Mumbai Tuisunsuo 01/03/09 Vol 1 Issue 26

Delhi Memoirs - A Valentine’s Day That Wasn’t!

-John K. Dulian

Some of my best memories of Delhi are associated with the ‘dhaba’, be it Ganga Dhaba in JNU, Patel Chest, Ber Sarai, Jawahar Nagar, Nehru Vihar or a Gandhi Vihar. For evening tea at any of these ‘dhabas’ was one of the most sacred of rituals in the life of a student in Delhi. It was not the tea per se that brings hoards of students (both ladies & gents) together in these dhabas, more than the tea, it was the camaraderie and the endless discussions and debates on topics as varied from Hollywood to lab dissection to politics to deep-sea diving to music which brought us together. Almost everything on anything used to be discussed (perhaps this is why these dhabas have been a fertile ground for so many successful men & women). But no topic ever came close to “Love & Heartbreak”. Be it students of all streams (physics, maths, economics, literature etc.), of different political leanings (leftist, rightist or centrist), of different races (Biharis, NE, South Indians, Bengalis etc.) none of us could escape the topic that is LOVE.

I distinctly remember that cold wintry evening on Valentine’s Day eve, I was with some of my friends sipping our customary evening tea, discussing and debating how commercialized the Valentine’s Day have become. We were having a good time laughing at the clichéd joke – Children’s Day is celebrated on the 14^th of November because it marks nine month of Valentine’s Day. But amidst all these laughter and gaiety some of us were sad, sad because, for some, 14th Feb reminded us of the good times spent with lovers who were miles away, for some of us it reminded us of the good times spent with ex-lovers, for some it reminded us of the love that was unacknowledged, for some it reminded us of our sad love lives and some of us we were sad because of the pain some of our friends were going through. To our consolation, this mutual sadness brought us together as friends more than ever before.

After the tea, as was the practice, we went to drop our lady friends first to their respective hostels. On our way, a friend of mine asked me what I thought was a very simple yet profound question. She asked me “Is there anything more beautiful and pure as two people falling in love?” To this I said no, there is nothing more beautiful and pure as two people in love, in love enough to be no longer two people but one, to be in love enough to have and to hold, through young and though old, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad times, in weakness and in strength, no, there is nothing more pure or beautiful than that, and I am sure, even the good Lord would approve of it. But her next question troubled me. She said “Why is it then that, when two people are in love, people just don’t let them be and leave them alone and let them the carry on with their lives. Why is it that, something which is so pure and beautiful is inevitably disturbed?” What was I to tell her? I could understand, if two lovers were to mutually agree and part ways and separate. I could still understand, if one lover, no longer able to love the other dumps him or her. But like her, at that moment in time, I too was unable to answer her question. Rather, I meekly promised her to sleep over it and answer her the next day.

Tossing and turning in my bed, I thought about my friend’s question. I was surprised to realize how all the great romances in our literature, folk lore and movies never had a happy ending. Right from Romeo and Juliet, Zawllai & Buma, Jack & Rose in Titanic, Devdas & Paro, none of them had a happy ending. But perhaps, it’s the sad endings to their tales, which have made their tales endure through the ages. But that still failed to answer the question. I’ve been through my share of love and break ups and the subsequent bliss and heartache that accompanies it. All I can do is quote someone who once said, “If you really love someone, then let it fly away. If it comes back, it’s for yours to keep forever. If it doesn’t come back, it was never yours in the first place”. This in way comforted me, for I knew, we humans, unlike animals are blessed by the good Lord with the wisdom to judge for ourselves what is right or wrong for us and what is good or bad for us. And that, no matter what, unlike animals, we as humans can never be and will never be caged. It may take days, it may take months or it may take years, God willing, NO MATTER WHAT, TRUE LOVE WILL ALWAYS FIND ITS WAY. With these thoughts I drifted back to sleep.

