About Manipur

S05E02 “1001 Thagatchari”, Gratitude project for Manipur. #4AkhuChingakham #997ToGo

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“1001 Thagatchari“, Gratitude project for Manipur

Guest Speakers:

#4 Girija Ningthoukhongjam , Student, Imphal, Manipur, India

About “1001Thagatchari” Gratitude project for Manipur 

One of the takeaway I had interviewing many of the awesome talented voices of Manipur for the last 5 years was the lack of recognition and appreciation for their work and contribution. In the midst of conflicts, unrest and media’s focus for sensational stories, we have forgotten to say “Thank you” “Thagatchari”.

To change that I have challenged myself to find people who truly have appreciation and gratitude in their heart and the idea of “1001 Thagatchari” was seeded.

As a result of 1001 gratitude project, the much needed recognition and appreciation for the people will be elevated and we will re-learn to express our gratitude adding “Thagatchari” “Thank you” in our top list of vocabulary. I believe that this exercise of expressing gratitude as part of this project will enrich, expand and empower all of us and also contribute in building the strength of our community.

In the midst of conflicts, unrest and media’s focus for sensational stories, we have forgotten to express recognition and appreciation. To change that, I am looking for 1001 people to be a part of the movement to pause and express gratitude for the people of Manipur? Do you know anyone? Are you one of the 1001 people?

Contact us to be a part of this project and be a part of change. I welcome you to join us live and participate with your comments/questions as we are co creating our show Facebook FindingTheVoices Community Group.

 

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S05E01 “1001 Thagatchari”, Gratitude project for Manipur. #1MaryKom #2NaoremSanajaoba #3BablooLoitongbam #998ToGo

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“1001 Thagatchari“, Gratitude project for Manipur

Guest Speakers:

#1 Nivea Longjam, Biotech Student, Delhi, India

#2 Babloo Loitongbam, Executive Director, Human Rights Alert, Imphal, India

#3 Yanglem Chanu Carolin, Law Student, Bengaluru, India

About “1001Thagatchari” Gratitude project for Manipur 

One of the takeaway I had interviewing many of the awesome talented voices of Manipur for the last 5 years was the lack of recognition and appreciation for their work and contribution. In the midst of conflicts, unrest and media’s focus for sensational stories, we have forgotten to say “Thank you” “Thagatchari”.

To change that I have challenged myself to find people who truly have appreciation and gratitude in their heart and the idea of “1001 Thagatchari” was seeded.

As a result of 1001 gratitude project, the much needed recognition and appreciation for the people will be elevated and we will re-learn to express our gratitude adding “Thagatchari” “Thank you” in our top list of vocabulary. I believe that this exercise of expressing gratitude as part of this project will enrich, expand and empower all of us and also contribute in building the strength of our community.

In the midst of conflicts, unrest and media’s focus for sensational stories, we have forgotten to express recognition and appreciation. To change that, I am looking for 1001 people to be a part of the movement to pause and express gratitude for the people of Manipur? Do you know anyone? Are you one of the 1001 people?

Contact us to be a part of this project and be a part of change. I welcome you to join us live and participate with your comments/questions as we are co creating our show Facebook FindingTheVoices Community Group.

 

FindingTheVoices with three young Manipuri Business Management traveling to Europe for the first time sharing their travel experiences, hope and learnings. 

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FindingTheVoices with three young Manipuri Business Management traveling to Europe for the first time sharing their travel experiences, hope and learnings.
Guest Speakers : Ransonkumar Khundrakpam, Khundrakpam Naoba Meitei and Langam Lukram.
Language: Interview in English.
Location: Guest Speakers at Germany
Ranson, Naoba and Langam are three teenagers who have come out of India for the very first time as part of a global business study tour in Europe as part of study organized by the college IILM Undergraduate Business School.
One of their pictures which showed Ranson posing infront of the Eiffel Tower wearing the traditional Manipuri attire ‘Khudei’ became eye catching and viral. The three energetic youngsters talk about their experience travelling around Europe, spending the night near the Eiffel Tower, enjoying the beautiful sceneries and overcoming language barriers with Google Translate. They described the scenery as serene and beautiful, but still felt that the scenery of their home state Manipur was no less than what they were seeing in the moment. They experience new things which they will never forget in their lives and also learn a few valuable lessons during their travel in Europe.
Towards the end, they get a little emotional talking about their parents and expressing what they have in their heart and mind.
The three youngsters also mentions about one of our guests from Season 2, Mr. Rabi Moirangthem. We are very happy to learn that they were inspired to pursue Business Management after hearing the words and experience from our guest speaker.

