Chp 742. PMCF Christmas Eve 2018

This Christmas Eve, I was actually planning to spend at home, alone, listening to "Lonely this Christmas" by Mud on loop until I eventually drown in my own tears... But then, a lot of my friends invited me to go to the Christmas Eve function organized by PMCF, the Pune Mizo Christian Fellowship.

This is my fourth year in Pune, and I have never gone for any PMCF Christmas Eve program before, mainly because I'm an extreme introvert. It makes me nervous and uncomfortable being around a large community gathering. And the problem is, our society really does not understand introverts because we are such an open community as a whole where everybody mingles with everybody. As I have mentioned in my earlier post "Being an introvert in a Mizo society", people who are introverts are often wrongly labelled as "inchhuang" or "induh", which makes me want to avoid such community activities even more.

But the difference is, by now, I have known a lot of people, including all the leaders and executive members of PMWA and PMCF. And having taken part in many Amosa Prayer Cell Group Meet this year, I don't feel that much of a stranger anymore.

The PMCF Christmas Eve event was held at Lt Col Isaac's house, where I have been a couple of times this year for dinner and stuff. They're not just my friends but Madiki is also my close relative. They live in this awesome Military bungalow with colonial building style and a really large lawn in front, where the actual event was held.

The theme of the night was "Ṭhin zan" and we were supposed to dress up in ridiculous outdated clothes.

I went over to Teresa and Nitin's house in the evening and the three of us went to Isaac's place together. Even though the program was to start at 8 PM, there were only a few people at the venue because the bus that was ferrying the main crowd from all across Pune hadn't reached yet. But our PMCF Chairman Pu Chawnghminga kept the crowd well entertained.

Finally the bus reached at 9 PM and the entire place was immediately filled up. We had a short prayer service, followed by a wonderful sharing by Mahlua who is our Amosa Prayer Cell group secretary.

And then the night's entertainment started. Florence kept us enthralled with her wonderful voice as she sang "Pawmlai ṭingṭang" and "Tleitir lukir".

I wasn't able to take good pics with my phone from where I was sitting, so Hriata Morello sent me the official pics he took with his DSLR and I am very much grateful to him for that.

The crowd was truly entertained.

We were treated to wonderful performances that night, like "Tu hrai chawi nge" by Joel, "Teuhlo mai" by Ruatfela, "Zoram ngaihna" by John and "A va nuam dawn em" by Pachhi. They not only had talented voices but the musicians were extremely talented as well, especially Boiha on the guitars.

And one of the biggest hits that night was the performance by the "Nu valai" group, known as "Queens of our house" who did a hilarious and outstanding lip sync band performance of different songs by Queen :D

The "hero" of the night, Lawmi, who played the part of Freddy Mercury.

She executed her role to perfection :)

Teresa had a duet with Ruatfela, and this is a video I recorded from my phone. The two of them sang "The Greatest Gift of All" and they were both amazing. Funny incident though, when it was Teresa's part, her mike wasn't working :D Anyway, have a look at their performance here...

Really nice.

And then there was that moment when Pu Chawnghminga got on stage and told all of us to get involved. We all had to stand up and repeat the dance moves he was making, one step at a time. By the time he made his hand gestures and grinded his hips, I knew at once we were about to do the "Chicken Dance"! :D

Ah yes, it was extremely fun. My dance partner was Pu Chinmoy, and we really enjoyed the dance together :D

There were a couple of other activities I didn't get to take a picture of, like this really deep dance skit performed by our Prayer Cell group Amosa in collaboration with Mika Prayer Cell group, using the soundtrack of "Lead me to the cross" by Hillsong. Their theme was "Cross Wars" with the underlying message of how we may be led astray by different temptations in life but in the end it is Jesus our saviour who will come to our rescue. A very good performance indeed.

And of course there was that extremely corny and funny "Swim dance" performance by "Ben & his merry men". Dayyymmmm I laughed so much while watching them on stage.

A few more pics of the spectators...

After the program ended and it was time for refreshments, I took a picture of my Amosa Prayer Cell mates Genevieve, Remruati, Jacqueline and Debbie.

Behind the scenes pic of Gosie taking a picture of them :D

By the time I joined in the queue for the refreshment snack, the food was almost over :D

So we had this awesome "Sawhchiar", a Mizo delicacy, with spicy chutney and Turkey meat donated by Pi Zosangi. Oh it was sooo awesome!

