Monica Ingudam

S02E28 FindingTheVoices: Bung Keisham, fashion designer from Manipur sharing about being gay. (Part 1)

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FindingTheVoices: Bung Keisham, fashion designer from Manipur, sharing about being gay.
Guest Speaker : Bung Keisham
Interview Location: Web Interview, Guest Speaker joining in, from Netherlands.
Language: Interview in English

Bung Keisham, Fashion designer from Manipur shared about his rough childhood and dealing with the unacceptance of his identity as a gay.

 “The first time I knew I was different was when I wanted to buy Manipuri dolls. I was locked in the house and beaten up because I liked girl’s things. I was taken to the psychiatrist to change my thinking. I tried to commit suicide multiple times. I wasn’t accepted the way I am.”
This is the first part of the interview, please come back for the 2nd part.

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/

S02E27 FindingTheVoices: Juliana Phaomei, a rongmei kabui tribal student from Manipur

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FindingTheVoices: Meeting with Juliana Phaomei, a rongmei kabui tribal student from Manipur

Guest Speaker : Juliana Phaomei , student, blogger at This Life, My Day   

Interview Location: Video Call , Juliana joined in from Bangalore.

Language: Videocast in English

Meeting with Juliana Phaomei, a rongmei kabui tribal student from Manipur.

I met her to get her feedback and input as part of our outreach campaign of FindingTheVoices. I received such great feedback and was very excited to answer her questions, listening to her views/feedback. I am really happy to meet young people from Manipur who believe in peace and progress. She also asked me great questions, where I got an opportunity to share my vision and thoughts. Juliana is a young 20 year old student filled with great ideas and spirit, seeking change, a change and integration we need in Manipur. This was not a planned episode but I have to share her voice and her questions. This is just the beginning.

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.

We have completed 3 years of pod casting and have had a tremendous positive response from our viewers and listeners. And from the messages received from various age groups, our programs achieved our vision of getting our listeners and viewers inspired, educated, empowered and entertained.

I believe that these stories will bring a change and create a positive image of Manipur and positive thinking to many individuals. I believe that this will definitely contribute to change the scenery of the conflict and violence-torn to peace and progress in our society.

I am seeking out for collaboration to include you. Inviting you to join me in my journey of FindingTheVoices by making this your own.

http://FindingTheVoices.com

 

Nanao’s telangga, an acrylic painting

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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

100 It’s all in the mind : The Red Flower

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The Red Flower

Seek
To bloom
Far Away
In the mountains
Just to catch a sight of you in silence.

~The End~

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

Author’s Notes: Originally written on Feb 22, 2015, when the heart misses.

A tetractys poem is written with 20 syllables. A tetractys can have more than one stanza. But all new stanzas must be have an inverted syllable count. There is no limit to the number of stanzas. This type of poem often expresses a complete thought

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

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

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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.