Month: May 2011

By Akendra Sana

Epochal changes in society anywhere, transitions from an old order to new, with or without an interregnum are all there because aspirations take precedence over continuance of the status quo. Inaction and continuance of status quo appear normal and easy and there will always be many takers but when the critical point is reached there is no stopping and the roll over to the next phase is only natural. Where that critical level is nobody knows but it is essential to tell ourselves that there are such things. But what then is wrong about status quo, one may ask.
Status quo in our context can, only mean continuity of a certain way of life, questionable or near acceptable at best, law and order situation depending of course on how you view it, whether you are comparing it over a longer period or for a few years. If you put the 1970s as the base, some may say it is over exaggeration. But if you say 2010 was better than 2009 or 2008 or vice versa, it can only mean comparisons of statistical data. All these have however little to do with how we perceive what living in Manipur is like. Because the reality is far more complex than data and the shadow of fear only enlarges with every passing day. Does somebody say a bomb was thrown somewhere yesterday? And simply how many of us are comfortable with so many gun toting security personnel amidst civilian population. 

Would a young man venture out and cross his gates without some identification papers? One really does not know how really unsafe it is to be out there at Paona or Thangal Bazar for a youngster without his Identity Card. For the average boy it is a nightmare of inconvenience if not worse. Imagine squatting down in the dust and grime, shoulders stooped waiting patiently for your turn to say who you are after handing over your ID Card to the armed menacing looking security personnel and enduring indignation. One only knows that his sense of insecurity and extreme anxiety for his parents are for real. Do we not therefore aspire for the day when our boys and girls to produce their ID Cards only when they, say have to open a Bank account and not at every street corner?Come summer vacations and in Campuses in Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and elsewhere at plus forty degrees Celsius in some cities you still come across hordes of young boys and girls from Manipur when the rest have all gone home. You do not have to ask but they will tell that the choice is of against squatting in the streets of Imphal with an ID Card and the endless power cuts at home, sweet home.

It is now tempting to list out at least some of the other inadequacies of this status quo. Unemployment, do we need to elaborate, how boring. The word itself, if not a phrase is more than a cliché for Manipur. Last heard official figures are six point eight five lakhs registered as unemployed and this in the state’s population of twenty seven lakhs, roughly working out to over twenty-five percent, how impressive! Tackling unemployment is all about the state of the economy and meeting the challenges of capital deployment in employment generating sectors with imagination and ensuring that resources are optimised for growth. 

Availability or non availability of electric power, depending on how you look at it can be the single most appropriate symbol of hope or hopelessness. One hears of watching IPL cricket matches in TV with generators in Imphal which of course probably works out to be as costly as the tickets at the cricket grounds. Do we need to remind that electricity is necessary for many other productive activities even for such little activities as small motor workshops, a key component of the transportation sector and rice mills, and let us not forget a family may have to skip a meal if a nearby rice mill stops functioning? Talk of industrialisation for employment generation and then the next is what industries, however small they are where electricity is not necessary! To all this, of course we can meekly add how do our children study during powerless nights. Expansion of educational facilities in the state is welcome. Imphal today boasts of two Medical Colleges among others and the state has the potential of emerging as a centre of medical tourism. Lest we forget, electric power is of primary importance in any such hope.

To this twin issues of unemployment and inadequate electric power supply one can add all other inadequacies for our youth to aspire to overcome. Let us not forget many of them have travelled and seen a lot and they compare. And we cannot stop them from aspiring. Anger and frustrations are only natural when aspirations are beyond actualisation. It is incumbent on all right thinking individuals of this generation to show some sensible path. The challenges therefore are of meeting these aspirations and giving them hope. And the challenge is direct for all those politicians out there.
Is not Politics about leadership, articulation of aspirations and representation? Who leads well, the people never notice, it is said. Suffice it to say that people notice a lot in our circumstances. The most urgent challenge before this generation of political leadership apart from the mandatory sensible governance and guaranteeing acceptable law and order situation is to tame unemployment and ensure that electric power reaches those who need. Development is only a product of all these. Political formation of any kind in Manipur must now have a time bound roadmap to follow religiously at least for these two issues of unemployment and inadequate electric power if they genuinely profess to be of some service to the people. Otherwise they will be seen to be happily chaperoning our youngsters into an endless nadir of hopelessness. It has been too long that everyone has endured for hope with aspirations for gainful employment commensurate to the efforts our youth have put in competing with the very best in several parts of the world in their chosen fields. It is about time the wise and the enlightened of the land woke up to this silent call of our youth.