Chanchin Lawrkhawm

~ MHWA member ni lai zing le PG hnesaw taka enkawl mek Pi Lalnunghtieng, kum-35 chun a chatuon ram voituok dar khan Churachandpur Civil Hospital ah a mi lovin in lawi san tah.Voituk la la khan nunghak tlangval tlawmngai tak tak le ruolthra,laina fe khomin,ama PG ah fe khomin,hunser neiin hlasak lengkhawmna nei nghal a ni bawk.Lusun sungkuo hai a biekin tuta Mumbai-a um zing Bethsebi le Apui trongtraipui zing ei tiu.Voizantieng inkhom trin hin an in-ah Welfare le Fellowship hin dar 5:00 pm ah Ralna Prokram nei a tih.

~ Ei ni lai hunsawt tak an hung hmang hnungin Rev Ruolhei Pakhuongte le a naunu Joyce Pakhuongte hai chu tuta kar liemta khan Churachandpur tieng an lo kir nawk tah

~ Joseph Lalpiengrem khom,kum 3 lai Big Village tieng-a Val-upa a ni hnungin,Kolivery ma ma ti in,Kalina sungril tieng a lo insawn lut nawk tah.

~ Ei tlangval hriet lar James Daihmingthang Pudaite le Mumbai member hlun le Vakola Val-Upa ti thei hiel ding Lalthakhum(Buonga) hai chu hung tlung ding karthar hin khuo tieng suok dingin an in singsa mup mup.

~ Ei nunghakte Esther Lalnunghnem chu an school St Mary’s huoihawtna hnuoi-a International Play Competition-ah Best Child Artist a lo lak thruoi.MT chun a suong hle el baka,a lawmpui hle a nih.

~ SSC hnuoia a Graduate level Mains exam chu la fe zingin,voisun hih a tumtiek ni ding an tah.Exam ei member a pe hai,Lalthakhum Khawbung(Buonga),Jacob Lalmalsawm Shakum le Stephan C Hmar.

TAWNGBAU LAKKHAWM

“Surat-ah bat thrin in ka fe”

Nk Eli Khawbung

“Lalal hi License a nei ve ngei ngei a trul anih....forever in kan in trawm thei naw lein..annawleh haw le khom a limit uma haw ding..”

Tv Daihmingthang

“ Mumbai tlangval hai in zei naw taluo..ka nghok..Aizawl ah..Second hand thuomhnaw-in ka hang sumdawng dai ding”

Nk Neihlupui

“Kalina lai chau kha Khawvel um lova..kalina kilkhawr lai ei in vak kawtlawk kawtlawk-a..changkang na ding um lova..ei ni khom tulai ei khat chauvin ei um ve char char ani hi tie..”

Tv Joseph Lalpiengrem Joute

“keikhom tulai chu kan runin in rieng taka,khawsawt deuvin ngaiman um si lovin kan let top top”

Nk Chingngaizuol(Zuolte)

“ A rawl tha’m cha’t dan sawh..mi i khel rieu anih..kelsa khom khah a hme ding choi ngei ngei ro..”

Tv Joe Songate

“In-nei hnung-a(Kohran dan angin) Lalrothang a la broken heart zing el hih..ka hriet theim thei lo anih....”

Senior Mem-Bhai,MT Lenglai Gurup

“ Ti naw ta lan,ka tupa,tulai double shift ei nei-a, darkar 14 zet sin ei thaw-a ni hi tie”

Pi Sarpui Tusing

“Tulai Zari a um an naw…? ama khom in trong tir ro...a trongna a sawt ta khawo el..”

Ed Board

MT believe it or not

Ei tlangval threntkhat~Sangbhai chun Do le Reuben annih a ti-a~ BMC hai tui(water) hun sawt tak dawng thra ta lo...thaw dan ding um nghal ta lo chu….SlumDog Millionaire-a a star hai khoma an la thaw ngai der lo ding iem a thaw in ringa…???..Bisleri tui in mawng a sawp thrui !!!