Top 10 Mizo Stories - II

6. Raldawna leh Tumchhingi

Who would not like this story? It's got everything. There's the prettily decked out bride-to-be Tumchhingi that got eaten by an ogress. There's also the typical male who the ugly ogre fooled into believing that she was really the same pretty woman he was going to marry. (I don't even know if this is just stupid or kinda sweet. Stupid because hello! it's an ogre, not even an ugly human. And sweet because despite the horrendous appearance, he married her anyway because in his simple little heart he believed that she was the once beautiful girl he chose to marry.)

It's an interesting story because in one lifetime the heroine went through extremely uncommon and dramatical changes - first she was a pretty lady, then she became food, then she was shit, then a Mango tree, then again a Mango fruit, then a Mango seed - here she alternated daily between being a seed and a woman, then finally back into a woman for good.

There's also some gore. In the end there was a show-off between the Ogre and Tumchhingi - refereed by Raldawna who did not play very fair. He gave Tumchhingi a very sharp knife but a very blunt one to the Ogre. Tumchhingi cut off the Ogre's head with one blow. And Tumchhingi and Raldawna lived happily ever after.

Read full story here.

5. Kungawrhi

I like Kungawrhi because of her unusual birth. She was born out of her father's pus-filled thumb. She was a tiny baby that was fed half a grain of rice, then as she grew up, a full grain of rice and so on till she grew up into a beautiful young lady. It's a really long story so let's see which parts I don't want to miss out....

There was this young man visiting their village who fell in love with her and wanted to marry her but in fact he was a Keimi (Weretiger again :P), but no one knew that of course. He decided to smoke Kungawrhi's father's footsteps (?) and make him sick (how is this supposed to work? I suppose gather the sand under the footstep, wrap it up and hang it over the fire..?).

Kungawrhi's father fell seriously sick, and after he had given up hope in all possible cures, he sent out word that if anyone could cure him, he will give them his beautiful daughter's hand in marriage. The Keimi took down Kungawrhi's dad's footstep package :D from the fireplace, and the dad recovered from his sickness immediately and as promised, gave him his daughter.

The Keimi was taking Kungawrhi to his Keimi village but on the way, they came upon a flooded river making it impossible to cross (not for tigers though). So the Keimi turned into a tiger, told his wife to hang on to his tail and swam across with her hanging on for dear life. But there was a little old woman nearby who saw it all and ran home to report all that she had witnessed in the forest. (One also feels compelled to wonder what this little old woman was doing all alone so deep in the forest).

Anyway, when Kungawrhi's father realised that he had just married off his daughter to a Keimi, he sent out word yet again that anyone who rescue her daughter would have her hand in marriage. Two young men Pathira and Hrangchala (?) set out to rescue her and it's full of magical adventure - a trip to the Keimi village, there were also 'rock seeds,' 'water seeds,' and 'thorn seeds' that they used to ward off the pursuing Keimi while fleeing from the Keimi village.

On their way home to their village, Kungawrhi was stolen by Khuavangs (spirits) and was dragged below to their underground village. (See pic - this is called Kungawrhi's cave and is supposedly where the Khuavangs dragged her down. It is located between the villages of Farkawn and Vaphai in Mizoram)Pathira and Hrangchala once again ventured into the underworld to rescue her, and when they were getting out the cowardly Hrangchala cut off the vine they used to climb out after he and Kungawrhi got out, trapping Pathira in the Khuavang village. He stayed there and married and had kids while he planted a new vine and waited for it to grow.

When the plant was tall enough, he escaped and went back to their village, beheaded Hrangchala's head in rage while he was sitting right next to Kungawrhi. He married Kungawrhi since her husband was now headless :P The only thing that bothers me about this story is that Kungawrhi sounds like she may have been a bit retarded.

4. Chawngchilhi

And next, something a little scandalous. Chawngchilhi had an affair with a serpent and was so obsessed with her lover that she would even deny her little sister her food so the serpent could eat. Every day Chawngchilhi and her sister (who is disappointingly nameless by the way) would go to their farm, and when it was lunchtime she would send her little sister to go call the serpent. The sister would go out on the hill and call -

Rulpui aw, rulpui aw
Ka nu'n zuang rawh a ti, ka pa'n zuang rawh a ti

And the serpent would reply from the adjacent hill -

Ka zuang nang e, ka zuang nang e
Bahsam ka zial lai tak a Bah diar ka khim lai tak a

And then he could be heard slithering through the forest, closer and closer till he reached their hut and settled in a huge coil on the floor. Then they would eat, and when the little sister tried to help herself to the meat, Chawngchilhi would tell the serpent "Rula, bite her!" And so because she never got enough food she grew very thin.

Their father when he saw how thin his younger daughter had become was understandably concerned and asked her why. Because she was afraid of her sister and the serpent, she refused to tell him but in the end he managed to pry out from her the whole story about her sister and her illicit relationship with the serpent.

The angry father made Chawngchilhi stay home one day, telling her she works so hard on the farm every day he wanted her to rest. He went to the farm with the younger sister, and when it was lunchtime, he made the daughter call the serpent so she went to the hill and called him the usual way. The serpent also responded and came slithering as usual..only to have his head cut off by the father's waiting machete. He cut the snake up, left the head in the fireplace and went home.

