The Strange Tombstone

On the way to the village, there is the village cemetery and there is one unique headstone on which is inscribed “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Thank you father for sending me back.” Many people who read the inscription often wonder what ‘Thank you father for sending me back’ could possibly mean. The answer is known to most of the villagers, who would willingly tell you the tale of a strange man.

Everything was silent as he walked through the passage which was walled on both sides. He could hear the buzzing of bees and sounds of people murmuring but could not see a soul around. He walked on knowing not where he was heading as he could see no end of the walled passage. He suddenly saw his father standing in front of him, face turned sideways. He was relieved thinking he no longer would be lonely. His father asked him what he was doing there and that he should go back to whence he came from. He gestured to his father who was blocking his way that he intends to go ahead. He was scolded and was pushed by his father to head back. He was told to go and compete his work first and come back later. He was a little confused to which work his father was referring to. He had to head back, as his father won’t allow him to go forward. Suddenly he heard people crying, but still couldn't see anyone around him. He rubbed his eyes to enhance his vision. When he opened his eyes again, he saw so many people gathered around him and saw his mother crying. It was a dream where his father who had died long ago scolding and pushing him to go back. The people around him were assembled there to attend his funeral. He was as shocked as the people around him.

He found his head shaven and a copper coin placed on his forehead as was the ritual. When he was helped to sit up, he was sitting on a huge wooden plank, not his bed inside the house. A few feets away he saw the family grave opened and a small spear, dao, plate, bamboo mug, extra loin cloth already placed inside. It was opened two years back when his cousin died. Those days, people bury the dead outside the house in family vaults, which are dug out like slanting tunnels of about 12 feet deep and about 4.5 feet wide. The mouth of the vault was usually covered with a big stone. The vaults are used only if the last burial was more than a year. Vaults of relatives are used in case the last burial in the family vault is lesser than a year. The bones and remains of the previous burial are collected, washed with rice beer and wrapped in a piece of cloth and put back in the corner of the same grave. He was about to be buried in the same manner. If he had woken from that dead sleep a little late than he did, he actually could have died that day, buried alive. At that time there was an epidemic in the village and many in his age group have died. All the dead were buried hastily without performing the usual rituals fearing the spread of the disease if the corpses are kept too long in the open. As he came back to life, the elders in the village predicted that the boy would live for a long time and that he would do great things for the village. Some skeptics took the resurrection as a bad omen.

Paisho (youngest) was his name as he was the youngest in the family. Discarding his real name, the villagers started calling him 'Ringluishit' meaning 'the one who lived again.' He was repulsive to the new name initially but relented when the whole village started addressing him by the new name. The name after all was not as derogatory as other pseudonyms given to some people such as 'stinky' 'pan-head' 'rotten potato' etc. Most people in the village have funny names given mostly by the village prankster that relate to the foolish deeds committed by the family members. About a month after Ringluishit came back to life, his mother died suddenly. As the family was poor, the family elders decided that the dead rites be non-pompous. Thus, his mother was given a typical widow burial by just killing a pig. She was buried in the family vault where Ringluishit would have been buried a month back if he hadn’t come back. After the burial, the family from both the mother and father's side gathered to decide the fate of the orphaned children. Ringluishit had three elder brothers and one elder sister. The eldest one was just sixteen at that time. The elders concurred that the siblings would not be able to survive by themselves thus decided to adopt one each. Two children were given away to the mother's side and two were retained by the father's side. Ringluishit was adopted by Yangshi, the younger brother of his father who himself have four children. Yangshi's wife was not so happy about the arrangement and cajoled him often for not having claimed the older ones as they could at least be helpful in doing household and cultivation work unlike Ringluishit who was just nine years old. Not to make the child feel different, Yangshi told Ringluishit to address him as 'father' and his wife as 'mother' not as 'uncle' and 'aunty.' Though it sounded odd at first he got used to it very soon. So, Ringluishit lived in this adopted home and Yangshi treated him as a special child because of the quick learning ability of the kid.

