New Delhi: Lallianzuala Chhangte, Mizoram’s football star and a winger in the Indian team, has found a unique way of helping a sweet shop in his home state that has been struggling during the pandemic — the Gulab Jamun Cup.
Chhangte, from Mizoram’s Lunglei town, recently gathered youngsters, who are part of the reserve teams of various Indian Super League and I-League teams, for training after taking permission from authorities.
He soon floated the idea of having competitive matches over the weekends. The winners would take home boxes of gulab jamun as their trophy.
“Their gulab jamuns have earned fame from far and wide, and when I shared this proposition of getting the same as the bounty, everyone loved the idea. Thus, the Gulab Jamun Cup saw the light of the day,” said Chhangte, who has been purchasing the sweets in bulk from the shop.
For Chhangte, the shop and its owner have always held a special place in his heart since it was located near a ground where he used to train earlier.
“I still remember uncle used to try newer sweets and share them with us first. While coming back from school, I used to have lunch at his place almost every day. They are so close to my heart,” he said.
Chhangte said the Gulab Jamun Cup was a “win-win situation” for all of them.
“We could motivate more people to join us and play which would, in turn, be better for us all. On the other hand, buying sweets for so many people would help the shopkeeper’s family to sustain,” he said.
Both Mizoram & Tripura claim this border village of 130 voters
The scenic village of Phuldungsai on the Mizoram-Tripura border has found itself in the middle of a jurisdiction row after both states recently claimed it as part of their territory.
The matter came to light after 130 villagers of Phuldungsei were found enrolled in the electoral lists of both the states and drawing various services and benefits.
While authorities in Tripura have said that the village has “traditionally” been part of its Kanchanpur subdivision, the latest update to Mizoram’s electoral roll lists the village residents as part of the state’s Hacchek constituency.
With a predominantly Mizo population of about 1,064 people, Phuldungsai is part of a cluster of 10 villages on Jampui Hills of Tripura. Betlingchip, which is Tripura’s highest peak, is in Phuldungsai.
The matter was flagged by the sub-divisional magistrate of Tripura’s Kanchanpur, Chandi Chandran, who wrote a letter to the district magistrate of North Tripura stressing that there was an “urgent need to demarcate the exact boundary between Mizoram and Tripura (while) incorporating Phuldungsai Village Council in Tripura”.
Also read: Naga athlete from Thailand to train youth in Dimapur, wants to ‘connect with his roots’
Family in remote Meghalaya village ‘made to quarantine’ in jungle
A family in the remote Manad village of Mawkyrwat in Meghalaya was asked by the local Community Covid-19 Management Committee to quarantine inside a forest for nine days after the eldest daughter returned from a medical check-up in Shillong.
Those undergoing quarantine also included a four-month-old baby.
Mansaljune K. Hari, general secretary of the Khasi Students’ Union, San Shnong area unit, was quoted as saying that the Covid-19 committee had gone to the house of Borming Nongbsaw and asked the family to quarantine themselves in the jungle because the village had decided to not allow anyone who returned from Shillong to stay there.
According to reports, the family wasn’t given any basic amenities for their stay in the jungle. It wasn’t clear how they sustained themselves under the open sky and in the absence of food supply.
12-year-old boy in Nagaland weaves baskets to pay school fee
Keneisalie Charles Rutsa, a Class 7 student, in Nagaland’s Kohima, has been making baskets during the lockdown to help pay his school fee.
The son of a bus driver and a homemaker mother, Keneisalie learned the craft from his teacher and now sells the baskets for about Rs 600 to Rs 800 each, depending on the size.
“I want to save the money I earn from these baskets and use it to pay my school fees,” Keneisalie was quoted as saying. “Once you learn, it is easy to make.”
His teacher, Vizokhonuo Rutsa, who had learnt the art at a teachers’ training initiative, has been passing on the knowledge to “whoever is willing to learn”.
“During the lockdown, since there is nothing much to do, I have been making baskets and Keneisalie would observe us,” she said.
Also read: Power project, dam threaten Arunachal tigers who are called ‘elder brothers’ by local tribals