The next day Chawngchilhi and her sister went back to the farm as usual. She was in high spirits as she missed the snake terribly. When it was time for lunch, she told her sister to call him. But when the snake did not come, she sent her sister out to call him yet again but when he still failed to show up, she decided to go out and call him herself.

When she stepped out, she suddenly saw all the snake's intestines wrapped around the brinjal plant outside their hut, and as she went around, she saw the entrails that her father had wrapped around other plants and over the roof I think...She realised that her father had killed her lover and weeping went back inside the hut where she found the snake's head on the fireplace.

Now comes the really weird part - she took the head and stuffed it up between her legs! She went home with the snake's head tucked in her crotch but she found her father lying across the front door. She asked her father to move and he said it was okay, she could just step over him. She then said she couldn't do that as she was menstruating, and the father said "Who cares if it's my own daughter's blood" (Very disturbing!)

Finally she stepped over her father, and the head fell out of her crotch and knocked out her father's tooth. The angry father then got up, grabbed his knife and cut open Chawngchilhi's stomach. Apparently, she was pregnant with the snake's babies and hundreds of baby snakes spilled out of her stomach. Everybody went about killing the snakes, but one snake escaped and grew big and..am I confused?..but I think this snake became part of another story..

(Interestingly, I once saw a Thai movie, at least I think it was Thai, that was almost exactly similar to this Chawngchilhi story, but in the movie the snake would turn into a handsome man.)

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Now compare these characters with the Snow Whites and Cinderellas and even their evil witches seem so benign and they all become so dull and uninteresting as compared to our stories :-)

*p.s - Kungawrhi hero khi Phawthira a ni zawk e (thanks to azassk). A dik lo chu rawn report zel rawh u.

Top 10 Mizo stories - I

It's lunchtime and it's one of those days where the old brain refuses to function and it's impossible to put the equally old mind to work so I'm going to give myself a couple of hours' break and blog about these stories instead.

This is my top 10, based entirely on my personal opinion. Most are regular folktales, one is actually fact, and some are debatable :) Also, all 10 of them in one post is going to be very lengthy and too much of work so I'm going to break the list up into several posts. Let's start with number 10 - 7 on this post. I have the top 10 ready, but I'll have to wait for the next unproductive day to write about # 6 to 1.

Another debatable issue will be the accuracy of these stories. I am old and my memory is rusty and these are stories told to me decades and decades ago so it's going to be a bit like writing about a dream I had when I was a kid :)

10. Liandova te unau

This list wouldn't be complete without a rags to riches story. The story is about two orphaned, poverty stricken brothers Liandova and Tuaisiala. The brothers loved each other and took care of each other and even once shared a grain of rice (?) between them, I believe...

My favorite part of the story is when the two brothers while roaming in the forest one day walked on a fallen log to cross a little creek. The younger one, Tuaisiala told his brother after they got across that the log they walked on blinked. The older brother dismissed it since of course, logs don't blink. But Tuaisiala was so persistent that they went back and found that it was indeed really a python that had swallowed a 'Paihte' merchant and was too full to move.

To cut a long story short, they ended up with the slain Python's stomach which when they cut open held all the treasures the merchant had with him and the brothers went back to their village very rich men.

(By the way, I think we all know Python's don't blink but to me, this idea of a blinking serpent just adds to the magic of the whole story!)


9. Mauruangi

And then of course, mother-daughter love is a must too. Mauruangi's adulterous father pushed Mauruangi's mother into the river where she turned into a huge 'Thaichhawni Nu' - a type of fish (see pic - by the way, I found the taste and even the texture a bit similar to Sharks, very tasty!).

Mauruangi used to visit her mother in the water where her fish mother would lovingly feed her daughter rich food that her stepmother denies her. There was also a step-sister who found out about Mauruangi's mother in the river and so they caught the fish and feasted on it.

Mauruangi was given the heart that she asked for, and as instructed by her mother before she was caught, buried the heart in the forest. Out of the ground where she buried the heart sprung a Phunchawng (see pic) (Red Silk-cotton tree).

This is my favorite part - Mauruangi would go to the blooming tree and sing -

Ka nu, kur diam diam

Ka nu Phunchawng Darhniangi, kur diam diam

And the flower-laden branches would bend down and offer her their nectar, and Mauruangi would drink to her heart's content. Unfortunately, the step-sister found out about the tree again and so the tree was cut down. The tree cutting part still makes me cry...

The axe would swing, and the tree would crack, and then Mauruangi would sing -

Ka nu, tang fan fan

Ka nu Phunchawng Darhniangi, ka nu tang fan fan!

And the tree would stand up again. This went on repeatedly and they couldn't cut the tree down so they stuffed Mauruangi's mouth with a piece of rag so she won't be able to sing anymore and took her away. With her daughter's voice no longer pleading and encouraging her to keep standing, the tree was finally cut down and chopped to pieces. And that's the end of Mauruangi's versatile mother (though not the end of the story).

