Day: February 28, 2011

by Kajal Chingsubam, Class X, Little Flower School, Imphal Digital world is a new world! The new digital era has made its indelible mark in the modern world. Ranging from digital signature to digital imaging, from processing to digital banking, no doubt it has made life easier for a modern living. We have changed the way we relate, communicate and do business. The new digital era enables us to ignore space and time, to communicate with people from other continents as if they live next door, to do business with people in other countries, to study in any university in other countries and yet live in India, to acquire whole new perspectives of life, have friends online over night and much more. We have seen the growing use of digital lifestyle technologies in homes, schools and colleges, work places, on the streets, in cars, in trains and in planes – every aspect of our daily life has been altered by the new digital world. Digital expansion is rapid with explosive surge of broadband growth and soaring mobile numbers. A research estimate 93% of Indian urban families has mobile phones placing themselves ahead of Japanese households with 89% having it. As a result teenagers reflect the global trends with regard to their study, career and relationships. There is a sweeping change in the lives of teenagers. The virtual world plays an important role for the younger generations. Today teenagers prefer an online computer to TV, Radio and Magazines. They use it for IM (instant messaging), information, e-mailing, entertainment etc. The major implications of the digital era cannot and should not be ignored. Teenagers are to be on their against the misuse of these technologies. They should frame plans for future, ensuring good and maximum utilization of the available digital technologies. The future of the nation depends on the digital savvy youth of today.

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by Naorem Stella, Class X, Little Flower School Imphal Internet connection on my computer Satellite networks on my TV screen A 3G mobile in my pocket, i-pods, DVD players, play stations All scattered around the room The whole globe is rotating And responding to the tap of my fingertip. Should I call it globalization? One moment I am with Barack Obama Taking the presidential oath at the White House Another moment I romance with Sarkozy and Bruni On the marble floors of the Taj Sometimes I rap and dance with Shakira, On the African fields of the World Cup Soccer, Some other time I cheer the sixers of Sachin On the stadium of cricketers. I can wobble with the Google I can yank the Yahoo, I can cyber the twitter Who cares? The world is within my grip. Yet! Why do I feel so restless and lost? Can anyone tell me how to digitize human emotions? Whither to trace God? Where to cultivate faith and love? Anyway why so much blood on Jihad and Holy War? O dear friends! I wonder it’s The Utopia of human civilization, Or the Dystopia of human folly We are living in today.

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by Bobo Khuraijam Life is filled with surprises. It comes in a mixed bag. Some are bitter in taste. Some are sweet. Some are unpleasantly cold. And some surprises are comfortably warm. Surprises of that kind are received with alacrity and brightness. We desire to be pampered with it for all the time. But that would just not happen. How would one call it a surprise when it comes about recurrently? GROWING VEGETABLES: Our friend Tomcha has got a new job. He is going to be an officer. It has been a dream of his family for him to become an officer. Right from his school days he has been a hard working student. He would get good marks in exams. His examination report cards are a testimony of his standing in a high scholarly ground. He did not care to wait for the results of the senior secondary examination. He was dead sure that he will get good marks, in fact, very good marks. So like other good students, before the results got declared, he joined the most sought after coaching classes. The coaching classes coach him to be able to crack the most sought after competitive exams ever known in the land. With sheer determination he came out with flying colors in the competitive exam. What a day it was. Everyone in the family cried with tears of joy. After that, for the next five years he went through a tedious period of hard work, again. The day of he got his degree; he was not sure whether he should be happy or sad. After all the degree was just a degree until one gets a befitting job, he thought. He was right. He knew that the institution in which he studied churns out regular batch of degree holders like him, every year. He has seen his predecessors slogging for a decent job in spite of the degree in their hands. Those who could get a foothold in the post graduation seemed to be in a better position. For those who could not, they have got little time to tell their stories. Some of them would stay in Delhi; surviving on unsavory food from the catering, fighting the extreme climate – all for the PG entrance. Some of them would hole up elsewhere with their books – all for the PG entrance. They would often claim that life of a degree holder is worthless without a PG degree. Even for those who have stayed back home, you would not notice them in any of the thoudok wathok. For most of the time they are engrossed in their studies. Once in a while you wish to stop by your friend’s house when you happen to pass by. Just to say karam touri? You will not be disappointed but you will thank yourself. Thank yourself for not being a prestigious degree holder, who is insipidly cut off from the world, preparing to pass through another horrendous exam for yet another degree. We would keep on wondering why