When he turned ten, Yangshi asked Ringluishit whether he will be able to tend the cows which till then was tended by the village cowherd. His uncle felt that the cows were not taken good care of by the cowherd. Ringluishit happily accepted the offer and soon started taking out the cows in the morning and bringing them home every day in the evening. He especially enjoyed roaming the green mountainside with the cows. The only thing he doesn't like about tending cows was when it rains. He soon learned how to play the tingteila*. The tingteila once belonged to his father and was the only thing he took from the house where he once use to live with his mother, brothers and sister. Ringluishit took the tingteila along with him to the pastures most of the days. Though he doesn’t know to sing folk songs very well yet, he very often sing the few songs he knew playing the tingteila. His feeble pre-teen voice and the thick sound of the instrument doesn’t sound very melodious. However, he would sing on as this served as a perfect escapade from the boredom that he feel of being alone all the time with only the cows around. The village prankster once saw Ringluishit playing the tingteila and singing some folk song. The prankster patted Ringluishit on the shoulder and told him even the dogs sing better than him and laughed at the child until his eyes were filled with tears. In the village, the prankster spread the news that the frogs and cows sing folk songs whenever Ringluishit plays the tingteila. In stead of being hurt, Ringluishit decided to learn some folk songs from the elders to prove the Prankster wrong. He did learn some from the elders. He soon learned the art of telling time by listening to the crickets, frogs and the sound of cock crow heard from the village. This helped him to know the time of going home mainly during the rainy seasons when the sun gets hidden by the rain laden clouds. Though he hate the rain, he is partly thankful to mother nature as it is the season when he is able to gather and bring home bountiful supply of mushrooms for the family. He also brought home wild berries for the children who by now have become almost like his real brothers and sisters.

One rainy day, he came across a small mound covered with mushroom shoots while tending the cows. The bamboo basket he was carrying was too small to carry the whole lot home. He decided to weave a basket big enough to fit the whole thing in. He went and collected the variety of wild bamboo used for weaving baskets, sliced them into shape and sat down to weave. Hoisting his small well woven basket in front of him as his tutor he started weaving. The basket he made that day looked so silly that everyone in the village laughed at it and the maker, when he carried it through the village. Most of them didn't see the mushrooms inside as Ringluishit had to cover the basket with big leaves to make sure the mushrooms don't fall out of the big holes. When he reached home, everyone at home too could not help laughing at the basket's unearthly shape. However, when they saw the content of the basket they were surprised and were happy. Yangshi suggested that he probably should ask the village basket weaver to teach him. After having the evening meal, Ringluishit went to the village weaver to learn how to weave bamboo baskets. He luckily found the weaver busy weaving a basket singing some folk song under a lit pine torch. He watched silently for a long time as neither of them were in the mood to talk. The old man was too immersed in his folk song and the weaving and the little boy’s eyes were glued to the intricate movement of the old man’s hands as he weaved. He went home only when the weaver had finished the basket. After some days of self practice, he was finally weaving perfectly shaped bamboo baskets. Initially, the baskets were kept for household use, but when new baskets just continued coming, Yangshi's wife started exchanging them for household needs. Ringluishit's baskets started to be used by other villagers who once laughed at his first basket. Soon he also learnt how to weave bamboo mats which are used for drying paddy in the sun. Some of the elders in the village realized that the boy is a genius who is not ashamed of making mistakes and is not embarrassed if people laugh at his mistakes. He seem to consider laughter as a challenge. This could be the reason why people didn’t call him Mara (orphaned) which otherwise is a common nickname given to orphans.

One sunny day during the harvest season Ringluishit was weaving a mat under a tree with the cows grazing around. When he stretched himself and looked around, he saw two people walking down from the hills towards him. One person was dressed like him, wearing a loin cloth with a piece of shawl hung down on the shoulder, the other was wearing strange clothes which he had never seen before. When the two were very near he would have run if the other person who was dressed like him have not waved and shouted something in human language. The other person to him looked like a ghost of which he have heard from stories and rumors. He looked so white that his skin seems to glow in the sun. He stood his ground and when they reach where he was standing, the other person asked for direction to his village. Ringluishit was told that the white person was from a far far away land by the other person expecting he might stop starring at the white man. He also told him the white man brings good news for his village. The white person asked something which the person accompanying him in turn asked Ringluishit what is his name? Without thinking, he replied back 'Ringluishit.' The other person said something to the white man and he looked amused. The white man said something again and the person accompanying him asked why he was named Ringluishit? He told the person briefly of how he once died and was about to be buried but came back to life. The white man looked more amused by now. Not wanting to be asked anymore questions, he made an excuse of heading home with the cows. He gave them the direction and they parted.

When he reached home, the whole village was filled with the news of the strangers who have arrived in the village. The white man and his companion were made to stay in the house of the village chief. It was rumored that the people have come to the village to teach them new things about the world of the man who look like a ghost. Some of the village elders have already heard about the appearance of the white man from neighboring villages. Some neighboring villagers have even build houses for the white man. The villagers thought the strangers would be gone after a few days but they stayed on even after the harvest was over. It was rumored that the white man had asked the village chief for land to build a house and that the chief have consented as the request came from the district officials. True to the rumors, the white man with the help of few villagers started building a house. When the house was completed, the young people from the village were often requested to gather and the white man started teaching something strange through the interpreter. The villagers were told about God, His Son and the Holy Spirit. The white man glared at something and murmured out something which the interpreter tried his best to translate. In the beginning whatever the white man said make no sense at all. After a stay of a whole month by which time the interpreter was more familiar with the dialect of the village the teachings began to make more sense.

