Day: January 19, 2013

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By Tinky Ningombam
Everyone loves a good story. Be it as a kid or as an adult, a good story always captivates our mind. All of us have always had that one friend that tells a story better or the grandmother who have told us bedtime stories. Who has not loved stories while growing up? But when we were kids, it was easier. We would have easily believed when our parents have told us that those who lie would get haunted by ghosts at night. But how do you explain that to kids nowadays who probably know better than us? Kids get better information download now. And it is about time we come up with more intelligent stories.
Stories need to answer to the complicated questions that kids have now. Stories were easier; more of the ones that have been told to kids have been moral or cautionary. Whether, of the kid who got lost in the woods and got captured by beasts or children who have told lies and got eaten by wolves. Children stories have been much about conforming them to adult supervision. Children’s stories are not far removed from gruesome details. Time and again several critics have spoken against it. And so did Lewis Carroll who in his Alice`s Adventures in Wonderland, mentions that Alice had read of “several nice little histories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked “poison”, it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.”

Story-telling is an acquired art. And adults need to use them more effectively. Kids believe in stories more eagerly and have a more unrestricted imagination which is still innocent and unbiased by life’s harsh realities. Mankind has spun many a great yarn for different purposes with the memorable ones being those we heard as kids. The story teller and the listener form a shared emphatic connection through the story. When kids are told moral stories, they begin by putting themselves in the shoes of the characters and through these stories simulate in their minds the stories of the good and the bad virtues. They begin to imagine the story through simulation and take the moral or the take-away from the story.  These stories tell them that villains have bad behaviors which are detrimental for the society while the good heroes with moral virtues will live happily ever after.

We grew up with our story telling, family dinners with people narrating their day’s events. Phunga waaris are a dying tradition but they have taken newer forms of bedtime story-telling for kids. These stories become experiential for them. Stories that start with Thaina Thaina Mamangeida(Once upon a time…) have been universal and have been told and re-told across time and ages. And across cultures, we have used stories as a vessel to hold forms of information. Stories about good virtues of mankind, heroic feats, supernatural activities, famous biographies have been passed on through generations with story-telling.

In our own tradition, oral story-telling is an important tradition. History has been recorded in the stories that get passed on. Legends, folklores and myths are exemplary in defining the past culture and history of civilizations. It also reinforces cultural values and help in defining cultural identity.

Psychologists and neurologists have debated on the co-relation of humans with story-telling. Story-telling has been used in creating social relations and for survival.  In Jonathan Gottschall’s new book, “The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human.” he espouses that human beings are natural storytellers. He says that humans like stories so much that they try to turn everything into stories just because they love narratives so much.

And does every story have a take-away? Well, apparently so.  Humans tend to try finding meanings of a story and get restless when they fail to.

(The author agrees with Brian P. Cleary when he said “Whatever story you`re telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, “and then everything burst into flames.” Enough said.)

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The post No Analysis Please! appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By Ananya S Guha
Now the analyses of the Indian man`s attitude towards the opposite sex are getting complex, if not abstruse. The latest `theory` I read today in The Times of India. The venerable author posited a world view, positioned between the man`s view on sterreotypes, and the western world view on lewdness, exposure to bodily sex. First the latter.

The Indian male like any other counterpart in the world is lascivious. Like any other male he is prone to internet sex, which is instantly gratifying at the tip of one`s finger. We cannot blame him for this vice. The whole world over is suscebtible to internet pornography. What we can do is to restrict this usage as much as we can with the help of cyber laws. Yes, this has a deleterious effect on the youth; here too this calls for severe restriction. How we do it, depends on parents, and teachers, not necessarily on law makers.

Regarding Indian stereotypes, as the woman as a slave, the dutiful mother and the equally dutiful wife, bearing the lustful attack by men is true. That is what has been happening for a long time. What is required is attitudinal change, and not a sexist centred view on marital `laws`, women, girls and what have you. You speak to a woman, and that means you are having an `affair`. A healthy male female relationship cannot be construed, because the woman is an object. Change this trendy thinking, change the syllabi in education; get rid of dowry, female infanticide, and the pathetic `arranged` marriage. How can a marriage be `arranged`? It can only happen. And if your son or daughter does not fall in love – bad luck, they will have to remain subjugated to bachelorhood!

Yes, the author referred to above is right. These stereotypes are abominable, in the process the rabid male can get away with ribald jokes, murder, rape, whatever you might think. Introduce `sex education` not sex centred education, in schools and colleges, at least up to class twelve. The last time this was mentioned there were two groups; one raised raucous, unintelligible noises, the other turned their faces away, taciturn, coyly. Come on be realistic man, our children need healthy education; they should also know that friendship among the opposite sex is natural, just as there are friends among the same sex. Instead the girl or the woman is objectified and objectivized as symbol of sex. Shame on you!

