Chp 245. TGIF, seriously!

My good friend Marzie does her “Monday Music” posts every Monday, where people take part and share their favorite songs. It’s a way of facing the Monday blues, collectively.

Well, this week being an extreeeeemly stressful week, I think I will share a couple of my favorite songs today so as to mark the end of this hectic week and relax to the soothing music for the weekend. Next week, expect a lot of serious, hard hitting, controversial articles that will touch the core of socio-ethnic issues right up to racism and religion. Until then my friends, let us relax for a while.

[Ps. Mizo Blog Directory has been updated. Those who haven’t registered yet, please do so. Also check out the Mizo Tweeter Directory managed by CodeAries.]

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Now back to the post…

Friday Music Leisure :

First up is a band that I generally don’t like because they’re a Melodic Black Metal band. I love Symphonic Gothic Metal, which is way different from MBM. But this band changed their style completely for their latest album, which is more acoustic & symphonic in nature.

Yup, I’m talking about the Swiss band Eluveitie. This album comes under “Folk Metal” genre, but some may argue that it is more of Acoustic Folk. Whatever, it is AMAZING. Here is the song “Omnos” from the album “Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion”.

DON’T SKIP IT! I know many of you may not like my taste, but this song is different. I swear! It’s not “noise” (as one of my dear visitors bluntly admitted!). Just listen to the sweet symphony for a few minutes and I’m sure you’ll like it too.

Aluveitie - Omnos


The lyrics are in Gaelic, an ancient language of the Celts. Eluveitie means "I am the Helvetian". The first stanza and chorus goes like this:

Eluveitie Forum: Lyrics of Omnos.

Immi daga uimpi geneta,
lana beððos et' iouintutos.
Blatus ceti, cantla carami.
Aia gnata uimpi iouinca,
pid in cete tu toue suoine,
pid uregisi peli doniobi?
Aia gnata uimpi iouinca,
pid in cete tu toue suoine

Aia mape coime, adrete!
In blatugabagli uorete,
cante snon celiIui in cete!

Vrit- me lindos dubnon -piseti
Vrit- me lindos dubnon -piseti [x2]

The translation is about a young innocent girl and a big bad wolf walking together in a dark forest all alone. The girl falls in love with the wolf but he takes advantage of her and defiles her, roughly snatching away her virtue & innocence, shaming her for eternity. She begs him to stay with her after that, but he walks away, now that he’s done with her. The little girl then cries, “I was a fair and pretty girl. Now I'm poor and overcome with shame. Now only the deep pond awaits me.”

Dark, melancholic and extremely poignant. It’s like Little Red Riding Hood meets Josef Fritzl. But then, aren’t most folklores like this, especially the Nordic ones? This song is quite metaphorical too, applying perfectly in today’s era. Look around you. I’m sure you’ll know at least a woman or two who have faced such a situation before…

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Second song for Friday: You see that beautiful angel blinking at the top-right corner of my blog, over my big big ugly head? Yeah, that girl is Ailyn, Sirenia’s latest vocalist. I am soooo in love with her. Have even mentioned about her a couple of times on my blog too. Their latest album “The 13th Floor” was released a few months ago, and as of now, there are two music videos already produced. Here is one of them, entitled “The Path to Decay”.

Sirenia – The Path to Decay


Oh mannnn… so in love am I. Ailynnnnn, will you marry me please???? I mean, it’s not just her face… it’s her freaking voice. Somewhere deep inside, her angelic voice has struck a deep chord with my soul, bonding the two together for eternity. Ahhhhh…

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Third on my list is a new Polish band that spewed out a lot of debate in the Metal world regarding if it is symphonic goth or alternative goth. Frankly speaking, I think it is alternative metal because the vocalist pales in comparison to the other symphonic gothic babes out there… her vocals are too plain and… simple. There is none of those sudden changes of pitch, style and emotions etc so common among other bands.

Nevertheless, it is a good song. Frontman Mauser is the ex-guitarist of popular Death Metal band Vader and vocalist Aya (Anna Stefanowicz) is hot. Here is their music video of the song “whisper”.

UnSun - Whisper


I think you’ll know what I mean by “being too plain and simple to be SGM” if you listen to this song.

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The last song for Friday Music Leisure is more of a Friday-based theme song – Industrial Metal! I love Industrial Metal because it is something you can actually party & dance to, sans the head banging (not that I’m saying I don’t like to head-bang).

Here is the song “Follow Me” by PAIN (not to be confused with the American Punk/Pop Rock band of the same name). This song features Nightwish’s new vocalist Anette Olzon. Readers of my blog may be familiar with my post: The Women in my Life where two of Nightwish’s new music videos “Amaranth” and “Bye bye Beautiful” are featured. Olzon may or may not be better than Tarja Turunen, but this song with PAIN is a masterpiece, and an apt song for a Friday night.

Pain featuring Anette Olzon – Follow Me


Olzon looks kinda old in this video, doesn’t she?

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With that I covered four of my current favorite songs, across four different genres – Folk Metal, Symphonic Gothic Metal, Alternative Metal, and Industrial Metal. I hope you like them too, although I’m not expecting much response for this post… Still, I do hope you spare some time to listen to them. I would really appreciate that.

Here’s to Metal. Cheers!

Chp 244. Expensive Aizawl!!!

Now that I am back here in Mumbai, I feel quite relieved. Of course my heart lies in Mizoram, but I like it better here because Aizawl is too damn expensive! I used to think that the cost of living here in Mumbai is high… oh I was sooo wrong. I’ve been all over India at every Metro and most of the major cities, and there is no place more expensive than Aizawl.

Sure Mumbai contributes the highest tax in India, and has been in the top 10 most expensive city in the World (in terms of office space and property) consistently for the past many years, but there are many other locations that are not that expensive and quite rentable. And sure, there may be discotheques and restaurants so bloody expensive that I can wipe out my entire monthly salary by simply raising my forefinger to the waiter to signal that I want “one more”. But again, there are many other places that are cheap and affordable without compromising on quality and service.

In Aizawl, to take the taxi means you’re filthy rich! Traveling from my locality Chaltlang to the next locality Chanmari by taxi costs 40 freaking bucks! And that distance is less than the minimum auto fare of 9 bucks here in Mumbai. Yes the people are annoyed too. They grumbled, “Prices of fuel went up and the very next freaking day, taxis jacked up their fares while the petrol pumps were still selling fuel by the old (cheaper) cost. And then fuel costs were cut a long time ago and the drivers still refused to bring down their freaking fares till now.”

