Photobucket had recently changed their policy and now all the images from my 650+ blog posts are disabled. I am slowly editing them by moving my images to my own server at AWS, but it will take time. In case there is a particular old post you want to see the images of, kindly drop me a mail at mizohican@gmail.com and I'll keep that at a high priority. Thank you.
Due to exasperating farrago of distortions, misrepresentations and outright lies being broadcast by an unprincipled blogger masquerading as a gamer, I wasn't able to find the time to update this blog post. :) :P [cite]
But it was my birthday three weeks ago, and since I was busy with my niece's grand wedding (blog report coming up soon) travelling from Pune to Goa to Bangalore to Mysore to spend some time with her and the wonderful in-laws, I'm able to find the time to write this post now only.
So a few days before my birthday, I realized I was on the brink of a major milestone!
Yup, I had bought 999 games on Steam so far!
In order to make my birthday really special, I wanted to buy my 1000th game on my birthday. And what could be more memorable than buying a game that was really… different and quirky!
Yeah I had already shortlisted this game on my wishlist for a long time. The name of the game is "Panty Party" and as the name suggests, it involves a lot of panties :D
It is an FPS (first person shooter) game with an element of hack and slash, where you control your "character", which is nothing but a panty (better known as pantsu for all you ecchi anime and manga fans). You fly around killing other panties who are the bad guys. And as you progress, you unlock "better" panties that have more effective weapons and power-ups. Man you cannot make this stuff up!
And so, the day of my birthday was the day we were supposed to fly to Goa for my niece's wedding reception. My sister and cousin too flew down from Mizoram to Pune and we all planned to go to Goa together.
Just before leaving for the airport, I quickly made my 1000th purchase.
Yeahhhh Panty Partaaay! :D
Man I'm having so much fun playing this game. I mean, it is so damn silly, the storyline and dialogues are extremely corny but at the same time not lame. I'm sure the developers who made this game had a lot of fun while making it.
And so that was it. My 1000th game on Steam, and it is a self-birthday gift involving panties. Mid-life crisis here I come! :D
What an amazing time to be living in if you're a Mizo or a fan of local football here in India. Aizawl FC did the unthinkable – they had just been crowned India's Football champions! They're also the first club from the North East to win this coveted title.
There are many other great articles out there about Aizawl FC becoming the latest Indian Football champs, as this news is not just covered nationally but internationally as well. Below is a video coverage from Football Daily! (video plays from 3:47)
All in all, yeah, like I said earlier, it is an awesome feeling to be a Mizo right now :)
The best part about all this is, I have come across so many non-Mizos who became a fan of Aizawl FC! I'm not even talking about other Northeasterners, I have met people from Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal etc both online and offline who cheered for Aizawl FC. Everybody loves a good underdog story, and this is definitely one of them.
In fact a lot of people compared Aizawl FC's achievement to that of Leicester City FC. I beg to differ. Yes both had an emotional and overwhelming underdog story, but while Leicester City were promoted to the Premier League and won the title the next year, Aizawl FC were relegated and later included in the league due to Goan clubs pulling out of the league and then won the title the same season! That is by far a much greater glory in my books.
To me it kinda feels like relegated Aizawl FC were added back to the league out of sheer pity, especially since the club had one of the most passionate Away supporters across India. Maybe the suits sitting in their big penthouse smoking their cigars and eating their caviars were thinking, "Heck, let's just promote this Aizwaal team again, they're not gonna make any dent on our future merger plan, as long as MB, EB or BFC wins the title, all izz good. Plus the diversity from their Home and Away fans will add some good masala to our TV viewers. Good TRP. Show me the money! Kaching!"
And then Aizawl FC came along and said, "Challenge Accepted. BOOOYAAAAH!" along with a few other words that Samuel L Jackson would say. :)
Ahhhhhh what an amazing ride it had been. I watched the last match versus Lajong at my friend Sanga's place here in Pune, as he had invited a couple of Mizo students from Spicer college to come over to his house to watch the live telecast. We were actually planning to watch a live screening of the match at Aufside Sports Bar, Swargate, as a lot of other Mizos would be there too, but Sanga later said these students didn't have a place to watch the game and so he played the good host. I love how our tlawmngaihna seems to be everywhere.
The entire 90+ minutes we were just glued to the TV. I mean I couldn't even sit down, lolz. We cheered so hard when we equalized (and also for that other goal which was contentiously declared as offside). I almost got a heart attack during extra time when Lajong nearly scored! We danced and jumped in joy at the final whistle, just like all the other Mizos at the stadium or those watching the match on TV.
