This entry is dedicated to Zothantluanga (Ztta) who passed away on the 18th of September,2010..
I met him when i'd joined Bial Zaipawl in 2009. He sang Tenor and i, Contralto. He used to sit behind me at practices.He was quiet, funny at the same time and a talented musician. He played the guitar & keyboard with ease and was always one of the song leaders in many of the KTP functions....
2009 passed with not much of a communication between us except for the usual hi and bye..But fate got us closer this year when we, the BZP had to go to Chawngte L . The trip brought the members of the choir closer than ever before. The guys still meet after church services almost every night for chit chat and to sing together. They're more like brothers than friends.
Onward and backward journeys to and from Chawngte L, Tta had the guitar to himself, playing all the requested songs as we bleated our lungs out in the bus. I believe he had not, for a single moment, been relieved off the task of strumming the chords.Yet he was the most enthusiastic of the lot.
Ztta was well versed with the tonic solfa and was blessed with a good voice.But he never showed off in any manner whatsoever. I remember the time when he would softly hum the song we were practicing - to guide us- those who were singing contralto.We just couldnt hit the right note by ourselves and the other members were constantly complaining about it. He was our knight in shining armour that night.
He never complained about anything at all. I often told him about my problems and he would always promise to pray for me.
Shortly after we returned home from Chawngte he began having fever. He had gone to Durtlang Hospital on the 18th of September for a check up, where they had discovered he had jaundice and was admitted to the hospi immediately.But his antibodies could no longer withstand his illness and he died the same evening.
We miss him terribly and his memories will forever remain in our hearts. I cant still get over the fact that hundreds of people in and around his locality, Tlangnuam flocked to pay their last respects to this insignificant quiet lad and how everyone's eyes was red with tears, from the smallest kid to the older ladies who used to teach him in the same sunday school where he had taught many.
At his funeral service,We bade him farewell with one of the songs we had practised together in the choir, but all of us couldnt sing ,with tears welling up in our eyes and the lifeless body beside us.The guys especially wept throughout the entire song!!! His place was there among the tenors yet he was laid in the coffin.He wasnt there in body but we know, he was there in spirit singing "Ka Kir leh dawn, ka Lalpa hnenah...." to HIM whom he had served with gladness in his heart!!