And of course, if there’s any talk of making the taxis run on alternate days (odd and even license plate numbers) so as to trim down the congested Aizawl traffic, there will be hundreds of articles and protests bombarding newspapers like Vanglaini, Mizo Aw, Aizawl Post etc about how these poor taxi drivers were made victims of circumstances, and how capitalism is evil and that all rich people are dirty and corrupt while all poor people are honest and exploited etc etc. I am not getting into this debate right now, but it did hurt a bit to be “taken for a ride” when I noticed that many of those so called poor hungry taxi drivers were sporting mobile phones way more expensive and sophisticated than mine.

When my friend OPie met with his accident, I visited him daily. And I always bought junk-food for him, like chips, pepsi, biscuits etc. Not even once did I buy those items by the exact MRP printed on the box/bottle! No sir, all the shop-keepers near his house were selling every item for around 5 bucks more than the MRP. At first I didn’t protest, but later when I did, I was “politely” asked to buy from the other shops if I had an issue with the cost. What nerves! Eventually, I had to buy them from my locality if I wanted to save a few tenners.

The same with cigarettes. Recently, small Goldflake (chhota goldflake) increased their cost from 28 to 29 bucks. In Mizoram, supposedly it had been 30 bucks all along, even before the increment.

Vegetables and meat are expensive too. And my oh my, don’t get me started with the restaurants. Sure there are a lot of good roadside restaurants that serve great food at really economical rate. But the (upper-middle class?) hotels like Hotel Chief, Ritz, David’s Kitchen… damn, taking into consideration the ambience, the service and the quality of food, it is definitely not worth it. There is no value for money at those places. I can sit in a much better restaurant here with finer service and dining for the same cost that they charged me there.

Magazines? Wowwiieee is all I can say. I will not name any magazines here, but from my point of view, most of the popular Mizo magazines are over-priced. And here’s the sad part – most of the articles in those magazines were ripped off directly from the net and translated into Mizo. I wanted to read thought-provoking opinionated Mizo articles written by Mizos on various issues ranging from socio-ethnic topics to politics to sports etc etc. Sadly, the mags weren’t the place I should have looked in.

I also wanted to buy Pu Zamawia's best-seller “Zofate zinkawngah” badly. Unfortunately, its monstrous price of 850 bucks turned me off completely. If any Mizo here in Mumbai have that book, can I please borrow it?

Long time ago, I used to look forward to going home for one reason – the second-hand flea market. You get amazing apparel at dirt cheap price. Now it seems people hardly go to those places and instead indulge themselves at shopping malls and showrooms. And the price of a good pair of jeans at a show room there? 3.5 K !!! Mon Dieu! Aren’t show-rooms of the same brand supposed to sell the same item with the same price uniformly all over India? Or that’s not how it really works? Do enlighten me please.

At the end of the day, I have just a couple of questions. How are we able to afford all this? Where’s all the money coming from when we are so underdeveloped as compared to other cities? Is it because almost everything is subsidized hence the reason some (if not many) people living Below Poverty Line can afford to own refrigerators, mobile phones, TVs etc.? Mizoram is a Notified Backward Area… yet, one look at Aizawl and any humanitarian is bound to be shocked. Children sporting the latest mobile phones, designer wear, expensive shoes, extremely high car ownership per capita, westernized style of living, and in spite of all this, the capital Aizawl is also (ironically) known as the cultural capital of Mizoram! What culture?

Seriously, I am not anti-development or anti-progress. But we cannot let ourselves be bullied by merchants and industries that monopolize the system. Look at our Telecom industry. A few years ago, BSNL used to happily rape our arses because they were the only cellular company in Mizoram. Now look at the scenario - Aircel, Airtel, Vodafone, Cell One, Reliance, Tata Indicom, etc etc have all entered the market. Nobody can now afford to exploit us anymore due to competition. Likewise, we the consumers need to stand up to those shopkeepers, hoteliers, publishers, associations and others who think they control the market.

Of course, one need not necessarily indulge in all that is mentioned above. But for those who want to get a little nibble from the luxury pie, the financial requirement is extravagantly high. I guess I can conclude like this – If you are planning to buy or do only the bare-essentials and necessities, then Aizawl is probably the cheapest place in India. Otherwise if you want to cross that line even by an inch, then it is the most expensive place in India. Period.

Meanwhile, for a person like me, Aizawl is definitely one place I cannot afford to live in anymore.

Chp 243. Sex, lies and relationships…

Yesterday I met an old “friend” of mine from Hyderabad on my way to dinner at a relative’s place in Khatla here in Aizawl. A definite blast from the past. She’s working in Aizawl now, doing pretty well. She’s not as attractive as I used to remember, and she also told me I’ve lost a lot of hair since the last time she saw me. We talked about the present, and not the past.

You see, she wasn’t exactly a friend. She was one of the many girls I’ve seen living-in with my Arab friends back in Hyderabad, during my CAT coaching class days. I didn’t even remember her name yesterday, and I certainly felt odd asking for her name after the way she seemed to know me so well. I did recognize her face after she called me by my name, and memories of Hyderabad came rushing back immediately. But her name, nah… couldn’t recollect.

We quickly talked about what’s going on with our lives. Again I felt odd because… we were never that close back in Hyderabad. I had my own circle of friends (Pawan, Kini, Adonica, Shruti, Antara, etc. miss you guys!) and my roomies were Alaa & Hyder, two Arabs. Two amazing and wonderful friends. Through them, I got to meet more and more Arabs and Africans (North Africans). And it was with those people that I would frequently cross paths with the women who stayed with them.

It was clear that my roomies didn’t like the promiscuous ways of their Arab friends, but being from the same place, it was inevitable not to hang out occasionally. Yesterday I wanted to ask her how her “boyfriend” was, but I couldn’t remember who she was with back in Hyderabad… So I avoided the question until she asked me if I was seeing anyone (in our society, it is a very common practice for people to ask really personal questions directly to somebody they hardly know, something that I am still not accustomed to due to my upbringing). I said no and I asked her the same thing back politely and she said she was seeing somebody here in Aizawl. Then I asked her if he “knows” and her eyes widened with a coy smile and said no. She grinned.

We soon parted ways as I was getting late for the dinner. Thoughts filled my head - I hoped I didn’t know who the boyfriend was because if he turned out to be a friend or a distant cousin, I wouldn’t be able to sleep well at night if I didn’t tell him about her past. And then I felt extremely ashamed of myself immediately.

Ashamed for trying to poke my freaking nose into other’s affairs. Ashamed for trying to moral police. Ashamed for being a hypocrite. And last but not the least, amazed at myself for ever having such a thought… must be the Mizoram air.

See, I am not judging her. I have no rights to do that and neither does anybody. In fact I too have a lot of dark pasts that I am not exactly proud of. But in a relationship, I’ve always believed that we have to come clean to the person we give our heart to, otherwise the relationship is just built on lies alone.

