026 It’s all in the mind : The closed Door

The closed Door

The door is closed,
And the walls are high,
Without any glimpse of what lies beyond the door,
It’s been years behind the door,
And you have known only a life within the walls,
Which you have accepted,
And even started to enjoy the comfort and safety it provides,
You have read about beautiful things,
Things you have never seen,
The door is closed but not locked,
You could step out to explore the world,
And it’s your choice.

~The End~

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

025 It’s all in the mind : The Drive just after the snow!

The Drive just after the snow!

It’s a cold snowy day,
Your hands and face frozen after cleaning the snow off your car,
Roads are slippery and icy,
The visibility is low with ice on your windshield.

You see accidents of cars on the way,
You see frozen river giving you the chill thinking how cold it must be,
With all the dangers associated,
There is a certain charm driving just after the snow.

Driving on an abandoned road,
Once filled with traffic,
Making you feel you own it,
Driving at your own speed with your favorite songs played.

As you enjoy the beautiful sight,
All the dirt covered with pure white snow,
The barren tree, now covered with snow making it glow,
Snowflakes falling as the wind blows.

Even the sun won’t miss this sight,
But this beauty is short lived,
As It melts quickly,
Bringing you back to reality with slippery icy road.

Cars stained by the dirt,
Biting you with the bitter cold as you walk by,
When people ask you why bother to drive in such a bad weather,
You smile thinking you wouldn’t miss the beautiful sight and will drive yet again.

~The End~

Picture of George Washington memorial Parkway today.

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

Episode 059 FindingTheVoices : Romi Meitei Director of Manipuri Movies, sharing his experiences of Manipur Movie Industry (Part2)

Presenting the second part of the podcast (in Meitei-lon) of Romi Meitei, Director of Manipuri Movies, sharing his experience working in Manipur Movie Industry for the last 10 years. He is one of the eminent Manipuri movie director having more than 10 years of experience working in Manipur movie industry as a Director, script writing and even writing lyrics of songs (including one of my favorite Inga Nonglakta). He shares interesting aspect of the work culture and talent of artists which raises the question, Are the actors and actresses in Manipur reading the script ? Is Manipur keeping up with the technology change with the basic infrastructure and challenges in making a movie ? We also spoke about piracy and how that impacts the Manipur movie Industry.

Episode 059 FindingTheVoices Romi Meitei Director of Manipuri Movies sharing his experiences working in Manipur Movie Industry (Part2)

Catch up with Part 1 of the podcast where Romi Meitei shared his experience and vision of Manipuri movie industry. Listen to his podcast to hear his thoughts on “Have the movies in Manipur Industry changed in the last 10 years ? How is the infrastructure ? Are we equipped with a studio ? Are there any government policy or incentives for promoting the movie industry ? We spoke about the immense talents but lack of sponsors for quality movie production. The movies right now are more market driven to get back the investment.

Watch his short movies Noong Amadi Yeroom (Rock And Egg) and Kaangkhada Lin (Snake under the Bed)

024 It’s all in the mind : I am wandering but am not lost

I am wandering but am not lost

It’s a cold and windy day,
But that didn’t stop her from stopping by to see the river on her way,
She hurried and walked by the river,
She sat and watched the view.

Then continued with her walk,
Following where her feet takes her,
Soon she was on the bridge,
She stood on the bridge all by herself and watched the view.

It was getting colder with the winds from the almost frozen river,
But she continued with her walk,
Crossing the bridge,
And she walked and watched the view from the other side.

All the views was different and unique,
And it’s the view of the same river,
She continued walking back,
Rubbing her hands to keep herself warm.

Suddenly an old man sitting in the nearby bench calls out asking if she was lost and if she needed help,
She smiled and replied “I am just wandering but I am not lost”,
He points to a flask he is holding asking her “Coffee ?”

She couldn’t resist the invitation in the freezing cold,
She could use a warm drink before her walk back,
She nodded and sat next to him,
Unscrewing the cap he pours piping hot black coffee.

Sipping coffee they chatted about their favorite view of the river,
He loves his Miracle river from where he is sitting right then,
She loves the Potomac river when she sees from the middle of the bridge,
They spoke passionately about why they like what they love about each view.

They parted shaking hands,
She thanking him for the coffee and him thanking her for the company,
With a look they both knew,
What they spoke had deeper meaning than just the view.

She walked back hurriedly,
But stopped by in the middle of the bridge to see her view,
And waves to the old man still sitting on the bench,
And she continues back with her walk questioning if she is wandering or lost.

~The End~

Picture : Bridge across the Potomac River by George Washington Parkway, Washington DC.

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

Episode 058 FindingTheVoices : Romi Meitei Director of Manipuri Movies, sharing his vision of Manipur Movie Industry (Part1)

Presenting the first part of the podcast (in Meitei-lon) of Romi Meitei, Director of Manipuri Movies, sharing his vision of Manipur Movie Industry. He is one of the eminent Manipuri movie director having more than 10 years of experience working in Manipur movie industry as a Director, script writer and even writing lyrics of songs (including one of my favorite Inga Nonglakta).