Lajong played really well. Before the match there were a few controversies, like how AIFF fielded referees from West Bengal despite Mizoram's protest. And then there was this one photo doing the rounds on social media where a Mohun Bagan flag was flying apparently on the terrace of the main referee's house in Kolkata, while another group was quick to dismiss that as a rumor started by East Bengal fans. Oh the pre-match drama was so intense! :D And of course some fans of the Mariners started saying that Lajong was ready to gift the game to Aizawl FC so as to see a team from the North East win the league rather than Mohun Bagan, but anybody watching the match would know all the players played really well, with no question of match-fixing.
What a game indeed. We celebrated till 6 in the morning, and then continued the same day again as it was a holiday. I told my friends Gary and Sano to go to work as they didn't have a holiday, but they were so excited about the win that they continued celebrating with us :) That's how happy and excited all of us were about this unbelievable fairy tale win.
It would be truly tragic if Reliance and AIFF go ahead with the merger and demote the reigning champions to second division. Forget about it being tragic, it would be freaking embarrassing as a nation if this happens. How profit-hungry are the men in suits? We Indians have been stereotyped as being shrewd and stingy when it comes to business, and demoting a reigning champion just because they don't have the required funds will prove just that.
I don't mean to name-drop, but I think we need a person like Mr. Pratap Nair.
Who is Mr. Pratap Nair?
He's the founder of a little known shipping company called FEI Cargo Ltd.
Back in 2014 when Mizoram became the second team from the North East to win India's most prestigious football tournament - Santosh Trophy, the winning squad came down to Mumbai to play an exhibition match against WIFA XI (Western India Football Association). I had written an extensive report here, feel free to click the link. What I had mentioned in that post was, Tetea Hmar told me the entire expenditure that included air tickets for all 30 members of the Mizoram squad, their accommodation and food at The Leela (5 Star hotel), hiring the Cooperage football stadium, a handsome amount of cheque to support the young boys at home etc, were all paid by Mr. Pratap Nair himself! He's big time into promoting grassroots level football development and he's the type of person our nation needs to make sure Indian football stays relevant.
Otherwise, if we're just going to have only rich clubs or clubs with rich owners (read A-list celebrities) be a part of the new league, the passion is not really going to be there. They treat football more as a showbiz rather than an actual sport. I confess I stopped watching ISL matches a long time ago, I find the entire concept very artificial but I try my best not to miss any I-League matches. History is very important when it comes to football.
Remember the heated Mohun Bagan - East Bengal derbies, or watching Goan clubs like Salgaocar, Dempo and Churchill Brothers play? Remember how excited we were when Shillong Lajong became the first club from the North East to join the I-League. We northeasterners all became hardcore Lajong fans back then :D Lajong was quickly followed by other Northeastern clubs like United Sikkim, Rangdajied United, Royal Wahingdoh and finally Aizawl FC. We were all heart-broken when clubs like JCT and Mahindra United had to shut shop.
All these clubs are all renowned names in the Indian football franchise. They have history. We grew up looking up to these great clubs, revering them, respecting them, and it was the dream of many Mizo football players to play for one of these clubs. Many did. In the current I-League, more than 50 Mizo players played for various I-League teams, making Mizoram the state with the most number of players at the I-League. And just as our own home team not only participated but won the tournament, the entire league is now about to end forever and our champs relegated? No. No freaking way. This ain't fair! Ain't fair at all.
How can the football Gods be this cruel?
I take back my opening statement. What an awful time to be living in if you are a Mizo.
