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The Safety Pin
U Para Lok Jong Phi Nga dei u briew baduk bapli, Ka don khyndiat ka pher ha nga, Wat la nga long u briew barit, Lada nga shong jaipdeh jai sngi, Nga ngeit phi ithuh bha ia nga, Ym dei ba nga sarong lade, Bret lut ki kam tynneng baroh, To pdiang tang kine ki kyntien, (R.G.Dkhar) |
I Am Your Friend I am but a poor pathetic being, I have a small difference in me, Even if I am insignificant, If in a day I while away the time, I believe you very well know me, Not that I am proud and haughty, Throw away all imitations, Then do accept these very words, (R.G.Dkhar) |
Talking to this 82 year old man Mr. R. G. Dkhar, or as most of us know him ‘Ma Grace’, as he narrates the story, one feels the warmth of his soul and the virginity of those long bygone and begotten days. Bah Grace told us of how the missionaries at that time appealed to members of the church to contribute towards the Centenary Monument to be constructed in the church premises of Nongsawlia. People promised to pay certain amounts of money, as well as in kind to contribute to this celebration. Mem Evans however felt that small children should also be given a chance to promise and contribute.
At that time, most children, especially hostel children, though poor, promised an anna or two for 18 months. However Bah Grace, who at that time was less than 11 years old as he remembers, though was mistaken as being only 7 years old by the British because of his small stature promised to contribute eight annas, or 50 paise, as it became to be popularly known later. That was the time when with only 1 paise, one could buy chana for two or three children. As a small boy at that time, Bah Grace sacrificed this fortune and would rather save all his pocket money for the purpose. Soon after that, one morning he asked his mother if he could now hand over his money box which contained his savings to Mr. Evans, to which she agreed. He handed this over to Mr Evans’ saying “If you please, Sir, open my box to see if I have enough to pay my eight annas that I promised.” To his surprise however, there were 10 annas in that box, when Mr. Evans opened it before him; two annas more than what he had promised.
Happy and touched by his sincerity and sacrificial spirit, Mr. Evans handed over the extra 2 annas, with another 2 annas as a gesture from him to little Grace at that time, which the small boy happily added to his contribution, making his total contribution 12 annas instead of the promised 8 annas. Seeing this gesture from a small boy who was the first one to contribute, Mem Evans at that time took this small boy, combed his hair and took him outside for a quick photograph. Totally innocent, the small boy smiled at the opportunity to pose for a photograph which was indeed a privilege at the time.
It was only many years later that, when this small boy became a man and a father, he came to know that his picture was actually printed on the “Y CENHADWR”, with a short story about his innocent contribution, as was informed and translated to English by Miss Gwen.C.Evans, on 24th Feb’ 1990.
This same person, who later went on to become a church elder and was also the headman of the Riatsamthiah locality of Shillong in 2001-2002, wrote a beautiful poem, which though unpublished, speaks a lot of his personality as a small but helpful and sometimes pinching item, that would however become rusted if not used, as he expressed himself as “U Pin Thyrnia”, or the “Safety Pin”. Indeed he is someone who, even though very small, is very important and helpful. He might go unnoticed to some if missing, or might even be frivolous, but can also be missed by many and would definitely make a huge difference with his presence to those who are more acquainted with his capacity and contribution - he definitely is small, but known and handy, with a huge difference in his thought process, or more so his heart.
Of course there are other stories associated with this Centenary Monument, related with other children. Though pictures are not available till date, the story of Mornock, the great-great Grandson of Borsing Syiem, the King who gave away the throne and Kingdom of Sohra rather than deny Jesus Christ is also worth mention. He was the little boy who presented the button hole to Sir Robert Reid on that auspicious day (dressed in full Khasi attire along with a girl named Twinkle, who incidentally is also still alive), because he was on the spot every day whilst they were building the Memorial Stone, helping to wash the sand, carry stones and run messages to the workers. All the children, at that time had some part in building the Memorial. They loved rolling the stones downhill, stones from the ruins of the first chapel which was destroyed in the 1897 earthquake, so there is in this Memorial a valuable link with the past. They also carried lime and sand but that was not as exciting as rolling stones downhill. The service they rendered gave them a great sense of belonging to the Memorial and this gave them a special interest in it.
Totally innocent , the smell boy smiled at the opportunity to pose for a photograph which was indeed a privilege at the time. |
The intention of narrating the story is for us to realize that we still have much to learn from our forefathers, as well as from our beloved missionaries, who even though five decades have passed since the incidents, and with the people concern having long passed on, can still trace their history and hence the details of the records to be made available to us.
“.....their steadfast spirit points the way for us to follow day by day.”
The original poem written by Bah Grace has been repoduced in the previous page and has been translated by U Sumar Sing Sawian. The poem was written by Bah Grace while he was still in service at the State Public Works Department. The inspiration for the poem came when Bah Grace was all alone in the office and was called by the Executive Engineer to talk about work related with the construction of the National Highway passing through the heart of Shillong. Nervous and scared, as simple as people of those days were, he reached into his pocket and find a safety pin, then and there he found an inspiration and immediately after penned down the poem as it is.