Anungla Chang and her husband Impongsoted share a laugh in their home in Tuensang town on March 7. (Morung Photo)
Moses Hongang Chang
Tuensang | March 7
Behind every successful man is a strong woman: if any illustration is needed for the saying, then there is a vivid demonstration of it in the life of Anungla Chang who, over the last 50 years, raised a family of nine children while simultaneously being an immense pillar of support for her husband.
Born to Sangtam Dongsü and Noknyu Yola in 1954 at Litem village, even before she was named, just three days later after her birth, Anungla’s father passed away.
She went on to study at Mission School in Tuensang town in the year 1967 and five years later, on January 18, 1972, she was married to Impongsoted Chang. They celebrated their 50th anniversary last month.
According to Impongsoted, the couple went on to have nine children- seven sons and two daughters. “Ever since I can remember, I was always busy either with my job as a teacher or with different civil societies. Although, I was a teacher, my wife wholeheartedly took the responsibility of taking care of our children,” Impongsoted said.
Her husband is a household name in the district with many distinctions owing to his work with various civil society organisations, but through every step of his life and career, Anungla soared as a mother to her children and a wife to her husband.
“I have left her with our children on many occasions for office related works or for our tribal errands. Sometimes, it took even weeks to come back home. Leaving aside few occasional nagging from her, she never made our kids to feel my absence at home,” Impongsoted narrated.
“I have travelled to many places or to say that I have seen the world but for my dear wife, her whole revolved around our children and our home. I have given most of my life in serving our people and on the other hand, I failed as a father. But, my wife championed the role of both the parents in looking after our kids,” he added.
At first glance, Anungla Chang is a shy and sweet looking woman. However, in the words of her son fifth son Changsang, she is ‘strict and stern.’
Changsang Soted is an NCS officer currently posted as EAC at Panso, and credits his mother for his success. “I remember my anyu making us study loudly, so that she could hear us studying while she was working in the kitchen or staying awake at night with stick in her hand and asking us if we have finished studying,” he recalled.
“As I recollect now, she is illiterate and she might not have understood what we were studying. We could have easily lied to her and got away that we have studied but we were honest to her,” he said, adding that his anyu inculcated honesty in him and his siblings at an early age.
“She instilled in us the zest to excel. The extra mile she took to take care of us. We are nine children and our school routine was different too. In the morning, she would drop all of us and come back at 12 noon and 2 pm to take us home.
So, the daily routine, the conviction and the patience that she showed to us is incomparable as myself I am a parent and it’s very hard to manage. She gave us the vision to excel in life and because of her we are who we are. Her advice was always simple but very practical in life,” he added.
Private tuitions were rare those days but Anungla kept a tight schedule for her children to study at home.
“My eldest son Akumshang once came home crying from school saying that one of his classmates broke his pencil and tore his books. So, I told him not to cry for that matter but just concentrate in his studies and to help his classmates in their studies and they would stop annoying him,” Anungla narrated.
“I always tell my children to love another because if you are not good to each other, people will also ignore you. Even today, all of them are so loving with one another which can also be seen in the relationships among their partners,” she added.
While her husband was away for his duties, trainings or historical research of his community, she was left to take complete care of their children. With a paltry salary of a primary teacher and nine children to feed and clothe, it was not very easy to manage finances at home too. She would occasionally sell vegetables in the market and weave clothes to sell.
Her husband also mentioned that she was seldom upset at him even though he was absent from home most of the time.
“I always tell my children that it is because of your mother that you all are who you are. To always take care of her, because their mother gave her everything to raise our children. Sometimes, I am filled with tears of regret thinking about her struggles,” her husband lamented. Two of their children are NCS officers, one works at ECS, Tuensang, while some are teachers.
Anungla recently suffered a mild stroke and is on the way to recovery and although she was sick in bed during their 50th anniversary, she was upbeat and all smiles to talk about her children and her husband.
Throughout her life, Anungla has braved many challenges which are unseen, unknown or unheard by her family but still to this day she remains calm, gentle, smiling as ever. She is an exemplary figure who has always been in the shadow of a towering personality in the form of her husband and successful children but the strongest pillar in her family.
In the Chang Naga language, ‘Moshikbü Sao’ literally translates to an ‘ideal woman.’ Anungla Chang truly fits that definition, her family attests.
