Chapter 6
Mr. Kiang's house at Mō-Suway was located about 60 metres from the National Highway 44 (NH44). A road branched off from the highway leading into the interior of the village and passed through Kiang's house. The house had eight rooms on two floors. Outside, on the front, was a large courtyard which had a small flower garden in the centre filed with local and exotic flower species. A gravelled path from the gate led to the front porch of the house and continued to a spacious garage which lay to the southern side of the courtyard. At the back of the house was a vegetable garden interspersed with Myrica, Guava, Papaya, Plantain and other fruit trees.
Mr. Kiang Khonglah belonged to the Khasi sub-tribe known as the Vaar-Jaintia and hailed from a village called Amkoi in the south-western part of Jaintia Hills. His people were betel-leaf and betel-nut cultivators. He was the youngest of his siblings and at age 25, he had left his village during the autumn of 1979 and came to Mō-Suway in search of better prospects; his betel leaf cultivation had been completely destroyed by a fungal disease called ‘traam’.
Coal had been discovered in Mō-Suway about a decade ago and there was lot of scope for employment. Kiang first worked as a coal digger, then a lorry driver and later as a mining contractor. Three years later, Mr. Stam Rymbai, who owned several coal mines in that area, employed him as a supervisor of his mines. He knew from his fellow mine owners that Kiang was honest and hardworking.
In the course of his dealings with Mr. Stam, Kiang often had to visit him at his house for business purposes. There he met Rimon Ryngkhlem, Mr. Stam's second child and first daughter. Eva, his second and youngest daughter was in college and stayed in a hostel. His eldest son, Echwa, who was married and had a son, was a government official stationed at Shillong. All this, Kiang knew from his casual conversations with Mr. Stam.
It was always Mr. Stam's habit of offering food to his visitors after their purpose of visit is settled. If they declined, he would insist on their having tea instead, which they seldom refused. It was on his first visit that he politely declined Mr. Stam's lunch invitation saying that he had had his lunch before coming there. He however didn't decline from having tea.
Rimon brought the tea and biscuits on a tray and greeted him politely. He returned her greetings and smiled as he looked at her lovely face and got dazzled by her gaze. Her grace and manners attracted him too. Mr. Stam introduced them as she was about to leave the room andshe smiled at Kiang as she took her leave.
As they were having tea, Mr. Stam informed him that Rimon was running the house and also helping him with the accounts of the business. She had completed her graduation in Commerce, he added to effect. Kiang was to report to her in case he wasn't home. Kiang simply nodded and sipped on his tea.
From then on, he never refused lunch or dinner invitations from Mr. Stam. In fact, he would always look for an excuse to visit Mr. Stam's house which gave him an opportunity to see her. Rimon could see that Kiang was interested in her from the way he looked at her. She was rather surprised that it did not bother her when he stared at her. The way he looked at her was pure and had no trace of lust – it was pure admiration. She could sense it and it brought a sense of joy in her. He would always talk to her with respect and often enquired about her mother's health. He had come to know from Mr. Stam that her mother was mostly confined to bed because of her rheumatoid arthritis and was presently taking medicines and advice from a doctor at Shillong. He promised to bring her medicinal oils and herbs from his village when he goes to visit his family the next time.
Rimon began to think of Kiang often and would ask her father about Kiang's family and his ways; and what she heard pleased her. She would also ask Kiang about his family and village whenever she waited on him as he sat eating lunch or dinner at her home. He was only too happy to oblige her questions. Very soon they became close friends and Mr. Stam too noticed that his daughter had taken a liking for Kiang from among all those that visited his home. He did not object, for he knew his daughter well; she would not bring shame or dishonour to her family. He was also confident in his guts and the knowledge that Kiang was a respectable and decent man. He would make a fine son-in-law -he smiled at the thought of this.
Kiang kept his promise. He brought the medicinal oils and herbs on his return that day from his village which he acquired from the Kobiraij there. He had taken leave of three days to visit his family and relatives at his native village. Reaching Mō-Suway, he headed straight for Mr. Stam's house.
