Chp 597. In memory of Mapuia

I wrote briefly about the Mizo tradition of "ralna" in my old post [Mizo customary funeral rites] when dad passed away.

"Ral" or the act of "in ralna" is a unique Mizo term for which I don't think there's any direct English translation (if there is, please do let me know). "Ral" is our Mizo customary practice of visiting the family of somebody who has passed away recently. During such a condolence visit, money or a "memorial certificate" is given to the family, usually to somebody that the visitors are most acquainted with.

We have "personal" ral and "official" ral. Personal ral is when you visit the mourning family anytime, usually unannounced, and spend some time there and then subtly give them money before leaving. Official ral on the other hand is organized more "officially" and it is done as a group. The time of the ralna program is set well in advance, and it even comes with its own "programme sheet", like who's going to chair the programme, those who are going to make a short speech, the song that is going to be sung etc. Tea and refreshments are also served on such occasions.

As I mentioned in my previous post, during my recent vacation back home, our group of friends decided to "ral" our dearly departed friend Mapuia who passed away on November last year (blog post: RIP Mapuia). Although this practice of "ral" usually happens on the same day or a few days after the funeral, our group of friends conducted it only recently because some of us weren't present in Mizoram.

Our Chaltlang circle of friends is very tightly knit. Most of us are neighbours and we all grew up together. Although I was away in boarding school most of the time, every time I went home, I would spend as much time as possible with them. We always sat in the same Sunday school section together, went to the same birthday parties or Christmas functions etc etc. We became like family. And that's why it was important to wait for the other members to be present in order to conduct the "Ralna" programme.

So on 3rd January 2016, our circle of friends, known as "Ryders", conducted the "ral" programme of our dear friend Mapuia. What made this even more special and poignant was the fact that Mapuia was the one who came up with the name "Ryders". Ryders is also the name of our basketball club and though most of us are no longer fit enough to play, some of us are still involved with the club. It has now been renamed to "Chaltlang Ryders", currently participating in the ongoing "Mizoram Super League" season II, while our original gang of friends continued to be known as Ryders.

We all gathered at Mapuia's house for the "ral" programme.





The mood was sombre, and we tried to keep the ambience light by talking about the good old days...







There was a slight delay as BSa was late, and so we waited for him. He being a Man of God and stuff, was always busy with various Church activities and meetings.



Finally once BSa arrived, we all went inside and started the programme. Dr. Rintluanga was the chairman of the programme. He's probably Mapuia's closest friend within our circle of friends and it was really strong of him to take up this responsibility of leading the programme.



BSa then conducted the Bible reading and prayers, followed by a short but very powerful sermon. He talked about how we've already lost four members from our circle of childhood friends and the need to look after one's body and to abstain from anything that can make us meet our end faster...





After the beautiful sermon, on behalf of our group, Machris-i presented a framed memorial certificate in remembrance of Mapuia to his mother nu Rozami. Nu Zami was also presented with the traditional envelope of "ralna" money which was contributed by our circle of friends.



Nu Zami then delivered a short speech, talking about various things from the times we were all just kids and how we used to play basketball together on their courtyard, to the last few days of Mapuia and his suffering in the ICU. She also spoke about Maremtea, Mapuia's brother who passed away six years ago. It was very hard not to let a tear roll down. 







After that, the programme was thrown open to anybody who would like to stand up and share what they would like to say. Mazualtea and Rintluanga stood up and talked about Mapuia and his qualities and how he used to make anybody around him laugh, and what a bright person he used to be during his school days.



As the programme came to an end, Robert conducted the prayer service, which was followed by all of us standing up to say the Lord's Prayer together....





After the programme we had the refreshment (ok technically we had it earlier since BSa was late, but since it's supposed to be after the programme, I'm just putting it like that here :P )







It was tea and noodles mixed with some other stuff. We all ate our fill.













Before parting our separate ways, we all took a couple of group photos together. Click on the image below to enlarge to a new tab if you want.



What is sad, is the fact that our circle keeps getting smaller and smaller. But then again, that's life. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. 

I recently came across a new song by W.A.S.P. called "Miss you". First of all, I couldn't believe the band is still around! And secondly, the song is awesome and still follows the 80's glam rock style of music. Hence to end this post, I would like to dedicate this really touching and melancholically beautiful song to Mapuia. Cheers my brother, until we meet again. Ryders for life.



Lost inside a room
A priest at the door with news
Said you're gone
Now I knew
My world was broken in two
I pray that you were here
To hold my heart

I hide myself in your bed
Crying myself now
Oh God I miss you
Tell me can you hear me
Oh God I miss you
Can't scream and I can't speak
Show me now
Will I ever be free
From you...

...

Chp 596. Mizoram vacation photo-journal

So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish. Now you don’t have to be a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fan to understand the relevance, especially since my last blog post was about fishing in Mizoram. After 20 days of bliss in Mizoram, my vacation was finally over and now it's back to the grind here in Pune.

I have already written three blog posts regarding my visit back home, about going home, taking part in our traditional Mizo Christmas and New Year feast, and fishing in Kolasib Mizo style. Here are a few more updates, and I'll also be updating a few other topics in the upcoming days.

Reaching home after almost a year, the first thing I did when I got back was visit daddy’s grave. Mom made a new flower assortment with "fresh" plastic flowers for decoration.