About FindingTheVoices:Monica Ingudam, Founder of FindingTheVoices

Born and raised in the violence-torn landscape of Manipur, I have a vision to promote and spread inspiring, empowering, educative & entertaining stories. I believe that we can create contents bringing the positive side of Manipur. I believe we can do this together by finding the voices, voices which needs to be heard and shared, voices of our own people, people of Manipur and well-wishers of Manipur. I believe that these voices will bring a change and connect all of us.

I welcome you to join me in my journey to finding the voices at Http://FindingTheVoices.com/

 

Mourning for Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma, sculptor artist of Three Mothers Art Gallery of Manipur.

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Mourning for Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma, sculptor artist of Three Mothers Art Gallery of Manipur.

As we are nearing the completion of five years of FindingTheVoices, I was reflecting on moments that made FindingTheVoices real, moments that gave meaning to my quest and vision to continue FindingTheVoices.

Yesterday I shared a picture in Facebook sharing a moment “It broke my heart to see the crumpling condition of Three Mothers Art Gallery in Imphal, Manipur.”

#5years #FindingTheVoices #Manipur #29Sept2012 #LookingBack #Moments It broke my heart to see the crumpling condition of Three Mothers Art Gallery in Imphal, Manipur.

Then I shared another picture of another moment “I was truly touched and felt connected by the way Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma, sculpture artist of Three Mothers Art Gallery calling me “Sana” instead of my name. Sana, literal meaning is gold but it’s a way of addressing someone with love in Manipur. And I had forgotten this beautiful way of addressing.” I remember my mother fondly sharing about her childhood “Oh, when I grew up, I was Ebemma at home.”

Staying away from Manipur for 25 years now, I have missed experiencing many of the beautiful ways of life in Manipur. The journey of FindingTheVoices have been very fruitful and enriching to me as a person, striking a deep chord in taking pride of my origin and roots.

#5years #FindingTheVoices #Manipur #29Sept2012 #LookingBack #Moments I was truly touched and felt connected by the way Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma, sculpture artist of Three Mothers Art Gallery calling me “Sana” instead of my name. Sana, literal meaning is gold but it’s a way of calling someone with love in Manipur. And I had forgotten this beautiful way of addressing.

Sir Laba Yambem commented on the post sharing the news about the passing of the main artist of Three Mothers Art Gallery.

I got confirmation of the sad, very sad news that Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma passed away on August 12, 2017. He was born on September 24, 1955. The news filled me with such grief, regret and anger. His passing is a big loss to Manipur, a big loss to the community of sculptor artists of the world.

It is my deepest regret that we have failed him in recognizing his talent and giving him the support to nurture his inborn gifted talent. It gave me goosebumps when he shared about seeing the vision of what to carve when he sees the raw roots at nights and hence he worked mostly at nights. He didn’t have a blue print for any of his sculptors, it was all in his mind which he carved.

I saw a true artist seeing the blessing of such talents in Manipur. His sculptors conveyed the deepest meaning in art form with important relevance to the history and people of Manipur. But it broke my heart to see the crumbling gallery, the beautiful artwork smudged with dust from the fallen ceiling. It made me think of the art gallery in other places where artwork are kept with such value, boxed within glasses, guards closely monitoring the many lined up visitors from touching the artwork.

His vision of what he wanted to carve is truly inspirational but we have failed him to provide a platform and nurture his talent.

If you haven’t heard about Three Mothers Art Gallery, that is the first failure point. Why haven’t you heard about it ? Why don’t you know about the artist? Where are the visitors lining up to see his artwork? Why is his artwork not promoted? Where are the promotions? Why is his gallery crumpled? Shouldn’t his artwork display be one of the main display for tourist spot in Manipur?

Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma (September 24, 1955- August 12, 2017) gifted sculptor artist of Three Mothers Art Gallery, Manipur passed away. He was just 61 years old. He had dreams, many unfulfilled dreams. I have failed him. The people have failed him. Manipur has failed him. India has failed him.

I implore you to visit Three Mothers Art Gallery, Wangkhei, Thangapat Mapal Palace Compound, Imphal East, Manipur and seek your help and support for elevating Three Mothers Art Gallery in Imphal.

 

Monica Ingudam, founder of FindingTheVoices, A weekly talk show with the vision to promote positivity in the conflicted land of Manipur. Monica Ingudam is based in Maryland, Unites States and is originally from Manipur, the Indian state.

 

FindingTheVoices with Mr. Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma, Reality of the status of artists in Manipur.

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FindingTheVoices with Mr. Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma, Reality of the status of artists in Manipur. (Part 2)
Guest Speaker : Mr.Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma, sculpture artist of Three Mothers Art Gallery in Manipur.
Language: Interview in Meiteilon/Manipuri.
Location: Three Mother’s Art Gallery, Imphal, Manipur, India
Catch up the first part of the interview at FindingTheVoices with Mr. Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma, sculpture artist of Three Mothers Art Gallery in Manipur.

