𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒆𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒂𝒎 𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒐

𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒆𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒂𝒎 𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒐

Several lifetimes ago, forty years to be precise, I was the bank manager at an isolated (at least then) location in the North-East Indian State of 𝐍𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝, not far from 𝐌𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫 (only, it was called 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐚 then). In that small town of 𝐙𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐨, my apartment was one floor above the bank, and the landlord’s residence, another floor above mine.

Every morning promptly at 06:00 AM I would receive from my landlord’s kitchen a morning cup of steaming tea delivered by a young helper, in her teens, named 𝐃𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢. In addition, whenever she went to work on the family farm many miles away, she would bring back fresh vegetables for me. I never forgot her kindness nor her name. Infectiously happy, always with a smile, she was.

Then two days ago, through the magic of the internet, I received a surprise call from the landlord’s family in Nagaland and there, at the other end of the call, was 𝐃𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢! I nearly fell off my chair.

I had all but forgotten the medium of communication – Nagamese (pidgin Assamese) – after all these years but surprisingly it came back strong, much to the merriment of all, including the family of the landlord, who were a second family to me in those days. Not just the language, the memories too came flooding back. We had a heartwarming chat, that I will treasure always. And if it all works out, I hope to travel to Nagaland to see 𝐃𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢 on my next trip to this region. Here’s a picture of Dohoni as she is now. The years have taken their toll on all of us, but I still would have recognized Dohoni on my own without any help.

As if this was not enough, today I called Japan on amateur radio and who should respond but 𝐉𝐇𝟐𝐓𝐈𝐏 – 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐞-san, from 𝐅𝐮𝐣𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐳𝐮𝐨𝐤𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. Our previous contact was way back in June 1989, a full thirty-five years ago! We had a wonderful chat reminiscing over the air, which is what amateur radio is all about.

My cup of joy is full, and my heart is overflowing with gratitude.

𝟕𝟑 (best wishes) de 𝐕𝐔𝟐𝐀𝐁𝐄 𝐀𝐁𝟏𝐅