Went to the grave with my sister, niece and driver, where we cleaned the old decorations and gave it a quick makeover. We placed plastic vines around the tomb, nailing them tightly on the artificial turf.








I also planted a really late wreath on my dear friend and bro Mapuia’s grave. Better late than never. Mapuia passed away on November last year and our group of friends conducted an official memorial service for Mapuia earlier this year, which I'll blog about later. As of now, these flowers served as a memory of how much I'm gonna miss him...



As Oscar Wilde once said (The Canterville Ghost) - "Yes, death. Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace." Our Chaltlang cemetery had this definite feeling of peace and aura of serenity around the place as other people too turned up to spend a quiet and peaceful moment with their dearly departed friends and family members.








Another thing that I did immediately upon reaching home was wait for the garbage truck early in the freaking morning. That is something I can do only in Mizoram :)

Unlike most metros in India where we usually leave our garbage bags outside our apartment door and somebody comes to collect them, or leave them at a garbage bin near our house where a garbage truck comes to collect it later, in Mizoram, the citizens themselves are directly involved in disposing of their garbage. Every alternate morning, garbage trucks drive across different localities, ringing their bells "ting ting ting ting ting". They have designated stops on their routes, and people come out whenever the truck comes by and pass their garbage bags to the garbage-men on the truck.

Early morning garbage disposal time is also the perfect time to catch up with neighbors and trade local gossips :D This time, I had my two wonderful nieces helping me with the garbage disposal. Here is us waiting for the garbage truck. Garbage-fie!




Another unique thing about Mizoram is our annual "No Vehicle Day". Every year, just before Christmas and New Year, a large portion of the city is declared a "No vehicle zone". On such days, people come out on the streets, the main road, and walk around with friends across the city in the middle of the road. On this day, people also put up roadside shows, roadside food stalls, parade in uniform, sing carols etc.

I too decided to experience the "No Vehicle Day" walk again. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any friends to accompany me, and so I walked alone, walking this lonely road, the only one that I have ever known, don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone...










Here is another lonely but cozy picture - my sister's cats. As it was really cold, they were always there in front of the electric room heater. I eventually ended up taking a selfie with them as well :P






And since it was cold, my mom gave me a surprise Christmas gift! An electric blanket! I had never slept in one of those before, and it was extremely effective. Thank you mom for this.



The first night though, I didn't sleep well at all as I kept having nightmares of being electrocuted. I wonder why? :P

The next day on Christmas, before the Church service started, we all went to daddy's grave again to spend some time there.







Yup, our Chaltlang cemetery is extremely beautiful on Christmas day. I didn't manage to capture it on my mobile phone camera, but I also saw a lot of people from my locality who were cleaning and decorating a neighboring grave that didn't seem to have visitors. That moment really melted my heart. Nobody, not even the departed, should feel alone or left out on Christmas.

Here is one last shot of our Chaltlang cemetery.






I also got to attend my first "Project Z.E.R.O CosPlay" event held on the rooftop of Millennium Centre. But then, I was a bit late, and so didn't get to see most of the costumes. But I did see them all again when those pics were uploaded on Facebook.

Below are my five favorite CosPlays of that day. Do click on this Facebook link - Project Z.E.R.O 2015 Cosplayers to see the rest of the beautiful participants. Don't forget to "like" their page as well.












I too got motivated with all the cosplays and ended up buying a short katana and a dao (which you might have seen in my previous post) at the venue. I got the katana at a good bargain of 2500 bucks, while the dao was hand crafted by a Mizo bladesmith and it cost me 500 bucks. The shopkeeper told me, "He chem hi chu Mizo pa siam ngei a ni" which translated into "This blade was forged from the deepest circle of hell using the blood of a dragon and tears of a virgin". :P

Dressed in my black suit and the katana and dao in my hand, I was living the fantasy of cosplaying as a Yakuza gang member! :)










Speaking of Yakuza and things that are not spoken of in public, I finally got to see what a "liquor permit" looked like. For those unaware, Mizoram came out of prohibition last year, with the implementation of the MLPC (Mizoram Liquor Prohibition and Control) Act. That means sale of alcohol is no longer illegal in Mizoram, but it can only be sold (by designated outlets) to only those people who own a liquor permit card.

While attending my local Church Christmas and New Year service, many of the sermons laid a lot of stress on the evils of alcohol, and that parish members who owned a liquor permit card should not be allowed to hold any Church offices or responsibilities, like conducting prayers or even collecting offerings during a service.

The liquor permit card is like a Passport that allows the owner to buy a specific number of alcohol per month, and every time he or she purchases alcohol, it is marked clearly in the book and stamped by the concerning vendor.

Here it is, the infamous liquor permit card. Owner's details have been censored to protect her privacy.














So basically, those people who own a liquor permit card stand on a long queue in front of the designated outlet to buy booze. When I went home this time, all alcohol outlets were closed down because of Christmas and New Year (hence the reason why many of my friends "stocked up" in advance), but just to get a feel of what it's like to stand in such a line, here is me standing in front of the MIFCO outlet at Millennium Centre. :D



Apparently, the spot where I'm standing above is where the queue usually starts once the counter opens :)

So I guess this is it for this update, do continue watching this space for more Mizoram vacation updates coming up in the next few days.

Cheers!