KAMA decries Naga CrusadersKanglaOnlineThe Kabui Mothers' Association, (KAMA) Manipur has decried the NAga Crusader for trying to destabilize the peaceful co-existence between the various communities residing in the state. A release of the KAMA has…
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KAMA decries Naga Crusaders
KanglaOnline The Kabui Mothers' Association, (KAMA) Manipur has decried the NAga Crusader for trying to destabilize the peaceful co-existence between the various communities residing in the state. A release of the KAMA has while calling the Naga Crusaders as a void … |
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NGOs seek justice for accusedCalcutta TelegraphSuspecting foul play in the case, women NGOs like Women Action For Development, Universal Caring Mission, Saathi, All Manipur Positive Women's Network and Manipur Network of Positive People made their …
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NGOs seek justice for accused
Calcutta Telegraph Suspecting foul play in the case, women NGOs like Women Action For Development, Universal Caring Mission, Saathi, All Manipur Positive Women's Network and Manipur Network of Positive People made their own investigations and came to the conclusion that … |
Read more / Original news source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEc5EsslpZqjvgFAjxfWXK-9CTrYA&url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110710/jsp/northeast/story_14217917.jsp
“Playing for Change” and Bluffing for Change: Civilised behaviour vis-a-vis …KanglaOnlineBluffing for Change: But when we observe the most visible social behaviours of individuals today in Manipur, we are dismayed by the elements of pretensions, …
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“Playing for Change” and Bluffing for Change: Civilised behaviour vis-a-vis …
KanglaOnline Bluffing for Change: But when we observe the most visible social behaviours of individuals today in Manipur, we are dismayed by the elements of pretensions, in sincerity and bluffs inherent in all these. This situation is getting aggravated as the … |
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Of Bangal, Bilaat and KoreaKanglaOnlineAn economic and hi-tech power South Korea whose size is only about four and a half times, a small size country and population about seventeen and a half times that of Manipur with only technology has come to Manip…
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Of Bangal, Bilaat and Korea
KanglaOnline An economic and hi-tech power South Korea whose size is only about four and a half times, a small size country and population about seventeen and a half times that of Manipur with only technology has come to Manipur like none before. … |
Read more / Original news source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFcLh5a1vZAB2JCPDf6s6c6p_LlLQ&url=http://kanglaonline.com/2011/07/of-bangal-bilaat-and-korea/
By Amar Yumnam Thomas Hobbes said in his classic Leviathan thus: “All Laws need Interpretation”. We can think of paraphrasing him and assert thus: All individual behaviours need interpretation. We… Read more »
By Amar Yumnam
Thomas Hobbes said in his classic Leviathan thus: “All Laws need Interpretation”. We can think of paraphrasing him and assert thus: All individual behaviours need interpretation. We know that a society is much more than interaction and exchange between individuals. We also know that since a society has already been put in place, every individual’s behaviour has social and political implications inherent into it. Here it would be right to mention that Robert Bednarik, an Australian scholar, has powerfully challenged in his just published book, The Human Condition (Springer 2011), the African eve model of human evolution and its associated quantum leap theory of mental capacity and put in its place a multiregional and gradualist theory. It is now anticipated that the arguments in this book would constitute bones of contention for the next few years until a final authoritative interpretation emerges. But I must say that his arguments in this book are just powerful and difficult to refute.
Playing for Change: In this background, I cannot help wondering as to what has happened to the evolutionary process of individual behaviour of the Manipuris in a democracy. This introspection has been made even more pathetic by the reality of evolutionary social behaviour of the people now in places more advanced than ours. A Britisher friend sent me a link to the wonderful song, Stand By Me, of Roger Ridley a few months back. Now Roger had such a passion and soul in his voice that he could have been earning millions by following the path followed by singers like Michael Jackson. But he was fully satisfied by remaining a street singer for he was in the ‘joy business’ and he loved to be with the people. Roger sang this number, Stand By Me, for the cause and group called Playing for Change. A human would be attracted by the power of Roger’s voice and engagement of Grandpa Elliot. Further the Playing for Change is now a movement covering all the continents of the globe. This group is committed to the goal to “inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music”. It is looking for a united and peaceful world through music. In India, Tamil Nadu has shown its strong participation and presence in this movement. It is such a rewarding experience to watch any of the videos of the group online. One feels reassured, passionate, romantic, devotional, humane and all the conceivable positive feelings with every video of the group. I think it is because all the songs and music of the group reflect all the positive and civilised emotions and sentiments of human beings.
