Who Will be Ningthou? Summary
The story “Who will be Ningthou?” is a beautiful story by Indira Mukherjee, describing the story of a kingdom of Manipur the story describes what qualities make a good ruler.
The 1st to 5th of the story “Long Long . . . . . . . future king’’ describes long time ago in the kingdom of kangleipak there lived a king & queen who were loved by the people. The king was called ningthou & the queen was called Leima. The king & the queen always thought about their people. Not only about the people. They even loved the birds, trees animals etc. They wanted everybody to be in peace in the king’s kingdom. The king & queen had 3 son’s, ‘sanajaoba, Sanayaima, Sanatombi. A baby girl was born to them 12 years later & they named her Sanatombi. She was a lovely & soft hearted child. Years passed by & one fine day the king called the minister to decide the tunggi ningthou i.e. the future king.
The 6th to 10th Para “The minister . . . . . . . Tunggi ningthou” describe the contest held to decide the future king. The ministers were shocked hearing the king & they replied that the eldest son shall be the king. The king replied humbly it used to happen in earlier days but now time has changed & we need to select a king who is a contest, a horse race. The one who reaches the three first will be declared the king. But then a strange thing happened as all the three sons were good horse-riders all of them reached the tree at the same time. The king & the queen asked all three of them to do something to prove them.
The 11th to 15th Para of the story “suddenly . . . . . . . The trees” continues to describe the event from which the king was to be selected. Suddenly sanajaoba, the eldest son mounted his horse straight, pierced the tree & jumped his horse right through it. The people shouted in excitement. The second son Sanayaima mounted his horse & rode faster towards the tree. He came close to the tree & jumped over the huge tree & landed safely on the other side. The third son, Sanatomba too rode his horse towards the trees & finally uprooted it & kept in the feet of the king & the queen. The people grew restless in excitement. The king & the queen were watching their daughter who looked sad & lonely. Sanatombi walked to the king & the queen & whispered that the tree is dead. Birds were flapping around in search of their home. The king looked in three sons & then his daughter. He turned to the people & announced that little Sanatombi would be the for it was she would felt the pain for the tree & the creatures living in it she can & feel the pain of others. Everyone was awestruck. They looked at the little girl, there she stood like a small tree with birds flying all around. The birds sat on her shoulders & hand. She held her hand full of seeds for birds.
The story is a beautiful piece highlighting that a person who can feel the pain of others be it birds, animals or pants is a good person even from inside, capable to be a king, queen or a leader.