Andrew kai Hangsing - Thadou-Kuki

Andrew kai Hangsing

Poem 1 (In Thadou-Kuki language)

 

LHINGSET

 

Tuikhanglen-a tuisi kilang go bang,

Vapanga neldi malkhat bang,

Na mit hindoi thingjangvah khat bang,

Tampi lah-a khatseh nahi bouve.

 

Mibang bang nahi bouve,

Nangbang atam’e –

Ti hi kisan jengin.

Lungnat nat aume na?

Hin, hiti joh hin ve in –

 

Koima sanga nanempoi,

Mihem akon kijil cheh, Tohdoh theina kipe cheh;

Miphah phahna phathei, Nanople phada thei nahi

Ajeh chu nang phahna aphah um? Nang hina domsangjon.

 

Dangchah nouna tuisi,

Insahna-a pang neldi,

Mei thimlah-a vah jangkhat –

Eima hina cheh a ilhingset’ui.

 

(English Translation)

 

ENOUGH

 

A droplet trying to make its mark in the vast ocean,
a grain of sand on the river-bank,
a ray of morning light trying to catch your eye;
you are just one of many.

You are average
and you are common – Accept it.
Depressing, right?
But look at it this way –

You're lesser than no one else,
made of the same human cells and potential.
You can be there, wherever others are
or maybe not, do you care?
'Cause where you are, they're not here too;
your own status, go value.

A droplet to quench a thirst,
a grain of sand to built a home,
a ray of light between dark clouds –

we are enough the way we are.

 

 

Poem 2 (In Thadou-Kuki language)

 

LHANG VANGPHA

 

Sahei pahna vo haithei phung,

Nang bang vangnei aumlouve;

Sangthing tampin nakhel vangin,

Saheinu nachunga akai bouve.

 

Tobang thim chun, vo lhangdang,

Nang bang vangnei umding hamo?

Lungdeinu lenna vo lhanghoi,

Na laigilla idia penglou kahi hamo?

 

Na tolpia gollhang toubemhon,

Lanu thuhpanga sou chei choi;

Keijong lhang vangpha ngai kahi,

Lai lenna ding jalaija kavaimoi.

 

(English translation)

 

THAT FORTUNATE HILL

 

O mango tree where dwells the orchid,

There be no tree more fortunate than you;

Tall trees albeit they tower over you,

Upon you, the orchid did choose to dwell.

 

In similar fashion, O yonder hill,

Be there a hill more fortunate than you?

O lovely hill upon which dwells my beloved,

Why was I not born on you as well?

 

Upon you, yonder young men be seated,

Clamouring around my beloved’s hearth;

I wish to be atop that fortunate hill too,

For here, I still feel alone amidst the crowd.

 

About: Andrew Kai Hangsing is the author of two poetry collections – Sensational Hometown (2018) which deals with his experiences living in the small hilly town of Haflong in Assam, India, and Like a Skipping Stone (2021) which deals with love and heartbreak. Having started more than a decade ago, his poems have been published in many journals and magazines. He has featured in an issue of the Eclectic Northeast magazine in 2018 too. He is currently working on a full-fledged poetry collection in his native Thadou-Kuki language. 

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Indigenous Voices of India :: Setu, November 2022