Winning hearts with ‘pani puri’ and ‘chuski’ in Mon town

Dimapur, October 19: “I did not want my sickness to be an excuse for me to sit idle at home and followed my instinct to stand on my feet and live according to the illustrious maxim ‘dignity of labour’,” says Aphe Winkangshu, a cancer survivor who has been inspiring people with her remarkable journey from fighting cancer to grabbing the social media with her ‘gol gappa/pani puri’ and ‘chuski/gola’ stall.
The growing network of social media is a platform that one cannot break away from with stories (negative and positive) from around the globe. But stories such as the one of Aphe Winkangshu bring joy to the heart and restore one’s faith in humanity. And thanks to a Facebook post, it appears that it could take a twist for better.
Aphe’s fight with cancer dates back to the year 2014 when she was first diagnosed with the dreaded disease.
Narrating her first encounter with the sickness to Eastern Mirror, Aphe shared that she had seen many of her fellow patients who were undergoing treatment together with her had lost their battle which would have scared her. But her spirit to fight kept her going until she was relieved of the health condition though doctors have not announced her to be cancer-free yet. A graduate from Tetso College Dimapur, Aphe hails from Chenloisho village under Mon district. Youngest of the six siblings, the power packed Aphe grabbed the eyeballs with her desi stall which is one of a kind in Mon town where people have seen those only on television. She can be found sitting along Don Bosco School junction – to be precise – from 6.30 am to 5 pm and life has been chaotic for her over the past five months.
The idea to get into selling ‘Pani Puri’ and ‘Chuski’ was conceived when she saw them selling like hot cakes at Dhobinalla, Dimapur from a man who is a non-Naga. Sensing the prospect of the two tastes which could be a new found taste for Mon town, she approached him and learned the art of making those two products from the man’s benevolent father.
After a painstaking learning, Aphe says she invested Rs 20,000 to buy materials for her new business. However, running the business in a town with transportation problem was another hurdle for her. Therefore, out of the money she had saved, Aphe invested in a freezer to make ice blocks for the chuskis.
“On the first day of my business a lot of people gathered around my stall who mistook that I was on a fund raising (which usually happens in Nagaland)” shared Aphe. “But with each passing day as people found me sitting there every day, they realised what I was up to.”
A graduate herself, she took to this business so that she can make a living through hard work and not beg around with the excuse of being jobless. She says that like many Naga graduates, she has tried going through interviews, exams and even other means of appointment, but those failures pushed her to work harder and stand on her own feet.
In her own account, Aphe shared that at times she goes through an embarrassing moment when she encounters her classmates with fine jobs. However, when she realises that her job is no less than others, it encourages her to work harder.
“How long can we sit idle and wait for government jobs,” points the inspiring fighter. Cancer has made her realise the value of spirituality that gives strength to go on and at the same time she has also realised the value of money.
She says her second life has been gifted by God and whatever is happening in her life is all by “His grace”. And because of this, she conveys “one should not be ashamed of any job that involves one’s hard labour but should be ashamed to beg from other people that would make them equal to a beggar”.
She is not among those who gives up on life easily and says selling ‘Pani Puri’ and ‘Chuski’ is not momentary for her but will continue to bring flavours as long as she can make herself proud and contented.