The Mizo World: Stars

If Orion’s Belt could help me navigate, I would be set. It is about everything I can identify with absolute confidence in the night sky. 

I saw a TV programme one time about stars as the Early Mizo knew them. I found it fascinating and even made a note on my phone to buy their book. When I was posted in Printing & Stationeries, a colleague Pu Muanchhana gifted the book to me. The book is called History of Astronomy of the Mizo People, put together by Lalrinkimi, Lalthakimi Zadeng, and Martin George. If you’re interested. Gem of a book.

Recently I have realized that as little as I know about these astronomical bodies, other people know even less than I do. So I want to blog about the few I do know. I’ll pick my Top Five.

Allow me to educate you.

It’s actually fascinating. We have to start at the beginning of a giant cosmic magic. During Thlanrawkpa Khuangchawi (this dude’s name has always been fascinating to me; does it mean “Grave Robber” or am I gravely mistaken? If I am, I’d love to be educated), an intense Darkness fell on earth. Thim Zing, as we call it. This Darkness, with a capital D, transmuted a shit load of things. One of which was in many parts of Mizoram (or the “known” world, let’s say), people and animals and things got changed into stars.

We’ll start with Orion’s Belt. Chhohreivung in Mizo is part of the constellation Orion where the “Belt” is the opening of the zuhrei hole. A jungle rat. Larger than ordinary rats. So the story is that a man dug a Zuhrei hole. What would be the left leg of Orion would be the “loose soil” dug from the rat-hole. Then he forgot his tinder – his meitalh – inside the hole; this would later form the small cluster that makes up Orion’s face. He returned to get it but was killed by a tiger. This was when the Darkness descended and everyone and everything, including rat hole and tinder, got swept away and changed into stars. I don’t know which stars are which humans because if Orion’s Belt is the opening of the rat-hole, the people must be nearby. And big. But who can tell? The logic of folktales is not the logic of physics.

Another cluster I can identify is Siruk. This is called Pleaides in astronomy. I always called it Siruki-te Unau. But some people know it as just Siruk. This is because there are two stories. 

The sister one is that a group of six brothers from the Sky courted a group of six sisters from the Earth. Courtship went awry with the jealousy of the Earth boys. In the kerfuffle, the sisters got turned into stars. There once was a seventh star – their dad. But he was weak and the wind blew him away, apparently. Logic of folktales, dear reader.

The second story is that there were six clay miners on whom a mine collapsed. Maybe when the Darkness descended. Let’s say it was. For the drama. And so they became stars. For this some people also call it Siruk Bellei Lai – for the clay miners.

Next we shall talk about The Big Dipper aka The Great Bear aka Ursa Major. Brother Bear probably know it as a bear. We know it as Zangkhua. I have no idea what it means; even the book fails to explain this to me. All it says it that a man called Kawlawia was killed and decapitated just as the Darkness fell and of course, his body was swept up and became the Big Dipper or Zangkhua. I know the expression well, though – zangkhua a la bungbu ang. You know, the dipper will flip. As in, the tables will turn. This fascinates me because the Big Dipper does flip. The bowl portion of the ladle does pivot and appear upside down at times. It even rotates in relation to the stationary Polaris. I understand and greatly appreciate the expression. I however don’t understand the connection with the Kawlawia story much. 

Hmar Arsi makes more sense to me. Polaris. This is in Ursa Minor. The Mizo called it Hmar Arsi lit. North Star because it is seen in the north; simple logic. It is also – very cutely, I might add – called Sisil. Polaris is observed as stationary. It does not move. The Mizo noticed this. So they thought it might be maimed, or tired, hence it does not move. It is sil, you know, can’t move because of muscle cramps. Extremely cute logic.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy said that Ford Prefect was from the planet Betelgeuse Five. This made me look up Betelgeuse and it made me inordinately happy to realise I could identify it, because it was part of the Orion constellation. It is a red giant star, so it is easily identifiable. If you remember the forgetful man who forgot his tinder at the rat hole and was killed by the tiger when he went to retrieve it? Betelgeuse is that tiger when it got transmuted into a star during the Darkness. The Early Mizo called it Sikeisen or Sisakei, for its redness that resembles a tiger’s coat. 

Today, a lot of people call Mars Sikeisen as well. Because it is also red. So there is that.

So there! Five stars! Next we shall talk about dances.

Maybe.

Here. I'll even sketch them for you. Go out and look up at the night sky.

Zangkhua and Hmar Arsi (The Big Dipper and Polaris)

Chhohreivung and Sikeisen in Orion with Siruk (Pleiades)

A Little Wednesday Existentialism

A policeman’s daughter, my designation plate at the moment being RD green gets my father smiling. He’d always wanted me to be in Civils.

I travel in a beat-up old Gypsy with the license plate MZ 01 F 6377 which is younger than my dad’s Maruti 800 which is MZ 01 E, but is in much worse shape than the latter. Public vehicles. There’s a lot to be said about this. But probably for another day. 

In any case, I see people reading my designation plate sometimes. Some of them look up and read my face. I don’t know if they can see my face, and I don't know what they think. What I know is how different we all are. Sometimes I see recognition in their eyes but I don’t know what to make of it. What is a BDO? When I was little, I certainly didn’t know who a BDO was, much less what a BDO did. I am a policeman’s daughter. All I knew was what policemen did. Different people, different lives, I guess.

If we make it work, we make it work. And we should be thankful for it. A lot of people don’t. A lot of times, we don’t. People are fighting battles we know nothing about. I think the only real thing we can take away from any situation is to be kind. Very difficult to do, of course. I know for a fact that sometimes I make up my mind to make things as difficult as I possibly can for some people. And I have, too. Because when you meet with rude disrespect, all the little metaphorical warrior cells get activated in your system and they strike hard. I am happy that this impulse is lessening with age. But some days… ya.

Some days it is hard to accept where I am in life. Is this what was always going to happen? Could things have gone a different way? 

Most days, it is hard to guess what goes on in people’s lives. Sometimes I meet people I’d met once in some duty or event and spent time with. I smile or wave if they seem to recognise me too. It feels nice. Like an acknowledgment that I’m alive in someone else’s lives. Because some dark existential days, it feels like I am the centre of the universe and people solely exist because I do.

Of course, this narcissism is fueled up by the prevalence of social media these days. We all have our platforms that boost up our perceived importance. We feel important. We feel seen and observed. It is like an IV feed right into our vanity. And unfortunately, our self-worth. 

It is becoming so hard to differentiate between what is real and what is not, AI not making anything easier at all. It is harder and harder to tell who is fake and who is not. We collect receipts like memories will fail us if we don’t; pics or it didn’t happen!

And to think, if I were in Arthur Dent’s world, I could hitchhike my way to Betelgeuse! For now, I’ll wait for December to watch for it in the night sky.