Thursday, September 27, 2012

Mizo parents are indulgent with their sons and daughters

Pagan or Christian, Mizora is Cupid’s own territory

Mizo parents are indulgent with their sons and daughters and would not deprive them of the freedom they had known in their youth. The Mizo society is tolerant love peccadilloes. This does not mean permissiveness of laxity. On the contrary, marriage is both a sacred sacrament and a civil contact to the Mizo and today marital instability is perhaps less than what it used to be. The old custom of paying a price for the bride is still in vague. The bridegroom pays money to the bride’s father and it is distributed among relatives. All those who receive this money have a responsibility to the girl, should she fall upon evil days.

In the midst of hardship and suffering, the Mizo villager retains a rare serenity of spirit and the capacity to laugh at everybody-including himself. Old festivals like `Chapcharkut’ and `Mimkut’ are still observed. Traditional dances like `Chraw kan’, Chheih lam’ and `Solokkia’ are popular, and one still hears about someone seeing spirits in the jungles (Ramhuai).