Chp 836. Kolasib escapade

These days, among my long list of friends' WhatsApp status updates, there are two kinds of people. Those who do not have any travel pics to update to their status, and those who keep updating their status with lots of travel pics, but with the hashtag #throwback. :D

Yeah that's life for most of us right now. If we are not under lockdown, we are under travel restrictions or living in fear of transmissions, and so we continue to stay at home. 

Last month, 1st October, when everything was finally starting to look good in Mizoram (this was before the recent surge in CoVid-19 positive cases after schools reopened on October 16th), we decided to visit our farm in Kolasib. 

The last time I visited Kolasib was 4 years ago! 

Here's my detailed blog update from 2016 [Fishing, the Mizo way], talking about our Kolasib visit with other family members and how we spent the day catching fishes from our pond, known as "Dil sah" in Mizo, and our Mizo traditional practice of eating a meal at a farm. Do read the link above to know about those interesting details. 

So for the next 4 years, while I was away at a faraway land working on game concepts and designs, my family in Mizoram was busy redeveloping our entire farm (in the blog link above). We had already spent [family secret] of rupees as we're planning to convert the farm into a [family secret] destination. Cousin Mapari and hubby U Zamtea had been doing an excellent work of overseeing the work as they live in Kolasib. 

And so that day, at 6 AM, cousin Dingkima arrived at our house as we needed two drivers. 

Our gang consisted of Dingkima and his two lovely daughters Sarah and Abigail, along with my sister and nieces Naomi and Abigail (also). 

They of course were in the comfortable SUV, while Zorema and I were in the bumpy old pick-up as we were carrying heavy farm equipments. 

A brief road-side stop at Serkhan after passing the town of Lungdai just to take this breathtaking picture of the scenery. Beautiful naw? 

We stopped again just before reaching Zanlawn because little Abigail was road-sick :D. 

And of course the ladies had to take the ceremonial group photo for their respective Instagram and Facebook updates. :D

We finally left the winding old Aizawl - Silchar road and joined NH-306 near Kawnpui, known as Sairang road. 

We faced all sorts of weather in that journey alone, from light drizzle and heavy downpour to misty road and scorching hot sun, lolz. 

As always, Kawnpui road was... difficult. :D

What was really sad on that journey was that, all the roadside restaurants (that shall no longer be referred to as "hotel cum restaurant", as directed by the Department of Tourism, Mizoram), were all closed. Even the ones we used to look forward to at Bualpui had their shutters down. 

This was because of the ongoing pandemic. 

Here's an old image from my last visit to Kolasib [Fishing, the Mizo way] where we had an absolutely scrumptious meal at Bualpui. 

As we drove past the closed restaurants one after the other, I realized how selfish I had been. Initially, I was lamenting the financial loss we incurred because of the continuous lockdown as all the ongoing work at our farm stopped and now we would have to spend a large sum of money again to redo most of the work, not to mention a large portion of our raw materials were now rendered useless. 

But despite our heavy losses, we are still privileged, in the sense that we can still survive. It's not like our lives will come to an abrupt end. These roadside restaurant owners on the other hand, many of them are operating to earn their daily bread, managing whatever they can to keep their business open and saving whatever amount they can for other purposes, like maybe buying new tables and chairs to give customers a better experience, or even saving up for their children's school education. For them it can very well mean the end. Sad indeed. 

Not the most comforting moment to reach an epiphany. 

As we solemnly progressed towards Kolasib, scattered houses started appearing on either sides of the road, and the density increased further and further, until we finally entered a concrete jungle with bustling activities and swarming traffic. Welcome to Kolasib. 

We drove directly to U Zamtea and U Mapari's house, where we refreshed and ate the tiffin we carried from home. 

After a fulfilling meal, we relaxed a bit, ate Kolasib kuhva hring, relieved ourselves, etc., and finally we left for our farm, with U Zamtea leading the convoy in his car. At Rengtekawn, we diverted from Bilkhawthlir route and drove towards Bairabi. Such a picturesque drive! 

