Entry 16: Field: Day 7: Sweaters in Summer

16th June 2011, Thursday

Sangau

I froze last night.

Did I ever mention that Lawngtlai was hot and humid? Well it was. But when I reached Sangau, it was cold, drizzling and windy. The wind howled the whole night. I crumpled under my twin blanket and listened to the wind and the mosquitoes circling my head. I’ve never felt more cold during summer.

I woke up this morning with the wind still howling outside my windows. I rushed out of the bedroom to a few neighbours coming over for morning tea. And it was only 5:30 in the morning. I rushed to get dressed and by 6:00 AM I was all ready and geared to meet another contact.

By 6:30 AM I was armed with a recorder, a pen and a paper at my uncle’s place on a little hillock. There was a slight drizzle still beating against the window and the winds haven’t died down yet. My contact/informant was an old man of 66 years old yet he still has clear memories and answered a lot of my questions about Mizo and Lai history and about the Lai language. My informant, clearly was a Lai patron.  We spend 6 whole hours discussing the Lai history, the etymology of the word 'Sangau' (a very interesting topic. Maybe I'll blog about it someday!) and the Lai language in general.  However, one sad thing happened, my recorder died before I could finish the interview. Note to self: Must always have batteries fully charged. Recorder, Camera and phone. Ever since I’ve reached Sangau, there has been no electricity. So I couldn’t charge any of my equipment.

My informant: Pu Hulha who promised me that he'll dig into his old files and  compositions by the next time I travel to meet him. I hope to be back at Sangau by December! :)

 I spend the morning with Pu Hulha and set out in the afternoon to watch a friendly football match between the Sangau Police Vs. Sangau VC members. It was hilarious to see old men with shorts running after a ball in a muddy field and kicking it in any direction they could. My Uncle was supposed to play too. But regardless of the number of times he ran alongside the field, he made it only for the goalkeeper. By the time the game ended, the Sangau VC had won 4-1.

The Sangau Police Team. My Uncle with the black shirt is all talk and hardly play! 

The Sangau 1 & 3 VC team. Oh Yes! I had the guts to ask both the teams to pose for me!

 After the match, I called up another contact that Mading gave me. This contact gave me a book that I know would be of good use. I took it at an old friend’s place for photocopying. But then again, No electricity, so I just left it there for him to make the copy when the electricity came.

And now as I sit here under my quilt, typing these lines in the light of an old kerosene lamp, my netbook battery reads “35% remaining”. The electricity better come tomorrow or I’ll have to leave town. I just got a random thought that my laundry is piling up and I need to wash my hair. It’s only 9:30 PM now, but it’s just too cold, wet and windy that I know I will get sick if I wash my hair now.

I miss Phabo tonight. Terribly. But my phone battery died by lunch hour today.

So I’ll listen to the wind against the trees out in the garden and somehow try to send a telepathic message. 

Entry 15: Field: Day 6: Saiha to Sangau

15th June 2011, Wednesday

Saiha

My photon worked in Saiha. Woohoo!! I left a message at Facebook and checked my mail. I know I have to gear myself for the long road to Sangau. I know, I know, it’s a mere 81 kilometre ride from Saiha. But when you’re stuck in a spell of roadsickness, even 10 kilometres in the winding and narrow mountain roads can be such a pain.

Visiting Sangau for my field wasn’t exactly my priority. Yet, since my dad joined me in Lawngtlai, I decided to join his programme and go with him till Sangau. Meeting and interviewing more people won’t hurt my fieldwork either. Besides, I get to meet families and relatives after 2 whole years of staying in Delhi without any holiday. I wanted to visit Vawmbuk, a village on the slopes of the highest mountain range in Mizoram. Yet, monsoon rain washed away the only road to the village. I still have hopes of going there. But somehow my dad intervened saying that I could find all data at Sangau itself. So I decided to join him till Sangau and still hope to make plans to go to Vawmbuk after that.

