Love is in the Air.

Ok Ok,
I take it that it was boring. I fully agree. Yes alright... the last post was boring. Henceforth, I shall not do copy paste jobs. Leaves no room for a personal touch.
And if you have come from a link I left some where in the web, PLEASE READ FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE or start here at Home at a faraway place.

Today, I will write about a very beautiful thing. Something that will make every teenage girl wish they were born in Manipur. As for Guys, they wouldn't mind shifting their base there, and if Manipur had some industries or IT companies like Hyderabad or Bangalore, we would have had major Influx crisis. I shall write about Love and not of love making, if there were love to be found, it is in Manipur.

In Manipur, it is considered quite unmanly if one were to go for a arranged marriage. Gossips go like,

"Oh!! he didn't get a girl friend so his parents are looking for a Guy". "Oh! that girl, how would she find guy, she is of bad character, ask anyone who studied in delhi during 1998-2001. So her parents are busy looking for a Bakra from some village. You know those obedient Village boys who are in the armed forces or software engineers in bangalore."

Even Doctors are not spared. So, Arranged marriage is not a very common culture, though nowadays many people have started the culture. Well there are obedient city boys as well, who were busy making their career in Bangalore, delhi, Mumbai, USA, UK. Its not uncommon these days to settle for a arramged marriage as well, but despite being an arranged marraige, there is a culture that still prevail.

Well my dear ladies and gentlemen of non-manipuri origin, I pity you, for you will never know How it is to Elope with your lover and how romantic it could be.
Yes, in Manipur, a couple elopes before they get married. Even if they are arranged, they are made to elope on a particular date. They usually elope to a close friend's house where the friend's parents take care of the girl who eloped( no they are not allowed to sleep together, though couples are known to take liberty before the parents come to know that they have just eloped). A messenger usually a close friend of the Groom to be is sent to the bride-to-be's house to inform of what happened. Next day, the guys' parents visit the girls home with a proposal that their boy had eloped their girl and to ask for her hand and match kundli's and fix dates etc etc. the girl returns to her house and then get married on the date fixed.

Sometimes, Hindi films do occur and girls parents get angry and threaten the guy's parents that they will charge with abduction case but those are extreme case like what happened to my Aunt since her brothers(read my father and his big brother) didn't approve of the guy, in which case the couples are separated but in extreme case the Groom's family marry them without the Bride's family. My poor Aunty, we did a remarry to the same guy of course after about 8 years. Sometimes the couple is too young and both parents agree to wait till they get older in which case, more often than not the couple re-elope till their parents give in. How so romantic.

So all the stories and movies in manipur revole around "elope" which is called nupi chenba in Manipur. A very beautiful tradition and a romantic way of announcing to both parents that they love each other, because in Manipur we usually don't talk marriage and BOY-GIRL with our parents, and a teenager don't invite someone of the opposite sex to his/her place for functions and parties. Well in some ELITE family of manipur it does happen, nowadays, but not in most. It just is not done, and unlike the notion of fellow Indians that Girls from Manipur are quite promiscous and wanton, well, meetei girls are not and are known to be very very moral though there might be exceptions as afterall we are humans and like what I mentioned in the begining "Oh! that girl, how would she find guy, she is of bad character ...." there always are some black sheeps. I even know some ;-) and as Men we never mind a few exceptions. And news travel fast in Manipur and everyone knows any girl who is wanton and are rarely excepted. So dear friends, Meetei girls are not easy picking, and the guys very dangerous. We take offense very easily if anything is talked about our girls.lol. Read my posts on Women empowerment. We highly respect Women. I won't comment on girls of other race. To each their own and I don't pass judgements. But please don't confuse Meetei girls with any other girls and please don't generalise. I am not saying other people are bad or good nor do I condone any character, but this blog is meant to educate people about Manipur.

Despite being from a Co-ed, I have never had a lady friend coming to my place for any function but it doesn't stop anyone from not falling in love. Everone in Manipur has to fall in love, and even if it is arranged, they are given about a years time to know each other and fall in love and then ELOPE. Love is everywhere, and people drop exams, runs way from college and what not all for love. All for love. Marraige I think should be such.
We have our own Heer Ranjha in Khamba-Thoibi, the story of which I might have plagiarised, but well, I will just post a summary on that myself. Copy-paste makes boring reads. the story of khamba-thoibi called "heights of Love" translated by N Tombi Singh I believe made me cry, and if you don't you have a heart of stone...