The people of manipur

More about Manipur,

A small Disclaimer: “My posts will be devoid of facts and figures. I have been away from home quite some time, and so I shall rely more on my memory. My memory is really bad in numbers, so I shall prefix all the data with the Imfamous “About”. I usually write the posts from on my laptop at Home and there have been some problems with the net connection, so I can’t google either, except from office where I post the articles. I don’t want to rely much on google either. Not many facts about Manipur are available on the Net and I can’t be sure how genuine some might be. But I will not resort to fiction.”

I shall take up each topic separately, like the story behind The Polo, About Indian Flag, the Problems that we faced, about our culture etc etc.
Today let me share with you some Facts, more about the people there.
I believe, people are more interested in the beauties of the Place, simply put the tourism quotient. Whenever I say I am from Manipur, the second most popular question is, “I heard that Manipur is very beautiful, full of Greenery?”. The most popular being, what our currency is. Few questions come about the people that reside there. Everybody seems to be an expert already on the people of Manipur. For one, we eat snakes and rats. And, our women folk are very promiscuous. A pre-conceived notion, but a fact nevertheless.

I am to blame but I haven’t read the whole of Manipuri History. I recently got a mail, that a Book about the ancestors of Manipur, translated from our archaic language and script written originally on Manipuri equivalent of scrolls is now available with some publishers. It was sent to me on a Manipuri e-group. I have to get hold of one. But I shall tell you the little that I know as of today.

Like in my previous posts, Where I said that we are a little India with our own set of prejudices, class discriminations and even dowry system however insignificant, Manipur is inhabited by different ethnic groups. I, for one, don’t believe in ethnicity. I don’t even believe in religion, I publicly announce so. I am a Beef eating, staunch Threaded Hindu named Anthony. I truly believe in one world, a truly free market. But the fact is that Manipur also has different Ethnic groups. I will write mostly about what I know best. About my ethnicity. About the Meeteis.
Not because the others are insignificant, but I would start writing more truths which would ruffle a few feathers, and we are living in sensitive times now. But I love them all, I will try my best so that everybody lives in Peace. I am a staunch supporter of living together in Peace. I hate the British empire who Divided India, and who divided Palestine. It is the cause of all the hate brewing in the world today. America came in much later. It was British diplomacy all along. Well I am off track now.

Manipur, as it is, is inhabited by the Hill tribes and plains men. The Plains Men or the Valley Men are called the Meeteis. The Meeteis , but for a few sects are in the general category unlike some notions that all chinkies have Scheduled caste or Scheduled Tribe reservations. I am not even an OBC. It amused me when my placement officer called me in on day and told me to apply to HPCL because they were offering very good Package and they had reservations for SC/STs. Even she had assumed without checking out if I attended my B school with a reservation and without checking out my ranking. So the plains people or Meeties makes up most of Manipur. Could be more than 80% of the native population ( I am not including Bangladeshis and Nepalis and non-manipuri Indians), here 80% is a guess. The rest is made of a number of tribal brothers and sisters. We have been living together with harmony for hundreds of years, but politics have now reached out its poisonous fangs to the Harmony.

So what are the Meeteis, Who are they? Meeteis, as described by a British writer “are particularly a handsome race. Hardly an obese men are to be found( which of course is not true anymore). The Meeteis have beautiful features. The Meetei Women have very beautiful hair”. Some British Anthropologist have chronicled about the Meeteis very pleasantly. Meeteis are good in numbers( unlike me), very sincere, and take friendship and honour very seriously, even today. It won’t be uncommon to see a Meetei picking up a fight against injustice, something as trivial as eve teasing. Meeteis take their manhood also very seriously. Honour matter much to them. Maybe a legacy from our oriental ancestors, read hara kiri.

It would also be surprising to know that the Meeteis, follow Hindusism. A particularly strict sect of Hinduism called the Vaisnavism. It was the sect of hindu made popular by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. I don’t remember the exact dates, interested reader may google for it, but it was around the 16th century that
Hinduism spread in Manipur after a Hindu missionary ( yes Hindu also had Missionaries, and I studied in a mission run by Hindus) known, not in a very good light, as Shanti Das Goshain( Goshain was what w could pronounce Goswami as, I believe). The Meeteis embraced Hindusim because it was a very pure religion, and it is often said that Vaishnavism reached its peak in Manipur. When, a Meetei starts something, it is said that we do it till perfection. What made ShantiDas a Vilain was because he poisoned the ears of the then King, Maharaj GaribNiwas, to burn all the ancient scriptures of Manipur. The Scrolls that I mentioned earlier. Only a few could be saved and salvaged. It was Gloom times for Manipur when he burned down the scriptures. We still have some that were Hidden though. We call it the “Puran mei Thaba” Puran = the scriptures, mei thaba means to burn. But since then, the Meeteis have followed Hinduism with a fervor unmatched by any sect. We celebrate the Holi for 5 days with complete abandon, we celebrate the Rath yatra on the lines of Puri, for 10 days and very seriously full of festive and grand feast both during the day and night for 10 days. Each family takes turn like a Rota, to take care of the feast for the 10 days. It is celebrated in the local Brahmin Family and there is a Brahmin family in every locality of 15-20 families. Some families jointly take the turn to offer the feast and the Puja for the day. It is considered that Offering a crown for the Jaganath gets you Assured Blessings, it is just a matter of pride and pretige I believe. My mother offers most years. And all other Hindu festivals, just name it and we celebrate it right from Govardhan puja, Diwali, Durga Puja, Shivratri, Krisna Janma, Saraswati Puja, Viswakarma Puja and what not.
Add to it, the festivals from the pre-hindu era. The Lai Haraoba( the Festival of the Gods) , Cheraoba( the Manipri new year), Ningol Chakouba( Manipur raksha bandhan equivalent where the married sisters come home to a day of festivity and feast and brothers showering them Gifts), Emoinu. Who said India was a Land of festivals. Manipur beats the rests of India in it. Didn’t I mention time and again that Manipur is a miniature India. And that we like excess of everything.

But since the Manipuri version of Hindu came from west Bengal, they gifted us with another legacy that I am thankful to the bongs for. The love for Fish. Manipuri Hindus are staunch Hindus ion that we can’t carry chicken or mutton into the house in general and kitchen in particular, even today. But we can’t do without Fish. Of course to appease the Gods, we keep Thursdays as pure veg ( but that’s the day when youngsters cook chicken on their own in the backyard). Some Meeteis also after attaining particular age devote themselves to god and stop eating fish altogether. But we love Fish. I can’t do without fish. Of course, youngsters nowdays living away from home, and most of us live away from home for studies or for work so most of us eat non-veg Food except for a few girls. Well next episode soon. More about the people.

Keep coming.

Don't forget to read manipur- Part-I


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