, the good roads- "Pushpak & Mizoram made for each other", the lipstick fruit, the sweet mandarin oranges, chow-chow or scut as its called, the earnest and devout priest from far away Salem, Tamil Nadu, a Principal to boot!
Indeed, not for the old!
9 comments:
I belong to that part of the country too.. only in Meghalaya...:) good to know that you have been to that side of town ..
Thanks Pallavi for stopping by and reading this. In fact, this may even inspire me to write a post on Assam - Meghalaya! :)
Interesting post!
Just to let you know that there are indeed readers...
Interesting post!
Just to let you know that there are indeed readers...
Thanks anon & on! :)
I'm from Mizoram! Great to know you've been there and liked it too! And yeah, those sunflowers when they bloom like that...*sigh*, which reminds me, I've been away from home too long! :)
oh and one more thing..what's this 'lipstick fruit' you mentioned??
Welcome Sundancer! A female soul-searcher with a blog called My Sky and a name as beautiful as sun dancer! I'm delighted.
Lipstick fruit was the only name offered to me in English for that perfectly tart and sour (mmm!) fruit with a hard thick cover, a big stone inside but some lovely pulp in between. It turns everything it comes in contact wtih a beautiful deep dark red like beetroot but it tastes so different. We also had soup made from this fruit which we were told is a good digestive too! Please do let me know the mizo name for this!
hmmm...that sounds like 'Theichhungsen'(pronounced exactly the way it's spelled) you're talking about, thei-fruit, chhung-inside, sen-red :)simple isn't it?. Can't even remember the last time I ate or saw one, but as a kid growing up I was always very fond of 'lipstick fruits'...we'd smear the juice all over our lips and make believe we're beauty queens, beautiful memories! And it's all thanks to your wonderful blog that I've unearthed these long-forgotten memories..keep up the great work!
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