We soon reached "Zero Point", and from there we took the left again towards Bairabi, and finally reached our farm after a few minutes. 

Ahhhhh, hello farm! 

Walking across the farm was a problem, as the ground was still wet with pockets of streams everywhere, some of them even ankle-deep. 

However, this was not a problem for yours truly, who bravely waded through the water, while keeping my arms perpendicular to my body so as to minimize friction and streamline the velocity of the fluid mechanics at optimum saturation. Yeah, science, biyatch. :P

What months of lockdown can do to an ongoing construction. *crie*

We decided to chill and swim at one of the many streams because it was extremely hot and humid. Though it was extremely shallow, we were able to immerse our entire body by lying down. It was such a cool and refreshing relief! 

One Tree Hill. I saw this single lonely tree while I was in the stream above and immediately took a picture because somehow there seems to be this charm and aura resonating around it. 

After an hour or two of frolicking, we got down to business and roamed around the farm noting down all the work that was still required to do, along with the old work that must be redone because of the lockdown. 

Finally we opened our farm storehouse and inspected our raw materials like balu (sand), rawra (stone), thir ban (iron rods), dâp (thatched walls), etc etc., and noted down how many were left, how many were damaged, and how many were salvageable. 

Once our work was done, it was time to head back to Kolasib. U Zamtea took us for a short drive to this river nearby where we could wash away all the sand and pebbles that got inside our underwear. :D

However, upon closer examination, we could see a group of guys, around 10 of them, probably in their 20s, cooking (known as "bailemchhuan" in Mizo) food and having a merry time right on the riverbank. 

We could see them openly drinking, which we highly doubted was "water", talking boisterously and laughing loudly. Since our group consisted of mostly young women, we decided to take a rain check and avoid going down. Yeah I know we shouldn't have profiled them, nothing would have probably happened too, but sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry. 

As we drove back towards Kolasib, Zorema and I took the lead, and the funniest thing happened. 

We missed the turn at Zero Point, and just kept driving straight! :D The other cars were way behind us, so they didn't see us take the wrong route either. 

Eventually we both realized we were seeing new constructions and road patterns that we definitely didn't see on our way earlier, lolz. And then we saw this non-Mizo dude walking on the road, and hoping that he speaks Hindi, I asked him if this was the way to Kolasib in Hindi, and then he replied in fluent Mizo that it's the opposite direction! :D :D :D :D

Had we gone straight, we would have apparently reached Saihapui K, near the Assam-Mizoram border. :D And so we took a U-turn and soon enough reached Zero Point again and took the correct route. 

With the recent news about the border dispute between Mizoram - Assam and the clash in Saihapui V, I was like, dayymm I was near that place recently! But then I looked on the map and realized Saihapui K and Saihapui V are actually very far apart from each other. I think it is quite odd by Mizoram's standard to have two similar locations to be this far apart. 

As we progressed towards Rengtekawn, we saw this roadside eatery that apparently didn't get the memo from the Tourism Department about not using the word "cum" anymore. :D

Yeah, I would like to order some cum, please. :D :P

The others had a great laugh when we reached U Zamtea and U Mapari's house and told them that we took a wrong turn. We relaxed for a bit, while having refreshments and snacks, and eventually it was time to head back to Aizawl. With curfew imposed in Aizawl at 8:30 PM, we had to reach our house much before that because Zorema and Dingkima had to go home from there again. 

The ride back was just as beautiful as before. 

We stopped briefly at "Lung nupa" spot to take a few pictures.

Truly awesome the view was. 

It was dark by the time we reached Zanlawn. I saw a couple of roadside vegetable vendors opening their stalls late and playing cards to while away the time, which I think is very cute. 

We kept driving through the dark and misty road, being cautious while at the same time continuously checking to see the time. 

Eventually, we reached our house at around 8:10 PM, and Zorema and Dingkima immediately got into their two-wheelers and rushed home as well. 

And so, that was a wonderful and memorable trip to Kolasib, not just because it was a necessary trip to make but because it was also a much needed and stress relieving break after all these months of lockdowns and travel restrictions. 