Bluffing for Change: But when we observe the most visible social behaviours of individuals today in Manipur, we are dismayed by the elements of pretensions, in sincerity and bluffs inherent in all these. This situation is getting aggravated as the election dates are drawing nearer. At best we are blessed with the condition of Albert Camus thus: “He who despairs of the human condition is a coward, but he who has hope for it is a fool.”
It is said that we do not need a revolution for a democracy but we need democracy for a revolution. The democratic process should necessarily bring forth the best foot, the best intentions and the sincerest display of behaviour of all the individuals in the society, particularly of those aspiring to represent the people in the exercise of powers of the state. But the intentions to represent the people in the exercise of state power are now being displayed increasingly by the aspirants in Manipur, witness the daily dose of photographs in the dailies depicting these people doing “something good”. But unfortunately for all of us and the democratic polity, none of the civilised behaviour and sincere display of emotions is visible in all these. Even more unfortunate is the trend towards this emerging as the accepted norm in the society we have and the polity we follow.
While the insincerity of the aspirants to represent a new or continue to represent the people in the exercise of state power is palpable in all these acts and photographs of doing “something good”, the covert behaviours are absolutely risky and dangerous for the society and polity if not for the aspirants themselves. The capacity to impose threats and to effect fear on others through threats and related impositions is evolving as the most important and non-substitutable ingredient for any aspirant to become a representative of the people. This is nothing short of killing democracy in its very name. My heart shivers imagining the social scenario one or two decades down the line if the trend continues.
We elect our representatives in order to facilitate our engagement with the larger realities of the world and thus take our collective society to a higher pedestal of social development without in anyway negatively and wrongfully hurting the interests of any individual. But just the opposite is becoming a reality in Manipur. It is a case of the non-truth getting precedent and emerging as the ultimate reality. While the individual aspirants are dubious, the political parties are no less at fault. Regional parties speak in exclusivist terms, the national parties lack contextual understanding. Shree Bhagwati Namah!!!.
Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/jbnhvzbTVV8/
By Chitra Ahanthem Ah well! Imphal now has a cinema theatre showing the latest English films after a more than decade long break. But the news does nothing for me… Read more »
By Chitra Ahanthem
Ah well! Imphal now has a cinema theatre showing the latest English films after a more than decade long break. But the news does nothing for me bent on my own personal revolt of watching Hindi films. Heck, it was that ban way back in 2000 that made me so stark raving mad, I wrote a letter to the editor (IFP) dripping with sarcasm (NOT at my editor but to the folks who live under the ground…er!) and pointing out Hindi film bans should consider the tastes of people like me who love the clichéd “Bolywood jhatkas and matkas”. That letter was carried in IFP and I went on to write more and more till Editor called me in to write every Sunday. Unfortunately, the ban on Hindi films and TV channels stayed on and led to many other after effects including the theatres becoming departmental stores, educational institutions on one hand and depriving many women who earlier sold cinema ticket “in black” from earning a living. For me, the ban did not just make me write that letter but triggered an almost obsessive compulsion for Hindi films. I had to watch them because they were banned. Not surprisingly, I wasn’t given to watching them in the theatres every other day. Neither did I go the “borrow from the CD library way” prior to the ban: it would only be a “watch the ones I want when I want” basis. But once the ban came on, there was no way I was going to let it go unchallenged!
The first way of beating the ban was to watch pirated copies: they were now more cost inducing for me because of the ban again. Prices had gone up but often, I would rouse younger relatives and we would contribute on shared basis. But the aggressive eeyambas also went overboard and set about warning those selling Hindi films or either seizing them and horror of horrors (!), setting them on fire. The mention of fire reminds me of a hilarious (but very seriously discussed then!) anecdote: an aunt of mine living on the outskirts of Imphal and also a Meira Paibi (the eeyambas had this great show, continued to this day where they call in attention loving Meira Paibis who want their photos in newspapers and their screaming aggressive postures on TV every time there is an “anti-social drive”) called me up. She was hyperventilating- not because she would be in the papers the next day overseeing a truck load of Hindi films being burned on behalf of the eeyambas but because she wanted to ask me which ones I wanted for myself before the fire ceremony started. She got me quite an armful of them in the end!
