Wungreihor Tuithung; The First Tribal Matriculation Topper of Manipur (Rank No.1, 1987)
A TRAINED PHYSICIST, QUINTESSENTIAL TANGKHUL GENTLEMAN, A MYSTIC AND A LESSON ON SIMPLICITY.
More than two decades has it been that this reclusive Tangkhul Naga gentleman provided me a profound/deep inspiration. I was in High School then (2002). On that particular day, I remember being deeply or passionately engaged, perusing the articles of the big-sized erstwhile North East Sun Magazine, which used to be published from Delhi. My eyes got fixated on the article about two very distinguished individuals from Manipur; Deepak Chabungbam Meitei and Wungreihor Tuithung Tangkhul from Kashung, a Tangkhul village in the southern Tangkhul region of Manipur. Both of them were Matriculation toppers (1st Rank holders) of the Board Exams conducted by the Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BOSEM); Wungreihor Tuithung(1987) and Deepak Chabungbam Meitei (1993).
For the uninitiated, Shri Deepak Chabungbam Meitei was promoted as Commissioner of Income Tax (IRS) in January 2024 and he successfully cleared the National Civil Services Exam in 2002 (AIR-100). An officer with stellar academic records, Deepak Chabungbam Meitei was a Delhi University topper in Physics, from the prestigious Hindu College. The officer was also the Topper (1st Rank holder) during his 12th Science Board Exam from D.M. College, Imphal. And as I vividly remember from the article I read in 2002, the father of Sir Deepak Chabungbam retired as the Head of the Department of Physics, Manipur University and his mother, a retired Professor.
Wungreihor Tuithung completed his matriculation from Don Bosco School, Chingmeirong, Imphal and his 12th Science from St. Joseph’s College, Bengaluru and graduation in Physics from the premier St. Stephen’s College, in the year 1992. In the pre-independence era, the first person from North Eastern British India to top the matriculation Board Exam of Calcutta University (First Class First/Rank No.1) was Suisa Rungsung, a Tangkhul Naga from Shongran Village (article by U.A. Shimray). In the year 1929, the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE, Dacca)-which covered East Bengal and North East India-was affiliated to Calcutta University for the first time and Mr. Suisa Rungsung, a Tangkhul Naga and a student from Jorhat Christian High School, emerged as the topper of the prestigious University. According to Harish Chandola-(NE Correspondent of the Times of India, Shillong, 1955)-Mr. Suisa Rungsung, who was popularly known as Uncle Suisa-the second Naga MP (1957-1962) from Outer PC, Manipur- was the most popular Political leader of Manipur from the late 1950s to 1960s, as he had massive following from both the Meitei and the Kuki Communities of the state.
So, let’s get back to the story. A Tangkhul Naga contemporary/peer of Wungreihor Kashung at the Premier St. Stephen’s College was Mr. I.K. Muivah, currently serving as Additional DGP, Manipur (IPS, 2000). Sir I.K. Muivah has the distinction of being the first and the only person- from the North East Region- to have won the Prize for winning in the famous Hiren Mukherjee Memorial Lecture, an inter-College Debate Competition at Delhi University (as conveyed by the officer himself). While I was in School, my late cousin remarked that I.K. Muivah(IPS) has a potential vast enough to move well ahead of his contemporaries or peers, and it was no wonder to me that the handsome Police Officer married a Korean Defence Analyst/ Professor at the Pentagon, USA, a woman he had met prior to his entry into elite National Civil Service of India.
Another equally famous Tangkhul contemporary of Ameihor at Delhi University is the current Consul General of India, Vancouver, Canada Shri Masakui Rungsung (IFS, 2001), the third Tangkhul Naga to be elevated as an Ambassador of India; the first tribal Ambassador of India was Bob Khathing (1972) and the first directly recruited Woman IFS officer from North East India was Smt. Primerose Raikhan (IFS, 1976), Ambassador of India to Panama (2002-2006) and Portugal (2008-2012). Consul General Shri Masakui Rungsung completed his graduation (English Honours) from Punjab University along with my uncle Sunny Zimik, and he previously worked for the Reserve Bank of India after obtaining his double MA degrees (English, NEHU, and Political Science, DU).
After his departure from St. Stephen’s College, Ameihor obtained B.Ed, M.Ed and M.Phil degrees from Delhi University. His father Lt. Ningphung Tuithung, retired as an Accountant, Education Department and his mother Mary Horam joined as UDC, Directorate of Tribal Development, GoM. The result for the matriculation Exam of BOSEM was declared while Amei Wungreihor was in Bangalore and he remembers receiving a Telegram message from his mother -then an employee of the state government-which read; “BOARD RESULT, RANK 1.”
His departure from Physics and foray into the subject of Education was partly on account of his change in life’s Philosophy; he became a mystic and went on to serve in a Christian monastic institute to serve God. For many years, Ameihor has been deeply committed to a Christian Monastic Institute and had been passionately involved with Spiritual works of the Christian Church as a mystic. His life is a lesson for many of the evolving Tangkhul theologians who had taken the oath before the altar of God to be at His service.
In the preceding century, the Tangkhul Community did produce some of the most successful theologians and pioneering missionaries of the North Eastern Region, and according to him, “theologians galore” in our community and “spirituality subsumes theology” but “what matters/counts is that one becomes a true follower of the Master (Jesus Christ, the Lord).”
MAY WE ALL REMAIN INSPIRED BY OUR ELDERS.
Ngahanyui Zimik