Call me a sentimental old fool but if you really really really love somebody with all your heart and soul and mind and spirit, can you live with a secret? Can you? Won’t the weight of that secret pull you further and further down until you sink into an abysmal madness where guilt clouds up your ability to genuinely love somebody back?

Of course there is the clichéd old saying, that the past is the past and what matters is the present. But that doesn’t mean the present and the past are completely unrelated. Western culture and ethos are different. Over here, both the past and the present usually intertwine, especially in a close knitted society like our Mizo society. The past will keep coming back to haunt you as long as you lie about it. And believe me, not saying anything about it is in itself a lie too when it comes to relationships.

My advice to all you young lovers out there – if you have a past, don’t worry about it. Most of us do. Just tell the person about it, and if he or she really loves you back, it won’t matter. That is the power of true love. But if you keep it a secret and the two of you become serious later on, believe me, it’s the hangman’s noose for you if he or she gets to know about your past from somebody else.

Because a relationship is all about trust. How can he or she trust you again when there had been one big lie all through your relationship? He or she will definitely assume that all the other truths you’ve told him/her are all lies too. One rotten lie can spoil everything. So it is best to come clean right at the start of a relationship. And believe me, the lightness you will feel after your “confession” is amazing! You no longer need to carry that heavy burden on your back every day, every night. In a way, it does sound quite gospelic!

And hey, if he or she doesn’t want to continue with your relationship because of your confession, move on. Know that you’re good enough for her/him and that it’s her/his loss, not yours. Don’t let low self esteem bite you in the butt. At least you have been honest. You will definitely find somebody later on who will accept you for who you are, and not for what you’ve done in the past.

I mean, that’s just me. What say you? Do you think it’s necessary to come clean before the start of a relationship? Or do you believe that some things are best left unsaid? Do you think it’s wiser to take a gamble and hope that the other person you’re going to share the rest of your life with will never find out about that something you’ve been hiding from her/him?

Dying to know what you think. Do write in. And if the person mentioned here by some weird coincidental chance happens to read this post, do know that I do not mean to offend you in any way. You’ve just triggered a thought, that’s all. Love and hugs.

Chp 242. Mizoram 2009 A.D.

On Sunday morning, the hills are a quiet
only to hear the lull broken by the chimes of bells a ringing.
Hither exists virginal peace & a serenity
transfused from the angelic voices of the church choir a singing.

In a distance, melody yields a rhythm
The beating of mighty drums, conveying to the masses a calling.
A time for penance, erstwhile a routine,
now replaced by iPhones & iPods, their prayers went a stalling.

The gathering soon concocts a mixture,
from toddlers in new dresses to geriatric faithfuls a ranging;
Yet everybody’s so technologically a driven!
A subtle reminder of Bob D crooning - times they are a changing…

Chp 241. Mizoram updates.

Reached Mizoram on Wednesday. My parents found a wife for me so I got married yesterday and decided not to go back to Mumbai. My wife and I will stay here for the rest of our lives, planting vegetables and gathering fodder for the cattle. Her name is Betty.

Nah, just kidding. Twitter automatically updates my blog feeds, so people who are following me on twitter can read just the above paragraph. Here’s me giving you my large silly grin, in case you got a shock and clicked on the twitter link immediately. Love y’all. Hugz!

Flew from Mumbai to Kolkata on Wednesday and we got bumped up to Executive class from Economy because my friend and I were late! (actually, she was late and I was waiting for her at the airport. Sheesh, women! ). We were reprimanded severely for being late of course, but to be given Executive class because we’re “last minute passengers”, believe me, it was totally worth it! Ah, Executive class – large leg and body space, first class treatment, three-course meal, refreshments after refreshments, movies of our choice, free spa and massage service… errr…

Flight from Kolkata to Aizawl went well too. Hitched a ride home from the airport and boy it was amazing inhaling the pure pristine Mizoram mountain air. The idyllic scenery brought tears to my eyes once again, as I chewed on our local paan for the hundredth time since we landed!

Reached home and my two darling nieces jumped on me immediately. They didn’t have a “Welcome Home dear Uncle” banner prepared for me like they did when my two sisters went home last month, but then again, my two nieces are scared of me as I’ve always been the “strict disciplinarian” while my two sisters are the “two loving and dotting aunties who spoil them to the core”. They hate me because I teach them maths, a subject they hate, and I punish them when they don’t get it right, all because I love them.

Dad is doing great too, thank you all for your prayers. He is bedridden now and has moved into my old room upstairs (the one with the large balcony that my friends claim is the best viewpoint in our locality). He can just about walk to the bathroom 5 feet away, and then it’s the bed for him again. He has this tiny TV set up right next to him, and he still watches the ongoing Election and political debates with the same zeal and passion burning in his eyes many years ago.

Mom still refuses to retire in spite of my sisters asking her to quit as our family is now very well established, because she loves her job too much to give up on it. She continuously grumbles about how much of a pain it is looking after my two nieces, when in fact my sisters and I know deep inside that she actually enjoys being busy. Had the nieces not been there, she would have been bored to death.

As for me, I have moved in to the master bedroom downstairs, in charge of the whole house. Many times I used to wish I had this freedom, where I could invite my friends over for the entire night, partying and doing anything we wanted. It’s a very large house. But now that I am suddenly handed this complete responsibility, all such thoughts strangely disappeared.

Mom surprised me with this large new bed (5 x 6 1/2 feet) in my new bedroom, magnificently carved and looking quite grandeur, that I later found out I’ll have to pay for Seriously, if I was going to pay anyway, I would prefer it to be a little bit bigger, like six and a half by six and a half feet, because I visited my married friends and realized a 5 feet wide bed isn’t that wide when the baby comeths.

Anyway, my friends never stopped making fun of me, joking that the new bed was mom’s subtle way of telling me to please please please get married soon!

The night I reached Mizoram, I went around in my locality meeting friends and relatives. Many of my friends were either married or had a baby, or both. Spent a couple of minutes at every house, and wherever I went, people I met on the road asked me when I came home (Mizoram). See, that’s what I love about our close knitted society – everybody knows everybody, although of course it has its minus points as well – no privacy, gossips that spread like wildfire etc etc.

I also paid my respect to my friends who lost their loved ones during my absence. In Mizo, we call it “in ral” and it is the first thing I always do the moment I reach home. I go over to the unfortunate family’s house, and even if the tragedy had occurred months ago, by going there on the very same day that I arrive, I am showing them how genuinely I feel their pain. It is in our Mizo custom, and I give them Rs. 100/- as my way of helping them continue with their lives. The measly amount is just for formality’s sake and a part of our custom. Our Mizo custom also says the bereaved family cannot refuse that.

I slept well that Wednesday night.

And then the whole of Thursday and Friday I was down with severe fever!!!