Back then, I was a full time NGO employee and though there were times of getting out of the state (read, going to places where there was no ban), such trips were totally work oriented and so rushed that it would mostly be a trip to the airport to the place of my destination, then the hotel (for seminar, workshop etc) and back again. The movie watching experience then wasn’t worth pursuing alone: issues of safety and ticket availability were foremost on mind. The norm then was single screen theatres where every social strata packed in: the aggressive auto or truck driver lot who were prone to mad revelry every time an “item” song came on screen but worst, those looking for a physical grope taking advantage of the rush of people at such places. My only way to Hindi film Nirvana was hotel cable/dish TV. The moment I checked in, I would ask at reception,” Do you have Hindi films on cable TV?”
But once the multiplexes arrived on the scene, there was no stopping me! Every opportunity to travel to Delhi for work was a divine blessing for me once cinema multiplexes came into being. Delhi meant the additional safety net of my siblings and I would drag them one by one to watch films. Watching “Chak de” with my brother stands out: the sound effects of the theatre were such that when the hockey matches in the film happened along with the film sounds of whistling, clapping etc, I naturally turned around and asked my brother, “who was whistling?” He gave me a very disgusted look that was suggestive of my country bumpkin status and told me very firmly that he would not watch another Hindi film with me ever! Of course, given such an ultimatum, I could only drag him to another show of “Gandhi, my father” at the same multiplex: not a regular song and dance movie but the sound effect was my latest love. My brother would get back with his own: the next cinema outing on my next trip to Delhi saw him tricking me into thinking he had got me the tickets for the latest Bollywood film and I was easily conned since multiplexes have different posters for all the films they show…I went happily and went into silent disapproving mode when I realized that he was making me watch “Casino Royale” instead!
The James Bond movie episode marred my Hindi movie trips with my brother as I no longer trusted his ticket buying instincts! On a more serious note, I found that I could go on for a solo movie trip in the evening in metros and come back safely to my hotel. Whenever, a trip outside the state was around the corner, I would check show timings and theatre locations on the internet: check distances and landmarks on Google maps and then work out an itinerary…all for Hindi films! During the course of my trips, I found that Aizawl does not have a cinema theatre except for a family theatre put up for family of Assam Riffles personnel and other hangers on. Dimapur had none either except private screenings of Hollywood movies. In Shillong, I found a cinema theatre right in the middle of Police bazaar that I would have otherwise missed if not for my “where is the latest Hindi film being shown?” journey! I went inside and found I was only the 9th person in the entire beer bottle strewn hall dotted with giggling students in their school dresses and 2 couples who had their own reasons for getting into a dark cinema theatre.
End-point:
Objectively, Hindi films aren’t the best of films in the world: they are based on formula, melodrama and often have sharp lines drawn up between the good guys and the bad guys, therein making the viewers easily judgmental. Before my own discovery of other world movies and certain Hollywood films, it would only be Hindi films for me for their sheer music and dialogue play. But the ban on them has only added to the melodrama aspect and like any typical Hindi film, I have my ‘setting’ of friends based outside the state who will happily send me the latest DVDs and pull my legs over when my next movie outing is scheduled. To them and the folks who put on the ban, I can only borrow from a Hindi film dialogue: picture abhi baaki hain…(meaning the show isn’t over).
Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/pLupSJq1Nq0/
By Akendra Sana The immediate first. An economic and hi-tech power South Korea whose size is only about four and a half times, a small size country and population about… Read more »
By Akendra Sana
The immediate first. An economic and hi-tech power South Korea whose size is only about four and a half times, a small size country and population about seventeen and a half times that of Manipur with only technology has come to Manipur like none before. South Korea is today the thirteenth largest economy of the world, its long dependence on the US notwithstanding. Movies and Music, Drama that are originating from there through Discs, internet and TV are already determining what the preferences of the Manipuri youth and the society itself. How much of the music and drama are of American influence is another story. Pre-teens, teens and grownups in all the streets of Manipur swear by it. Some have even mastered the language only through TV. And fashion, shall we say more. Hair styles, dress and even mannerisms, if you care to watch some of these TV serials and movies, all have found comfortable homes in our youth. This is all about acceptance.