This is the second part of our interview with extremely talented artist Mr. Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma and we are joined by special guest and biggest supporter of our show, Madam Saroj Nalini Ingudam.

All of Mr. Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma’s marvelous creations are housed inside a broken down hall that is used as a gallery/museum. One wonders what all of the amazing sculptures are doing in such a poorly constructed hall, with broken floors and cracked walls. How awesome the sculptures would look if all of them were encased inside glass boxes with royal cursive labels and put on display for the world to see. The surrounding definitely does no justice to the beauty and imagination captured by the artist in these sculptures made out of huge roots.

Mr. Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma had so much hope of establishing a decent gallery/museum to showcase his creations for the people, but the total lack of support and ignorance from the government officials left him frustrated. Mr. Shyamsunder shared his hope and dreams for a brighter future for his gallery and work.

In this episode, the artist talks about a beautiful sculpture that he presented to a Director General of Shillong. The sculpture portrays many famous personalities such as Paona Brajabashi, Maharaj Tikendrajit, signing of the merger agreement by Maharaj Budhachandra, a smiling Queen Elizabeth wearing her famous royal jewels, just to mention a few. He has also presented many other sculptures to other government bodies. The DG’s office in Shillong alone has around 30 sculptures and the IGAR’s office in South Mantripukhri has around 38 sculptures.

About FindingTheVoices:Monica Ingudam, Founder of FindingTheVoices

Born and raised in the violence-torn landscape of Manipur, I have a vision to promote and spread inspiring, empowering, educative & entertaining stories. I believe that we can create contents bringing the positive side of Manipur. I believe we can do this together by finding the voices, voices which needs to be heard and shared, voices of our own people, people of Manipur and well-wishers of Manipur. I believe that these voices will bring a change and connect all of us.

I welcome you to join me in my journey to finding the voices at Http://FindingTheVoices.com/

 

FindingTheVoices with Mr. Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma, sculpture artist of Three Mothers Art Gallery in Manipur.

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FindingTheVoices with Mr. Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma, sculpture artist of Three Mothers Art Gallery in Manipur. (Part 1)
Guest Speaker : Mr.Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma.
Language: Interview in Meiteilon/Manipuri.
Location: Three Mother’s Art Gallery, Imphal, Manipur, India

We are at the Three Mothers Art Gallery at Thangapat Mapal, Imphal. The museum has an enormous collection of wood sculptures carved out of wood stems depicting various animals, from reptiles to ocean life. To add more meaning to the beauty, most of these sculptures tell a story, carved onto them by the very talented and hardworking artist, Mr. Gurumayum Shyamsunder Sharma. According to the artist, the three mothers as stated in the name symbolize the three mothers in a person’s life. The first is the woman who gave birth, the second is mother Earth and the third is the mother tongue of the person.

Mr. Shyamsunder started the art of wood carving at the age of 10. At first, he learnt making mud sculptures from his grandfather whilst assisting him. Later on, he applied his skills in making sculptures out of wood stems. The idea of making sculptures out of wood stems dawned upon him one night when he saw a shadow of the roots of a tree cast on a wall. He says that he gets more creative at night as a result. The beautiful stone sculptures of the Greeks and the Romans were an inspiration for him. The amount of details carved in the stones was astonishing to look at.

In this episode, the artist also talks about a few sculptures he created. One of them is a woman in chains with one of her hands cut off. The chains symbolize the state of Manipur under the British Rule and the cut off hand represents the loss of Kabaw Valley to Burma.

About FindingTheVoices:Monica Ingudam, Founder of FindingTheVoices

Born and raised in the violence-torn landscape of Manipur, I have a vision to promote and spread inspiring, empowering, educative & entertaining stories. I believe that we can create contents bringing the positive side of Manipur. I believe we can do this together by finding the voices, voices which needs to be heard and shared, voices of our own people, people of Manipur and well-wishers of Manipur. I believe that these voices will bring a change and connect all of us.

I welcome you to join me in my journey to finding the voices at Http://FindingTheVoices.com/

 

FindingTheVoices with Dr. Ajit Lukram, coming back from UK to work for Manipur.

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FindingTheVoices with Dr. Ajit Lukram sharing about breast cancer survivors in Manipur.(Part 1)
Guest Speaker : Dr. Ajit Lukram, Consultant Surgeon, Shija Breast and Thyroid Clinic, Shija Hospitals.
Language: Interview in English.
Location: Imphal, Manipur, India

It was such an empowering and proud moment to hear Dr. Ajit Lukram, Consultant Surgeon share about the successful story of breast cancer survivors in Manipur. Yes, Manipur has the facility, infrastructure, highly skilled qualified personnel to diagnose, screen and treat breast Cancer at Shija Hospitals. He spoke with such passion and dedication for his profession of saving lives from Breast Cancer. I learned so much about Breast Cancer.