And it was super safe too, the way we all stayed inside our vehicles with windows up the whole time, no interactions with any of the people along the way (except for maybe that non-Mizo guy we asked directions near Saihapui K), no contact with anybody as we didn't stop to eat or even buy cigarettes or kuhva hring at the roadside shops, I think it would be fair to say we had much less social contact than had we stayed in Aizawl and gone outside to buy groceries. 

Do stay tuned for new updates, take care for now everyone, cheers. 

Chp 835. Mizos and Coffee

As I mentioned in my previous update, I was stuck at our farm in Neihbawih for 10 days because of the sudden Aizawl Lockdown imposed on 27th October. 

Everything was going on quite well at the farm, until I ran out of coffee! 

And so I walked down to Neihbawih market, which was around 30 minutes of downhill hike from our farm across slippery slopes and muddy crevices, on a mission to buy coffee. Since Neihbawih came under Sihphir jurisdiction, it wasn't affected by the Total Lockdown imposed across Aizawl region. 

However, none of the shops had coffee! 

Fortunately for me, my friend Makima from Durtlang Leitan who had a permit to travel during the lockdown because he's a baker (hence, essential service) was coming to Sihphir to deliver a batch of freshly baked bread to his customers. I asked him to get me some coffee immediately! 

It felt soooo good to finally drink coffee again once Makima arrived at our farm. 

He also gave me two loaves of bread and I am extremely grateful to him for those as well. I forgot to tell him only a 4x4 SUV could make it up the slippery trail leading to our farm, so the dude came in his Wagon R! He got stuck halfway and could no longer move. :D

And so that was how my life (and soul and spirit) was saved because I finally got to drink coffee again. Coffee is something I cannot live without, and everything around me feels dead without it. 

11 years ago, I wrote this extremely controversial blog post called "Tea isn't my cup of tea" where I mentioned that even though I am a Mizo, I do not drink tea! Gasp! What sacrilege! That post was met with anger and protests across Mizoram, and the raging mob called out for my blood and crucifixion! 

Just kidding, nobody gave a shit. :D :D

One of the points I mentioned in that post (do read the link above) was that, I do drink Ice Tea. In fact I love Ice Tea, and when people ask me how come I don't drink hot tea when I love ice tea, my reply is simple - Do you like chilled beer? Yes. And do you like hot boiling beer? No. How come? Why don't you like hot boiling beer when you love chilled beer? See, same logic. :D :P

Not drinking tea does not make me any less of a Mizo. It just makes me a... "Tea"totaler :P

As a Christian majority state, people of Mizoram love tea, mostly because it has to do with brewing. For it is mentioned in the Bible clearly that men will make tea (or coffee) for their wives, as it is written in Hebrews... Get it? He Brews, bwahaha. 

Now here's the part I don't understand. What is it with us Mizos and the way we make coffee? 

I'm generalizing here because I am basing this off my observations only. You may not fall in this category, but I have seen far too many people (Mizos living in Mizoram and outside the state) make coffee by first taking a teaspoon or two of instant coffee powder into a cup along with another teaspoon of sugar, and then add a little bit of hot water or hot milk, and finally, stir stir stir stir stir... 

OMG, the stirring! They just keep stirring forever and forever. 

They stir and stir until the solution in the cup finally turns into a thick brown paste, and then add more hot water or hot milk, followed by more stirring! 

Legend has it that some people even stir for weeks, taking a short break to relieve themselves in the loo, and then continue stirring even while sleeping :P One time, somebody stirred so long and loudly that neighbours started running out of their houses with their garbage bags thinking it was the sound of the garbage truck arriving. :D :P

This is how everybody I know seems to make coffee. My mom and aunties all make it this way, my Mizo friends in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune all make it this way too when I go to their apartments, and all my cousins and friends here in Mizoram make it this way as well. 

Why????? 

[Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels]

It's instant coffee. The taste doesn't change once the coffee powder dissolves in the solution, no matter how long you stir it. 

