In April, throughout the lockdown in India when a Mizo took his buddy’s lifeless physique house from Chennai, travelling greater than 3,000km in an ambulance, Mizoram’s Chief Minister Zoramthanga tweeted, “You’ve simply proven what each Mizo heartbeat means with regards to the time period ‘Tlawmngaihna!’.” Throughout the pandemic, Lalremruati added, younger folks volunteered as frontline staff and job power members risking their well being. “They sacrificed their time, well being and generally even cash, and anticipated nothing in return.”
Like many Mizo dad and mom, Lalremruati teaches her youngsters Mizo values. She believes that younger Mizos are following within the footsteps of their forefathers, such because the legendary Mizo warrior Taitesena. “Self-sacrificing and brave,” she stated, “If you work for the welfare of the group, you set ‘we’ earlier than ‘I’. If you care about different’s wellbeing, you turn out to be a tlawmngai particular person. That’s the very best type of honour in Mizo society.”
Naulak and others in Mizoram agree that tlawmngaihna is a good looking social idea. “I inform my mainland Indian pals that Mizoram is probably the most fascinating state in India,” Naulak stated, “due to their robust refusal to copy-paste what India does. They only do not. They do not wish to do it. They cling onto their values [such as tlawmngaihna] so they continue to be Mizo.”
Why We Are What We Are is a BBC Journey collection analyzing the traits of a rustic and investigating whether or not they’re true.
Be a part of greater than three million BBC Journey followers by liking us on Fb, or observe us on Twitter and Instagram.
In case you favored this story, join the weekly bbc.com options publication referred to as “The Important Listing”. A handpicked collection of tales from BBC Future, Tradition, Worklife and Journey, delivered to your inbox each Friday.
