Eaglenest Singchung & Tenga

Kaibo Phiang

Kaibo Phiang is now at home and aged 85. He recollects his vocations that spanned being a load carrier, dak runner (mail carrier) and a village head priest. In just one life, he has seen the construction of the Foothill-Chaku-Tenga road, met the Dalai Lama when he was fleeing in 1959, vividly recollects the 1962 war and was the village head priest when the Dalai Lama visited Singchung village again in 1997.

kaibo-phiang_then-and-now

Kaibo was a dak runner for the Indian Postal Service for twelve years and his duty took him to multiple places. He remembers that the Dalai Lama and his entourage stopped over for lunch at Chaku in the middle of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in 1959. The entourage had people who came by foot, horses and jeeps. Kaibo’s memory retains small details of the Dalai Lama’s visit – he remembers that the Dalai Lama’s mother and sister were wearing shawls made from sheep skin. After lunch they carried on and went down to the Assam plains. On his way down, just at the border of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary he planted a bonsum tree (Phoebe goalparensis) in Khellong.

kaibo-phiang_rach-hai-and-sacrifice

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