Chp 583. Interviewing an Interviewer

Back during the days when misual.com was a household name among the netizens of our Mizo community, we really used to have a great time reading insightful articles and opinionated pieces contributed by different users from all walks of life. It was a platform where people could spend their time discussing about various topics ranging from intellectual and pseudo-intellect ramblings to politics, religion, sports and humour.

This was much before Facebook took over the social networking world by storm, when people actually had to think twice before contributing a post, rather than posting drunken status messages at 2 in the morning only to regret about it the following day :) The more we discussed and shared our thoughts, the more we all grew closer, and to this day, I deeply cherish all the new friends I've found through misual.com.

Hence, in this blog update, I'd like to cross-post one of my old posts from misual.com here. This post is kinda relevant today because it is related to politics, which seems to be the only topic of discussion on Facebook these days, due to the upcoming MLA by-election tomorrow and Aizawl Municipal Corporation (AMC) election next week. As most of you may know, Zonunsangi, more famously known as Zonet Zonuni, is one of the candidates standing for election. Soon after her announcement, social media was flooded with comments about her, some supporting her, others criticizing her etc. Now, politics is always dirty, so I will refrain from saying anything about her, but I do wish her, along with all the other candidates all the best in the upcoming election.

Now what I want to mention here instead, is that many people may be aware of the fact that Zonuni is a TV-celeb in Mizoram who had interviewed countless number of Mizos on TV. But what most people may not know is that I had the honour of interviewing her! :P Yes that's right, I interviewed the famous interviewer! :)

Below is my old post from misual.com, I am just copying-pasting the entire post here in one go. Those were indeed the good and fun times at misual. Also, do keep in mind that this incident happened way back in January 2007, so some of the things mentioned below may not be relevant today, and both photos below are of really low resolution (can't find the original pics).

Here you go -

Interview with an Interviewer!

January 16th, 2007 4:30 pm by Sandman

Her face is familiar to almost every household here in Mizoram. She’s not a gospel singer, a youth icon, a rap artist, a politician, a boxer, or an IAS officer. Yet she has appeared on TV with such Mizos. Yup, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me immense pleasure to present to you Zonunsangi, ZONET’s very own interview specialist.

Yesterday, dad called me while I was in my secret hideaway upstairs because we had guests. He usually calls me downstairs to the living room to meet the guests when he wants to introduce me to them. It was none other than Zonuni from ZONET, along with her camera-man. They had come over to interview my sister for their TV channel.

Upon meeting me, her first reaction was, "misual.com ti tupa kha i ni em?" I was completely shocked by her question. And then I replied, "Ni lo e. Ka thianpa Bena siam a nih kha. Mahse aw, misual.com admin zinga mi chu ka ni ve e".

"i nih ka ring deuh renga i thlalak atang khan. Hman ni a Jenny-i interview kha a tha ka ti lutuk a. Office ah pawh kan nui nasa hlawm lutuk".

 (A part of me was going “wow!!!“)

So I took that golden opportunity to do something radical, that nobody would have thought of doing before. Most people would want to be interviewed by her, but I decided to interview her instead! Opportunity knocks only once my friend. Grab it, and never let go of it.

At first she was reluctant to do the interview fully aware of the way I interviewed Jenny, but then, she was in my house, under my roof, with no place to hide, and my sister hadn't reached home yet. So here's the interview :-) (Thanx to J for the proof-reading)

Me: Tunge i interview tawh te zingah interview nuam i la tih ber?

Zonuni: Lalruotmawii. Khami ka interview kha chu mi in min hlut pui ka rin phak ai in.

Me: Eng kawr nge hak nuam i tih ber mi interview lai in?

Zonuni: (laughs) Tuna ka hak mek hi (Black striped formal pants, black high heeled boots smartly polished, brown netted scarf, black overcoat, yellow inner top, and the rest, as she puts it "Ka hmuh phal loh")

Me: Interview lai hian mi bawl nuam i ti em?

Zonuni: Ti lo. Mi ka bawl ngailo.

(She receives a phone call at this point. She tells the caller to call her later in the evening… ahemzzz)

Me: i chet chhiat lai ber interview lai in?