No community exists in isolation. Cultural influences come in many ways. Think of Bamon Khunthok, arrival of the Brahmins to Manipur from as far as present-day Gujarat and elsewhere dating back to at least the fifteenth century if not earlier and the interaction that took place whose harmony or otherwise is still visible. Religion, Bengal Renaissance and Bengal’s size and its role in the British scheme of things had considerable influence on Manipur. There was a time, to conduct business (or read political relationship) with the British, knowledge of the Bengali language was essential. This led Manipuri Kings to induct Bengalis into its administration. English of course was for the super elite say at least a century ago. When Johnstone Middle School was established in 1885 and upgraded to a High School about a quarter century later, the medium of instruction was Bengali, even though this can be said to be the beginning of formal western education. Pettigrew after experimenting in Imphal around 1895 found hospitality and acceptance in Ukhrul with both religion and education. The rest is history as they say about western education in all parts of Manipur and its influence on us all.
One wonders if any educated elder of that generation who knew speaking, reading and writing Bengali is still alive. If a few at all are, they cannot be any younger than ninety, ninety-five. Many things including literature and fashion were through Calcutta and Dacca. Bengal’s strong influence in culture, literature, fashion, dress and mannerisms in Manipur seems to be going away with the passing away of that generation. Bengal’s role and influence was determined by geo-politics of the time. Juxtapose this with Korea’s influence today, it is only technology that is determining and doing all the work. In later years, Bengal for Manipur became like any other province of India.
Britain’s full force came to Manipur with the Anglo-Manipur Conflict of 1891 and with the installation of the boy king, Churachand Maharaj. English education slowly began to find space. However, religion of the West of course was taboo. Some kind of adjustment and reconciliation among Christianity, Hinduism and the Manipuri religious beliefs continues to be taking place in layers, even as over the years western education is accepted completely. So soon it was for English language, literature, dress and many others like so many in similar situations in Colonial and Post Colonial societies. All aspirations have been against this backdrop since.
Along with all these, not so discreetly Americanism, if one may use the expression, has also been finding its exalted place with the rise of American power. Because whether it is blue denim or chewing gums or coke, a lot have come to universal permanence in our lives everywhere, in Bengal, Britain, Korea or Manipur and elsewhere. And of course, an American Degree is considered the path to everything successful.
World War Two can be considered to be the real window to the world for Manipur. For Manipuris, however brief the presence of the soldiers of all hues and nationalities during the war in many parts of Manipur, the influence can never be underplayed. Many elders then later narrate how the Japanese look so physically like us even as they also recall the Japanese bombings. And then of course today youngsters and the not so young tell you from what you see that the Koreans not only physically look like us, their body language, expressions and delivery of speech are so like us.
Apart from the natural adoption of these hair styles, dress and music, some unexplained willingness also seems to be in place. What about East and East, eagerness to find acceptance and questioning the status quo in them? And reconfirming, hey! narrow-eyes can be also fashionable and discovering almost a déjà vu. But then let us also remind that the space left by the exit of Bollywood movies and all that influence on the youth is now comfortably occupied by the Korean movies they choose to send out. Fashion is also about the in thing and about identification with what is perceived to be noticeable and acceptable among peers. If all this makes the youngsters more confident, so be it. But then, South Korea’s per Capita Income at about twenty thousand US Dollars will be much more than thirty times that of Manipur even by the most liberal estimate. So consumption patterns are hugely different. All our youths will do well to cautiously and consciously ignore the consumption habits of what they watch in the movies and serials.
Whether it is music or language or mannerisms, internet and TV are the leveller of our times. And yet you see powers like Britain appear to be looking inwards and occasionally reasserting for that exalted position, Bengal’s pride is undiminished. And well for some like Manipur assertion for pride is even greater in this din and clutter of the world. Is it therefore not of that connect of different times and milieu of a generation?
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