specialization needs special examination, which could turn friends into creature; partly a numb scientist, partly a drunken poet, partly an eccentric lawyer – all built into one. Why would they keep only a few seats for specializing in PG? Lesser mortals like us in the Leipung would doubt. Would not more numbers of specialist help in giving health care to the people? We are not wise enough to indulge in policy debates. We would wet our pants to argue with our policy makers. But one thing we surely would like to assert: grow vegetables at home instead of turning our friends into vegetables! ONE DAY: yes, one very fine day our Angam Athou(s) declared that they are going to employ some degree holders as officers; Medical officers, to be precise. The news was like a cool shower after a scorching summer heat of displacement into the desert of PG entrance. It was like the day when Tomcha got through the MBBS entrance. His family was more excited. His relatives were more thrilled. After having going through the privation of preparing for the PG entrance, Tomcha have changed. We do not know whether the change was positive or negative. He was indecisive about sitting for the state exam. No, he did not doubt on his capability. He was confident of answering all sorts of questions. Although he was engrossed in his studies he was still aware of the winds blowing in homeland. He knew how systematic and transparent the nature of employing government servants in the state is. Nevertheless, he sat for the exam. And to his utter surprise he got selected. More amazed he was when he saw his scores. He score was accurate with what he had counted after the exam. Most of his degree holder colleagues also got selected. The results were late but never too late. His family and relatives rejoiced, again. Tomcha was going to be an officer – a medical officer. A stable government job will secure a stable income. What about the specialization? This thought would disturb Tomcha. Anyways, he thought of unwinding himself for sometime with his family and friends. After all, he had been passing days among the pages of his books: searching for the lost meaning of life and education. The wait for the appointment letter along with the place of posting was going to be a long one. Many of his colleagues had already started running hither and thither. Their parents well knew the game of posting the Angam Athou(s) play. In between there was also a change of portfolios among the powerful(s). Tomcha heard that parents who extremely love their ward spent from fifty to sixty grand(s) to secure a good posting. A good posting means where there is minimal work and which falls within the four valley districts. Beyond that it is taken as a curse. Tomcha was not surprise. He finally got to see the notice of appointment and place of posting from a Xerox shop. The shop was equipped with all kinds of government orders and notifications. He had to go through all kinds of verifications. From police to what not: the way in which the folder which contains his documents flies from one table to another; and the amount of time it took, he thought he could travel back to stone age and come back to this age superfine. We are also not surprise. FOOTNOTE: our teachers are on strike demanding optimum pay scale with accordance to the six pay Commission. Some of them are ruthlessly dump into jail. In the meantime Taibi has claimed that the matter will be best put to the acceptance of the people if they are ready to pay double the amount of tax. Leipung Ningthou calls it, “san laaba dagi sanggom summaga Himalay phi yaodana kaaba”.

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By Amar Yumnam The concept of individual as used in Economics is now being subjected to renewed scrutiny in the wake of the new search for foundational relevance characterising the discipline now. In the process, the issues of identity have become a focussed area of research. The Lockean individual as self-directed and conscious human being is being countered by a concept of individual shaped by social events. In the process, modernism as well as post-modernism approaches is being invoked. Personal Situation: In the light of this, two recent personal experiences have really re-taken me to the issues of identity and their correlates with the development path of Manipur. First, a friend from the mass media asked me over phone as to how I react to the increasing popularity in Manipur of Korean serials in the televisions, and the consequent rise in adoption of latest Korean fashions among the youths of Manipur. Second, in a viva-voce examination of a doctoral student in Political Science, the external expert asked of the scholar as to how he explains the deep roots Christianity had taken among the tribes of Manipur and at the cost of the traditional culture. I consider these two questions as of immense significance in so far as the process of emergence of national and development ethos in the province is concerned, and the resultant social outcomes emanating from it. In the first case, I gave my own immediate comments, while in the second I had reserved myself. I cannot help feeling that the whole debate of individual and identity need to combine the Lockean view of the aloof subjective with the modernist view of social self. Further while doing so, we must be alive to the reality of path dependence where history matters. Individual is an identity formed by amalgamation of many facets, and ipso facto a single approach would fail to capture the whole picture. When the journalist asked me about my comments on the issues of popularity of Korean serials, I immediately put myself in the mould of the Lockean individual. But this did not necessarily imply that my perspectives were not influenced by