So whenever my friends or colleagues come over to my place for the first time here in Pune, the first thing they always exclaim is, "Wowww, that is an awesome table runner and placemat set!" They're talking about my dining table set. Really nice huh? Something unique and different, designed using our Mizo traditional cloth. And then there is this super cute thing as well… Yeah, many of my friends begged me to sell it to them, even at double the cost. But uh uh, this throw pillow stays right on my bed where it belongs. So where can one get the above stuff? Here's where - iCandy. iCandy is a store started by my friend's sister Stephanie Halliday, an MA History of Fine Arts with a specialization in Textiles design. The last I remember, she was this small white brat scramming around with a runny nose and dirty feet, and suddenly, she is now an entrepreneur with her own shop! They grow up so fast! I decided to pay her a visit because my sisters bought a couple of really cute Christmas decors from her store recently (unfortunately I didn't take any pics of those). Her shop is at Dawrkawn, a very prime commercial area at my locality Chaltlang. There is a taxi stand and bus stop right in front of her shop too. I browsed around for a long time… The table runner sets below range from ₹500 to ₹1000. I bought mine for ₹800. The price varies depending on the quality and cloth you require. She can even make a puan ropui table runner for you if you want, but she doesn't recommend it because not only is the material expensive but she feels using a puan ropui as a table cloth is an insult to our cultural heritage. All the things she sells are personally designed by her and hand-made. And since she also customizes them, there is a backroom where the tailors she employs sit and do their work. Because of this, depending on the simplicity of work required, sometimes you can get your order in just an hour or two. That's how efficient her employees are. And what makes it even more convenient is that, there are two popular tea stalls right next to her shop where you can sit and wait while having delicious alu chop or momos. But a more complex order usually takes around 1-2 days. Here is the madam herself, queen of her own castle. And so, that was when I bought the table runner set and throw pillow… Here are a few more of her latest collection. They all seem pretty girly to me, but then again I'm the guy who wouldn't let go of my throw pillow, so I got nothing to complain about :P The embroidered wall frames below start from ₹250. Like I said, she can customize anything for you, put your name on a pillow etc. But orders like that will take a few days. Personalized design such as the ones below start from a minimum cost of ₹600 and increase depending on the size and object. And of course we have her signature "smiley face" design like the pillow sets below. The set below costs ₹1500 each (comprising of Moon, Cloud and Star) Remember when Khal Drogo said "Moon of my life" and Daenerys Targaryen replied "My Sun and Stars"? Well I'm sure those are not the same stars and moon we had in mind, but they come pretty close :P Now the reason why I have mentioned some of the price is not just to make you aware of how much you'll have to spend at her shop, but if you mention that you came to her shop after reading about it on my blog, she will give you a 10% discount on all available display items! Yeah that's right, you get a whopping 10% off if you tell her you read about her shop on my blog. And she does shipping too! You don't have to be in Aizawl to buy her creations, all you have to do is contact her at +918974052599 or email her at stefhally@gmail.com. She also has a very inactive facebook page but I recommend you reach her on her number through WhatsApp instead. For outstation deliveries, she charges around ₹100 for speed post, but international orders will have different costs depending on the destination. So give iCandy a try, you will not regret it. And do hurry because she's expecting her first child around August, so she's gonna get pretty cranky soon! iCandy could soon become dieCandy around her third trimester, so order right now if you want all the cute and mushy stuff! :) Cheers.
Went to Church on Good Friday and Easter. We had these two beautiful services conducted by the PMCF (Pune Mizo Christian Fellowship) at St. Andrew's Hindustani Church on Solapur road. What I discovered was that, after Uber had recently changed their fare system from "distance traveled" to "fixed cost" system (no matter how much further or extra the driver travels, you only pay the pre-calculated fare based on the location you entered), it was really difficult to reach the place because this Church did not appear on the map or list of destinations! As usual, I wore black on Good Friday and white on Easter. My homies from the E-17 ghetto picked me up. Yoyo! After the Church service, we headed back to E-17, where I decided to go for a mohawk hairstyle one last time! :) Actually, it was something I've been planning for a long time because I just need to do something that I want on my own. To do something out of my own free will again. And then there is the upcoming wedding in Goa this weekend where my niece will be tying the knot with her long time boyfriend, so I want to stand out among the crowd as a "cool uncle" :P It will also be the last time I'll do this because I'm not getting any younger, and it really doesn't fit my age anymore (unless you are Magua, the badass Huron chief from Last of the Mohicans) hence people might think I'm having a mid-life crisis or something :D Gary volunteered to cut my hair. Took a few "last" pics together before he started his work… Gary was totally professional and he took his task very seriously. This is one of the many reasons why I love hanging out with my Mizo crowd. Even if they are professionally working in different industries like the IT sector or call center etc, they'll always know how to cut somebody's hair or cook a kickass meal or play the meanest strums on the guitar or even tattoo somebody. Urrmmm in Mizo we call this "lu meh huai na no" :P Once I was done, the others too did a slight mohawk, and they all came out really well. So… thadaah... The Mizohican is back :D Cheers for now, will be back soon with stories of my Goa trip. Goa here we comeeeee :)
Nothing could feel more devastating than hearing about the sad demise of Michael M Sailo, Mizoram's legend and one of our biggest celebrities. He had completely revolutionized the music scene in Mizoram, gaining a large fan following not just in Mizoram or the North East but the rest of India as well.
Sadly, on the night of April 7th 2017, he passed away from a fatal bike accident.