Mr. Stam was not at home but Rimon was. She and her younger sister, who had come home for a short holiday, were helping the housemaid clean the sitting room. She was glad to see him –it was only at that moment did she realize that she had sorely missed him! He too was immensely glad to see her again. He handed to her two medium sized pumpkins he had brought with him from his village and she thanked him whole heartedly as she accepted them. Rimon introduced her sister, Eva, to him and they shook hands smilingly. He then brought out the medicines from his bag and handed them to Rimon. She insisted on him coming with her to explain the method of application and dosage of the medicines to her mother.
Kiang had already met Mr. Stam's wife thrice before and so he greeted her with a knowing smile as he entered her room along with Rimon. He showed her the medicinal oils and herbs he had brought and explained in detail how the oils were to be massaged on her joints, the mode of preparation of the herbal decoction and the dosage of the decoction. Mrs. Ryngkhlem nodded in understanding as he explained and thanked him profusely for bringing her the medicines. He sat with her for another half an hour sharing light conversation and answering her questions about his family and his village. She showed regret when he asked to leave and when she took some money from her purse to pay for the medicines, he simply refused to accept it. She then insisted on him to have supper before leaving. He was of course delighted at the opportunity to savour Rimon's dishes again and have a chit chat with her. Mr. Stam arrived just as he started supper and joined him after washing himself.
As Kiang walked to his rented room, a kilometre away from Mr. Stam's house, his mind was in a serious mood as he contemplated on his future. He had been saving money right from his first pay onward, for he had the ambition of becoming a coal dealer. He was a man of few needs and avoided spending his hard earned money on drinking and gambling, which was a common pastime among mine workers. It was now the fourth year of his coming to Mō-Suway and he had saved enough to start as a small coal dealer. He was also contemplating on marriage to Rimon, if she would have him, which he was sure she would, from their easy conversations and the way she conducted herself in front of him. But he wanted to secure his finances first before proposing marriage. As he lay down on his bed to sleep that night, he began to make plans to start buying coal directly from the mines and resell it to the major exporters of coal for a small profit. Then he would slowly expand his business - if all goes well.
Though he didn't make much profit at first, his earnings slowly began to improve with his understanding of the business. Mr. Stam was not surprised when Kiang informed him of his intentions to resign from his job to start making out on his own. He respected his independent spirit and although he regretted losing a fine supervisor, he wished him well on his new venture and asked him to pay them a friendly visit now and then. He had grown to like Kiang more; his honesty, simplicity and openness were qualities that made him different from the others. He also was grateful to him for being genuinely caring to bring medicines for his wife. His wife showed improvement a week after taking his medicines and she was getting better by the day after few months of using the medicines that Kiang replenished with every trip to his village.
Kiang and Rimon's relationship had blossomed fully and he finally had the courage to propose marriage to Rimon. She accepted readily and they began to discuss the process of marriage and its timing. On his next visit to his village, he informed his family and, as was the custom in their matrilineal society, requested his maternal uncles to make the
formal proposal to Rimon’s maternal uncles. His eldest uncle and a senior cousin accompanied him to Mō-Suway on his return and together they went to meet with Rimon's maternal uncles and parents. Mr. Stam and his wife were only too happy to accept the proposal and since Rimon's uncles too had no objection, they began to discuss the formalities of the marriage.
They were married in a traditional ceremony in the winter of 1985 on a late November day and Mr. Stam gave a grand feast in their honour and invited all the residents of Mō-Suway to partake in the celebrations and the feast. Almost all of Rimon's relatives, including those from other villages were present. Her sister, Eva, was also there; so were her brother and his family. Most of Kiang's family and relatives also attended the wedding along with his childhood friends from the village.
