Kangleimaichou

It was once a placid freshwater village pond with distinct species. Its species were least known to the world outside. But they had their own things, developed over the centuries by generations, and they clearly knew the habitat, for it was ancestral. It existed in its perfect way, yet it was imperfect like any other setup, and its inhabitants were simple in their own way, but not ignorant .  Then one day they realised they had to give up their way because of Strange Hand. When many among the species disagreed and naturally contested the interference. The hand reacted brutally. Its brutality persisted and gripped the species with constant fear. Soon many of them began looking for streams that connected the pond with creeks. The hand was finally confronted, and what ensued was heightened fear. More species left in fear only to find themselves in the creeks, and then in lakes and finally in an ocean where they were courted by mammals which they confused for fish.  ...

Where have you squandered The Freedom my uncle earned With his youth and blood? The freedom my uncle earned With struggle and campaigns To kindle the hope we deserve With the stroke of a pen In our name, in a democracy Came the stranger power In battalions, with map rolls Soldiers equipped for wars While the local fat cats spoke The armed democracy men Strode behind with arms akimbo Sometimes they patted the cats Sometimes they scowled at them Thus they spoke democracy Thus they declared democracy Thus we were told of it Were we asked, if so, when? Were we, at least, informed? Why this in our own land? Who are these fat cats? Who are these stranger pen men? Why must we be told in our house? My uncle asked, like any youth Any sensible person would ask Any living person would demand A walking person would enquire For it was in their house So my uncle asked in his house But he was called names Soon he was pushed around Soon he was outlawed He had t...

Once it shone bright Like the ancestral stars Like a guiding light Sometimes like a prop Beyond it was nothing Thus he followed With hope to feel With desire to touch Or perhaps to live She came as love He knew what it was Brought her heart Even her virgin soul All was offered And he had them all He was different, They all uttered He was ambitious, Most would say It was the stars For in the chase He learned so much He knew everything, All about them Such was the man A man into the world Who knew his place Who knew his calibre He was a threat Yet was harmless He was a pure enigma Like a claimed shaman Who knew his world That was an emptiness They knew within What they knew not: His fixation was his charm This drove him further Thus made him the drama Most wish to witness

He is a big oja Because people call him so But he is not the teaching kind This oja is intelligent Because people say so And the oja is the kegaey tree He loves what he inherited Because he asks nothing The oja despises queries But he likes easy ones When he faces some He calls them names He and his kind applaud What they say is Kangleipak The name they despise Thus oja is a paragon His kind revere him They seek his ideas They guess his mind Today oja rules the place He blames a different generation It's their doing, the ojah says But they like the questions He despises so much *Oja (master) *kegaey (a useless tree)

If tales from one of the remotest corners in the world were never told elaborately with great care, embedding all emotions in the backdrop of circumstances, then Tales of Human Mischief is a young writer's genuine attempt to do so. Set in Kangleipak, which the author uses in place of Manipur, the tales are the clear insight into the psychological state of the people and the meticulous descriptions the circumstances which mark the place. The Indian border state has been a strife-torn place marred with prolonged armed conflicts between those fighting for sovereignty of the place and an Indian state ruling the place with a draconian law like Armed Forces Special Power Act which deserves no place in a modern world. The long short tales depict the lives of insignificant lots whose stories otherwise would have existed untold; the stories of those caught up in their own land and adversely affected by it that the created environment apparently shapes them as characters of avarice, br...

A wrong step Nonglei has taken haunts him and it turns a demon when he finally commits the crime. Since the teenager’s association with the violent world doesn't promise him any safety, he is secretly taken to one of the cities in mainland only to dilute his disturbed mind in the chaos of a city. Without leaving any hints, he arrives in the city of Pune. Time takes him through incidents and people, and offers him sufficient time for self-consolation, and what strongly replaces the demon is the ability to own up his violent past and tread the opposite path. But there is no return journey, he has to remain, like someone in exile, in the city which he has adopted with a job that can make his stay possible and also to support his family. His stint at one of the country’s prominent media houses exposes him to the deteriorating state of intellectualism, but it also introduces him love. Just as things appear to be getting better, the trouble that he has kept at bay re-erupts; his ...

While he busies himself in the streets of Kolkata making and counting green banknotes, Holy waits on him caressing her silent love with the certainty that the true love in Nonglei, below the surface of greed, will emerge. Only in her absence, he realises to understand the love Holy has nurtured, and with which she waited. By then she has already left for Phuket, but not without the promise that Nonglei will join her. Soon it occurs to him that he ought to follow her and prove his love on one of the beaches of Phuket. Adamant and ever surer, he sets out to find her. But what he discovers when he has traversed halfway is that the place, where she should be waiting for him with arms wide open, has just been assailed and flattened by tsunami. Through the wreckage and debris over the entirely flattened island, he looks for any trace of Holy. His earnest attempts proves futile, he, nevertheless, returns with the realization that his feelings are genuine. At this juncture he is le...