My Two Children!

My Children

Daniel, Chris & Pumpkin Man

Chris stayed with us for few months. And carving a pumpkin man is one of the few tricks we learn from him. We also taught him how to make aloo subzi. This is a joy of interacting with people of other cultures; we learn from one another.

My Children

Sophia & Daniel

Sophia is Born

On 2nd August, 2012, around 2330 hours Savita woke me up saying she's getting the pain. We just waited for a while to examine if the pain would progress. Few days back we had gone to the hospital thinking the labour pain was there. After a day stay we returned. We experienced similar false alarm with Daniel too. But with Sophia we felt that this was it because Savita said the pain lingered. The test later showed that the pain was real, but it was not progressive one.  And this time we wanted to make sure that the pain was real before we rushed to the hospital. At 0012 hours, on 3rd Aug, we got into the car and headed to the hospital. The road was fairly empty by then and we reached the hospital without any problem. Thank God! Two hours later she was wheeled to the labour room. 

On the 2nd floor of the Wards, I slept on the floor. I had just a sheet to put it on the floor. Even with Daniel, it was the case. For the pillow I put my sandals, and spread the sheet over them; then I put a small bag which contained my dairy, and finally a towel. That was my bed that night. When Daniel was taken to the same hospital almost two years back due to false alarm, I slept on the bare floor. This lesson about where to sleep and what all things are to be taken for the night are somethings that first time fathers need to keep in mind. 

At 7 am when it was time for visitors to go in to meet the patients, one sister called my name. As I reached the door, the doctor said, "your family is now complete. I had the privilege to help in the delivery process of the first child as well. Your wife is fine and so is the child. Go in". "Thank you", I said, and entered the room. There the sister led me to Savita's room. She was there... cheerful in spite of the a very painful moment she's just experienced.

The doctor in the hospital said we could go back home soon. So on 5th we came back home. Few days before the delivery, I had already purchased a tricycle for Daniel. So when Sophia arrived home, she presented the tricycle to Daniel. Daniel was happy to get the gift from the new member of the family. Daniel did not envy Sophia getting attention of his parents. Perhaps this little gift from Sophia at the time of her arrival eased the process. We also take proper precaution to see that Daniel is never neglected. Now Daniel is very happy that Sophia is around. He kissed her and wanted to lie down beside her. We are thankful to God that He has given us two wonderful children. It is also the prayer of the parents that the two siblings will continue to love and support one another till the end. 

Farewell, my dear father, Farewell!

Ch. Veino Duomai ( 14th Sept. 1932- 29th June, 2012) was one of the five children born to my grandparents. His parents were pagans when he was born. On 12th Feb. 1944, his parents migrated and formed a new village along with six other families as they became followers of Jesus Christ. He obediently followed his parents to a new place and the God of his parents became his God too. His parents sent him to a very distant place to get education. Unfortunately his way to higher education was cut short as his father expired when the children were still young. He could finish his formal education only till High School!

My beloved parents in 2011

By the time he reached his twenties, he became a fine sportsperson. He participated in various sport items at the inter-village level competition. He composed several songs too. He served as the Director for the Khyoubuhamai church choir and also for the Paomata Choir. For over fifty years, he also provided medical care to several thousands of people. Even people from different neighbouring villages and communities came to get medical treatment from him. I have seen people coming to call him even in the middle of an icy cold winter night due to certain illness in their family. Many a time even people from other villages would call him home right after his school or from the church or from the field. How he came to posses such skill & knowledge on healthcare system remains a mystery. Whether it was God's gift or whether it was through sheer hard work or whether it was a combination of both, his contribution to healthcare in the surrounding area was significant. Of all the things he did he, however, earned his livelihood by teaching in a Government school. Since there were hardly educated people then, the few people who were as educated as he was contributed to the growth of literacy rate in the region tremendously.

My dad was a man of few words. He remained apolitical all his life. And because of his non-involvement in politics, he avoided controversy. One of the remarkable features is that he loved my mom so much. And yes, he loved his children too. I remember him putting me to sleep in his back ( piggyback) when I was ill. I was probably four or five then. I also remember him carrying me to the team of medical doctors who had once come to the village to vaccinate the children of the village. That was when I was just six or seven. All of his children, however, he must have cared Jethro the most. Jethro, his second son and who became a paralytic at the age of one and remained so till his death at 32. Ziirai Jethro truly deserved that much care. Dad, we knew that you were doing the right thing then! 