Doc said I had an immense stomach infection. He asked me if I overate anything after I reached Mizoram. I told him I overate kuhva hring (our local paan), vawksa rep (smoked pork), hmarcha rawt (grinded Mizo chilly local style) and bekang (fermented beans). The rest of the food, I ate normally. He then concluded it was because of the paan. Damn, that’s two days of vacation down the drain from my already short and depleted vacation. Aaaargh.

And then I finally recovered on Saturday and spent the whole day at one of my closest friends’ house – Opie @ Chanmari. He met with an accident on Friday night. A serious bike accident. He flew off the road @ 120 kmph towards a house off the road on the slope of a steep hill 50 metres below and gate-crashed, literally speaking. His bike was completely totaled, but he survived with deep gashes and bruises all over his body. No fractures either but every joint was swollen up.

His injury was just perfect. Not too serious so that we could laugh at him and make jokes about it later. That’s the thing about our culture. Others may consider this humor to be a bit insensitive or even sadistic, but among Mizo guy friends, we laugh at each other at times like this as long as it is not a grave injury. He and my friends would have done the same to me too had I been in his shoes, and I would have just laughed it off.

The accident took place at 1 in the morning. Fortunately, he looked around hazily amidst blood streaming down his face and realized the house and gate he crashed into happened to be his friend’s place!!! Small world indeed! When his friend’s family woke up worriedly (from the monstrous noise) and ran out dazed and shocked to see his shattered bike burning up in hot blazing flames and furiously spewing out thick dark fumes, OPie apparently sat upright with all his might and coolly said, “ka rawn leng dawn…”



So for now, it’s back to me and dad spending more quality time together. I have a lot of questions I need to ask him too. Internet access isn’t as tough as I thought it would be either, so more updates will follow soon.

My new Aizawl number is +919774396785. Feel free to contact me here. Cheers!


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* Ka rawn leng dawn = For my non-Mizo visitors, this phrase means “I am coming over to your house for a chit-chat”. In our Mizo society, it is a very common practice to visit friends at their house. Seldom do people “hang out” at Malls or amusement parks etc. The best place to entertain friends is right at home, and that is why this phrase has a much deeper meaning than somebody merely “coming over”. I guess I can say this is also an intrinsic part of our custom, and the reason why the translated English version is not funny whereas it is extremely hilarious in our language.

Chp 240. May in Mizoram

My updates from tomorrow onwards will be from Mizoram, if I reach home safely, and IF (a very big IF) there is a decent net connection at home (although I hardly doubt if I will have the time to blog from there anyway).

I’m finally going home, because dad isn’t feeling too well and he got another round of gout attack. He’s recovering quite well now and my sisters came back from Mizoram recently. I am now going home to take their place.

We also have a construction thing going on at our house, that I need to oversee. Dad bought the last bit of land near our house so our building is now connecting both roads “above” and “below”.

Ok, in Mizo we have special terms that don’t exist in English, like “kawmchhak” which is a neighbor who resides above you, and “kawmthlang” which is a neighbor living below you (Do not confuse it with somebody living below and above you in an apartment building). In English, any neighbor is a neighbor. We also have “kawng chung” – road above and “kawng hnuai” - road below. All these important terminologies exist in our language because Mizoram is a hilly area. So all the houses are (precariously) built on the slope of a hill, and roads connect such houses, winding along the slope of the hill. So basically, our house is 4 storey high and the fourth floor is the ground floor from “kawng chung” while it is the fourth floor from “kawng hnuai”!

In my absence from the net, I will not be updating the “Zo bloggers’s latest” at misual.com (38% of my visits are from there, so it is a pretty good source of traffic for those who are listed there) Hence Admin father_sphinx has volunteered to update that section during my absence. Much thanks to him!

I will also be unable to continue with my OPERATION AIZAWL – Phase 1 (A) mission and hence will not be moving into Phase 1 (B) until my return. I will really really really appreciate it if somebody else can continue this project for me. Meanwhile, people, I urge you to please keep mailing the website admins to correct the name of AIZAWL in their websites.

Mizo Blog Directory is another section I will not be able to update. I’m so sorry, I have received all your registrations but I have no time to update it yet. Office work piles ceiling-high and I now have to leave suddenly, trust me, the moment I am back, I will update it immediately. Pinky swear!

The other night, I went to the airport and bid farewell to my sister who stays in UK. Kinda uncomfortable knowing that she’s going back to a region which has confirmed cases of the dreaded H1N1.

Anyway, I will leave office now. If everything goes well, by this time tomorrow, I will be at home-sweet-home, sitting by the bedside of my father. Do remember him in your prayers.

Take care you all. Keep the faith.

Chp 239. OPERATION AIZAWL – Phase 1(A)

Are you tired of seeing Aizawl wrongly written as AIZWAL, AIZAWAL, AIZOL, AIJUAL etc everywhere on the internet?

I can understand some old-timers referring to Aizawl as Aijal, because that was how non-Mizos used to pronounce it back then. Many historical documentaries written by British officers and missionaries even mentioned Aizawl as Aijal. Even the 1940 Lushai Dictionary [now online] compiled by J. Herbert Lorrain (Pu Buanga) shows no result for “Aizawl”, but search for “Aijal” and you will get Aizawl!

But that was many years ago. Now with the internet revolution, more and more people are coming to know who the Mizos are and where Mizoram is. In spite of the fact that there’s almost nothing mentioned about us in our school “educational” books, we are no longer the “mystical strange Chinese-looking Indians” that we once were.

With the internet making our world one complete global village, I believe it is high time we correct some of the spelling mistakes about us. We definitely do not want our Indian brothers to learn the wrong names of our cities, do we?

Just like how any Indian will correct us immediately if we misspell the names of their cities, towns, states, cuisines etc, we Mizos too need to strike back and educate the mass about us.

Hence I present you: OPERATION AIZAWL

This movement is endorsed by mutiny.in



This movement is also in partner with zawlbuk.net, lawrkhawm.com, buannel.com and misual.com.



Last but not the least, this movement is a tribute and dedication to all the Mizos out there who actually write to the admins and site owners asking them to correct the name of Aizawl. I have seen such people many times before, fervently writing out passionate comments at any place where Aizawl is spelled wrongly, and I sincerely salute you guys. RESPECT!


Taking all your admirable efforts one step further, let us all make this a group effort. Let us combine our resources and our man-power together and we can even be more effective this way.


OPERATION AIZAWL.

Step 1: As an individual, we will all take genuine attempt to search online for any website, especially ticket-booking portals [phase 1(A)] and tourism websites [phase 1(B)], where Aizawl is wrongly written as… anything, as long as it is not A-I-Z-A-W-L.

Step 2: You can either write to the Admin of that website directly, requesting him to please change the name to Aizawl, or you can inform us about the website and we will do the needful from here.