A few pics of us enjoying the awesome food, in my retro themed clothes :D

So this is a special thanks to everybody who sacrificed a lot of their time just to entertain us, especially the PMCF organizers and our wonderful hosts Isaac and Madiki. Though I may still be single, that was one night I definitely did not feel like listening to "Lonely this Christmas" because I was surrounded by friends and a warm loving community. Nitin and Teresa dropped me at home and it was time to sleep as the next day was Christmas. I'll be updating my blog tomorrow with the Christmas function, so stay tuned. Until then, goodnight.

Chp 741. Amosa Prayer Cell 2018

For those of you interested in knowing, the Pune Mizo Christian Fellowship (PMCF) is divided into different Prayer Cell groups, based on their locations. A Prayer Cell group acts as a spiritual community support system where members meet once a month at one of the member's house and a prayer service is held, along with special prayers, counselling, testimonials etc., followed by a group dinner.

I belong to the "Amosa Prayer Cell" group which includes Mizos living in Koregaon Park, Mudhwa, Keshav Nagar, Viman Nagar, Chandan Nagar and Kalyani Nagar. Last year, I was able to participate only twice, and so as a part of my New Year's resolution, I said I would be more active this year, and eventually, I was there in six Amosa Prayer Cell meetings this year :)

Tonight too, there's going to be a PMCF Christmas Eve program held at Lt. Col Isaac's quarters, and our Prayer Cell group will be performing a skit and a few song numbers. That's the reason why I missed the last three Amosa Prayer Cell meets as it was about practicing for this event and since I couldn't participate due to work commitments, it didn't make much sense going for the meet. But other than that, my attendance this year had been almost 80% present, so I am happy for that :D

The first Amosa Prayer Cell meet I took part in this year was on 28th July, held at Pu Hriata and Pi Margaret's house.

We had a good turnout, and for dinner, Pi Margaret made this awesome sawhchiar, a Mizo delicacy, along with freshly fried Puri.

Later, my friends Hriata and Margaret dropped me home.

My second Amosa Prayer Cell meet was on 10th August at Pi Pari's house. Pi Teresa was leading the service.

Last year's Prayer Cell leader Pi Remruati couldn't help posing during the prayer service.

Pi Pari ordered this amazing Chicken biryani in bulk from a nearby restaurant. Super yum.

Pi Remruati and Pi Genevieve enjoying the dinner...

We posed for a group pic after that...

My third Amosa Prayer Cell meet was on 12th September, again held at Pi Pari's place. She had a really convenient place for such a gathering as her house was secluded with a large parking space in front, and if we didn't fit inside her house, there was the attached hall right next to her house in the same building. We held our Prayer Cell meet there. I was one of the firsts to reach and so I helped with arranging the chairs.

After the prayer service, it was pic time. Pi Gloria was quick to jump in the frame.

Yummy biryani as always :D

My fourth Amosa Prayer Cell meet this year was held at our Prayer Cell leader Pi Baby's house on 25th September. We had a good turnout indeed.

Aputea, who is a chef, spent the day preparing this awesome Chicken dish along with dal and other items.

My plate. Yummm :)

My fifth Prayer Cell Meet was held on Diwali day - 7th November, at Pu Vincent's place. As it was a holiday, the turnout was very good, and I saw a lot of new faces as well.

It was an Epic dinner, ranging from Vawksa rep and Bawngsa to other Mizo delicacies.

Pi Jacqueline, Pi Debbie, Pi Remruati and Pi Margaret enjoying the food...

And finally, the sixth and last Amosa Prayer Cell group I went to was on 21st November. It was again at Pi Pari's place.

Along with the Chicken biryani, I also contributed my Naga Chilli pickle, which arrived in office that day (I go directly from office to these meetings, with my office clothes, bags etc).

Yumm fruits.

And so, those were the Amosa Prayer Cell meetings I took part in this year. What I love the most about these meetings, is not the food (in case that's what you're thinking). I really love the testimonials and sharing session from the members, and some of them really have a deep learning that makes you contemplate a lot on your life style.

So here's to Amosa Prayer Cell group. Now I gotta get ready and watch them perform at tonight's Christmas Eve function. Until then my friends, take care.