My name is Horthingshang CS, and I come from Hungpung Village, Manipur. My father passed away when I was still at a tender age, and being the eldest son (second eldest) among eight siblings, my childhood ended before it had truly begun. His death did not just take away a parent, it took away the security of our family.
My mother suffered from various physical ailments, hampering her ability to be the breadwinner of the family. Every day became a battle to survive. We were buried in debt, and there were days when moneylenders came to forcefully strip us of the little land we owned. I distinctly remember standing before them, begging for more time to allow me to earn enough to pay them back, all without my mother’s knowledge because I feared the truth would break her—she already had enough on her plate, I thought. There were nights when we went to bed hungry and mornings when we woke up to no food again. I walked from one neighbour’s house to another, asking if they could spare us a little food. Those moments stripped away my pride, but they taught me what love and sacrifice truly meant.Q
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Education became another uphill climb. I studied at St. Joseph’s School, Imphal, then Sacred Heart Ukhrul, and later travelled to Shillong to pursue higher education. To survive college life, I worked part-time as a delivery boy. As if this was not enough, life caught up with me again. I had to leave college because I could no longer afford to continue. It felt like another dream slipping through my hands. I returned home, started over, completed my graduation at St. Joseph College, Ukhrul, and later worked as a dishwasher in the Bangalore. No job was small or big if it meant there would be food on our table.
The COVID-19 pandemic compelled me to leave my job in Bangalore and return to my village. For nearly a year, I worked on our small farm, raising chickens, ducks, goats, and pigs. When my sister expressed her desire to get married, I moved to Delhi in 2022 in search of better opportunities and to support her future.
Life in Delhi was challenging. I worked continuously for a year, and the strain eventually led to getting admitted in the ICU. I was extremely weak and feared for my life, but my goal gave me the strength to recover and keep going.
After that experience, I resolved to take better care of my health and began running. What started as a means of recovery soon became a passion. Within a year, I was running marathons in Delhi and winning races, which reignited my dream of representing Manipur in athletics. Around the same time, I began creating short videos to manage stress. Over time, they became a source of healing, and when people told me my content made them laugh, I decided to continue part-time—not only as a hobby, but as a way to spread joy while pursuing my dreams.
As a child, I dreamed of becoming an athlete. That dream stayed buried for years drowned in family responsibility. At the age of 30, when many believed it was too late, I chose to begin again. Many laughed at me and doubted me, but I trained every single day while simultaneously working night shifts. Eventually, I had the honour of representing Manipur three times at the National Games in Track and Field. Crossing that finish line meant more than winning a race, it meant proving that dreams can survive even after years of hardship.
Today, I still work night shifts in a BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), create content during the day, and compete in athletic events whenever I can. Every rupee I earn reminds me of where I came from.
I live by one prayer: “God, let Your will be done.” My greatest achievement is not the medals I have won, but seeing my siblings stand on their own feet. If my story can give even one struggling person the courage to keep going, then every tear, every sacrifice, and every sleepless night will have been worth it.
Iwui Story is a segment aimed to add tremendous life’s values and richness of human compassion through intimate stories of other people’s life experiences, adjoining a ‘reflective piece’ for each readers as the story present themselves with its richness of wisdom, of failures, achievements, tears, of joy, love and affection. A wholesome piece of life lessons and reflections.
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