Step 3: We will publicly list out all such sites here on this page, and we will mention if they have changed the name to Aizawl or not after our request. Feel free to copy this list of such websites to your blog/homepage too, because the more we take part in this, the more chances we have of getting noticed.

Step 4: If this operation is successful, we will take our operation into Phase two – Correcting offline agencies like printers and publishers of diaries, maps, and official/private documents. This is a much bigger task, but first let’s see how we fare in Phase 1(A) – Ticket booking sites.

Step 5: What if they still refuse to change it after we inform them about it? Boycott these airlines/agencies. Spread the word to your Mizo friends about it, and more importantly ask your non-Mizo friends to help you with this mission, for they have the power to make this change for us.


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Sure, one may argue that the spelling mistake is how it is pronounced in a “foreign” language – the Anglicized Latin version and that the “English version” of a local language can have many different spelling versions and forms.

But the one very big, if not THE ONLY main difference in our case is that we Mizos have adopted this very same script, and so a mistake in “English” means a mistake in Mizo directly. We would very much like to see the correct name in the language that WE use (adopted).

It’s not like the case of most other Indian languages, where the respective names of the cities/places come from the English pronunciation. Such regions have their own languages and scripts, so many people may argue that you cannot have the exact English version which is correct. But as mentioned above, we cannot apply that same case for the Mizos.

It is also not like the cases of Bombay-Mumbai, Madras-Chennai, Calcutta-Kolkata etc because the “old name” had never been AIZWAL, AIZAWAL in the first place. We Mizos are an extremely young tribe, especially when it comes to language and technology but that doesn’t mean we can let the more developed people take advantage of us. We can’t let someone give us a name that is to their own liking or at their whim and fancy.

Secondly, AIZWAL/AIZAWAL etc. makes no sense in our language. The name Aizawl comes from “Aidu” and “Zawl”. Aidu (wild cardamom) covers a large part of the now Assam Rifles ground (near Governor’s Raj Bhavan), which is the heart of present day Aizawl. “Zawl” means plain, a large place. Hence Aizawl means a large area that is covered with Aidu.

It was not even a “village” back then, and there were different hamlets surrounding this area, Chaltlang being one of them (my locality). Hence when the Britishers came, they thought the entire area was Aizawl. That’s where the name came from. Lt Colonel G. H. Loch “officially founded” Aizawl in the early 1890s, and “Fort Aijal” was established.

And thirdly, regarding the very common misnomer “AIZWAL”, if you think two simple misplaced letters is making a mountain out of a mole hill, try calling cities as Mumbia, Hydarebad, Chinnai etc and see the reaction you’ll get from the locals. I dare you. We are all proud of our respective background and history, hence we should also respect the pride others have for their history.


OPERATION AIZAWL:

PHASE 1(A): Airlines Ticket Booking Sites.


The National Airlines code for Aizawl is AJL, which I presume was derived from Aijal (duh!). I have no personal qualms regarding this (and since it is the official IATA code, it will be next to impossible to get this changed – Mumbai is still BOM, Kolkata is still CCU and Chennai is still MAA). Let us concentrate on just “Aizawl”.

Among the popular ticket booking sites, both makemytrip.com and cleartrip.com correctly labeled Aizawl as Aizawl. Yay!!! I’m booking my tickets only through you guys.

And special mention must be made about my twit-friend @Usha of cleartrip.com who changed the name of AJL Airport from “Turial Air Force Base” to “Lengpui Airport” immediately when @rualthan pointed it out, in less than 5 minutes! Cheers Usha!

From the lesser known ticket booking sites, travel.indiatimes.com, ezeego1.co.in and indiaairtkt.com have written Aizawl correctly too. Love you guys!

kingfisher.com also labeled Aizawl correctly, but when they made a full-page announcement/advertisement in the local papers a month ago (was it MM or TOI, I forgot), I was extremely disappointed on seeing AIZWAL boldly printed on the destination list. I guess somebody must have corrected them after that mistake.

Indian Airlines too is now proudly displaying “Aizawl”. Thank you, you guys, although I think this was the airlines that first started using AIZWAL, which led to all the other new airlines copying them. Still, it’s good to know that has changed now.

yatra.com, one of India’s biggest online travel portals on the other hand still shows AIZWAL in its database, at both yatra.com and yatra.in

Air Deccan (now known as Kingfisher Red after the merger)’s site deccanairlines.in also shows AIZWAL… They should be lynched, considering the number of Mizos who used to fly Air Deccan every day as they were the first airline to fly to Mizoram after Indian Airlines.

Another ticket booking site I came across recently – ticketwindow.in also shows Aizawl as AIZWAL.

zoomtra.com also shows AIZWAL

Meanwhile rediff.com is confused! I think they don’t know which is the correct spelling, so what do they do? Very clever. They use both AIZAWL and AIZWAL! Below is a screen shot from lowest-fares.rediff.com:



Naughty me of course searched for flights between Aizawl and Aizwal, and I got the result: “Currently this feature can only be used for sectors on which direct flights operate.” lolz! So there are no direct flights from Aizawl to Aizwal. How sad!

indiatravelite.com on the other hand, goes even one step further. It is not just AIZWAL in this site. It is AIZAWAL!!! Goodness gracious me!

And then I went to primetavels.com and saw Aihole! Fortunately, that’s not a misspelling of Aizawl, lolz, and it’s actually a place in Karnataka. Phew!

But this next one is no joke. Aizawl is Aijwal at dewpointtravel.com

Another lesser known travel agency infotainmentcenter.com labels Aizawl as Aizwal. I guess that is neither informative nor entertaining. Funny thing about this particular site – Its AIZWAL in the “Leaving from” section but correctly written as “Aizawl” in the “Going to” section. lolz. I guess it’s time they too leave from the misspelling habit and go to the correctly spelt one.

naxtravels.com is another site with AIZAWAL in its database. indiatravelite.com must be so happy to find a likeminded travel agency!

dreamtickets.in using AIZWAL in its database is not exactly a dream for me.

travel.expressindia.com labels Aizawl as AIJWAL. Whoah!

cheapindianairlines.com also uses AIZWAL, but then, what else do you expect from something cheap? (ok I’m just trying to sound trollish here…)

The rest of the lesser known travel agencies, I will skip for now. Kindly do submit the web address if you come across any other agencies/airlines misspelling Aizawl. We shall print it here for everyone to see.

Meanwhile a mail will be sent to all the listed sites above, kindly requesting them to change the name to the correct one, and this post shall be updated regarding whether the mistake is corrected or not.

Given below is the letter I am planning to send to them all, and please do copy this letter or write your own letter and send it to them too. Remember, the more we take part in this, the higher chance we have of the Agency complying with our humble request.

Subject: Erratum in your website – AIZWAL should be AIZAWL.