The road from Saiha to Tlangpui

We started out at Saiha at 10 in the morning and made quick stops at Bualpui NG, Siacangkawn, Rawlbuk, Lungpher and Ceural. What can I say? I’m travelling with my dad. On the other hand, I get to stretch my legs and go exploring. And while my dad sat at some meetings I went hunting for phone signals, one of which I found from a tea-stall bathroom in SiaCangkawn and another near a certain pigsty at Ceural. We reached Sangau just when it was getting dark.

The phone signal has full bars near this pigsty in Ceural... Haa!!

A Porch at Lungpher on a drizzly day!

Bonus point today: I didn’t get roadsick… Yea yea yea. Iron-lined stomach’s back.

Entry 13: Field: Day 5: Great Grandma and Saiha Bound

14th June 2011, Tuesday

Lawngtlai.

I woke up to my KingKong cousin lying next to me and giving me a toothless smile. That made my day already. But the intense heavy heat of the sunrise stopped me on my tracks to sheer blissdom. I never knew Lawngtlai would have such heavy heat!!

After brunch, I went to meet my Great Grandmother. Yes! The one from whom I got my cheekbones from. My Great grandma, my mother’s maternal grandma, is 102 years old according to record and she is literally blind. I was told that she hardly comes out of her room to meet visitors, and when she does, she sits in the exact same place every single time, she drinks from the same water bottle every day and would ask my aunt to rinse it if anyone else even do as much as hold the bottle. She speaks Lai language with a fluent Khuafo dialect, one of the very few who does, yet she prays in Mizo language.

My Great Grandma doesn’t know me by face. When I told her my mother’s name, she touched my face and told me I looked like my mother. She also quickly added that my face is way too round to look as good as my mother. I laughed.  She wasn’t the first to tell me that. This was only the second time that I’ve met her. The first time I met her, two years ago, she prayed for me and when I told her I wanted to take a picture with her, she rushed to change into her traditional clothing and went to wash her face!! This time when I told her I want to take a picture with her, she told me that it should only be me in the picture and not my other cousins. I gladly obliged.

My Great Grandma and I

And after my aunt clicked our picture, she turned to me and, out of the blue, said, “ Who are you?”. My heart broke as I told her my mother's name again. 

After I left my greatgrandma’s place, I went to collect my luggage from my cousin’s place and bade goodbye to Arama and his brother. I also made a quick stop at my cousin’s shop and later went to wait for my dad in the car.

We left Lawngtlai at 4:30 PM and reached Saiha at 7:30 PM. The 70 kilometre journey from Lawngtlai to Saiha with the brief rain was beautiful. At one point, a double rainbow shot through with the setting sun. Overwhelmed, I reach for my camera only to realize that my batteries were down.

Kawlchaw village, en route to Saiha. I should have saved my batteries for the double rainbow! :(

Need I say I got roadsick again???? Whatever became of me and my iron-lined stomach!!

Entry 13: Field: Day 4:A Visit to the Lai Autonomous District Council Library - A Disappointment.

13th June, Monday

Lawngtlai.

I got invited to brunch at an aunt’s place where I suffered from another episode of overeating pork. Whew! Lawngtlai… my jeans are getting tighter and my belly’s gaining its jelly! Thanks to my overwhelmingly welcoming relatives who always have the grace to invite me over for dinner, for lunch and even for brunch. I made a mental note to boast to my dad about the welcome wagon I received. My dad will also arrive at Lawngtlai today and I doubt if he will receive the same welcome that I received. Ha!!

 Arama called me during brunch and told me to be at the Council Office by first hour because the staff had some work on field and will not be in the office for long. So packed with my huge field gear, I rushed and was ready by 9 AM. I waited for an hour and a half. Did I hear it right?? First hour?? 

Finally by 10:30 AM, the staff arrived and I headed towards the Council Library.

I have just one word to say about the experience.

DISAPPOINTED.

The first thing the librarian (recently-appointed I later learnt) told me was that they were shifting the library to another room and apologised for the mess. I don’t see much of a mess in the first place. There are too few books to create a mess. I inquired and I was told that the library has 4657 books according to record. I didn’t want to offend the librarian by counting the books, but I don’t think the library would even have half the amount of books on the register.