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By Bobo Khuraijam

We believe we will never stop complaining as long as the sunshine and the rain are there in our life. As the summer makes its entry after the spring is gone, we grumpily pronounce the uneasiness of hot weather with sweat and curse. We fuss to the extent, as if, we are nearing our end. “saabana sidoure”, have not we heard the line very often? We know, those who habitually make this kind of statement do not really mean it. We do not know when hyperbolism took its root into our lingual expression. Or is it in our DNA? Someone should find it out. Well, if they have the time for it. With the heat came the rain. A much needed relief for the farmer in the fields. Yet, there are enough room for complain from the urban dwellers, so to say. The Imphal town does not deem fit to be called an urban space per se. In rainy season it is not even a quasi-urban area. The rain has terminated the everyday dust bath. Nobody would disagree. Aftermath of the rain has flooded our narrow wisdom with sewage and filth. All thanks to the developmental circus going on in the town. Profiteering philanthropist, over working; with the determination of Shylock; with the namaste of concocted innocence has greet us with the rain. We overheard a keithel ema complaining, “sarkar nena angang mathi phaibaga chap manaradana”. In this case, we would challenge, there is no dirt of hyperbolism. Truly enough, the establishment behaves like small babies, who lack the sense of time and space. They would defecate anywhere to their wish without qualms.

SING A SONG: Amidst these complains, a few days back, we set out to witness a gathering filled with celebration and musical extravaganza. As expected, the programme kicked off with the ceremonial everything. Then it was followed by, as you know, the desultory set of speeches by the mithunglen(s). The chief mithunglen was so happy to be invited to the celebration. It was pertinent from his part to dwell on cultural aspects. Why not? The celebration was to mark the dawn of video films in the state. That our state is a powerhouse of culture and sports. That we should be able to make quality movies, both technically and aesthetically sound. Good enough. A right view on a right occasion. A host of artiste, producers, directors, cameramen and technicians from the film world were present. The musical extravaganza was the centre of attraction. Our mithunglen was invited on the stage to present a few songs. He obliged immediately. Before the song, he poured out his modesty to the public. He is not a good singer. But he loves art, performing art. Next, he said he will have to sing on public demand; demand from his constituency. Or he will not get vote in the nearing election. He also said that. Honest enough. First song, second song – it went without any hitch. He was requested a very special number then. Before the third song he gave a confessional statement. He told that his singing on the stage is inappropriate. That his sinpham does not match with what he is doing onstage. We do not know what Lata Mangeshkar would say to his confession. She was also a MP in the upper house of the parliament. Before the advent of the special number he cracked a joke. He said he feared that people might take him as an ngaosanaba. Thrash! That much love for art and culture. Here is our heartfelt sympathy on his quandary – to balance between a joke and a profession. HA!

THROW A NOTE:Ever since our return from the extravaganza, we have been wondering how and when the culture of peisathaba did got started. It is very much a part of meitei social life. Birth – death, take any ritual, it is smothered with peisathaba. In earlier days, we are told, that there was no offering of money to the sankirtan artiste. A set of beetle nut along with a piece of cloth was offered to the artist; a token of appreciation and respect to the artist. And moreover, reverence to the holy sermon sang along with devotion and prayer befits respect. We do not know whether we should blame that individual who came out with the idea of print money. We need not explain that it has been used and misused to unimaginable extent. There is variable degree of abusing it. For more detail, take any musical shows for a better comprehension. The musical event which we have mentioned earlier was a crude illustration. As well meaning/moneyed producers of films were present along with a host of stars; it was a perfect blend of showmanship and false pride. Anybody who sang on that very day was showered with currency notes. Sometimes we would fail to recognize who the singer was. There was a sort of competition among the moneyed invitees. A show of strength and endurance; strength to climb up the stage an uncountable times, and endurance to move the middle finger of the right hand as fast as one can. Remember, the middle finger should move rapidly so that the currency notes should fly like a umaibi. Some of our Leipung member tried to influence the organiser. They failed. One member tried to bribe the person who was comparing. What our member thought was that if given a chance to sing on that day, they would not worry to earn any income for their lifetime. Some of them did not show up to attend the Leipung. We hope, we are not complaining.

FOOTNOTE: caution all fake encounter specialist of the state: some fake encounter policemen in Delhi were given dead sentence by a court, terming it as the rarest of the rare. But will there be justice here as well? Leipung Ningthou calls it, “thawai matpana thawai senagadaba matam”.

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