Respected Sir,

We have noticed that the spelling of Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, is incorrect in your website. AIZWAL is wrong. We request you to kindly change it to “Aizawl” because the error hurts our sentiments and it can even be misinterpreted as a form of neglect people usually have for the North Eastern people, which I hope is not the case here.

A correction will be truly appreciated!

Thanking you in advance,

Yours sincerely,

Kima.

PHASE 1 (B) will cover the Tours and Travel websites (tourism, hotels etc), so sharpen your nails for that too. For now, let us concentrate on the ticket booking sites. Your cooperation will be highly appreciated.


# Special thanks to Pu Chawnghilh @ misual.com and Pu Hruaia @ Hyderabad University for their in-depth assistance and research regarding the history of Aizawl. You guys rock!

Chp 238. Monday morning, where’s the Blues?

Morning, folks. Lovely morning here in Mumbai, the city that never sleeps. And ever since my birthday, I haven’t slept at all till today!

My initial plan was to spend my b’day in Mizoram. But I had to cancel my trip in the last minute due to lots and lots of work and new products/campaigns/virals launched, so my sisters went home without me.

I thought my b’day would be a drag this time, with me being all alone and stuff. Hehe... I haven’t spent a single night alone since my b’day Yeah friends are wonderful, especially when you need them the most. My housemaid is going crazy on the other hand. lolz.

Of course, once my sisters are back, things will get back to the usual schedule – 9AM to 1AM office, go home, sleep, back to 9AM-1AM, with no time for any social activities. But it’s great to live like this for now. The change in schedule, though not so refreshing, is actually rejuvenating. I now realize I am not the old fart I used to think I was, and that I could still do a lot of stuff I used to do a couple of years ago. Wooohooo.

Thank you all for your lovely wishes everywhere from orkut to facebook to twitter to blog to personal mails. Hugz, you all!

A lot of action took place in the football scene too. Manure is still leading the EPL, and they are most likely to win it now. They are out of the FA Cup, but I can’t laugh at them because we are unfortunately out too, thanks to Fabianski’s screw ups (but the dude made up against Liverpool and that was an absofreakinglutely amazing game). But yeah, Manure going for a quintuplet? My Arse!

The Champions League clash between Arse and Manure is going to be one hell of a game. I can already picture my Arses celebrating a 5-0 win over Manure. w00t w00t!

Meanwhile IPL action is underway and I still can’t stop laughing at the “Super Over” between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders! LMFAO! How fictitious is that? Reminds me of school days’ games time, when we would just make up some new rules here and there whenever something unordinary or strange happened. You couldn’t make it any more fabricated than that! Hehehe.

Speaking of IPL, do check out the new website we made – IHL – Indian Hatke League. It’s a spoof of the IPL and a bloody good one too. You can even take part in the “stick cricket” matches after registering and try to break each other’s records. It’s fun and entertaining, though very addictive.




In other news, I think I already know who’s going to win the South Mumbai constituency, come this election Yeah it’s tough not to stay hooked on news channels and talk shows 24/7 during this election time. Some of my friends hate me for that, but... my house, my remote control

If only I knew I was going to cancel my Mizoram trip in the last minute, I would have definitely registered here in Mumbai instead of Mizoram because another main reason I wanted to go home was to vote. (I still don’t see the reason why we can’t register at two places at the same time, when we can vote just once anyway... Seriously, I think the Gov should allow this for those who are on the move constantly and hence do not know where they may be on election dates... unless it’s a big headache for the Gov regarding Form 6 paperwork etc. of course).

Mumbai is fun. High cost of living, but fun nevertheless.

The other night, my friends and I went to Juhu beach at 5 in the morning. And it was freaking awesome. I mean most of you Mumbaikars may know what goes on in Juhu once the clock strikes 10’ish in the night Yeah, them hookers.

Prostitutes in pairs or by themselves, sitting in autos, looking for customers. Miniskirts covering barely nothing, with lipsticks and make-ups grossly overdone, trying to make a living, looking out from their autos at other autos or cars that slowed down in front of them, either for a “quickie” charge of just 300 to 500 bucks or a “whole night” charge of 1G. I’ve seen them many times, especially near JW Mariotte Hotel. My auto drivers used to tell me all about them, from how much they charged to their nexus with popular hotels in Juhu locality to how they would rip off a customer by thrashing him (with the help of accomplices slash pimps) and taking his wallet. lolz.

And of course the horny victim couldn’t complain to the cops, unless he’s not afraid to admit to the cops and the newspapers that he got robbed after he tried to sleep with a prostitute. Yeh India hain!

But that night, at 5 in the morning, life was so different.

So there we were having tea from the famous chai-wallah on Juhu beach. Lots of people were there even at that time, and what I loved the most about that night – the totally classless society that seemed to exist, even if it was just for a few hours. We were sitting and chatting and laughing with Investment bankers in business suits who came in their Mercs to male-models to cheerful auto wallas who joked about some of the customers they experienced. Prostitutes came and sat with us with their tea cups, and nobody looked at them differently. Nobody tried to “hire” them nor did the prostitutes tried to “sell” themselves to us. It was complete bliss.

I love Mumbai. Mumbai meri jaan.

And finally, today being a cheerful Monday, I guess I will take part in Lady Java’s Music Monday for a change. Yeahhh. Just wanna show Marzie and the others that I have time to do stuff like this with my blog friends too.

My selection for Music Monday?

“Song for you” by one of my favourite symphonic gothic bands – Lunatica. You HAVE to listen to this. No it’s not a symphonic gothic song Just consider it a love song. And if you don’t love it, I am ready to eat my words anytime. But do listen to it first.

Lunatica - Song For You



And of course I would like to dedicate this amazing song to Marzie and B, LJ who lost her precious Mufasa (hugz), Janice and her two lovely Amos and Zac, Jean, Bobby, Jesse who seemed to disappear from the face of this earth, all my blog friends around the globe, and of course somebody else I hope is special to me, or will be special to be, or at least hopefully notice that I exist...

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.





Cheers!

Chp 237. My birthday Prayer

 
 
 
 

Chp 236. Gifts from a loving sister

So my sister who’s a lecturer in UK came and went, like a gust of kamikaze (yes, I just found out Kamikaze originally meant “wind” [or “divine wind” to be more precise] and not suicide squad or Japanese pilot trained in suicide missions).

She arrived at Mumbai 1:00 in the morning, and then left with my Mumbai sister for Mizoram a couple of hours later. So I am currently all alone here while my three sisters are happily reunited after a long time with my folks and nieces at home-sweet-home. Me, I can’t go home because of work

Anyhoo, she brought me a few authentic Arsenal goodies as usual, yay!