When I browsed through the books, almost all the books dealing with the topic that I was searching for was either missing or checked out. But what surprised me was that borrowing books were not allowed. Then how come books are checked out??? I was told that it was the higher officials who checked out the books. And most of them went missing.  My frustration peaked when I was told there was no photocopier in the building. So I ended up taking pictures of the many pages that I needed. The librarian was however surprisingly accommodating, giving me names of individuals who, he said, ‘will have a better collection of books than the Council Library.’ He also told me that I could check out the books if I want to make copies but should also make sure that I should return them. I left after three hours without taking a single book. The reason, I am not about to bend the so-called rules. Call me shrewd. But I would rather write about it and criticize about such malpractice rather than accommodate myself with it.

The librarian also made mild complaints about the negligence from the officials and maintenance funds which never reached the library.

I laughed, silently. The irony of it all.

I don’t even know where to begin. Here I stood in the middle of the Library of the District Council which I’ve heard so much about. An Autonomous District Council which is the only District Council in the world that the Lai community can ever claim as their very own. A Council, I trust, whose main aim is to promote and uplift the betterment, living conditions, identity and culture of the Lai Community in Mizoram. I wonder what kind of community will we create if we are not even well equipped with the written knowledge?! 

The LADC Library on date

I know I may sound biased because I could hardly find the books that I need. But I know I am right when I say that education should not be neglected especially with a community as small and lost-with-our-identity as ours. I hope when I come back in a year, the same frustration would not await me! I hope I see the library shifted to a new building, with the missing books restored and the funds used in the rightful place.  

I left in the afternoon. With a frown still on my brows I headed to visit yet another batch of cousins and meet nephews and nieces I haven’t met before.

I got invited for dinner at U Thanga’s place, a bachelor pad. Four men ate with me but I swear I ate the most. Ha!! Arama took me to visit his elder sister’s family after dinner and later that night he dropped me off at my aunt’s place where I am to spend the night.

Working at Lawngtlai will be much more difficult if it hadn’t been for the Vuangtu brothers. So, if you are reading this Aram and U Thang, A zillion thanks, I owe you one. You guys are the best, indeed!!

Grinning away while sandwiched by my superheroes! :D 

Entry 12: Field: Day 3: Working on a Pentikost Sunday

12th June 2011, Sunday

Lawngtlai.

It’s a Sunday today , an Pentikost Sunday. And like any Christian, I went off to church for a sermon and a Sunday School lesson afterwards. A new face that I was, I was mistaken to be the fiancé of an old friend from Shillong who was supposed to get married the next month. A few women who knew my mother argued saying that I looked too much like Tluangpuii  (my mother)  to be Elvis’ fiancé. Ah! Women!! Ah! Life!

The children's choir on Pentikost Sunday. Nazareth Baptist Church, Council Veng, Lawngtlai.

After church, Arama called me and rushed me to meet the contact that he made. And rush did I, complete with my Sunday best to meet the contact.

One of the best encounters I’ve have had during my fieldwork so far is that I made contact with Salai Ramdinglian Lahnim. A strapping young man of 29 years, I’ve never met someone more passionate with his language with his identity and with his nationality. He really inspired me to get into the groove and get obsessed with my research. Mading spent hours and hours with me helping me answer queries, giving me basic sentences in Lai and background information on certain topics I wanted to know. He also gave me contacts that, I know, will be useful during the course of my field and my research as well.

Dinner at my uncle’s place left me full-stomached. What can I say, well-cooked chicken seasoned with crushed sesame is my favourite serve. More work after dinner with Mading. U Thanga, Arama’s elder brother and a School Principal opened his home to us and accommodated us while we carried out our discussion and our queries.

A Sunday well spent. Tomorrow, I hope to visit the Lai District Council Library and will also make a quick stop at the Art and Culture Department.

I think I like Lawngtlai… A lot!!!

Entry 11: Field: Day 2: Lawngtlai

11th June 2011, Saturday.