They had agreed to live for a while with Rimon's parents until they could build their own house. Their first child, a male, was stillborn and two years later, Rimon gave birth to a daughter. Everyone said that she looked like her mother. They named her Maya. Their happiness increased as they watched her grow step by step. Apart from managing his growing business, Mr. Kiang would often help Mr. Stam in managing and directing their family coal business as well and under his direction, their prosperity grew, for he had good business acumen.
When Maya was two years old, they began to make plans for a separate house. Rimon's clan, the Ryngkhlem clan, donated her a piece of the clan's land on which to build their house. The building was completed in 20 months time with a little financial help from Mr. Stam. Maya was four years old when they moved to their new house.
A year later, tragedy struck. And it struck so hard at Kiang. Rimon died on the spot when their car skid at a turn on the wet road and fell into a ravine. She had accompanied her parents to visit her brother and his family at Shillong. Her parents too died in the ambulance on their way to the hospital. Only the driver survived with serious fractures and injuries. That day, Maya was at school and Kiang was looking after business.
Kiang was shattered. He shed tears shamelessly when they brought the body home. Maya held on to him, also crying. Though she could not understand death yet, she could understand pain when she looked at her father's face. When Kiang regained his control, he held their daughter close to him and hushed her. She also stopped crying.
That was 20 years ago, and yet all the memories of his wife were still fresh in Kiang's memory. All these passing years, he had devoted all his love to Maya. She was his only consolation and purpose in life. He was also a one-woman man. He could never think of another woman replacing his Rimon.
Today, the father and daughter were having their breakfast late because their housemaid cum cook reported late for work. Kiang observed his daughter as he sipped his tea. Now that she was an adult, Maya looked more like her mother. She was listening to a caller on her cell phone as she took her plate to the washbasin. She completed her call and came to sit on the chair next to her father and said, ‘Pa, it is confirmed. The results will be out tomorrow! I think I shall go to Shillong today so that I can see the result for myself tomorrow at NEHU.’
Her father was equally anxious to know her result. She had appeared for the MSc final semester examinations at North Eastern Hill University or NEHU as it was most often called in short. So he replied, ‘Is that so? Maybe I should go along with you. I am also much eager to know your result!’
‘But if you go, who will manage the hardware shop?’ She asked him.
Kiang seemed to think for a moment and then said to her, ‘Maya, let us leave for Shillong tomorrow early in the morning. Today, there are many things to do. You remember, last week I told you that I have got a new manager for the shop?’ Maya nodded and Kiang continued, ‘Well, he had sent word that he will be joining today. He is someone who had worked part time with me on several occasions before. But this time, I intend to keep him for a lifetime, if he agrees; for he is a trustworthy and hardworking young man. Moreover, he is very responsible and comes from a good family.’ Kiang paused to place his cup on the table and then said, ‘Ever since his father's death, he has been taking care of his mother and his younger brother and sister. I knew his father too; he was a good man.’
Maya asked out of curiosity, ‘Who is he? What's his name?’
‘His name is Lamchwa.’ Kiang answered. ‘He is from Mōlaiñ, a village nearby.’
Maya said happily, ‘It is good that you found somebody for the shop, Pa. I am so glad that you can come with me to NEHU tomorrow!’
Kiang smiled at his daughter's happy face. He stood up from his chair and hugged her. He looked at her while still holding her by the arms and said with emotion, ‘If I do not please you, whom do I please, then? If it had not been for you, my life would have lost all its meaning! You, my child, are the reason and purpose of my life. You should know that you are my most precious in this world, for you are the fruit of the sacred and everlasting love between your mother and me.’
Maya also replied with moist eyes, ‘Yes, Pa, I know that. I love you too... so... so much.’
Kiang stroked her side of the head with his right hand and smiled at her. He then straightened himself as he said to her, ‘Go now, you get ready while I go to the shop first. It’s time to open and Lamchwa might already have arrived; I have to explain many things to him to get him started. When you are ready, just come to the shop. And don't forget to bring the account books of the coal depots and the shop with you.’
Maya nodded and said, ‘OK. Pa,’ and proceeded to clear the dining table as her father left the dining room.