Warning: This post is about me becoming a child again

Here’s what she got me this time:


[click on pic for higher resolution]

[Those who are interested, can check out more Arsenal goodies here and here from her previous visits]

So with the new Arsenal key chain, I guess I won’t be needing my current key chain anymore – an authentic Barcelona key chain that she got for me from Camp Nou itself. Hence, I’m giving it away for free. The first Barca fan to comment here* can have it!

Yeah, some of you may be thinking it’s a cheap gimmick. But real Barca fans, just like real Arsenal fans, won’t mind. It’s not one of those cheap knock-offs you find on the roadside. Authentic Barca key chain straight from Camp Nou, FREE!

The cuddly Arsenal bear on the other hand, I’ll keep that away safely until I get a car of my own, and then it will be the first item adorning the dashboard of that car. And no, it doesn’t look gay.

For the Arsenal pen, I don’t need two of them, so I have decided to give one of them to Amos, one of my closest friends, my ex-roomie from Bangalore and another HARDCORE gunners fan. I thought of all the chicas who might want this pen and the chances of (possibly & hopefully) “scoring” had I given it to them… but then again, as a true football fan, women suddenly occupied the lower rung of a ladder (this is one of those “once in a blue moon” moments) Hence the person who deserves it the most would be Amos. Cheers bro!

As I type this, Arsenal is leading Chelsea 1-0 into the 30th minute of the FA Cup Semi Finals. Spoke to Amos just now too, and I will head home from office as soon as I post this to watch the rest of the match. Hope Arse wins! Hehehe.



And here is the gift I treasured the most, something that I’ve been asking my sister to get me for the past 2-3 years.



The complete collection of “Yes Minister” and “Yes Prime Minister” series! Wooohooo. One of my favorite all time British comedies, along with “Mind your language”, “Carry on…” series and “Allo Allo”, YM and YPM score extremely high on my list of satirical comedies that I can watch over and over again

The chemistry between James Hacker, Sir Humphrey Appleby and Bernard Woolley is purely magical and brilliant. The series is something that sooo applies here in our Indian system where we see frequent clashes between civil servants (bureaucracy) and the politicians. Having a few IAS and IRS friends who tell me over and over again about their frustrations with the politicos makes this series even more hilarious! War of the Babus. Lolz!


But Bummer.

I just found out I couldn’t watch any of them here in India. Two hours of “Google researching” later, I realized it’s because of this stupid Regional setting that prevented me from watching this £75 collector’s item on my DVD player and PC.

What a waste of good money. Eff you, Corporates. No wonder piracy is so prevalent.

I couldn’t watch it because we’re in India – DVD regional setting 5, whereas the DVD my sister got for me is viewable only at Region 2 [Europe, Japan, Middle East and South Africa]. My DVD player is not “region free”, and neither is my DVD drive.


[source: remoteselector.com ]

Find out if your DVD drive is region protected or not: remoteselector.com and install/run this software: Drive Region Info V2.2

Here is what I got:



But thanx to Google, I found this link: Mark Salloway’s Windows XP which told me to install DVD Genie 4.10 and PowerDVD [17MB]

I ran DVD Genie first, setting my region to 2, and when I ran PowerDVD after that, it got “confused” and assumed I’m in Region 2 so it played the DVD!

I guess this method is much better than changing your DVD regional settings physically, something that you can do only 4-5 times after which your drive will be permanently LOCKED to the last settings you’ve set.

Here is the warning I saw at every site I visited regarding this issue:

Patching your firmware with an unofficial or hacked version can potentially destroy your drive and render it useless. It will also invalidate your manufacturer’s warranty.

Seriously, corporates sux!

Anyway, our Tech head – the one and only Vulturo said he will rip all the DVDs for me so that I can burn them on a DVD and watch them from the cool comfort of home – Great surround sound system + bean bag + wearing just my boxers + port wine from my previous Goa trip + undisturbed tranquility.


Apart from this, my sis got me this exotic Scorpion Vodka! There’s a real scorpion (dead of course) inside!!!



This is weird! And of course I’m sure many of you are thinking, “There are worms in a tequila so this is possible.” Well, let me ask you this: Have YOU seen the infamous tequila worm with your OWN eyes? Isn’t it amazing that you always know someone who has seen the worm, but it has never been you? Well here is the low down on this – your friend is probably (99.9%) lying if he or she says she’s seen the worm, especially in the tequilas that we get here in India. Too tired to explain about this here, please google.

Anyhoo, the bottle of Scorpion Vodka led me to their homepage: www.edible.com and I discovered a lot of interesting products ranging from green crocodile curry to monkey-picked tea leaves! There’s also an oven-baked tarantula, chocolate covered giant ants, thai curry crickets, giant hornet dipped in honey and many more, each costing around £3

The scorpion vodka comes under the category “APHRODISIAC”! lolz. Now where shall I go after I drink this bottle *EVIL GRIN*

Jokes apart, I don’t think I’ll have the guts to drink this. Better left as a showcase on my table, what say?

Cheers!

* Barca key chain - Terms and Conditions apply Do know that I am giving it away for free, meaning I will be paying for postage/courier. Hence, Mumbai people are preferred over other locations… (ie, if anybody’s interested at all. lolz.)

Chp 235. My tryst with Tehelka

Some love her. Some loathe her. Some admire her guts, while others cry out for her blood because of those very same guts.

Meet Nisha Susan, reputed journalist and reporter for Tehelka - my favorite Indian magazine for the past 3-4 years that addresses social issues directly at the core with no bullshit nonsensical crap.

But Nisha is more widely known in the recent months as founder of the popular “Pink Chaddi” campaign, which resulted in both a National and International wide response - over 5000 pink panties sent to Sri Ram Sene chief Muthalik on Valentine’s Day as a mark of protest against his goons mercilessly beating up women in WWE style so as to promote “Indian culture”.



A controversial campaign no doubt, which deeply divided the netizens into three main camps – those who endorse Nisha, those who endorse the SRS, and those who endorse neither. Hence with three different ideologies, the flame wars were quite interesting albeit detestable on many occasions.

So you can say it was one of those “I will definitely blog about this” moments when Nisha Susan herself suddenly calls you up in person and says she wants to meet you!

Red Box at Turner road, Bandra. That was the destination I recommended as it wasn’t too expensive and yet seemed a little bit more professional and appropriate than a typical CCD/Barista coffee house appointment.

I reached an hour early! But then again, I’m not the type who keeps a lady waiting (*wink*) and it gave me ample time to relax and have a clear state of mind. After all, you never know what journalists are capable of throwing at you

So there I was, meeting Nisha Susan face to face for the first time.





Oh she was sweet and charming. And extremely humorous. She laughed to all my (corny) jokes and we even chatted in tamil and malayalam! (Yeah I do speak konjo konjo tam and mallu, definitely not much but enough to widen the eyes of anybody )

She got to the point immediately. She’s working on an upcoming cover story for Tehelka about the lives of North East Indians who have settled in the Metros like Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, and the difficulties/experiences they have faced.