Lawngtlai

After I slept like a log from exhaustion and sleep deficiency, I woke up at 6:50 AM. I got out of bed to realize I woke up at mid-morning. People get up really early here, and it’s already late morning before you know it.

After brunch, I headed towards my uncle’s place. My uncle who hailed from the same village as my dad, was supposed to be my first informant. My ‘bey-blade’ addict nephew (did I get that right??) was sweet enough to show me the way. My uncle’s house was perched on a little hillock with a little fruit orchard surrounding the picturesque old house. After spending two hours with my uncle who sometimes scratched his head and closed his eyes, trying to remember some Lai words that I asked him, I headed towards my cousin’s shop at the market place.

Auto-Rickshaw in Lawngtlai!! Where did I hear that autos can’t travel uphill??? Well not here in Lawngtlai. They climbed steep slopes and rugged terrain and don’t even seem to face a problem. Or are there different types of autorickshaws??? Mind you, I didn’t use an auto during this walk to the market. It was a beautiful day, clear skies and warm sunshine after the rainy yesterday and I walked half a kilometre and looked away as I walked,  staring at the buildings and terrain as I walked. People stared as I passed them. I must have looked stupid and out of place. When I reached my cousin’s shop, she scolded me for not taking an auto. Well, who would?? It’s a beautiful day and it’s meant for walking.

If you are from Lawngtlai, you may not agree to this. But for me, it’s funny how people know what other people have. I was still at my cousin’s shop helping her arrange her fresh arrivals of shoes when two young ladies came in. One tried on one pair of shoes and liked it, the other one promptly told her that a Mahumi from the same church has those shoes and with a whiff of ‘a common thuai ang’, they left. I giggled. People know each other so well here. It must have its shares of ups and downs.

So I left early to cook dinner but my cousin’s husband beat me to it. So I just lazed around the house when a  friend whom I’ve met and chatted with on Facebook payed me a visit. Ah! Us!! We talked as if we’re old friends and chatted the hours away until he left before dinner.

After dinner I went to visit my aunt, my mom’s youngest sister whom I haven’t met for years. The last time I met her was when she was preparing to get married. I remembered throwing a fit because I couldn’t attend the wedding because of my third year exams. Well, this time when she already had three productions kids. Her youngest was eight months and a KingKong size. I’ve never seen such a huge baby in my life. My thin and waif little aunt laughed and told me that people said ‘I fa hi I paw taih taih zel’.

The KingKong baby

A good day today. Working as well as catching up with families and meeting tons of cousins and nieces and nephews I haven’t met before.

Arama, the FB friend, hooked me up with another informant which I can hopefully meet the tomorrow. Tomorrow’s a Sunday, but when you are on the field, you are on the field. I have to make sure that I spend each day productively. 

Entry 10: Field: Day 1: On the Road

10th June, Friday
Aizawl-Lawngtlai

So under bad weather and old winds, I boarded a maxi cab and headed south.  I was supposed to be in Chennai for Nithya’s wedding, but rain and clouds cancelled my flight and my fieldwork has to start.It saddens me that I have to miss the Nit-Mut wedding but the show must go on. If you’re reading this Nithya, this is not an apology… I will spend the rest of my life making countless apologies.

After years of being a motion sickness slave, public transport isn’t really my comfort bubble. Why? Because I have to discipline myself and not retch when I throw up or throw a tantrum when I get heavy headed. Yet I’ve gotten used to it after staying away from home for years and lately, I haven’t gotten motion sick. However the night before my journey, I slept for two hours and I didn’t have time to grab a quick breakfast the next day. Thanks to my dad who got too finicky lest I miss my cab. Needless to say, the nine-hour journey from Aizawl to Lawngtlai was perfectly laced with sleep deficiency and motion sickness. Well, that heavy-headedness didn't stop me from taking a sawhchiar break at Tawipui South.

Tawipui South Speciality!!

Finally, when the sumo reached Lawngtlai, I heaved a huge sigh of relief and headed towards my cousin’s place. Funny I’m still motion sick even after dinner.

Now here I am all ready for bed and yet it’s only 8:30 PM. If I was in Delhi, I would just be getting ready for dinner.