Also, It’s really encouraging to see the power of passion and love for one’s birthplace, striving the best to save and improve the quality of life, elevating the progress of Manipur. It left me inspired that he came back from UK to work for Manipur. It’s even more inspiring that Shija Hospitals has the platform to provide and absorb such talents giving hope to many educated professionals in returning to Manipur.

Yet another strong voice to show that many are striving towards progress.

About FindingTheVoices:Monica Ingudam, Founder of FindingTheVoices

Born and raised in the violence-torn landscape of Manipur, I have a vision to promote and spread inspiring, empowering, educative & entertaining stories. I believe that we can create contents bringing the positive side of Manipur. I believe we can do this together by finding the voices, voices which needs to be heard and shared, voices of our own people, people of Manipur and well-wishers of Manipur. I believe that these voices will bring a change and connect all of us.

I welcome you to join me in my journey to finding the voices at Http://FindingTheVoices.com/

 

FindingTheVoices with Laishram Meena Devi, artist from Manipur.

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FindingTheVoices with Ms. Laishram Meena Devi, Expressions and Art. (Part 1)
Guest Speaker : Laishram Meena Devi, artist from Manipur.
Language: Interview in English.
Location: New Delhi, India

Life is a wonderful journey and the important thing is to always remember that there will be ups and downs, good times and bad times. Happiness and sadness go hand in hand together. One must never forget that no matter how hard life gets, it will always get better. However bad the phase is, we must remember that nothing lasts forever.

Our guest for this episode is Laishram Meena Devi, the youngest of four siblings, brought up in a multi-cultural society in Imphal. After her father’s untimely demise, Meena’s family fell into a financial crisis. They had lost their only bread earner. But fortunately, one of her brothers got a small job at Shopper’s Stop in New Delhi and was able to support the family. Meena was then sent to Delhi for her senior secondary schooling, and after completion of the course, she started working as a waitress at a coffee shop. She recalls the first day on the job, making coffee and serving everyone, standing all day long. She broke down crying later that night thinking about what had become of her life. But Meena had a hidden talent. She was a very talented painter since childhood. She knew she was good at it, but she had never thought of taking it up as a career. After about a year or so, she enrolled herself in the Bachelor of Fine Arts course at Jamia Hamdard College in New Delhi, but still worked part time at the coffee shop during the vacations to support her expenditures. She worked really hard and with strong confidence and determination, she secured the first position for the four year course. She then pursued for a Master’s degree in Fine Arts at the Delhi College of Art.


Today, Laishram Meena Devi is a very successful artist who creates lovely paintings, mostly of adorable children, recreating her memories from childhood in her locality. Her love and fondness for a multi-cultural society living in peace and harmony is reflected in her work.

About FindingTheVoices:Monica Ingudam, Founder of FindingTheVoices

Born and raised in the violence-torn landscape of Manipur, I have a vision to promote and spread inspiring, empowering, educative & entertaining stories. I believe that we can create contents bringing the positive side of Manipur. I believe we can do this together by finding the voices, voices which needs to be heard and shared, voices of our own people, people of Manipur and well-wishers of Manipur. I believe that these voices will bring a change and connect all of us.

I welcome you to join me in my journey to finding the voices at Http://FindingTheVoices.com/

 

S03E49 FindingTheVoices with Reverend Father Joseph Kachiramattam, life as a priest in Manipur for 58 years.

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FindingTheVoices with Reverend Father Joseph Kachiramattam, life as a priest in Manipur for 58 years. (Part 4)

Guest Speaker : Reverend Father Joseph Kachiramattam, Catholic Priest.
Language: Interview in English

Location: Priests’ Home, Mantripukhri in Imphal, Manipur, India

Catch up the 1st part of the interview at FindingTheVoices with Reverend Father Joseph Kachiramattam, the first diocesan priest posted in Manipur and has been serving as a priest for 58 years now.

Catch up the 2nd part of the interview at FindingTheVoices with Reverend Father Joseph Kachiramattam, changing the lanscape of education in Manipur.

Catch up the 3rd part of the interview at FindingTheVoices with Reverend Father Joseph Kachiramattam, shares about Extortionists, kidnapping, shooting and killing of priests in Manipur.

About FindingTheVoices:Monica Ingudam, Founder of FindingTheVoices

Born and raised in the violence-torn landscape of Manipur, I have a vision to promote and spread inspiring, empowering, educative & entertaining stories. I believe that we can create contents bringing the positive side of Manipur. I believe we can do this together by finding the voices, voices which needs to be heard and shared, voices of our own people, people of Manipur and well-wishers of Manipur. I believe that these voices will bring a change and connect all of us.

I welcome you to join me in my journey to finding the voices at Http://FindingTheVoices.com/