I warned her that I have more or less assimilated with this so called “Indian culture” due to my upbringing and so I may not be the person she is interested in meeting, but she told me that my blog posts say otherwise.

I spoke my heart out, about everything that I wanted the rest of India to know about us North East Indians. No we are not freaking CHINESE. Yes we are Indians. No we will not bow down to forced imposition of “Indian culture” and “Hindi” on us but yes we will definitely imply with them as long as they are done warmly and friendly. I learnt tamil because of the unconditional love shown to me by my tamil brothers, but I know many people from the South and NE (people outside the cow belt) who stubbornly refuse to learn Hindi because of the way some Hindi speakers have that holier-than-thou attitude over those who don’t speak Hindi.

She was well aware of the fact that Indian school text books had NOTHING to say about North East India and my sentiments echoed the fact that we’re all nothing but some convenient BUFFER that India wanted incase China suddenly decided to invade India.

She asked me a very important question: What do I want the rest of India to know about us that they don’t, apart from the fact that we are also Indians and struggling to prove our identity and patriotism to them.

I thought for a long time.

Finally I told her a few points, mostly misconceptions that the rest of India have about us.

One. Mizoram is not some right-wing fanatical state where Christian missionaries armed with AK-47s are shooting “non-believers” in cold blood, contrary to the many false accusations about us floating around on the net. Yes, many of us have subscribed to Google alerts for “Mizoram” and we have saved all such pages and caches, and we’ll be filing an FIR soon against all those who have grossly defamed us.

Just like how many of you “seculars” are fighting the fanatics within your own society bravely, there are many of us too who will stand up against the all-powerful YMA, the bureaucrats, the politicos and even the Church if we find their actions to be detestable or against humanity. Our biggest success was when the vox populi spoke out and disbanded the SRS (err… No, not that SRS. Its “Supply and Reduction Service” here but they shared the same method & style of “wrestling” tactics just like the Sri Ram Sene). We don’t keep quiet against injustice and you will know what I’m talking about if you listen to the voice of the people at misual.com and lawrkhawm.com.

Two. The insurgency in Mizoram, which many experts claimed to be the biggest revolt in the Northeast, was all started because of a rat. After the bamboo trees in Mizoram flowered, millions of rats reproduced and they ate up all our food stock. Hence there was a HUGE famine in the Lushai Hills (now Mizoram) and India didn’t give a shit about our plight.

The MNFF (Mizo National Famine Front) was formed where every Mizo looked after another with NO help from the Indian Govt. Soon the MNFF became the MNF (Mizo National Front) under Pu Laldenga and the entire Mizo community rebelled against India because of the neglect and it became so intense that it was the bloodiest battle in the North East so far. But do Indians know about this story? No. Do Indians even know that Aizawl is the ONLY city in Indian history where the Indian Air Force bombed the city day in and night out? Yes, we are talking about a possible genocide here, where entire generations of Mizos were completely wiped out because of this.

But no. People are oblivious to this and we are criticized for not being Indian enough and jeered as a “Chinese” or “Nepali” wherever we go in India. Seriously, tell me, can you blame those who were fighting for autonomy back then?

Three. I have come across numerous posts where fanatics say they want to take back Mizoram from the clutches of evil Christianity. They want to revive Hinduism back there, which is really absurd because Mizos were never Hindus before the missionaries came! We were war-mongering animists fighting with each other to the death, and headhunting was an intrinsic part of our culture. Sure, if you want us to disown Christianity and go back to our roots, I really don’t mind - May I please chop off your head?

Four. Spelling mistakes!!! Aaaargh. I can understand some old timers referring to Aizawl as Aijal because that was the way non-Mizos used to pronounce it those days. But that was a loooong time ago. What really peeves me today is when I see “Aizwal” instead of Aizawl on so many official documents and diaries even today. So many times have we protested but the Indian Government just doesn’t care enough to correct this. I mean, why should they care, after all, the Election Commission of India website itself has spelled Mizoram as Misszoram, right? And yet WE are expected to learn all the names of Indian cities and states correctly, and if we make a mistake in this case, we are either punished (in school) or given that dirty “you shameless unpatriotic fellow” looks.

Five. Seven of my cousins are serving in the Indian Army and Navy. And yes, a large number of people from the Northeast are in the Armed forces protecting this great country and ready to sacrifice their lives in the line of duty. Why must we always be asked to prove our patriotism in spite of that?

Six. Yes we can make out if a person is from the North East or some South Asian country to some extent. And even you will be able to make this distinction if you spend more time with us. It is not that difficult and many of my non-Mizo friends can do this. Likewise we can’t differentiate people from the NE sometimes just like how you guys won’t be able to differentiate a tamilian from a kannadigan or a UPiite from a Bihari on many occasions. Sometimes there are prominent distinctive features and sometimes there aren’t. Simple as that. Making an “educated guess” makes no sense when you are not educated about us.

Here’s a great blog post by my friend “The Chhamanator” entitled: Frequently Asked Questions about Mizoram which I’m sure you’ll love too. Hilarious!

Q1. Do you know martial arts?
Q2. (Brings some chinese, japanese etc. writing) Can you read this?
Q3. Can you write my name in the Mizo script?
Q4. Are your politicians as bad as ours?
Q5. Are you veg or non-veg?
Q6. What is the main industry of Mizoram?
Q7. Are Mizo girls hotter than other Indian girls?
Q8. What curse words/insults do you use in the Mizo language?

Last but not the least, I have seen many people criticize people from the NE for “sticking together” and hence blame that for the reason why we feel alienated or why we are stereotyped.

Believe me, whether we mix or not, we will always be stereotyped. We Indians love to stereotype one another right from the northest North to the southest South, and it is one social evil that will never be eradicated from our system. But we can correct those at least in the media and other public platforms.

Secondly, we stick together because we are insecure and hence feel more comfortable with our own kind. Indians who migrate to UK or USA too stick together FYI, just like how Chinese emigrants make their own “China Towns” wherever they go. It’s a normal human behavior. Likewise there are many of us who have come out from our comfort zones and stereotype moulds too and yet still feel alienated on many occasions. Hence justifying the reason why we are alienated by mainstream Indians with the fact that “we stick together” is plain wrong and misconstrued.

With that, we ended the day. I know many of those sentiments that I poured out will not appear on Tehelka as I have diverted way off from the main topic. But it is always good to inform and educate reputed journalists with such information because you never know what they will write about next, or who they will tell about us in their large journalist network.

Here’s me raising a toast to those journalists who actually go all out to meet people and interact and learn, rather than sit on their fat asses copy-pasting from Google search results. Cheers y’all!