There is no need to be swayed by western paradigms on sex. It is not `western ` either. It is as old as man (woman) itself.

What is required now, in the light of the Delhi episode is to bring the culprits to book immediately, and adopt strict punitive measures for future culprits, call it fast track or whatever. No anaylsis, exegis, explication is required as to what went on to the making of this sordid event.

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By Bobo Khuraijam
The other day, one of our Leipung members bought a digital still camera. He bought it from Paona International market. A shop owner who frequently travels to Bangkok got it from there. Camera like this one has become cheaper since its first launch in the market. There are events in the family either big or small which we all want to capture in a camera. He has been doing that with his mobile phone with flair. Some of his shots taken with mobile phones are really good. We would say, sometimes, perhaps better than some loud shutterbugs. The one which he bought is also a small one, tough bigger than his mobile phone. He was happy with his new buy. He displayed it to us with a smile. However his happiness did not last long. When inquired upon, we came to know that there was something wrong. The pictures he has taken are not clear, he told us. We took a look. The picture seemed clear to us. So what was the problem? Then he showed pictures from Bangkok taken with the same camera. Yes, the pictures taken in Bangkok were much better in clarity. We went to the shop owner. We asked him how he had operated the camera in Bangkok. He said he took it similarly as our friend did. We were confused. Someone from the shop suggested that we should consult a professional. May be he could help us. There was one in the leikai who works in films. We went straight to his place. There was nothing wrong with the camera. The professional told us. He had also been to Bangkok once for an assignment.The shots he took over there on his video camera were better as far as clarity was concerned. He went on to tell us that he made a shocking discovery after that trip. It dawned on him that it was the dust in Imphal playing the trick!

IKAIKHUMNAJARIBA:

Dear Minister Saheb, thank you for educating us that it is illegal to block the Highway. Or for that matter, that it is illegal to block any kind of road. We are blind in that part. May be the lesson was taught while we were bunking classes from the school. Much of our precious days were spent in Imphal Talkies watching “A” movies. Very much unlike our Saheb, we cleared all kind of exams by hanging on to the whiskers of ‘pass marks’. Forgive us for the ignorance. Or, may be, the illegal part you mention was out of syllabus from whatever little we struggled to memorize just before the exams. The crying need of the hour is people like our Saheb who could tell us what is legal or illegal. We should also thank you for informing us that another car rally is coming in Imphal. Saheb, what a deblabment! Rally after rally are coming to Imphal. We remember watching Himalayan car rallies on Sunday evening. It was when Doordarshan was the one and only channel. Now that thrill is right under our nose. We can watch it with our naked eyes. But we are disappointed with one thing. To tell you the truth, there is a sharp difference of opinion. We are saddened by your pronouncement that the roads will be repaired in time for the rally. Please, we beg you. Do not repair it. You will be stealing away the thrill if you repair the road. The car rallies which we saw on television have a dusty charm, you know. When those colorful cars with striking paraphernalia take a turn the wheels’ violently caresses the dust. A sublime cloud of dust would fill the air. Mind you, a cement factory would not match that beauty. Beneath the cover of that dust; let our Saabi-Saanou barter stolen kisses, away from the onslaught of restorent draaip. Let our children play hide and seek, away from the clutches of video games and cartoon animations. Let the dust uncurl many a backbones of our elder citizens. Just keep our roads as it is. There are possibilities of your eminence dwindling down once you repair the roads. The swarm of contractors jostling for your signature will stop offering you prayers. No worries. You can bridge your ties with them when election is round the corner. Give your ophisaars and istaf a break from working over-time. There has to be a limit for sacrifice as well. We know how much they have done for the gorment, for the people and nothing, yes nothing at all for themselves.

NONLUKNA:

For those insipid protests on the road by immobilized majority, please ignore them. Sahib should take a strong position to keep alive the spirit of digging up any parts of the road. Projects of any name which have taken longer time than eternity should be kept alive at all cost. Allow us to enjoy the magnificence of ASEAN cars steering around the French manholes.

Let them smell the dust which has been around before 33 AD. This dust is our true identity. Roll down your wind shield when you zoom around in cavalcade. The fragrance is immensely romantic. Dust-borne diseases enslaving many lives, and still more lives crowding the hospitals are purely mythical. Reports of accidents due to our road condition, sometimes fatal injuries are a concoction based on lies and fallacies. As for people like our Leipung member who has complains about clarity of pictures, we will exercise sanity with him. If he still ask for clarity, well: we will declare him as ‘Enemy of the state’ – Leibak Ki Yeknaba. Saheb pu mask uppaga khurumjari.

FOOTNOTE:

With the arrival of another new year, Tata internet service gives us a cold goodbye. Let’s not get dishearten. Other goods are still here to stay. Tata salt, Tata tea, Tata truck, Tata steel, Tata sky, Tata Magic and Tata endless; Leipung Ningthou exlaims, “Tata gi laman Napa na singadara?”.

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