my own theoretical and personal experiences around the globe, and my own evolution in the society where I have grown up. First Question: The first question came exactly at a time when I was writing a piece on governance in Manipur and the relevance of the issues of identity while explaining the quality of it here. When the reporter put me the question, I had no hesitation in immediately reacting that the increasing popularity should be taken as a positive sign. Culture is never a static phenomenon, but a very dynamic one. Individuals and people do need all the time something unique and globally known (an aspect increasingly important with the rise in globalisation) with which they could identify themselves. Because of the demographic and cultural affinity in the historical sense, people of this region do not find to feel the ethos and emotions expressed via the various Korean serials despite the limitations imposed by the alien language. It is important that the people do have some strong identification with certain elements of culture all the time and any time. It is only this element which would drive the population for higher performances. Here we need to make a distinction between identify and similarity. While the valley population have similarity of religion with the main population of the country, and the mountain population with the Christians, these do not necessarily form their identity. I feel that the distinction is becoming sharper now. Why I put an importance to this distinction is because of the sharp rise in parochialism and corruption in the land. All along there has never been any identification of the people of the region with the development schemes and the associated funds. The latter have so far failed to merge with the ethos of the people of the soil as something meant to serve their own causes. This absence is visible at both the level of the implementers and the level of the general population. Since nothing is related to the self, the pilferage and destruction of any involves no personal loss. Naturally, morality does not enter the picture at all. In such circumstances, corruption and ineffective governance naturally have to characterise the scene. Is not this what is happening in Manipur? So the emergence of a strong new culture should be encouraged, and the role of governance and social engineering should be to piggy-back on this to bring corruption under control. Second Question: While I had reserved my take on the second question earlier, I would now share my perspective on the issue. As said earlier, every group of population do need an identity which is unique and globally known. This was and has been the need of the tribal communities in the land as well. While the valley population had established certain kind of similarity with the more advanced groups of population by adopting Hinduism and had started flaunting it to portray superiority over the surrounding population, the mountain population were in definite need to adopt a kind of similarity and identity to counter that of the valley population. Historically the Meeteis had failed terribly to evolve an inclusive society capable of embracing the aspirations of the surrounding population as well. So when the Christianity was established in the mountains, it naturally gave the tribal groups in the mountains a kind of identity which was very competitive to that of the Meeteis in the valley. Finally the religion had to acquire deep roots in the mountains whatever the cost involved. Not The End: As said above, culture and identity are very fluid phenomena. Religion cannot serve the long run purpose of identity as it does not go beyond establishing similarity. Lots of changes are in store for the land and people here in the remaining period of this century in so far as identity issues are concerned. The challenge before us is how to utilise the unfolding changes for good cause.

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RS Jassal “Education is the process where the powers of human nature becomes developed by good habit” (L) Prof. J.Adler Mortimer (Education Reformer) Education is enlightenment. Education is the empowerment of masses to shape and mould their destinies. It is also the instrument of the enlightened and the empowered to ignite their vision and of mediocre & less privileged human beings in multi- faceted forms, it may be for understanding the intricacies of the nature i.e., cosmology, strengthening the wisdoms, reaching out to technologies and attaining high standards of in learning at research centres, ethics, morals and the aesthetics . Till independence of India i.e., 1947 and a decade thereafter educationalists depended on conventional education aimed at joining blue/ white collared jobs only. With huge expansion in service sector there was a phenomenal rise in student’s enrolment at schools and colleges which remained managed in conventional manners only miserably lacked in infrastructure. India being a vast country and rural based, educational experts realized that some additional system to spread education to every nook and corner of India be introduced. It saw the introduction of non-formal system of education i.e., open schools, open universities and other related institutions to benefit the under privileged people and persons who could not afford to go for further studies in places like Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Chennai and also to assist those who wished to improve qualification’s while in service. However this type of open, distant education and conventional system in vogue were found not commensurate to accommodate upsurge in student’s community, especially so in the North East. To meet this challenge, Govt. of Manipur approved many private schools and gradually