Sunday 19 December 2021

Zirna leh Thiamthil Dangte

Kumin 2021-ah CYMA chuan kumpuan thupui atan “Zirna Uar Kum” a rawn thlang leh a, kan hnam hian zirnaa hmasawn kan duh zia a tilang hle awm e. Zirna kan tih hian Sap Missionary ten khawthlang lam leh khawvel zau zawk thiamna mil zirna (modern education) hi kan rilrua lang lian ber niin a hriat. Nu leh pate pawhin an fate zirna in ropui hrang hrang aṭanga degree sang tak tak hlawhchhuak turin an fuih a, chu’ng degree hmang chuan sorkar hna hmuh an beiseipui fo thin. Zirna hi a pawimawh viau reng a; mimalah hmasawnna a thlen a, retheihna aṭangin mi a khaichhuak fo a, chhungkua leh khawtlang tana mi ṭangkai a siam a, ram leh hnam tana mi chhenfakawm a chher ṭhin. Zirna  hlut zia hi sawi nep chi a ni hauh lo, hmasawn kan tumna tur pawimawh tak a ni. Amaherawhchu, he khawvel danglam zelin a ken tel zirna kan ngaihpawimawh ang hian, sikula kan zirchhuah ni lo, kan pi leh pute aṭanga thiamna chi hrang hrang kan inhlanchhawn te hi kan hlut zual zel a tul viau awm e. 

Hnam dangin min chim hmaa kan pi leh pute nundan kan mitthla thiam theuh anga, vawiina kan khawsak phung nen a danglamna tepawh kan hre ṭheuh awm e. Khang hun laia an nunphung entawn vek a rem tawh lo a, khawvel danglam zel mila kan insiamrem a tul fo. Chutih rualin kalsan mai loa vawn nun zel tur erawh thliar thiam a ṭul viau awm e. 

Kan hnam zia rang (culture) tilang thei thiamthil (indigenous skills) chi hrang hrang - puan tah, la deh, thiam hnang deh (em, thlangra, hawng, adt.), kan ram leilung, sik leh sa mila lo neih leh hnam lam chi hrang hrang te hi kan Mizona tichiangtu, kan identity kan phochhuah theihna hmanraw pawimawh a ni. Kan khawvel tawn mekin a zir loh avangin thiamthil kan sawi te hi tuna ṭhalai tam zawk leh ṭhang leh thar lo awm zel tur tam zawk chuan kan thiam ve dawn lo niin a lang.

Tun aṭanga kum sawmthum a vei leh hunah chuan Mizo zingah bachelor/master/doctorate degree nei sang tel kan pun belh ang; kan pi leh pute aṭanga thiamthil kan inhlanchhawn ve thung te hi mi engzatin nge la vawng nung zel ang? Puanchei tah thiam kan awm loh hun te, êm tah thiam kan awm loh hun te, cheraw kan thiam kan awm loh hun te, hla do chham thiam kan awm loh hun te, mut hmuna Liandova te unau thawnthu hmanga tu leh fate awi mu tur kan awm loh hun a thleng mai angem? Chu’ng hunah chuan Mizo kan nihna a bo ang kan ti lo a; khawi hmunah pawh awmin, eng thawmhnaw pawh hain, eng ṭawng pawh hmang ila Mizo kan nihna hi a bo thei lo, amaherawhchu kan Mizona, hnam dang laka kan danglamnate engtin nge kan lanchhuah tir tak ang?

Keini YMA member te hian degree sang tak tak nei, hna ropui tak tak thawkte kan ngaihsan ang hian thiamthil kan tarlan takte leh tarlan loh pawimawh dang vawng nung tlattu, kan khawtlanga nula leh tlangval kutthemthiam leh taima em em te hi kan chawimawi a, an thiamna kan hlut sak hi a pawimawhin kan tihmakmawh a ni. Chu chuan ṭhang leh thar lo awm zel turah ṭhahnemngaihna leh phurna a tuh anga, kan pi leh pute thlarau zahawm tak kha a nung reng dawn a ni.

Kan pi kan pu mi huaite,

Dan ṭha kha mawi kan ti;

Ṭhian chhan thih an ngam fo ṭhin,

An hming a thang bawk si.

Keini’n chu dan chu zawmin,

Huai taka din kan tum;

Mizo kan ni kan hmel a ṭha,

Kan tum a sang bawk si.” - Rokunga


Note : Article ziah hi ka thiam lem lo nangin kan veng YMA chanchinbu enkawltute ṭhahnemngaihna zarah he thu tawi hi ka ziak ve a, min lo chhuak sak ve hlauh a ni ☺️



Thursday 8 April 2021

Review of Wild Hearts by Somte Ralte

 

WILD HEARTS

 

Somte Ralte

BlueRose Publishers (October 2019)

Soft Cover Rs. 149/- (78 pp)

ISBN 978-93-5347-782-0

 

Wild Hearts, a collection of 47 poems, takes us into the recesses of Somte Ralte’s mind as she explores the multifaceted world of a young girl growing up in Northeast India. Using language that is simple and “near to the real language” used in everyday life, she addresses issues that have bearings on the lives of youths desiring and struggling to add meanings to their lives. This collection is deeply rooted in the poet’s own experiences as she talks about religion, romance, friendship, society, mental health and herself. The first poem in the book, dedicated to the city of “eternal romance”, is a reminder of how places and lived experiences shape people and their worldviews. That Somte Ralte pays affectionate homage to the city that was home to her for almost a decade during her school and college days is no surprise as she compares it to a “fairy godmother” -

I am so much of you

Made by your caresses

Moulded by your touch

Softened by your sights.

