Ucheck Langmeidong : Personal Recollections

James Oinam *

Ucheck Langmeidong :: Pix - James Oinam

Misery can blind us. Anything but this, we say. We are ready to cling to whatever comes at hand. Our wish for salvation can be so desperate, many a times we are deceived by those who put on affectations. Since mother died of illness, father said a storm visits the house every day. 'Nothing is in its proper place,' he said.

I tried so hard to help him whatever way I can. But what could I do? Getting water to the house for daily use took half the day. I cannot carry the pitcher full of water and the bucket together like mother used to do. Mother could even make green and wet woods burn like sandalwood. I cannot even boil potato with dry woods dried for days on roof.

It is like trying to cook some stones. My eyes would become red from the kitchen smoke. Father used to get so upset when he got home and saw all that. 'We need someone to run this house,' he said.

The day my father married my stepmother, I was so excited. All my friends came to our house and the celebrations ran late into the night. Distant aunts and uncles came to stay at our house for few days. 'You are a very lucky girl. How pretty your new mother is. You must listen to her and do as she says.'

'Now, it feels like a house,' said father. While the elders were busy making the preparations, we children ran about the place. A bonfire was made in the courtyard. We roasted fresh potatoes in the embers. And I thought we burned our past and the miseries in the fire. But the happiness did not last long.

'Your mother was a sly little creature. Grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunty she would say…and always smiling. I always knew what was behind those smiles. I mean creature looking after her self-interest only. You are growing up just like her. I hated her from my guts,' said my stepmother. My heart came to my mouth to hear my dear mother profaned.

Father always brought her something to make her happy. But her wants grew more and more. 'When I give you a son, what will you leave him in inheritance?' she asked. 'Go to Moreh. You will sell your farm produce for higher price. These local people…they never give you your fair share.' And so father went away.

After father was gone, my stepmother mistreated me openly. 'What will a girl do with all the schooling? From tomorrow you'll stop going to school. Don't just stand there. Go and sweep the house and cook some food for me.' 'You'll eat on your own in the kitchen after serving me.'

In the evening, I saw the birds flying freely in the golden sky. Tears came to my eyes and ran down my cheeks. Oh, Ucheck Langmeidong, you carry the sweet fruits for your dear children waiting for you in the nest. I can no longer wait for my dear father to come back. I feel so wretched. My stepmother mistreats me so. Please have pity on me and free me from my misery. I want to fly away into the blue sky and be one with my mother.

'Fly, Fly, Fly
High up in the blue sky
Night after night
Forever I cry
Like a free ship
You sail through the dark clouds
A feather, oh mighty bird,
Drop me hither
My spirits take on wings
To fly high and into the yonder'

The birds dropped me their feathers and every night I worked hard and weaved the feathers into my cloth. When it was done I put the cloth and took on to the clouds to be with my dear mother and never to come back.