As all the crops were harvested, the cows were let free until the seed sowing season. Ringluishit too was free for at least two months. He spent most of the days bird trapping with the sticky gum he made from the sticky berry he collected during the harvest season. The gum is evenly spread on small twigs and placed on the streams where the birds come to drink water. Birds coming to drink water or swim get stuck on the the twigs, which are then collected. At the end of day he came home with more than hundred birds which are roasted and smoked as meat supply for the family. Due to his diligence he earned the love and affection of his foster father and mother. One day when he decided to stay at home he went around and inspected the new house build by the white man. He saw some children gathered inside the house listening to the white man and his interpreter. On seeing Ringluishit standing outside, the white man signaled him to come in. The white man had not forgotten meeting this child who rose from dead. He was made to stand in front of those people gathered to listen to the white man. The white man said something and the interpreter told the children that if they accept and worship the god of the white man, then they will all rise from dead just like Ringluishit. The children looked at each other in confusion and someone in the crowd giggled. The white man talked about many other confusing things one among them was of a man speared to death but rose to life after three days. The children were given sweets when the white man stopped talking seemingly because of getting tired. Apart from teaching the young people about some God, His Son and some Holy Spirit, the white man also gave medicines to those who were ill and many people miraculously recovered from their illnesses. The villagers began to believe that the white man’s god indeed must be powerful. Many people decided to convert at the end of two months.

Ringluishit was fascinated by the white man talking about a man rising from dead. With the hope that the white man may talk more about the kingdom of the dead he decided to visit the white man on alternate days, reserving the other days for fishing and bird trapping not wanting his parents to know he was spending his days listening to the white man. The white man was impressed by the attentiveness of Ringluishit and his curious questions and decided he would persuade his foster parents to send the child to a primary school in the district headquarter. The white man and his interpreter came to Yangshi’s house one evening and told their plan of sending Ringluishit to a school in Ukhrul. At first Yangshi and his wife argued that they are not going to send him under any circumstance. ‘School’ was a word which has never been heard of before. More than his safety, the foster parents were worried about the cows if Ringluishit was to go away. The white man counter argued and finally used some threat to make the ignorant parents bent to his design. He told the parents that if they refuse, the district administration would be informed about it and there would be a heavy penalty. However, if Ringluishit is send to school, the government would give them a yearly compensation of two rupees. Though the villagers don’t use money in the village, they feel the need of it when they have to do trade with other villages. Hundred annas make a rupee. An anna can buy so many things, the village elders often say. Those were days when one can buy a mountain for two rupees. The foster parents agreed to the plan when they heard about the compensation. It was decided then that Ringluishit should go to school in Ukhrul.

Very soon Ringluishit left the village. He came back after four years and left again without even staying for a week. He was a changed man and was wearing clothes worn by the white man. He finally came back after another three years of stay in Ukhrul and in Kangpokpi. He was now eighteen years and could speak to the white man in a strange language. By then, almost the whole village had become Christians and Ringluishit had been send by the white man to take care and teach the converts in his village about the God of the white man who now has become theirs too. He was now called ‘pastor.’ When the Great War broke out, Ringluishit was summoned by the white people to help them raise the labor corp. He became the main interpreter and was sent along with the labor corp to France. He came back only after the the war was over. The white people established a school in the village as reward for Ringluishit’s service and he was made the first headmaster of the school. It was through this school many of the village kids are going to get the chance to see the outside world. True to the words of the elders, Ringluishit lived for a very long time, long enough to see the grand celebration of the Platinum Jubilee of the village Church. Though he lived and died a devout Christian, Ringluishit never forgot he lived again because his father won’t let him past long time ago. Before he died he insisted that the words ‘Thank you father for sending me back’ be included in the inscription on his tombstone. For generations, whoever reads the headstone would wonder what ‘Thank you father for sending me back’ mean if some of the villagers don’t explain to them the story of Paisho who is fondly remembered as Ringluishit. This one tombstone in the village cemetery depicts the perfect meeting point of the old faith and the new one.

* Tingteila is an indigenous stringed musical instrument of the Tangkhul Nagas. The body is made of coconut shell covered with animal skin and the string of the fiddle bow is made of horse tail and bamboo.