I admit, I didn't know Michael M Sailo personally that well. But having a lot of mutual friends, we weren't strangers to each other either. There were the occasional interactions ever since we became friends on FB. Plus I am a huge fan of his. I've lost count of the number of times I used to show his music videos to my non-Mizo friends back in college.
I have met him just four times in person, but all four times were memorable.
The first time I met Michael was back in 2005 when my niece was admitted at Aizawl Civil hospital during Christmas. Michael made a surprise visit to the hospital, distributing gifts to the patients, making sure nobody felt alone or lonely on Christmas. That was the first time we spoke. And that was also when I realized he's not just an awesome artist, he had a big heart as well. You should have seen the look on the faces of those patients, it definitely lit up their day!
And then in 2006 I was his personal chauffeur in Bangalore when he came to perform for the "Chapchar Kut" festival, driving him wherever he needed to go.
I actually wrote about the above incident in detail on my blog! That was way back in 2006, when I first started blogging, so yeah, I just squirmed a lot reading some of my awful grammar and language I used back then!
I met Michael again in 2012 at a house party in Aizawl, and finally, I met him again when he came to Pune to perform last year at Blue Frog's "Starian Nite".
He gave such an awesome performance that night, and after the show he went around mingling with everybody. You'll never come across a more down-to-earth celeb than him. People loved him, as they took photos with him and he was forever smiling and cheerful. He was indeed a man of the people.
All in all, I may have met him just four times, but that was enough for me to know he was an awesome person, somebody who would be dearly missed by his loved ones and fans.
And what made it more painful for me was, on his last visit to Pune, he was supposed to come to my house and I was planning to interview him for my blog, like how I have done with a few of our Mizo celebrities. You know, one of those cheeky interview styles with a lot of sarcastic and over the top innuendoes type. I knew Michael would handle it so well.
But sadly he was caught up with so many other programs, being such a famous celeb, that we couldn't find the time to do it.
Just reading through some of our last messages hurt…
Later at Blue Frog, he apologized and promised he would do an interview for my blog the next time he was in town again, but sadly, that day will never come now. But yeah, I'll still catch you when I come up there bro, you owe me one last sit down :)
Rest in Peace Michael M Sailo. May your legend and contribution live forever. You have inspired so many youth of our generation, becoming a part of our lives as we grew up. You were the ideal pop icon, a true Mizo star.
To end this tribute, here is one of my favorite songs - "Hmeltha Sensiar" a duet with his wife SPi. The video uploader is Pi Shahnaz Kimi, who too had passed away recently.
Exactly a month after I left the online world, I logged into Facebook and WhatsApp today. Strangely, I wasn't even looking forward to it. 100+ pending notifications, most of them from useless group tag notifications. I just cleared them all at one go.
Nobody even noticed I was gone, and in sad way, I like that actually. To be so insignificant that your presence or absence does not alter the course of your friends' universe in any way. And that gives me some sort of peace of mind.
Maybe it's because I'm getting older and older, I realize I'm becoming more of a recluse. During my one month abstention from social media, I even dreamt of becoming a hermit, living in a cave on top of a secluded hill on my own, just me and my steam games collection.
Even here in Pune, I get asked a lot by friends and colleagues - "Why do you live alone?"
That's just me. I like living alone. To be the King of my own Castle - Do anything I want, cook naked, fart in sync with the music, and have imaginary conversations with my imaginary friends.
Quickly scanning through some of my friends' timeline and whatsapp group messages, I guess the biggest conversation topic I missed out was about "Vishal" the new megamart at Bawngkawn. Since I was so out of touch with the news, I didn't even understand most of the jokes people were sending about Vishal.
Kinda reminded me of my MBA days when Multi-brand outlets had just started entering the Indian market and people were always discussing in classes and group projects about how allowing FDI on multi brand retails could affect the local kirana stores. Anyway, I don't have the energy to join the debate, nor am I in the mood for it. I'm still feeling pretty shitty, and I'm really thankful to my friend Sanga who had been trying to cheer me up the past couple of days.
I'll try to update my blog more regularly from now onwards. After all, life can be about sadness and pain too, but we have no other option but to keep on moving, until the sands of time run out from our soul.
Recently, my colleagues took me on a weekend getaway, where we booked this farmhouse for the weekend. They literally forced me to go, given that I was so depressed at work. I'll post my next update with those pics and vids, and I think what I love the most about that outing was that there was no proper mobile coverage so it was completely peaceful and bliss.
Yup, sometimes just staying away from social media can be so relaxing and refreshing. You too should give it a try sometimes!