This story is definitely the saddest and most poignant of all Mizo stories for me. And it gives me a warm feeling because it makes me think of cold Mizoram nights and me and my brother and sister and my mom under a warm blanket and my mother's voice telling us this story and laughing at us when we'd all end up crying. In fact, I think I should have given it a higher rating...


8. Hlawndawhthanga

Hlawndawhthanga was a 'Keimi' - a Weretiger, or a Timan, or a Huger - if you please :P Or we could even call him a swinger - swings both human and tiger ways (and in this story, even the fairy way as well) :D Keimis are shapeshifters, in fact I think they're just like Werewolves except they shapeshift into tigers instead of wolves. And also minus all that full moon, silver bullet crap.

To be honest, I remember very little about Hlawndawhthanga except that he was very handsome, strong, brave, and everything a real man should be - and more, of course :) He was in love with the fairy queen of some forest, and I remember something about him breaking some fairy law so they set a trap for him wherein a massive log fell on top of him, and he was trapped there till he died, and I forget the rest.


7. Sawngkhara leh Chawngvungi

And of course, the quintessential love story of a love that is just not to be. We have lots of sad stories about impossible loves but as a lover of all things that has anything to do with songs and poetry and rhymes, this one stands out for me because of the beautiful nonsense lamentations spouted by the hero and other relatives when the heroine Chawngvungi died.

The very unfortunate looking Sawngkhara used Zawlaidi (the Bible calls Zawlaidi 'Mandrakes' by the way..a little off I think) to make the beautiful Chawngvungi fall in love with him. They married, had a child, and lived happily, just not ever after.

One day the big Banyan tree (or Mango tree?) outside Chawngi's mother's window started wilting, and the old woman knew immediately that that was a sign that her daughter was sick. She would look at the tree every morning, and every time a branch breaks off, she would know that Chawngi's health had also declined further. One day she looked out the window and saw that the topmost branch had died, and she said 'My daughter is now dead, it's time for me to go the their village' or something like that (:P)

(Beats me why she never thought of visiting her daughter while she was sick!)

So she went to her son-in-law's village, and shed many tears, and cried:

Chawngi, Sawnga kha han sun la

Lam ang lo let leh ang che ka tih kha, Chawngvung

(Sual thiam ve khawp mai Chawngi nu hi :P)

Which offended Sawngkhara's mother, so she replied weeping -

Chawngi, thi ka pek a duh loh a, dar ka pek a duh loh a

Kan darkhuang kher I ngen le Chawngi

Chawngvung mantam sumhluani

Sawngkhara was inconsolable, and kept crying over and over -

Chawngi, taitea tui a hal e, taitea tuia hal e

His friends started to worry that his grief would kill him so they decided to take him out to the hills and the mountains hoping he might feel better in the open air. They took him up on the hills, but when they got there they saw the entire area was awash with Tuangtuah blooms and this made Sawngkhara cry even more -

Tlanga Tuangtuah parin Chawngi hmel a iang!

His friends then took him away from there and took him to a different spot on the hill. But unfortunately, there too was another even more beautiful bloom of Chhawkhlei flowers (Rhododendrons). Maybe what he saw looked something like this?

Or maybe it was even more beautiful! If so, poor Sawngkhara! And understandably, this made him miss Chawngi even more!

Tlanga Chhawkhleiin Chawngi hmel a iang

- he cried.

And it went on like that where no matter what he did or where he was, everything reminded him of his dead love, and he could not stop crying and as feared, eventually cried to death.

(There was also something about a gong with a spirit but I'm too lazy to write any further now.)

End of story.

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Personally, I hope I never find myself on top a beautiful hill full of beautiful flowers while I'm mourning the death of someone I love. And for this, I feel for Sawngkhara. But he did tamper with nature :P

And are our Mizo folktales usually devoid of morals or I just miss them? Anyway, I love stories without morals. Stories for the sake of stories and nothing else - pure, unadulterated stories. And to me, most of these here are of those type. And I love them all for it.

Video thar!

Sanghalhriama Pa videos previously unreleased te chu release a ni ta. Han en ve teh u - Sanghalhriama Pa Kolekson - This is it!

For The Google - Hindi Content Contest

First, yes, there are prizes. You can win laptops, gift vouchers and free internet subscriptions.

I know I don't have many Hindi speaking readers - if I have readers at all. But anyway - in case anyone is interested - Google and LiveHindustan.com bring you the 'Hai Baaton Mein Dum?' Contest.

Sharing your thoughts in Hindi on the web has never been easier! If you've ever wished that there was more great Hindi content online, here's your chance to spill your heart out about the things that matter the most to you: entertainment, sports, travel, health and politics. Brick by brick, you'll be building the web in Hindi, sharing your knowledge of these topics and showing your flair for this beautiful language. So, go ahead and visit the 'Hai Baaton Mein Dum?' Contest Site and click the 'Submit your entry' button next to the topic you want to write about. There is no limit to the number of entries per contestant. Let your imagination run wild and spread the joy of sharing your thoughts in Hindi on the web!

