9th February, 2014. That was when dad passed away last year. And now it has already been a year. How time flies by so quickly!
In our Mizo culture, the first death anniversary is significant, though usually not as ritualistic as a Mizo funeral tradition. And so, in spite of extremely hectic work schedule (we’re kinda going through a very crucial transition phase with tight deadline), I had no other option by to apply for leave. Flew home at 6 in the morning last Saturday from Mumbai.
My sister and her husband too flew from Malaysia. We all met up at Kolkata airport. And to keep up with English family tradition, I had beer with my brother-in-law at 9 in the morning at the departure lounge.
I was so buzzed with that early morning drink, that by the time I reached Aizawl, I started reading words wrongly… :P
The Lengpui bridge was still down, so we had to take the longer detour via Sairang. Took a couple of really breathtaking videos on the way home too, but I won’t be able to upload those from this extremely slow Mizoram internet speed connection.
Finally yayyy, Home sweet home Chaltlang!
Was dark soon. My two nieces cozied up my cold room. This was the room dad used to sleep in before he went into permanent sleep.
The next morning just after sunrise, we all visited daddy’s grave…
Our locality had another funeral on the same day, and a lot of my friends and neighbors were at the graveyard digging up the new grave…
Had quick breakfast after we got back home because we had a long day ahead…
U Baby was one of the first to arrive, bringing in a lot of chicken snacks for guests to eat. She also helped us with the flower preparation.
As well-wishers and family members started arriving, it was soon time to watch the airing of daddy’s first memorial video, aired on Doordarshan DDK channel at 3:40 PM. I'll try uploading this video on my YouTube channel later.
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While everybody was watching the memorial video on TV, we forgot about the chicken snacks in the oven, and that caught fire!!!!!
Soon it was time to lay the final flower decorations. We once again made our way to the graveyard.
According to our custom, this is again known as “Makpa chanpual” where they help as much as they can…
We quickly rushed home, as more people arrived. We didn’t invite anybody personally, as there were too many to invite. So instead we made it an open house, and dinner was there for anybody who came to pay their condolences.
We ordered the food from Fey Fey catering, and they arrived with their food.
We had a short eulogy and prayer service inside the house…
Meanwhile, the caterers prepared the dishes outside…
Hungry peeps everywhere :)
I took a pic with Alex and his wife, both of them celebrity singers here in Mizoram. Alex sang the second music video for dad which aired on LPS Channel. I’ll try uploading or sharing those videos once I have better internet connection.
Soon it was late. Eunice and gang too came late in the night and gifted me lots of smoked pork to take back to Mumbai! Unfortunately, they already had dinner, so there was a lot of leftover. Here are some yummy juicy pork leftover.
It was cold once most of the people left. So we made our own fire.
One final selfie using the selfie-stick before calling it a night. Turning this occasion of sadness into happiness is something dad would have loved. He was always cheerful and humorous.
A memorable day indeed. Thanking everybody who came or remembered us.
