ZUNHEBOTO COLLEGE

ZUNHEBOTO COLLEGE – my first official assignment:

It was in the year 1979. There was a riot in Shillong. I was doing my third semester MA. I had gone to Allahabad for SSB interview. On my return I spent sometime in Kolkata (Calcutta – then). When I returned I couldn’t sit for the third sem exam. Those that sat for the exam got good marks though. The fourth started and I sat for the exam in time. On the penultimate day a Naga classmate of mine, Gokhote Sema (I am not too sure of the spelling of the first name. It was pronounced Wokhote or something.) asked me if I was interested for a college teaching job in his own district. He was not interested in it though. I was but was not too sure if any one would really accept a person who hadn’t completed his MA that too without Honours. He asked me to meet him at Laitumkhrah (a place in Shillong) the next day after the last exam, so that he could take me to the Principal who was camping there at Nagaland House. As the exam was over I lost interest in meeting the Principal and spent time in merry making. The day after next as luck would have it we happened to meet at Laitumkhrah and naturally a rebuke followed. Another date and time were fixed and ultimately I had to show up. He was already there before time. I met the Principal and was appointed right away. I also helped another friend to get appointed ion the same college and another one in a school. Only one thing I was not allowed to tell him was that I hadn’t completed my third sem. I sat for the third sem in the harshest of conditions. I was possibly the first and last candidate to be allowed to complete two sems together. We were possibly three of us. Two were repeating some papers. During the last two or three days I was the only candidate in the hall. It was raining cats & dogs and I was running a high temperature with Pharyngytis. I remember to have taken my wet shoes off and water was dripping down from the trousers – I couldn’t take them off though. Nevertheless, I took the exam – I almost had to. We were supposed to have travelled by first class but according to my friend the Travelling Allowance was not enough for Second Class travel either. So, we had to dole some money from our pockets. After a hazardous journey we reached Zunheboto on the 14^th of June 1980. Classes were supposed to be at the Night Shift. It was a venture college. We were the first teachers in this second attempt of establishing a college. We could have two days of classes precisely on the 15^th & 16^th and a riot broke out between Semas and Aos. We were in Sema land. As I received a telegram for an interview for Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree I lost no time to resign. By then I had worked for around one year and seven months. In addition to working in the college I also worked in the morning shift at Sun Beam School and during the day in St. Paul’s School. Later, when my Principal (Kuhoi Zhimomi)’s wife went on a maternity leave I joined the Govt. School for three months. I received a telegram ‘bed selection’ on a certain date – frankly I was confused. It took some time for me to find out that it was the selection for admission into Bachelor of Education Course. There was not much time to leave. Being very clear that I would not get a Study Leave I chose to resign.