Most overrated novels

Macavity and I have been having this little, rather heated discussion about this delightful little list of the top 10 most overrated novels. I happen to agree with the list, in fact, I think the guys who made this list were geniuses. However, Macavity sees a list of her favorite books there so she's now grumpy and disagreeable.

There are some that I haven't read so I can't comment on those - White Noise & Underworld, Confederacy of Dunces, and The Great Gatsby.

I never finished even book one of The Lord of the Ring, forget the entire trilogy. The fact that I didn't even finish the first book says enough I guess. Passage to India is just plain boring, I remember being extremely disappointed when I read it because you always heard about how good a book it was. Atlas Shrugged, I hated. The Da Vinci Code while I felt was not a bad book, I could never understand the hype. I'm a little biased on Wuthering Heights (which I adored) and Emma (neutral) because the authors are among my favorites. But I can see how these books can bore someone shitless as I've seen them do.

One Hundred Years of Solitude. What can I say about this book? I used to date this guy and things were going great but then all of a sudden, the relationship soured mysteriously. On hindsight, I now know what caused it to go bad. I gave him this book. I gave him One Hundred Years of Solitude, and it was bad enough to turn all things bad between us :D

We've been checking out other lists on the same topic. The Catcher in the Rye and the Pilgrim's Progress seems to be getting lots of votes as well. I might agree again, Catcher in the Rye while good I feel is nowhere close to being epic. Pilgrim's Progress, maybe because I never read it in English but read only the translated Mizo version. Or maybe because we studied it in school and I only ever read it as I would read a lesson, not as a book to be enjoyed.

I can think of several others I'd like to add to the list - The Fountainheads, slightly cheesy Erich Segal's Love Story - among others. Not bad books but whose extreme popularity always perplexed me.

Different folks, different strokes and all that so all good but one piece of advice, never give a bad book to a loved one :D

My Technological Romance

Have you ever thought about how complicated ending a relationship in this age of technology is getting to be? I mean the cutting ties part specifically. In the old days, all that breaking up involved was simply making a decision - by one or both parties, and coming to an agreement of sorts.

Of course, you did have some choices as to what medium you want to use. You can do it face to face, where once you're done you walk away and that marks the end of it all. Or you may be doing it over your landline phone which doesn't have the ability to store and remember phone numbers, you talk (or scream depending on the nature or extent of his sin) on the phone, and it's all over when you hang up. Or you decide to be a wimp and write a letter, it's enough dropping it in the postbox and walking away.

Look at us now...The amount of time and energy it takes to ensure there are no loose ends - assuming it's one of those nasty breakups where you know you're better off never to have any sort of contact with him again.

Let's see - you have to first delete his name off off your cellphone. If you happen to use two cellphones, that's double the work. You want to make sure you don't call him during a period of momentary weakness resulting from a momentary lapse of willpower and reason.

You also want to make sure you don't call his friends asking for his number in a momentary fit of desperation, so you'll have to see to that too - be brave and delete his friends' numbers.

Next in priority are all the other forms of instant communication - Gtalk, Skype, Yahoo Messenger, AIM...

Then there's Facebook, you'll have to delete him from your Facebook friend list.

And there's Orkut...

And any other site that you very cutely decided to join together - example, WAYN, Ask A Ninja...

You also have to remember to unfollow each other on Twitter!

Then you think you're done. But you remember you favorited that cheesy YouTube video of him and his friends graduating from high school. You mustn't forget to remove that from your favorite list.

And you know what's worse than all of these? The rare chance that you may want to kiss and forgive each other. Imagine making up after all that hard work! Think of all the intense labor that making up will entail...

This is probably one of the best reason to just go and get married. At least you can spare yourself all that trouble that way.



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Mizo Bible a James leh Jakoba te hi

Hei hi Mizo zawng zawng chuan kan zawt fo tawh hlawmin ka hria. English Bible a James tih Mizo Bible a Jakoba tih a han dah daih mai chu a inpersan em em mang e ka ti thin a, Mizo rilru ah chuan hming hrang hlak pahnih an ni sia. Ka zawt kual in mi in an discuss na te pawh hi ka en kual nual tawh a. Mahse chung zingah chuan Sap pa pakhat, Mizo tawng kawi khat mah hre lo in a rin dan a min explain sak hi a awm ang berin ka hria.

James hi chu he hming English version a lo ni ta a, Italian - Giacomo, French - Jacques, Swahili - Yakobo, Hebrew - Ya'akov, Latin - Jacobus. Bible an translate khan English James hmang lo hian Latin Jacobus atang in an la a ni thei em?

English Bible atang a translate pawh lo ni ta se, mihring hming te hi chu a original Greek atang a 'English version' a 'alter' tawh an lo ni ta a. Chuta tang a Mizo a thlak leh chhawn chuan keini Mizo version kha a 'dal' tawh dawn em avangin, a original source Greek atang a thlak tawh atanga Mizo version a thlak leh ai chuan Mizo Bible atan chuan Latin kha source language a hman zawk kha a fair pawh a fair zawk hrim hrim :-)

A original Greek anih ngati nge an hman mai loh tih hi rin thiam dan pawh a har tawh. Mahse ngatinge Greek an hman loh tih ai chuan, ngati nge Latin an hman tih chu risk a awl leh deuh. Latin an hman chhan ni thei awm chu hmanlai Rome ho hun lai atang tawh khan Latin kha biakin lingua franca, an language puipa ber a nih vang te pawh a nih ve theih hmel tho.