Ten days back I was in the village. Dad has then been sleeping for almost 17-18 hours a day. He was running out of energy to remain awake for long and talk with people. He asked me to support him sit up for sometime. This time, for a change, he leaned on me. We talked about Jesus. And I asked him once more if he has truly accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and God. " Yes, I truly do", he said. He breathed his last on this side of the world at 6.22 pm on 29th June,, 2012. 

Of all the things he achieved and performed, I regard his decision to follow Jesus Christ as his Lord and God to be the wisest one. I believe it is because of his faith in Jesus Christ, he did the good things he did. And it is because of this faith in Jesus Christ that his death is not the end though for now I say, "farewell, my dear father, farewell! Your children will miss you."

Daniel Duomai & Melissa Bleck

How Christianity Transformed a Village

It was in 1942 that one white missionary, Dr. Broad, came to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to an obscure village. The name of the village was Phuba (Phyabu in local language), in present North East India, which was then 8 hours of walking from the nearest conveyance available. Similar kind of preaching by missionaries continued on and off in 1943. In 1944, seven families decided to follow Jesus Christ. And among those 7 families, one of them was  my paternal grandparents.

The obvious thing for these 7 families was to set up a new pattern of life in a new village. So in February 12, 1944, they moved some 3 kilometres away and set up a new village which is now called Phuba Thapham (Khyoubu, the village is shown in the picture). In this new village, they gave up drinking completely. And this was a very significant step for them; and this continues to be significant even today whenever someone becomes a follower of Jesus in that particular context. This was so because drinking was so much part of their life. In fact, the local dialect for someone of my place who was and is not a Christian is "drinking people". Since people would be drunk for many hours of the day, they were not hygienic. They did not have time for learning too and therefore literacy rate would probably have been around 1%. Roughly 40%-50% of the children that were born would die due to lack of medical facility and unhygienic way of life. But often the villagers would attribute death to the work of the spirits. So it was common to give filthy names ( of filthy words) to the children thinking that spirits would not take away children with such names.

Here I wish to mention that those who converted did not receive "rice" from anyone. They were not all rich, but the reason for them to convert was not because they were offered "rice" by anyone. 

In the new village they quit drinking. They lived hygienic life. The children mortality rate went up.  My dad was 12 years old then when his parents shifted to this new village. The same year my paternal grandfather went around to neighbouring villages to preach the Gospel and help those who converted to set up new homes. In 1946, after WW II, the Allied troops were pulling out from the region. My grandfather and many others served as porters for the troops who were going back home. While returning to the village in rainy  July after his service as a porter my grandfather developed a certain sickness. Few days later he passed away leaving behind 3 sons and 2 daughters.  But the new church and the village these 7 families have started by then have more than 5 times the original number. My grandmother lived till 1994.

In 1948 my maternal grandfather came as a missionary- teacher to the village, with his family members. Besides teaching Bible to the youth group of the village,  he was the first man who taught women of the village how to read and write. The following years he taught people of this village how to build orchard and also how to plough the fields using buffaloes. He also taught them how to cultivate many items of vegatables and pulses. Till then villagers relied mostly on wild plants for food. (Even today plants in the forest continue to be an important source of food items). After roughly 10 years of fruitful service to this obscure village my maternal grandparents left the family with their children, leaving behind my mother who by then had got married to my father. This grandfather died in 1979; and grandmother is still alive.

Today the village has over 1800 members; more so because new converts came to live in the village and mortality rate decrease significantly. The literacy rate would be somewhere around 98%.Seeing the significant differences between Christian and non-christian almost every family  in the mother village has become Christian now. Some people criticise Christianity for destroying the tribal way of life. Well, I would very much prefer this life to the life then. My parents would say the same. And my grandparents would not disagree with the preference, I know! 

Daniel Duomai

My son Daniel Duomai when he's 6 months old.