Manipur

Nanao’s telangga, an acrylic painting

/ Monica Ingudam / 1 Comment

  

Nanao’s Telangga, Nanao’s Kite in meiteilon (Manipuri). I drew this painting remembering my little brother’s love for flying kites in Manipur. 

He loved flying kites as a kid. He was one of the best in our leikai (community) and known for his excellent skills for cutting other’s kite. He was very possessive of his kites and it was on very rare occasion that he would let me fly. I enjoyed watching the cutting kites and the excitement, running behind the falling kite once the thread was cut. At times we were lucky coming back with the trophy kite, other times it was stuck on a high tree but was contented that at least he won in cutting. Of course then there were times our kite got cut.

One sunny afternoon he agreed that he will let me fly his kite if I assist him in making his thread strong and sharp so that he can cut other kites. We were busy grounding pieces of glasses, mixing with the heated flour paste in a tin and then applying on the thread. The thread was lined from tree to tree, making crossed designs blocking everyone to pass my father’s front yard. We waited for the first layer of application of the paste (“maan thaba” as he calls it) on the thread to dry up and then we will apply all over again.  Once it was dried, it was starched and sharp. We had to handle it carefully while rolling the thread back, so that it wouldn’t hurt our fingers. 

It was a wonderful evening flying kites with my little brother.
An acrylic painting by Monica Ingudam

Pok houbi Nupi, The Lady with grey hairs, an acrylic painting

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The Lady with grey hairs. Pok houbi Nupi is the meiteilon word for a lady with grey hairs. An acrylic painting by Monica Ingudam.

PaintingsByMonicaIngudam

The lady with Grey Hairs

Dzukou Valley of Manipur

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Dzukou Valley of Manipur. Photographer: Jogamani Sharma

Dzuko Valley of Manipur. A place my heart seeks to go.

And I hope to watch the sunrise at Dzuko Valley of Manipur someday.

I have heard so much about this stream at Dzuko Valley of Manipur.

A peaceful view of Dzuko Valley of Manipur. The much needed peace in Manipur.

Dzuko Valley of Manipur. I could walk miles and miles just to see this place.

Seeing the pictures and hearing so much about the beauty of Dzukou Valley, I am deeply inspired by the untouched beauty and have always wanted to walk and see this beautiful place. Someday I hope to see this place.

Sometime back in January of 2015, I had participated in NYC Midnight’s short story contest and was assigned a Ski-Fi genre, a genre which is definitely not my strength. However I wrote ‘A walk at Dzukou Valley’. In this story , I used the location of Dzukou Valley and wrote based on what I have seen in many of the pictures, and my deep desire to go to Dzukou. I got Honorable Mention of the story for the contest and one of the Judge mentioned “The exotic setting of the Dzukou Valley is a plus.”

#Honorable Mention ‘A walk at Dzukou Valley’ by Monica Ingudam

SYNOPSIS – There was a choice, to travel real time in the retirement party menu, to travel at any location on earth to live organically before retiring the body. And I have 5 days to live and find my love, my love I was supposed to meet 50 years ago when I was 28.

A Bamboo Bridge at Sekmai, Manipur.

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A Bamboo Bridge at Sekmai, Manipur. Photographer: Sikendro Leichombam

Bamboo Bridge at Sekmai, Manipur.

Bamboo Bridge at Sekmai, Manipur.

Bamboo Bridge at Sekmai, Manipur. Would love to walk on this bridge someday. Have you ?

S02E26 FindingTheVoices: Moirangthem Inao legendary radio playwright of Manipur Part 2

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S02E26 FindingTheVoices Moirangthem Inao legendary radio playwright of Manipur Part 2

Guest Speaker : Moirangthem Inao

Interview Location: Imphal, Manipur, India

Language: Podcast in Meitei-lon (Manipuri)

An interview with Moirangthem Inao, a legendary radio drama script-writer. He is 70 years old. He has scripted more than 90 Radio plays and around 50 video/movies. This is Part 2 of his interview where he talks about students of Manipur, moments of hearing about getting awards for his work, journey of his financial struggles. He also shared very interesting details where he compared his production for Radio and Cinema. He shared about his personal life which influenced his choice of work.

Catch up Part 1 of his interview at S02E25 FindingTheVoices Moirangthem Inao legendary radio playwright of Manipur Part 1

I am a big fan of his work and grew up listening to his radio dramas broadcasted by All India Radio, Imphal. And to hear his journey and experience from him is an absolute honor.  His work are inspired by the social life in Manipur. His strength in his writing is bringing out human emotions with a mix of romance and tragedy.

“Anuradhapur Ashramgi Rajkumar”, “Lonthoktabagi Lon” “Chatledo eidi”, “Nongallabasu Thaballei Manam ” are some of his popular recognized work.

 

MI_5Born 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/

 

The Sanarei Lady, an acrylic painting

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The Sanarei Lady. Sanarei is the meiteilon word for the merigold flower. Painted remembering the most beautiful golden Sanarei flowers I once saw near a foothill in Manipur.

An acrylic painting by Monica Ingudam

098 It’s all in the mind : Second Hand Clothes in Manipur

/ Monica Ingudam / 28 Comments

Second Hand Clothes in Manipur

You mock with slandering words,
To those wearing second hand clothes,
You must be the elite one,
Dressed in the way you think the elite does,
Covering your pretense,
Of your origin,
Have you forgotten the makeshift toilet ?
The one you ran with a small bucket ?
Where you held your breath from your own stench ?
Have you forgotten the fasting you did ?
To demand for a new bike which all your friends had ?
Oh! but you didn’t see how your mother ran door to door,
Borrowing money yet again,
Selling the gold earrings her father gave,
To keep up with your elite look,
Covering your economic status,
As you walk on the street,
With the material things you adorn yourself.

I had a blue jacket as a child,
Turning the inside out, it turned to a beautiful bright red jacket with blue borders,
A second hand jacket my grandmother gifted,
Which she meticulously picked amongst the many she saw and compared,
From the open second hand market at Churachandpur in Manipur,
Which was named my foren (foreign) jacket,
That became my favorite,
Many complimented wanting one for themselves,
My grandmother obliged and got more every time she visited,
For friends and neighbors who wanted,
But it was a hush hush matter that it was second hand clothes.

You who maintained the elite look,
Either by the hush hush words,
Or by your demands,
Mocking with slandering words,
How different are you in economic status ?
The status we all strive to rise above.

~The End~

An Experimental attempt to put thoughts in writing by Monica Ingudam.

This poem was written after I read comments amongst the people of hill and valley of Manipur mocking each other, trying to belittle the other making fun of wearing second hand clothes generalizing a community.