Peter, John, and Luke te pawh hi Latin chuan Petrus, Johannes, leh Lucas an nia. English hming atang a let lo ni ta se John te hi Johna tih mai awm ania, Latin atanga let an lo nih ngei chuan Johannes atang a Johana a dah te hian awmzia a nei deuh zawk in ka hria.

Mahse sawi tawh angin, hei chu risk khawm ania. Chiang taka hria in awm chuan min han hrilhfiah teh u.

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Thildang lawks - Web development lam thiam, free time ngah deuh in awm em? php, mysql, advanced Wordpress leh Joomla theme siam thiam, hna nei lo, in a internet connection chak tawk nei in awm a pawisa hlawh duh in awm chuan min lo contact teh u.

Mizo pangpar te leh an Sap hming

Mizo pangpar leh hnimhnah ho hi hi an Sap hming hi hriat hi lunglen changin a lem internet velah han en duh chang atan a pawimawh ve ania. Sap hming hriat miau loh chuan zawn ngaihna a vang tlats!

Hei vang hian hman deuh atang khan ka ngainat zual ho hi tlem tlem in ka hriat belh ve zel a, chung ho chu kan share ve ang e. In lunglen nikhua a in lo Google Image ve duh takin :-) (A tam zawk hi chu kei mah pawh hi ka chiang chuang lo a, a Sap leh a Mizo hming ah, a dik lo ho chu min rawn correct dawn nia).

• Anthur: Mallow (a ni thei em?). Mallow family zing ami hi chu a ni chiangin ka hria a, Grape leaved Mallow an tih hian a hnaih ber em aw ka ti deuh.

Anthur hi chu an lo hrisel ngang aniang, Pliny the Elder, Roman philosopher fing tak pawh khan ''Whosoever shall take a spoonful of the Mallows shall that day be free from all diseases that may come to him" a lo ti. (Mallow chu Anthur chu a lo nih ngei chuan....)

• Artukkhuan: The Four O'Clock Flower or Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis jalapa)

• Bal: Malanga, Tannier

• Cecilia par (kan ti mai thin a kan tet lai chuan, a Mizo hming dik tak hria in awm em?): Impatiens - Sultan's Balsam, Busy Lizzy (Impatiens walleriana )

• Chhawkhlei (hei chu kan hriat fur ka ring): Rhododendron

Chhawkhlei hi Mizoram ah ka la hmu ngai lo na a hmun dang ka zinna ah hian ka hmu zeuh zeuh. La par mawi leh par nasa ber ka hmuhna chu Melbourne ah, Dandenong tlang lam kan kalna kawng pakhatah ania, kan inti spisiality hle na a Mizoram ai chuan a par uar zawk deuh anih hmel :)

• Chuailo par: Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa)

• Hnahsin par: Cosmos (A thlalak pawh hi keima pangpar ngei leh keima lak ngei kan hmang ang e - khawvel pangpar zawng zawng a ka pangpar ngainat ber leh ka mit ah chuan mawi ber leh thinlung khawih ber leh lung ti leng ber tu :))
• Di suak (Hei pawh hi kan tet lai a kan koh thin dan ania, a chang chuan Di tlawm chi te pawh kan ti thin. A Mizo hming dik tak hi ka hre lo): Montbretia

• Dingdi (Dingdi hi kan ti thin a, mahse hei chu a hming dik lo ani chiang sak, a hming dik tak ka hre lo): Scarlet Milkweed

Heng par hi kan naupan laiin kan in kawt ah ka phun thin a. A thran duh bakah a par tha duh lutuk a enkawl ngai si lo in, mahse pangang var lian lampang a dum a tial hi an awm duh lutuk a, chuvang chuan heng pangpar hi ka hlauh phah tawp. Heng pangang hi hmun dangah pawh heng pangpar awmna ah hi chuan an awm duh aniang, 'Scarlet Milkweed' ti a ka search hian, ka result first page zing ah ka pangang sawi ang ngei chu a lo lang ve hlawl mai!A pangang hming hi Baby Monarch Caterpillar ani leh zel e :-)

• Duli par (hei pawh tet lai a kan koh dan bawk, a Mizo hming dik ka hre lo, a scientific name Dianthus kan ti thin bawk): Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus)

• Fartuah: Indian Coral Flower
• Forever par (hei pawh hi tet lai koh dan, enge Mizo hming hran a nei em ka hre lo): Moss Rose

Forever par hi chi hnih a awm thin kha, Moss Rose tia zawn pawh hian a chi hnih ve ve hian result a rawn lang ang.

