Carpe Diem ! Seize a Smarter Imphal City !

Ema Keithel- Khwairamband Market. Courtesy : Da Naoba Photography

“With our days and nights increasingly stretched across the vastness of megacities, we’ve turned to these smart little gadgets to keep it all synchronized. It’s no accident that the most common text message, sent billions of times a year all over the world, is ‘where r u?’”- Anthony M. Townsend

The above statement is quite reflective of the society we live in wherein everyone has a mobile phone even if one doesn’t have access to clean drinking water or health care. The 375 million internet and 960 million mobile phones users in India can be a driving force for a radical change on how economic system should be running with the world’s new economic order of fast and door-step service delivery. Few months ago, I came all the way from Bishnupur to Keishampat to submit a scholarship form online by the name Ishan Udhay for my sister, for there was no good broad band internet connection in entire Bishnupur district. |

My Water and the Rock in Me

My water does not resist,it just flows;
Plunge your hands into it, you ll know, it has no laws.
My water is not a solid wall,it will never stop you;
It is independent, moves to all places it likes.

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Mathel Lukoi ( Manipuri Cuisines )

    1. Yen- Thongba - Manipuri Chicken Curry - Chicken Manipuri                                                                        Style

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The Reverse Psychology Of Happiness

Everyone in the world preaches and talks about how to be happy and never talk about what and which things are the ones which make us unhappy and one should get rid of at any cost. This piece will give a light on how and which things can make a person unhappy. Here is the list of 10 ways to unhappiness which a person should avoid attain absolute peace and happiness. I don't want to preach how you can be happy and these are the sure shot strategies to make yourself unhappy.

1. Make little things bother you. Don't just let them, MAKE them.

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ILP – Totally an Adult Issue?

ILP – Totally an Adult Issue?


“What is ILP?” people ask. Why are youths involved? Do they need to? Are the indigenous people really threatened? Without giving a straight answer ‘Yes’, let us first try to understand the issue as a whole. If you’re an outsider and want to travel to Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, you’ll need this Inner Line permit (a type of certificate/paper). Even if you’re an Indian citizen and wish to travel to these places, you’ll need an ILP. This provision was made by Britishers under an Act called as Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873. An outsider cannot take away any rubber, wax, ivory or other forest product (or any book, diary, manuscript, map, picture, photograph, film, article of religious or scientific interest outside these inner line permit areas). This ILP provision was made to give special protection to the indigenous people of the North-east region. If I give the above definition when someone asks about ILP, it would be just a lame one. The present demand for ILP encompasses much more than the above mentioned definition which derives from the Act imposed by the then British for their business interests. In addition, the MRVTMW Act 2015 passed by Manipur Legislative Assembly in March 2015 which awaits the consent of the State Governor neither serves any purpose in protecting the native population. Hence, the aspiration of the people is not the implementation of Actual ILP laws but genuine Regulatory Mechanisms for the influx happening in the State.
The JCILPS set up to demand the implementation of the said permit agreed with the All political parties before its drafting of the said bill on 5 major agendas namely : 1) Issuance of passes/permits to outsiders/migrant workers. 2) Not allow their permanent settlement in Manipur. 3) Marking 1951 as the base year to differentiate migrants from original settlers. 4) Denying land holding rights to outsiders/migrants. 5) Setting up of a full-fledged Labour Commission to regulate entry of inter-state workers and detect illegal migrants/outsiders. But, the MRVTMW Act 2015 didn’t talk about land holding rights and didn’t define indigenous/original inhabitants/ permanent settlers. Hence, it ended up backfiring itself. Any act passed which do not ban the land holding rights of non-indigenous outsiders will remain a joke to the demand committee.

Students-trying-to-break-the-barricade-during-a-protest-rally-in-Imphal-demanding-implementation-of-ILP-System. Pic Courtesy : Kangla Online

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Pronoia – The paradigm to open your path to happiness

Hands of my friend Lennon Ngathem and his other half . Pic Courtesy ; Lennon

Have you ever felt that the world is the best place to live in? Do you carry forward this feeling for a long time and live a life of ‘illusion’ that the universe was configured in specific way to make you happy? Have you ever try searching for happiness? Do you think happiness does exist, or do you think you are living in a world of self deception or hope by doing such? Well, I’ll be attempting to answer these questions through this article along with some recent developments.

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Why should only Sons carry the Yumnak (Surname) of their father, why can’t daughters?

Why is the Father given more rights over his offsprings? Why should only Sons carry the Yumnak (Surname) of their father, why can’t
daughters? How does the Surname of a daughter change just because she marries a person belonging to a different Surname? What is the
necessity of maintaining only the man’s ancestry; why not maintain that of women too?
This was the question that was puzzling me about this patriarchal system of society in my gender studies of sociology till recently, until I found out the scientific reasoning behind it.

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World Book Fair 2015 and North-east India

This year's World Book Fair 2015 At New Delhi, Pragati Maidan from 14th Feb - 22nd Feb,2015 will be dedicated to the variety of literature from the far-east of the country. In this 9 days long fair, each day will be devoted to each state of North-east India and cultural programs ranging from rock music to folk culture will be showcased in the evening at the Lal Chowk inside Pragati Maidan apart from interactions with world renown authors, publishers,etc.

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