but progressively such schools produced excellent results and today toppers list is shared by them every year. Conversely, governmentally run schools went down and down. But one gets surprised when hears about repeated extortion demands on such schools for the past two decades. Considering this, it has to be said that not raising our voice against extortion demands on our schools that are doing yeoman service in shaping our youth is a big mistake. It does not mean that certain anomalies & malpractices set in educational system in both governmental & privately run schools need not be checked or exposed. There are lawful means available to do it & RTI is the right weapon to be used. Extortion from schools by undergrounds is actually extortion from our children and their parents. Education, whether through non-formal or formal system, conventional or non-conventional, malpractices in overall educational system which are attributed to corruption and extortion in various forms has crept in the system. So with degrees multiplying and honest students scholars lagging behind in selections for jobs where honesty, sincerity and creativity is involved , they feel not only disappointed & frustrated but in many cases they commit suicides too. But still we do make a big cry for quality education. Teachers are honoured every 5th September, by student bodies in a dignified manner and now they are resorting to streets, weeks in advance to fleece money from passers-by and citizens. Constitutions of student welfare bodies must be scrutinised. To meet any demand by non- educational organisations by politicians and undergrounds, through processions be banned. It ignites different and negative ideas in the minds of students which ultimately affect the body and mind of the entire society. Above all, if the parents wish to see their ward(s) come up in progress and growth, they (whether educated or uneducated) must guide their ward(s) to positivities & establish continuous contacts with their teachers and prevail on undergrounds to leave education as a free zone. Some chapters like importance of role of religion in one’s life, understanding the meaning of human rights duties and values, vicious affects of corruption and extortion on the societal order in the services, health & education sectors if adopted in school syllabus will surely lead to give quality education which can bring upright youth to evolution for a peaceful State and better understanding of the human core. As said by Socrates “ Education means bringing out the idea of universal validity which is latent in the mind of every man” This is the story of education. Health sector which is again a major building block of healthy society on the edifice of dependable youths and cheerful adolescents can be acquired only with good health care. During Ashoka period King & philanthropists used to establish free dispensaries & hospitals not only for human beings but for animals too taking health as ‘service to God’. With hundred fold increase in population,, eco-environs sufficiently shaken , global warming, adulterated food, contaminated drinking water, lack of hygienic living conditions for majority of people many new set of diseases are appearing and Govt. Hospitals are not sufficient to meet medical needs of populace , Govt. of India and UNESCO have encouraged setting up of new hospitals privately too. 100% costs cannot be borne by the Govt. so medical experts out of dedication and desire to provide health care and create job opportunities for deserving & the needy opened the private clinics & hospitals depending on availability of the resources & loans. In the context of Manipur, there are many – some of very big but others of medium nature. Here in the last two decades it is found that almost all such hospitals and all the privately run (though Govt. approved) hospitals & schools are being slapped with monetary demands from not one group of undergrounds but as many as are carrying some or the other nomenclature . Many a times, chemists had to close down their businesses for days together due incapacity to meet UGs repeated demands. At times even life saving drugs had run out of stock. Meeting one monetary demand leads to consult the corruption reference book which is patent to Manipur only to make up the losses. Who suffers mostly, the poor or say ‘aam admi’. Many specialised doctors are threatened to send their juniors to attend to suffering UG cadres for treatment at risk to their life. It causes fear psychosis though they might have been looked after well. Thus this corruption & extortion move hand in hand overarching the state machinery. Everyone will agree that in Manipur the practice of corruption, terrorism, insurgency, revolution and extortion criss – crosses various sections of society, hills and valley both. In our contemporary situation much to the dislike of the society, the activity of extortion has come to stay. Anti- social elements are mushrooming day by day. To eke out huge sum of easy money in a materialistic world through unlawful taxes, black mailings, ransom vis- a- vis hostage methods are becoming a matter of research. The drama of extortion has different themes viz, kidnapping on account of business rivalry or the administrative diktat or a political hostage for repatriation or extradition and so on. Even in Manipur where extortion has been sadly accepted as an integral part of one’s day to day life, extortion from schools and hospitals cannot be tolerated. It is like stealing the rice meant for BPL families. Scripturs hold a society where teachers, priests and doctors are not shown respect heads for doom. Or is it our majority choice. It is simply eroding our social base. Please watch out!

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