It becomes rather apparent, as we turn the pages of this collection, that Somte Ralte feels deeply and is acutely aware of what transpires around her; she finds inspiration in what might be considered trivial and in   significant by some. She finds beauty in places where it is least expected, and solace in inconvenient spaces. And yet, where the rest flock to for redemption, she finds faults as is discernable in her poems like “Back, to Back”. For someone born into a community where Christianity is as much a way of life as it is a faith, to suggest that the church and its members may not be doing enough to follow in the footsteps of the “Master” demands courage and conviction. Somte Ralte seems to lack neither as she muses –

But pulpit -thumpings and gospel dances

Have not illuminated nor

Mended hearts that seek merely

acceptance and not judgments.

This poem echoes her fears that the gospel would be used as an instrument for exclusion – of the unlovable, the outcasts, the have-nots and the weary. Though in some of her writings she comes across as optimistic and even playful in her perception of the world, it is evident that she has questions that weigh heavily on her. Her poem “In This Part of Heaven” asks –

We talk unending, of education –

Its illumination and broadening of young minds

But why is it, my love

That they can’t stand an illuminated mind?

She takes no pain to conceal her frustration at the perceived lack of willingness to explore beyond restrictive conventions and traditional ideals. Perhaps it is because she realises how lonesome the world is, for those who find themselves on the periphery of the society, voiceless and unheard, that she tries to reach out to them through her art. Many of her poems are ripe with the intention to uplift and empower as she encourages the silenced to speak up and tell their stories. She promises to listen and stay, for as long as it takes. The poet seems to take on the role of a shoulder to cry on for her readers, as she constantly positions herself among those whose lives had been “broken and torn” but also “mended and repaired”. The importance of self love and self acceptance, and the cruciality of taking care of one’s mental health is a recurring theme in her poems.

Somte Ralte also explores the burdens that come with belonging to a minority community in a country with diverse cultures. In her poem “What’s in a Name Anyway?”, she explains why she chose to be “Somte” as a teenager studying outside her home state –

All you wanted was to fit in among

Peers who were prone to dismiss you.

....

Your name was prone to misspelling

“Sawmi” as “Swami” –

And each syllable of your name

Pronounced to bear different meanings:

“Laal” for the colour red

“Maal” for an article, but has sexual connotations

“Swami” for addressing the yogi or the husband.

Several of Somte Ralte’s poems are confessional; she bares her heart out and exposes herself as a hopeless romantic. Words, once they are uttered, hold special places in her heart and she cherishes them as much as she values memories of past relationships and encounters with people she keeps close to her heart. For her, perfection is easy to find. All her cares and worries vanish when she is in the company of people she adores, regardless of where they are –

It was perfect, just you and i

With no care in the world

There was that look in your eyes

That something only i could see

But alas, perfect afternoons do not always last! Like the “flighting sunset’, times spent with loved ones come to an end all too soon. But the poet remains hopeful that she will be remembered the same way she remembers –

...brevity does not

Necessarily curtail longevity;

And I hope from now on, in every sunset

You will have me in your heart.

To read Somte Ralte’s poems is to discover her and her idiosyncratic passion for life. Her poems usher us through varied moods and emotions. As her readers, we share her victories and happiness as well as her loss and her pain as she actively engages with us in her colloquial tone.  She writes the same way she chooses to live, refusing to be dictated by rules and duties. Her verses and her spirit are free – unabashed, unhindered, unafraid. She creates her own world wherein she resists normative expectations –

But I am a free spirit,

Too large to contain in a casket

Too heavy to carry by a calculative heart

Too light to weigh on a prejudiced scale.

 

Thursday 25 March 2021

ONE DAY


one day I will be ready to love a man

wholly and without any fear

and when that day comes

I will love him hard

like it doesn’t matter

where the sun rises

or sets at the end of the day

 

when that day comes

I will make sure that he knows

there is no one else

and that I will always be there

on his good days

and more importantly

on his bad days

 

when that day comes

I will look into his eyes

and hold him tight

and tell him I love him

more than I love sunsets

and that I long for him

more than the promises of the horizon

 


when that day comes

I will not try to be strong on my own

I will allow myself to be vulnerable

and cry when my heart is heavy

I will let him hold my hand

while my scars

and my bruises heal

 

when that day comes

I will remind myself everyday

that to truly love a man

is to love his Creator

more than anything else

for without Him, I am nothing

and I would not want to be nothing

for the man I love wholly and without any fear