Apr 24, 2010

Ramblings

A certain friend of mine complained once that my blog is too irregular and way too serious … well, the word he used was ‘depressing’! He should have known, it was my intention to keep it that way! But anyway, a serious rambling could also indeed spice up the “depressing” blog! And about the irregularities, well, I have to work on that…. But on my defense, I just can’t write without being inspired.

So here you are…

Random facts about me you just might not know!

· When I was 6, I fell from the dining table. Yes. The dining table (God knows why I was up there!). I had temporary blindness for a couple of days because I hit my head and supposedly my optical nerves were badly swollen. I don’t know how that could happen. I blame that accident for my myopic eye. I know, it doesn’t make sense. But I still like playing the blame game.

· I was 7; I fell from the fourth floor to the second floor of our building. I was in crutches for a week. That didn’t stop me from getting into a fight with a boy from our locality who made fun of my limping. My brother came to my help, but I already had my fair share of victory… That boy should’ve known crutches have multiple uses!

· I was 3 when I ‘volunteered’ to be the hair model for my 5 year old brother’s skills with the scissors. My mom almost fainted when she saw us that evening. Ed with his hair gnawed off into several patches; my previously shoulder length hair could now expose one ear and was grazed up to the neck on the other side. I think I would have looked fashionable… if only the emo hair was in!!

· My pinkie toe is larger than the one next to it. I get picked for my big pinky a lot! What can I do?? Basic genetics coming to play!!

· I wrote a song when I was 5. Yeah! Three songs, in fact, and in English. Brilliant me, I just started the English alphabet that year itself. My dad was witty enough to type them down and laminate it. Well, it’s just a jumble of all the English words I learnt in school, so sometimes it doesn’t make sense, my brothers don’t even call them songs. BUT, I wrote them out and sang them to my Grandma then and there( Yes, my dad note this down too. Bless him! )… so I still call them songs. :P Maybe one of these days, I’ll scan it down and post them… just for the heck of it!

· My first respond to my brother’s attempt in teaching me English “What is your name?” was "Ka nem lo”! I think I picked it up from some Thangkura audiotapes (I’m a big fan).

· I pulled out three of my own teeth with a string before I was 10!!! I was scared of dentists. So much that I’d rather do the job myself when my tooth starts shaking, I’ll hunt for sai-la. Running to parents with bleeding gums is compulsory after that!!

· My brother’s would never let me join their football games when I was a kid. I was never about me being a girl! I always get thrown out because I was too rough!! The boys from the other team always ended up with torn shirts if I played.

· Chukchu was Churchuk for me till I was 9, Dumka was dumde till I was around 7.

· I was caught smoking a churut with my cousins and my brothers at a friend’s garden. I was 8!! The price of having only boys to hang out with. The youngest one among our group, when his parents interrogated him, answered “Pak tum tauh” (Pak thum chauh). By the way, I don’ smoke. I started early, quitted early! :D

· I had my first crush when I was 14… I know, I’m a late starter. It was on a guy from an Irish boyband, beyond the seven seas; who doesn’t know I exist and ….later turn out to be gay!! 11 years later, I ‘googled him’ and ‘youtubed’ him and realized that my heartstrings are still tugged when he gave that lopsided smile. Sigh!! The charms of a gay guy!

· Talk about being a late starter… I had my first kiss at 22. I was ‘saving’ myself for the right person. I still kiss the same guy. Lucky Bastard!

· I cracked my front teeth biting on chhurpi in Bhutan. Don’t want to use dentures just yet. I’m still roaming around with cracked tooth! L

Randomness indeed!!!

Apr 20, 2010

The Licking Tribe


It was my fresher year in Delhi. Dr. Thangtea, the then Education Minister was the Chief Guest for the DMZP fresher meet. As much as I respect the guy and his achievements, I grunted when he mentioned a particular topic during his well prepared speech. He talked about the Japanese people and their perseverance and self discipline and mentioned with great enthusiasm about how they even restrain themselves from eating salt. I snorted. On the way back, B.Zara, a senior and a friend disagreed passionately on the salt-restraining trait of the Japanese. I grinned, I am going to like this guy not because he ‘beaked’ his lips when he speaks with a ‘certain’ sing song accent or because he walks with a certain gait (Sorry, Pu Kel)… but because he also has a passion for salt.


Darwin believed that humans have an ape-ancestry. I prefer the biblical beginning. But if I have to argue that I have an animal ancestry, I will have to say that I have a goat-ancestry. Because I cannot live without salt! And I don’t mean just without salty food, I mean without licking salt!


Asangba, a Naga friend of mine and a great cook often invites me for lunch and dinner. And no matter how well cooked and well seasoned the dishes are, I’ll always hunt around for salt after having a morsel. And once I do, he’ll start worrying and follow me with strings of “Isn’t it salty enough?” questions. I usually just tell him I need to lick salt. Puzzled, he asked me once “Zuali, I’ve seen you cook, I’ve eaten Mizo food too. And your dishes are never that salty!!” I grinned “We, Mizos are the licking tribe”. Now, every time I get invited to taste his cooking, he’ll always make sure that the salt container is right next to me ‘lest the Mizo belle loses her appetite’.


Have you ever noticed that in traditional Mizo feasts, there will always be a packet or a plate of salt with a teaspoon at the end of the buffet. I have noticed this is not so with other tribes or people. Back in my college days, my best friends were mixtures of Khasis, Nagas and Garos. And I get invited a lot to their traditional festivals and feasts. I’ve noticed, they never have free flowing salt at the end of the buffet table. And there came a time when I finally got around to bringing a mini container of salt for myself whenever I get invited to such buffet feasts. The heights!!!


Last summer, a Mizo couple got married here in Delhi. The wedding feast was catered and the wedding party happened on the Army Cantonment grounds. And since it was catered, we didn’t eat Mizo food. While we were on the buffet line piling our plates with food, two Mizo aunties who were just in front of me started complaining that there was no salt in the buffet. I grinned!!


Maybe it’s just one of the things that we, Mizos as a whole, generally practice. I don’t know if we all agree on that.


But we do agree that Mizos sing well… right!? :D


A garo friend of mine once mentioned that Mizos have big heads! I shot him an acidic glare…"Mizos have big heads to contain the extra brains that we have unlike Garos whose brains are painfully miniscule that even their small heads are hollow .”

Well, that argument is another story altogether.