Zonuni: (thinking) ih… (laughs) an tam ve tawh lutuk a. Cici-a ka interview lai khan ka nui zel a, interview pawh ka ti bam tep a ni. Chuan Jenny ka interview lai khan ka hnunga mipui ho in min nek per vek a, zawhna pahnih chauh ka zawt hman (laughs out loudly). Mipui in min nek lai khan ka thi dawn emaw ka ti tawh a, ka bula mi Minister pakhat ka va tham dawrh a (laughs out loudly again) (At this point, one can easily come to a conclusion that she loves to laugh a lot. Interested suitors, please note this down!)

Me: i interview tawhah tunge hmeltha i la tih ber?

Zonuni: Hmmm… Hmeichhia ah chuan, C.Luri. Chuan mipa ah chuan, Steve em ni awwww army officer kha? Naupangte ni mah sela, hmeltha ka ti bawn tawp.

Me: i interview tawh ho ah tunge i star ber?

Zonuni: Star ka nei lo. Interview lai in star ka ngaihtuah hmanlo (smiles). Rilru in star a thleng pha lo.

Me: i lai ve tawh em mi i interview lai in?

Zonuni: Interview tan tirh te kha chuan lai ve bawk thin e. Chuanin, NgTv ka interview phei kha chuan ka lai bawn tawps (laughs again).

Me: i mumangah te mi i interview tawh em?

Zonuni: Aih. In ka thlen tawh chuan ka hna lampang chu ka ngaihtuah tawh ngailo.

Me: Favourite opening line?

Zonuni: ih… "pianna leh murna" a niang. Mahse mi ho hian murna tih hi an hrethiam vak lova. Hmana hmeichhe pakhat kha chuan (name withheld) "ka pianna chu Chanmari a nia, chuan Zarkawtah ka va mur ve zeuh zeuh thin a" a tia, ka nui hlum lo chauh (laughs).

Me: Ha sen chung hian mi i interview thin em?

Zonuni: Chutiang ka ti ngailo (I see a punch coming up soon). Office kal lai chuan kuhva ka ei ngailo.

Me: Interview dawn hian i prepare lawk thin nge, spontaneous in i zawt?

Zonuni: Prepare ngai vaklo. Thawhthut hi a tam zawk za mah.

Me: i luck phah viau em mi i interview vang hian?

Zonuni: Sawichi a nilo chu chu… Sawichi loh reng reng… Insawithei mi in min ti palh ang (laughs out again).

Me: Phone call engzah nge i dawn thin minute khatah hian?

Zonuni: (laughs) eeeeeee… a minute zawng chuan ka dawng ngailo… Phone call ka dawng ngai vaklo.

Me: Buhfai em put pah te hian mi i interview thiam em?

Zonuni: Ka la try chhin miahlo, mahse ka thei leh tho ang (laughs again)

Me: Interview "style" ah hian eng interview nge i hrat ber, chuan eng style nge i chak ber?

Zonuni: Interview style a ka hrat ber chu, thu chung hi a nia (laughs). Chuan style thar ka tih chak em em chu… NDTV a "Walk the Talk" ang style deuh hi a ni.

Me: Eng hmun nge mi i interview tawhna ah la hlauhawm ber?

Zonuni: Biate. Sawrkar leh mipui in ep lai kha a nia, boruak a sang sia, fimkhur deuhva interview a ngai. Chuan chaw ei ah te khan leh lam ve ve in min sawm sia, kal loh na zawk kha chu an thinrim dawn tih a chiang sia… a nuamlo duh khawp mai…

Me: i la nula reng a tiraw?

Zonuni: Aw (smiles)

Me: Kum engzah nge i nih tawh?

Zonuni: (smiles again) hmmm… 25 plus. A bak chu ka sawi duhlo.

Me: i naupan lai hian mi interview chakna te hi i nei tawh thin em?

Zonuni: Neilo. Ka dream a ni ngailo hrim hrim tiang lampang tih hi.

Me: Mutpui a tan teddy bear ang te hi i nei em? Han kuah mai mai turah.

Zonuni: Nei lo (@ Ben: Buy her a teddy bear on her birthday). Lukham pawh kuah chu sawi loh, ka kham ngailo. Ka mu tawp mai a ni (laughs).

Me: Sikul i kal lai ten, i thianten an ning fu lo che maw? Han interview sek i tum zel awm sia…

Zonuni: (laughs out again) Ti ngai lo e. Sikul luh lai te kha chuan ka zakzum tawp.