I make my instant coffee by adding coffee powder and a little bit of sugar, followed by small amount of milk or creamer, and then I top it off with hot water, after which I stir just 5-10 times, max. That's it. It takes me less than 30 seconds to make it. After all, it's supposed to be "instant". That's what instant coffee means. 

Filter coffee on the other hand is a different playing field. Likewise, I'm not going to dive into the world of different coffee preparation methods like Mocha, Espresso, Americano, Cappuccino, Macchiato, Cortado, Irish, Dalgona etc., I'm just talking about your basic simple home-brewed instant coffee. In my case, it would be a Mizohicano. :P

So why do we Mizos stir our coffee for such a long duration? 

Surely this practice must have been passed down to us from our ancestors? After all, we are a community of tea drinkers, and making coffee is not our forte, hence the need to learn how to make it from other people. And maybe the first person we learnt the technique of making coffee from must have stirred it like crazy for a long time and that's why most of us are doing it now as well too? Maybe. 

Or maybe when Mizo warriors raided the Alexandrapur tea gardens of Cachar in 1871 and kidnapped Mary Winchester, on their way back to their village, the smart little girl tried to delay them in the hopes of being rescued immediately, and so she introduced them to coffee. 

Since the Mizo warriors had only drank tea before, they were intrigued with coffee. Mary Winchester aka Zolûti tried her best to delay them, and so she slowly stirred the freshly brewed coffee, over and over again, while glancing across neighbouring hills to see if any despatch had been sent to rescue her. She stirred and stirred the coffee pot for hours, and eventually when there was no sign of any British Expedition forces, she gave up hope and served them the coffee she made. 

The warriors loved the coffee that was served to them, and immediately took a mental note down on how she prepared it. And that is my theory on how Mizos started stirring a coffee cup for a very long time, all thanks to Mary Winchester. :D

I'm just spitballing here, feel free to let me know about your own theory in the comment below or in my Facebook post. :) 

And like I said, I'm just generalizing in this post, so you may not make coffee in this particular way too. Do let me know. 

Cheers everyone. *sips coffee*.

Chp 834. One Underwear Challenge!

I never thought I would be stranded at a deserted and secluded place for more than a week, and lived to tell the tale about it. 

Ok, I'm exaggerating, it wasn't that bad, but I was indeed stuck for 10 days at our farm outside the city because of the sudden Aizawl lockdown declared on 26th October. That too with just one underwear! 

I'll mention about our farm and what we're up to, including the issues we're facing, in another update. In this post, I'll just mention about my experience of being stranded at our farm without any spare underwear! :D

To keep it short and simple, we have this farm at Neihbawih, which lies under Sihphir jurisdiction, and recently, we started repairing and renovating the farmhouse so that we could stay there for a night or two. Currently, it has just a basic makeshift electrical connection (four light switches and one plug point) and we still need to do a complete electrical wiring overhaul. We fetch water by the bucket from a nearby rainwater harvested water-tank a few meters away from the farmhouse. 

Last Monday, I went to Rony Enterprise, Chanmari, and bought a Honda GX35. It is a 4-stroke brushcutter that runs on petrol. It is quite expensive and costs a whopping 22K, but it is super light and efficient. I tried out the cheaper models in the shop that were in the range of 15K, and they were all heavy! Considering that the person who would be operating the machine would be none other than yours truly who had never done much of manual labour in my life, I decided to buy the more expensive (but lighter) Honda brushcutter. 

And so that same day, I went to our farm at Neihbawih to try out the machine. It was awesome! The operation manual was very simple - Just fill the tank up with petrol, inject some petrol into the engine using a pump, switch on the machine, and then pull the cord to start it. After that it came to life with a very low rumbling sound. I attached the harness belt across my shoulder, and once I was ready, I revved the engine by pulling the trigger and the machine roared in all its glory as the extremely sharp blades spun at 294 RPM, slicing off any weed or plant with the slightest touch. 

It was kinda fun too. I managed to clear two entire terraces of weed and shrubs in one go and my back or arms didn't even ache a bit. 

