Kangleimaichou

                                                                                                               Omar Abdullah , at least, has the courage to manifest the sentiments of his people, unlike a cornered and virtually invisible 'Imphal-monarch" Ibobi Okram, allow me arrange his name in order. If it had not been dared by his predecessors, it would be right to conclude that neither they had the courage ,nor the sense to understand the sentiments of their own people. In New Delhi, the top bureaucrats, the fanatics, who have never tried to see the idea of India beyond the North Indian prism, and top generals just can't swallow Omar's conviction that  the people are apparently against it. Y...

Thoibi, Thoibi, I always told you those men who come to pick you up in their flashy vehicles only look at you with imagined pleasure. In the company of them you expected love. It was a mistake. You remember Khoibah from your school? All that he did for you sprung out of impulsive love. At nights he rolled in his cold bed picturing your face and fantasizing a life which you didn't even know. He never said no, he would brave the harsh winter and come running to you barefoot if you had asked him. Then you never understood why he always kept a diary and the day before he had disappeared he left the diary at your gate. Didn't you find it  wrapped in frost? It was just a notebook which belonged to a person who was in love with you, but then you didn't know the meaning of those words. Some of the pages were pasted with dry rose petals from a rose which he had meant to give it to you. In fact, it was rose from the plant he planted and watered every day so that he could get ...

We knew they had not come in term with what  they were going through; the crumbled empire which was now packed in bulging suitcases and worn in bright suits ,which they would never get to wear at home. How could they wear those Bombay-tailored suits in Liverpool! Anyway, the Brits were leaving and soon they left people started slaughtering each other as though they couldn't do that when their masters were around. According to our "brave" forefathers " Manipor" could decide its own destiny: either to join Nehru-gang or be an independent princely state. The ragtag princes tried and they could retain but that lasted as long as the Nehru-gang hadn't interfered in the affairs. Very soon the fat-arsed regent of of our free land was summoned to Shillong and there he was kept under house arrest. Now most people think he should have braved the gang, but he squeaked and signed an agreement, agreeing to the condition that " Land of Gold" would be mer...

The humidity was too high and the temperature now was unbearable. I allowed my perspiring body to be shrouded in smoke and Masa looked up at the sky. He stood up slowly and gently pushed back the chair, one hand still holding the kittens he strode toward the part of the courtyard under the awning. He put down the kittens, close to the mother,  and returned to occupy the chair. I wanted him to tell me more but he didn’t say much and he looked hooked on some reminiscences. The noisy city and its people now were under the gloomy sky and the gloom unleashed its power. Idling people alike the busy ones now rushed to find shelter. We withdrew from the table and stood under the awning. The kittens played at our feet. The torrential downpour over the awning subdued our voices. We stood underneath the awning looking into the lashing rain which had now seized the city and its besieged people were seen in the doorways, at the windows and under awnings. One could never h...

The courtyard surrounded by dilapidated walls was filed with young Japanese and western tourists. At one table Japanese and at another western and what appeared common among them was the rising tobacco smoke and the distinct giggles. I was fascinated by a middle-aged Japanese man in Benagli Lungi smoking bidi, so I sat down and joined him to find out his reason for traveling and also the reason why he was into Bengali culture. He said he had been living in Kolkata for months and he didn’t know when he would return to Japan. He didn’t have much to say. Apart from his indecisive plan his jocular mannerism was another fascination. I Pulled out a cigarette, smoking I chatted with the man about frivolous matters I joined the man and the crowd of two swelled, with the arrival of more Japanese ladies. The ladies pulled out Indian clothes from plastic bags. They sat down smoking Japanese cigarettes bought in India and sometimes giving a curious look at the yogurt in earthen cups. The conv...

It doesn't make you feel good to know that the moron was introduced by that hysterical iffy TV host as one of the most prolific artists. You came home wishing you hadn't turned your attention to that LG idiot box. Anyway  you had done it and that unwanted memory was imprinted in your mind. But the trouble was you began to take it too seriously; why in such a big world of too many that man was rated as the smartest "arse." No. You misheard, he was considered as the most "popular."  The person in you said you could do smarter things than those " arses."  You had it in your mind when you were on the train. Those unruly commuters scrambling and thus sending you all over the compartment couldn't even penetrate your wanting to do something really smart. Just to draw inspiration you recalled some of the writers whom you always admired, when their names appeared in your mind you began employing your mental faculty to assess their works; theirs...