Episode 058 FindingTheVoices Romi Meitei Director of Manipuri Movies sharing his vision of Manipur Movie Industry (Part1)

This was a very interesting discussion where Romi Meitei shared his experience and vision of Manipuri movie industry. Listen to his podcast to hear his thoughts on “Have the movies in Manipur Industry changed in the last 10 years ? How is the infrastructure ? Are we equipped with a studio ? Are there any government policy or incentives for promoting the movie industry ?

We spoke about the immense talents but lack of sponsors for quality movie production. The movies right now are more market driven to get back the investment.

Watch his short movies Noong Amadi Yeroom (Rock And Egg) and Kaangkhada Lin (Snake under the Bed)

023 It’s all in the mind : The first taste of wheat, the gift from the old priest

The first taste of wheat, the gift from the old priest

It must have been during the Eighties,
The rains won’t stop pouring in Imphal,
Day after day flooding everywhere,
People gathered in dry houses for sleeping,
Days went by and there was no food to eat.

The water just won’t go down with continuous non stop rains,
Rafts were made with banana stem to commute,
It was a hard time for everyone,
The old priest who spoke less and observed more sent bags and bags of whole wheat seeing people going hungry,
Emptying his whole go down of food supplies.

There were lines, long lines in Kwakeithel,
People coming from many other nearby leikai (community),
Everyone in the line was given whole wheat until the last grain was over,
Without questioning their religion,
Giving us the extra gift to see humanity and spirit of giving,

Being a rice eater, whole wheat was new to us,
Mother made whole wheat pudding, piping hot and watery with a pinch of sugar and milk added with the remains after scrubbing the canister,
And that was the first and best taste of whole wheat on a very cold day,
Tasted with a dash of kindness, the gift from the old priest,
His deeds never forgotten even when he is no longer with us.

~The End~

An Experimental attempt to put thoughts in writing by Monica Ingudam. This post is dedicated to Late Father Mathew Planthottam, founder of St. Joseph School, Imphal.

Author’s Note: I wrote in 2013 dedicating to Late Father Mathew Planthottam, founder of St. Joseph School, Imphal, Manipur to remind myself and others of the humanity and love beyond ethnicity or religion. On that day, I was very saddened to read a generalizing thrashing comments against religious Institute from the very people who stood in the long lines to get the wheat distributed during such hard times of hunger and flood. At that time, it didn’t stop them from receiving the help, despite the difference in religion or ethnicity but conveniently forgotten the kindness and ganging up with such vicious generalization. I wrote a stanza reflecting the hypocrisy but deleted as I was not brave enough to voice that part.

Episode 057 FindingTheVoices Swar Thounaojam sharing about sexual harassment and her own story as a victim (Part 3)

 Episode 057 FindingTheVoices Swar Thounaojam Playwright and Theatre Director sharing aboutsharing about sexual harassment and her own story as a victim (Part 3)

Presenting the 3rd part of Swar Thounaojam’s podcast where she shares details about sexual harassment and her own story as a victim. In this podcast, she  talks in details about the incident that happened on December 5, 2012 in Bangalore, India following an accident in which her car was hit. She said in an article covered at The Hindu  “I was assaulted by a traffic police constable. He barred me from entering my car and allowed a mob of around 40 men to sexually harass me. I filed two FIRs that evening — one for the accident and another for the sexual harassment and criminal intimidation I faced at the hands of the constable and the mob.” Listen to this podcast to hear her story in her own words of the trauma and difficulties she has to go through as a victim going through the legal process.

Catch up the first part of her podcast and second part of her podcast where she talks about her journey of being a Playwright and Theatre Director and her plays. Swar Thounaojam worked in Delhi, Mumbai, and Munich, and currently runs a Bengaluru-based theater company named FewerEmergencies.

Episode 056 FindingTheVoices Swar Thounaojam, Playwright and Theatre Director sharing about her plays (Part 2)

Episode 056 FindingTheVoices : Swar Thounaojam, Playwright and Theatre Director sharing about her plays.

Presenting the 2nd part of Swar Thounaojam’s podcast where she shares details about her plays. In this podcast, she  talks in details of each of her plays. She shared details about ” Bogey Systems” “Fake Palindromes” “Lucky Lobster“. I loved listening to her sharing about her inspiration for each of this play and how she imbibes and connect Manipur in some way to each of her plays. Is theatre a sustainable career option ? Listen to her sharing about the finance part in the theatre world. It was great learning and seeing a glimpse of the theater world from our very own Swar Thounaojam.

Full play is available online and you can read Fake Palindromes.

Catch up the first part of her podcast where she talks about her journey of being a Playwright and Theatre Director. Swar Thounaojam worked in Delhi, Mumbai, and Munich, and currently runs a Bengaluru-based theater company named FewerEmergencies.

021 It’s all in the mind : Beautiful Snow

Beautiful Snow

It’s the first snow of the season,
Looking beautiful as it falls,
Mesmerizing your mind,
Making you pause to admire the beauty,
Feeling the soft pure white snow,
Melting instantly as it touches you,
And yet you surrender for the beautiful moment,
When you know it will melt again,
Making you forget about the sun.

~The End~

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