Our plan was to stay for the night so I could continue cutting all the overgrown plants the next day, while my mom and maid would clean up the farmhouse and surroundings, and then we would all return home the following evening. I said goodbye to our driver Zorema as he took the Bolero home, with instructions on what to bring the next day. 

As Zorema disappeared downhill, I continued cutting for some more time until my machine ran out of juice. I had another litre of petrol in a can back at the farmhouse but I decided to save it for the next day as it was getting dark. 

Everything was going on smoothly, mom and our maid had cooked a lovely hot dinner and I went through it thoroughly, famished from the work done that day. Once I was done with dinner, at around 7:00 PM, I decided to walk up to the edge of our farm near the cliff, as it was the only place in the area where there was mobile data network. 

Once there, I took out my phone and swung it in the air wildly to get data reception, and soon enough my phone buzzed as WhatsApp messages started coming in. As I scrolled through the new messages, I completely froze because there was this image that was being circulated in all the groups I was in. It was a message from DIPR: 

Yup, an emergency meeting had been called in the evening that day because of the sudden spike in CoVid-19 positive cases, and so a Total Lockdown had been enforced in AMC (Aizawl Municipal Corporation) area for a week! 

Nooooooooooo! 

I was cursing, but at the same time I knew I shouldn't do that because a lockdown was the best (though not most practical) remedy to curb the further spread of CoVid-19 cases. I thought about being stuck at the farm for a week, and a few things didn't worry me much, like we had good supply of water and electricity, we also had abundant vegetation surrounding us, with enough rice, eggs, oil, packaged food and gas supply to last us a month. 

I also had a few change of clothes in the farm so that wasn't a big deal. The only problem that worried me like hell was that I didn't have any spare underwear!!! 

Yeah since I was planning to stay at the farm for just one night, I didn't take any spare undee with me. That was going to be a big problem for me. :D

The 10 days passed very slowly. Every day, we did certain work like clearing the rubbles and wooden planks near the farmhouse and neatly storing them in the storehouse, or cutting off more grasses around the farm. 

Other days we would be chopping off shrubs and small trees around our old chicken coop or demolishing our old pig sty to make way for a new building. 

And all those hard work meant getting dirty. 

With no spare underwear, I had no other option but to wash it while wearing nothing :D I covered myself with a towel for the few hours I had to wait for my undee to dry. Sometimes it took longer to dry, depending on the weather, but I must admit, the background view was breathtaking :D

Do the photos above take your breath away too? I mean, the view, not my undee. :D

While waiting for my undee to dry, I would do other tasks again, like arranging slabs of stones to make a footpath or painting our new water-tank stand to prevent future rust, while being in commando. :D :P

And then it was back to the old routine of wearing my clean underwear, and then washing it, and then waiting for it dry, and then wearing it, over and over again.

Somebody asked me how I was coping with just one underwear and that it must be smelling pretty bad, but considering how everything is so fresh in the farm, this is how I imagine the above image would be advertised. :D

And then day before yesterday, when the AMC lockdown got extended for another week, we couldn't stay at our farm any longer as we were running low on petrol (for the brushcutter), rice and other supplies, and so I called up my friend Tlantea who is a member of our Chaltlang Local Council, and he sent me a permit immediately to return home. Even though I rejoiced at the thought of finally going home, I swear I heard my underwear exclaim in joy even louder! :D

Ahhh so that was how I spent 10 days with just one underwear, or as I like to coin it, "onederwear". :D

This was my Onederwear challenge! 

I know, one shouldn't air their dirty underwear in public, especially in the clean and pure air of Neihbawih, but I thought this might help those who will be in a similar situation in the future.

The worst thing about being stuck at the farm for 10 days was that I didn't have proper internet network on my mobile, and so I couldn't check my FB timeline feed or even my friends' WhatsApp statuses or Twitter feed. 

But at the same time, not having data network was also a good thing because I wasn't spammed with thousands of discussions and debates in various WhatsApp groups and Mizo FB groups about the ongoing American Presidential Election. Who will finally win the Presidency, will it be Donald Trump or Joe Biden? To me right now, the only entity worthy of winning this esteemed title is my underwear. :D

Cheers.