• Hruipui rah: Moriche Palm (Mauritia flexuosa) (a dik full fight em ka hre lo..han chhui zawm ve teh u)

• Isua Thinlung (tet lai sawi dan bawk, official takin Mizo hming a nei em ka hre lo): Coleus

• Kumtluang par : Periwinkle (Vinca rosea)

Kumtluang par hi a Zo in a nalh ka ti hle na a, uite pangang hi an awm duh lutuk avangin ka nei duh ngai lo. (Uite pangang hi Hercules Moth Caterpillar an ti in ka hria.)

• Kungpuimuthi: Canna. Helai picture ami a sin chi ang hi chu Indian shot an ti a. A buk deuh chi khan common names hrang hrang an nei leh. Eg - Tropicanna. Heng ho hi chu a mu pawh inkhualtelem na ah chuan artui ang a kan hman thin kha.
• Nuaithang: Balsam (Bicolor rose, Garden etc)Ram Nuaithang pawh a awmhran kha. Khang kha chu Himalayan Balsam an ti. October Mizoram ka haw khan ram ka kal a, ramhnuai ah ram Nuaithang hi an lo par nasa mai a, lung chu ti leng ve tak ani! Ram Nuaithang chu hei:
• Mawza par (Hei ai a official Mizo hming a awm em ka hre lo): Salvia, Scarlet Sage

• Mitthi pangpar (hei pawh hi official deuh in enge a Mizo hming a awm ang): Lantana, Yellow Sage

• Rimenhawii (Mizo hming dik tak ka hre lo): Cypress Vine, Cardinal climber, Star Glory

• Sap pangpar: Zinnia

Sap pangpar hi ka pi huanah a par nasa thei lutuk a, ka lung hi a ti leng tawp thei lo.

• Sekhupthur (chi hrang hrang a awm thin a, hei a tam leh common ber thin): Wood Sorrel

Kan naupan lai kha chuan kan vir thei em em khawp a, a par nen lam hian kan ei quit vek thin.

• Uiteka: Snapdragon

• Zamzo: Cockscomb (Crested, Silver, Plumed etc)

Zamzo hi ka nu pangpar duh ber ani ve thung a, Zamzo ka hmuh hi chuan ka nu min ti ngai thin.
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Thil dang deuh....

Hussop: Hussop tih hi Bible ah hian a lang zing riau a, 'Hussop in mi tifai la, tichuan vur aiin ka var ang' tih te. Eng thil nge maw anih le ka ti rilru thin a, hmunphiah ang lampang chi engemawni anih dawn hi ka ti mai thin a. Kan chhui chiang chu he hnim lek hi a lo ni reng a - A hming original chu Hyssop (Hyssopus) ania, Mizoram ah ka la hmuh ngai awm ka hre lo. Lo hre palh in awm a, Mizo hming a lo neih palh hlauh a, chu chu enge tih in lo hriat palh hlauh leh phei chuan rawn contri thei ula a lawmawm viau ang.

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Mizote tan chuan heng pangpar te an Sap hming hriat loh ai a pawi zawk chu an Mizo hming pawh hriat loh hi! Mi tamtak hi kan pangpar te hming hre mang lo hi an tam lutuk a, a tha lo ka ti. Florist ah pangpar exotic, "foren" deuh deuh, hming dik tak a hre vek a order zung zung thei si a, Zamzo takngial pawh hriat leh si loh hi chu ka fate chu ni se ka vei viau ang. Mahse hei chu off topic....to each his own :-)

With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy :-)

Of shoes and carnivorous plants

I found the prettiest shoes ever while browsing online today, and I wanted them the second I laid eyes on them. I feel like if I can get those shoes on my feet, all my troubles will automatically disappear...and I will be magically transformed into a princess, and my world will only be of lace and perfumes and rainbows and only beautiful things...sigh.

I can talk about how much I love shoes forever. I mean, they're like medicine for me. When I'm sad and blue, there's one thing that always works - I go out and buy shoes. Shoes heal broken hearts, like salve on the wounds of disappointments, and soothes the pain of not having a loved one near.

And for this reason, even though I'm a total cheapskate most of the time, I will go the distance for shoes - literally. Chances are, if I find a pair that I really like, and if I can remotely afford them, I will get them regardless of the price, always with this logic: what really matters in life - happiness or just having a huge bank balance? Easy :-)

Unfortunately, those Rene Caovilla shoes cost 661.00 EUR. And that's very overpriced, even for happiness. And I'm not stupid. So bye bye shoes. I know what I can't afford...

But the good thing is that I know what I can afford. And one of those are Venus Flytrap seeds! And I have to say, I'm as excited, or maybe even more excited about getting my Dionaea muscipula seeds than I am about a new pair of shoes.

I was going to order some seeds online from this site (flytrapranch.com), but I found out different countries have different regulations about seed importation so I decided to ask the site owner first if he knew about India's seed importation rules because I didn't want to pay money for something that might not get to me. He didn't know, but he graciously offered to send me some seeds *FREE* of cost - so if it gets to me, it'll mean they're allowed. If not, I'll just have to find another way to smuggle them in.
I'm really excited about this. I'm totally scared that I will kill them all, I know they're temperate plants and my chances are slim but if I have a 1% chance of being able to grow them successfully, I'll give it a shot. In fact I now have two shots because of the free seeds - so first shot with the first shipment, then if those die, I'll buy some more seeds. And if those die again, I'll give up and pick a different carnivorous plant.

