STORY 4: MAUTAM

Hello readers,

Time for a new story! But wait. This is not a regular story. This is just an experience that I got a few months back. This is a kind of journal story. You may get some information from this story, therefore I chose to write this. Before writing this, I googled for some information. Read, enjoy and share!

Happy learning ❤

THE STORY …

"May I have your attention please, train no. 15013 Jaisalmer to Kathgodam Ranikhet express, scheduled to arrive at 9:10 pm is running late by 1 hour 15 minutes ..." and remaining I didn't care to listen because my train was late by a whole one hour and an exasperating 15 minutes! I dragged my bag reluctantly and found a niche to sit. I took my phone out and started scrolling through my gallery.

"Excuse me..."

I looked up from my phone to check if it was meant for me. An elderly person (whose countenance was resembling Jackie Chan) was glancing towards me.

"Yes, how can I help?"

"Is Ranikhet Express going to arrive at this platform?" I could sense that Hindi was not his mother tongue. I nodded in a yes and he seemed a bit relaxed. He checked his watch and said, "Am not late." I gave a smirk and said, "But the train is." A slight question mark appeared on his face so I further added "by 1 hour and 15 minutes". He sighed and became silent.

Then I chose to break the ice and asked "Uncle, are you pahadi?" He replied, "I am a mizo, so I guess you can call me that."

"Woah! The bamboo state - Mizoram."

He didn't seem happy when I said that. He was gazing at the tracks but his eyes were lost some where else. "Yes. Bamboo, the devil and the angel."

"The devil ...?" I didn't understand.

"You might be aware that Mizo people are agrarian and Bamboo is with them from cradle to grave. And this very bamboo killed my family. In 1960, I lost my parents and siblings because the previous year had been the flowering year of Bamboo."

Did I hear right? Bamboo flowers killed someone!

"In Mizo hills the bamboo flowers every 48-50 years (flowering years of Bamboo varies from 20-120 years depending upon the species). After flowering, the bamboo dies and regenerates from the seeds. The rodents feeds on the seeds and as a consequence a sudden increase in the rats' population occurs. The flowers has a positive effect on the fertility of rats. However, once they exhaust this temporarily abundant seeds, the rats attacks the cultivated crops causing famine in most of the parts of Mizoram. During the year 1960, a hundred people got killed. Local people call it as MAUTAM. 'Mau' means BAMBOO and 'tam' means DEATH." I was amazed. Who could have thought, flowers could be so destructive.

"During the famine, Mizoram was part of Assam state. Inaction of the government resulted in the uprising of an organisation MIZO NATIONAL FAMINE FRONT helmed by Pu Laldenga (first Chief Minister of Mizoram) which later played a great role in shaping the regional politics of Mizo hills." He kept the discussion on while I kept on absorbing the new information. There is so little known about the states belonging to seven sisters. I bet many of you can't even recall their names.