I've been discovering so much of Patriotism in me lately. Must be because of the ongoing World Cup and the earlier post “What flag will you be waving?” I've read from Kukui’s blog, where she said she’s dreaming for the day when an Indian team will play in the World Cup with jerseys featuring names like Hrahsel, Chhangte, Hauhnar, Ralte etc and a Pachuau on the reserve bench :D (slight modification Kuks.. hihi). It touched me. I wrote a really long comment for this post, that paragraph in particular, but the internet failed me in between, and I didn’t get the time and that particular mood to put up my comment again. So I guess I’ll have to blog my feelings out :-)
Having spent 6 years of my life outside Mizoram, I’ve made good non-Mizo friends wherever I went. They have so many qualities that we have yet to learn. No matter what profession they take, be it a vendor or a roadside sweeper, or a business man or a professor, they are dedicated and hardworking and they take things seriously. I envy them for such qualities. But what I discovered also is that, there are so many inbuilt qualities we have, that I think they will never acquire.
The older I get, the more I love being a Mizo, and a Christian. I love the fact that it is not a new thing for us to go and mourn for the dead, and stay up all night to console the grieving family, to be able to sing for them, brew tea, collect rice and hear their sorrows and gratitude the same time. Just being able to be there for them is a good feeling. Thank God for Y.M.A. I love the fact that we don’t complain when we have to cook, sweep, or do the dishes and the laundry. Every Mizo mom has taught her daughter that it is her duty to do such chores since childhood. I love waking up in the morning with the beautiful greenery when I look around, especially when it had rained the previous night. I love watching the sunset behind the evening cloud covered hills. I love the ever clear unpolluted sky that we still get to see. I love the long winding roads. I love peaceful Mizoram. I love the smell of “bai” with “saum”, “vawksa” with “antam”, “bekang” with “hmarchapui” and of course “khanghu” :-). Will the others ever get to experience such contentment? I doubt.
I know there are lots of unwanted crime and illegal things happening today. But don’t these things happen everywhere? The world itself has become so evil, the only solution I see to this is that we pray, with hope.
But I’m afraid. Afraid that we’d be drawn away with what’s happening around us. Here’s a good example. World Cup. We talk about it, we make bets, we stay up late nights to watch our favourite team playing. We argue about which team is best. It’s entertainment. It’s fun. Fun to watch with friends. Fun to boo a friend if his favourite team loses. I ain’t complaining as long as it doesn’t hinder our daily work. These football stars, how much are they earning? And their fans, at least they are cheering for their country. But what about us? What do we gain from it? I've seen colleagues and friends feeling lazy the next day after watching a match the previous night. And some who even said they did not study for their exams because the match was too important to miss.
I have a cousin, a mother of 3 kids. She loves football. Big fan of Manchester United. She hardly misses their match, be it in the middle of the night or early morning. But she never fails to get up before 6, never fails to provide food on the table for her husband and kids, and always reach the office on time.
I know this is World Cup, but come’ on! Let it not ruin your future. Let’s stay focused. We’ve got major job exams coming up. MCS, and the rest. You might have seen my facebook status updates, and I know I’ve annoyed a few football diehard fans (hehe). Ok, World Cup is just an example, because it’s happening right now. There are other events too that we get drawn to. As a matter of fact, we Mizo's have that character of getting too involved. "Awnna lama awn dual dual". They are all good, but let’s know the limits. Let’s be mature. Let’s make Mizoram better. Waka waka eh eh :-)