If and when the seeds get here and I can start to experiment, I'll update regularly. Wish me luck!

Attempt 1

I'm trying to save my blog, but trying to come up with a worthy post is always futile.

The only thing I can think of that's noteworthy (at least to me) is that Roman Payne is now my Facebook buddy!

Thoughts about life and family

I got back from Goa last night. I wasn't too sure about going but I was having a really great time, but I've been thinking a lot lately and realised a lot of important things about my life that I've been missing.

Like the fact that in less than 2 months, I've been on 11 long airplane rides and spent 38+ hours sitting in airplanes. I've spent roughly around 28 hours in cars and buses traveling to and from airports. All of these by myself.

And if I were to start about the time it takes to go through security checks in each airport, and the time it takes to just generally hang around and wait for your plane to land or to take off, or wait in the car stuck in traffic - I guess it might shock me how much time I actually spend on my own. And I actually complain about never having enough time on my own!

I talk a lot about how much I hate eating alone and how I never do. I never actually realised it but apparently, I've been eating 'by myself,' technically, quite a bit in the past few weeks. If I eat my lunch and dinner by myself but in a plane full of people, does it still count as eating alone?

I went to my friend's granddad's 78th year old birthday in Melbourne. That was anothing thing that sort of made me sad. It was a nice, warm family get-together - big dinner, aunts cooking, kids gorging themselves, good conversation around the dinner table...all the usual family things. I enjoyed myself, but it suddenly made me miss home and our own family dinner where we'll bring out the big pots and ladles and plates and do our own family thing.

The Mizoram trip home was good. My mother is the one person I miss all the time, and I am not even ashamed to admit this, because it's too precious to be ashamed about. These days when I go home, I only sleep with my mom. I'll get my little cousin, and we all sleep together, and talk and laugh late into the night. And there is nothing in the world better than that. Nothing.

But it bothers me that I don't talk enough with my dad. In a year, if I count all the hours I spend with my dad, it won't even make a day. I've spent more time chatting with Taxi drivers - loving fathers talking about their families, how many kids they have, what kind of future they envision for their kids, but I haven't had the time to spend enough time with my own father.

I mean, if I can talk all day to a random man I met on some lonely beach about my fears and insecurities and what about dying scares me, and what in my life hurts, and what makes me proud or happy - all with a total stranger from a different continent - why can't I with my own dad? What if I die tomorrow? Or what if he dies tomorrow? It would be so painful I wouldn't know how to deal with something like that.

I don't know what the solution is, but this is partly why I packed my bags and left Goa and my friends last night. It's not that easy - they're there having fun and I make this trip to the airport alone to leave it all and go home on my own. But I don't care. I miss Mizoram just too much right now to care too much about Goa or the rest of the world.

I'll try to be a better daughter. I'll try to spend more time with the people that are closest to me. Even if it means working less, or cutting back on the fun.

(I did get some amazing pictures in Goa. Actually very excited to post about those. Will share as soon as I upload.)

Back once again

Back again. That's all I've ever been doing in the last few months. I'm always back from somewhere, but I'm never 'there.' Because I don't know where 'there' is.

Well, anyway, a 3 week vacation is enough to kill all sense of duty I have toward work. And it's the traveling that gets to me a bit too, it was the Bangkok - Sydney - Melbourne trip, and back to my one and half CRAZY hectic week in Hyderbad to quickly wrap things up before I head for home, and then the 3 weeks of peace and rest in Mizoram, and then to be thrust back into all of these... And then I will be off for my yearly Goa trip next week. And then make plans for Christmas...

And then after that, I will be still. I will stay in one place, and make sure I have enough time to read, to write, and to think. I will force myself to work less, and pray more. I will fall, and more importantly, stay in love. But then, that'd be so boring.

Anyway, my main reason for taking the Mizoram trip so soon after the Sydney trip was this - Yep! My sister had a little baby boy, and I wanted to be around for it. He is sooooo beautiful it's nothing like having a brother or a sister or anything else (does that make sense?). I couldn't stay away from him, even when I had to go out for dinner with relatives, I couldn't help but rush back home as soon as dinner is over because I couldn't wait to hold him. His name is Jonathan Malsawmsanga. I picked Jonathan, Hebrew for God has given/gift of God, and after Shirley's favorite Biblical character - Jonathan, Saul's son, King David's brave and loyal friend.

Up for some Nepali sex, anyone?

Omg! I have to blog about this right now. It's friggin hilarious!

Okay so I was just casually browsing through my blog traffic stats, and I noticed that there were like TONS of leads from the search term 'Nepali sex.' I ignored the first few ones but after seeing it page after page, I became curious and clicked on one of the leads to see how users get to my blog by searching on 'Nepali sex' - content which my blog definitely doesn't have. It took me to some Indian porn site (?) and look at what I found on the site!
(Amateurishly blotting out the graphic details. I intend to keep this blog family safe!)