Me: Zu rui i interview dawn hian, i rui der ve thin em?

Zonuni: Hahaha. Rui der lo e. Rangva Mualah khan zu rui pakhat chu kan interview tawh a lawm. A nuihzathlak tawps.

Me: Interview hma hian darthlalang hmaah i practice thin em?

Zonuni: In en na hman ka neilo.

Me: Nih leh kawngsir a motor in park darthlalang talah hian interview i practice thin em?

Zonuni: (laughs) Practice lo. Mahse aw ka in en ve ziah motor darthlalangah hi chuan (smiles).

Me: Tunge khawvelah hian i interview chak ber?

Zonuni: Sonia Gandhi. A rilru a awm hi ka hre chak. Chuan, la dam se chu, Saddam Hussein-a pawh hi ka interview chak.

Me: Pasal i neih dawn in, i interview phawt dawn em ni?

Zonuni: Interview deuh hlek loh chuan… (laughs)

Me: Engzah nge interviewah chuan tling tawh lo?

Zonuni: Ka chhiar chiah lo va (laughs again)

Me: Chu, misual.com ah i regular viau a maw?

Zonuni: Regular e. Nitin chu ka check ngei ngei ziah.

Me: Ngatinge i comment ve ngai loh?

Zonuni: (smiles) Ka comment loh na chhan chu maw… (tells me the reason in private, which cannot be printed here. However, you can reach me in person if you really want to know :-) ).

Me: Enge tunlaiah i tih chak ber?

Zonuni: Nangmah anga mi interview thiam ve ka chak (My turn to blush :-P ). Jenny i interview kha ngaihnawm ka ti ber tun hnaiah chuan.

Me: Mi i interview zei bawk sia, sawi tur te hi i hre reng sia, mipa rawn rim tu te tan hian a buaithlak viau lo maw?

Zonuni: (laughs) Rimtu ka nei khat khawp mai.

Me: A challenging an ti em nangmah biak hi?

Zonuni: Kha kha chu min be tu a zir a ni mai a, ka sawi ve theih a awm lo (winks).

Me: Sas nen a han thut dun tawh hian, zan te a'n rei deuha, thisen te a lum tan a, a changtupa in rawn chet a tum chiaha han tawng leh char char te hi i ching em?

Zonuni: Chutiang tur chuan hun kan nei hlei nem a changtupa nen (laughs again).

Me: Pasal hi engtikah nge neih i tum?

Zonuni: Mister Right a rawn lan hun hunah a ni mai.

Me: Chuan a tawp ber a tan, zawhna serious deuh. Pathian hi lo interview dawn ta la, eng zawhna panga nge i zawh hmasak ber ang?

Zonuni: Hmmm… (thinking)… A hmasa berin, eng vangin nge mihringte hi a siam tih a nia nga, chuan, mitthi tawh te awm dan… chuan, engtikah nge a rawn kal leh ang (smiles). Chumi zawh chuan, ih.. Chatuan hi eng anga rei nge a nih… A tawp nan, Mi zawng zawng hi Vanramah min kai tir la? (laughs again)

Me: Mi zawng zawng hi Vanramaha kan kai dawn em nilovin "min kai tir la?" tih zawk maw i zawh dawn?

Zonuni: Aw (smiles)

Me: Ok. Ka lawm khawp mai, misual.com tan interview hun te min lo hmanpui te hi. Chuan i rawn tlawh reng kan beisei bawk.

Zonuni: Aw keipawh le. Teh reng mai, ka rawn tlawh ziah ang. Misual.com chu a nuam e lawm, article a that mai bakah, rawn comment tu ten an ziak thiam sia.

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End of the interview.

And that was a great and fun post. People also enjoyed commenting at the comment section. Sadly these days, misual.com is hardly active anymore mainly because none of the admins are around. All of us are busy with our own thang now. Secondly, misual.com is actually down! Other than the landing page, you cannot access anything else because there is a fatal error as the latest version of wp-ban breaks after the 4.3 update. This can be fixed via FTP access to overwrite the corrupt PHP files, but I guess none of us admins are even trying to do this till now, lolz.

But yeah, reading old posts such as this really made me miss the golden days of misual.com. Once again, I wish Zonuni all the very best in the upcoming election. Cheers.