Did you see it? (In case you didn't, here it is again)
I think we need a close up..
HAHAHA! Looks familiar? Terribly striking resemblance to my friends from my When people start changing post don't you think? :P

I'm so dead. But I'll worry about that later after I finish laughing!

(Contacting the site owners immediately about removing it from there. Immediately meaning immediately after everyone have seen it :))

Want an Apple iMac?

I was trying to pick out a gift for someone on an online electronics site, boring right? But nothing's ever really boring on the internet, it always gives you something to laugh about even when you least expect it.

See something amiss?
In case you missed it even after clicking on it, here's a close up:

:)

I'm so buying this iMac!

Some pics - Google Australia office

Someone told me that the way I always refer to my office as 'The Bakery' or the mine makes me sound cagey and even almost ashamed of where I work. Well, just to proof that I am a very, very open individual who isn't afraid to call my workplace 'my office,' I will post 'real' pictures of the bake.. err.. my office. It's a pretty darned cool office as you can see :) (And now I'm sure I will be accused of just lounging around doing nothing at all all day!)
The amazing view!And I also eat cupcakes all day long in order to enhance the lounging experience :)

Try this if you consider yourself smart

We had a big word we tried to play smart with and decipher and unravel without external help today but we're still nowhere and I'd like to see what you all think. Well it's a pretty average word, just too big for Macavity (whose only experience with Etymology was contemplating taking it up in college) and me (who recently read an Etymology for beginners type of book, and is still only halfway through).

I was looking at Larry Brilliant's Twitter page, which had this:

• Name Larry Brilliant
• Location San Francisco
• Bio Philanthropedemiologist, President, Skoll Urgent Threats Fund; advisor to Jeff Skoll and Google

I immediately shot off an email to my friends saying this:

"What's a Philanthropedemiologist? What is Skoll Urgent Threats Fund?"

Of course, Macavity being the literary genius that she is responded immediately with this:

"My guess is a demi (half) specialist in the philanthropic realm of feet (or children). And this is biological in nature.

Regarding the Skoll Urgent Threats Fund - I think there's this guy called Skoll who is constantly being tormented by danger and terrible threats that come in times of least expectation. Brilliant I think supports his cause. More so since he is also a lover of man."

Of course, being the half-taught expert Etymologist that I am, I had to reply with this:

"So, a half specialist in children's feet?? I might think - philan from phile = love, and anthrope from anthropos = man, logist from logos = study, lover of mankind and ...someone who studied edemio, whatever edemio is."

(Quite makeshift, but not all that bad you have to admit :P)

Macavity faithfully followed with this response:

"I can't even find any definition for it on Google. Edemio. Could be the study of skin? Or demons?"

Since my friend had resorted to Google, I thought I'd follow suit and sent Macavity what I found:

"If you search for 'edemiologist' or 'edemiology' there seems to be scientist type people validly using it, but there is no wiki page or a dictionary type page for it. It has to do with some disease I believe. The closest I could get to was 'Edema' - some sort of medical condition where tissues swell up. And if I borrow the 'PE' from my previous 'Anthrope' - I would agree with you on the foot part becauyse then we'd have 'pede' - so when it comes to pedemiologist, does that mean a specialist in the swelling of the feet??"

Macavity's response to this:

"I'd be concerned if Larry Brilliant was a specialist in the swelling of feet. Is that what it takes to be a recognised Google person? Not so much the showcasing yourself - as much as showcasing yourself in swollen feet."

And I had nothing better to add so there ended this deep conversation. Perhaps you can do a better job?

Daffoldil days are back again!

The main purpose of my trip has come to pass! It's so nice to get out of the darkness of the mines, away from the coals to do our fancy coal miners summit at the beautiful Bondi Iceberg at of course, the stunning Bondi beach.
Bondi Iceberg - pretty isn't it! (In my rustic, poverty-stricken Indian mind, I see Australians as quite spoiled! They have all these blessings, Bondi beach would be a good example. This beautiful beach with such clear, sparkling water, plus two gigantic swimming pools right on the water itself! While back home, in most places we are deprived even of a plastic kiddy pool. But it's something to thank God for that we aren't deprived of happy hearts too. All goes to show, swimming pools and pretty beaches aren't directly proportional to a cheerful heart!)
The happy miners :)

Also took some time out to spend a day at the fabulous Katoomba falls (and frolic with dreamy leprechauns! I know dreamy and leprechauns don't usually go together but I was lucky this day!)And also took the time to spend some time exploring a small town, and wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high...o'er vales and hills, when all at once I saw...a host of golden daffodils....:)

***Sigh*** That certainly awakened the sleeping Wordsworth in my heart! It made me miss several people, people that are dear to me and to whom Wordsworth and his daffodils are dear. Is it that we simply don't have daffodils in India or we do but I just have never seen them anywhere? Daffodils would definitely help in taking the whole happiness thing to a higher level! That's it! I am coming back with daffodil seeds/bulbs. As many as I can carry with me.

I'm doing this Australian thing properly this time. No more hotels, I'm leaving the Oaks tomorrow to go and stay with an Australian family for the rest of my stay! :P Kidding! I'm leaving for Melbourne tomorrow to spend the weekend with my friend and his family. Quite exciting!