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Moonlight Dance

MOONLIGHT DANCE In Manipur on the last day of ‘Holi’ festival, there is a big dance event called ‘Thabal Chongba’ at night. The literal meaning is ‘moonlight dance’. It is organised in every locality. Though the name is moonlight dance, there is an open ground well lit with artificial lights and there, young men and women in their early twenties or late teens will make a big circle by holding hands and dance together to the beating drums and clarinets following the traditional steps. The women are required to wear decent traditional attire. On one such occasion, a group of women stood out from the rest of the womenfolk participating in the dance. The reason was their very fashionable attire. Though all of them were in traditional dresses, the way they wore them was so different from the indistinct others. For some, the blouses had deep necklines; the traditional sarong was worn well below the navel, etc., etc. Their hairstyles were out of this world and the general stature was well abo
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Departure

DEPARTURE ‘The best way to predict your future is to create it.’ I found this amazing quote and thought that hard work, careful planning and ‘seizing the right moment’ is the key to success. But there is something called destiny or fate which cannot be altered. Ultimately it is ‘Man proposes and God disposes’ dictum which we should live by. Our time on earth is all marked and fixed. Still we forget and become emotionally attached to a lot of situations and things. In the medical institute where I work, I heard this touching story about a case which occurred in the ward for terminally ill patients.  A post graduate student was about to declare the death of a patient who was dying due to cancer. She had been with this patient during the last many days when he had been dying slowly but certainly. Being a medic, she was well aware of the prognosis of the disease and knew that there in fact was no remedy and it was just a matter of time before the final moment came.   When the soul leaves t
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Car Dash

  Car Dash Memchoubi phanjoubam In Imphal, the fault always lies on the four-wheeler in any case of accident. In other parts of the world the responsibility is properly fixed. I have been driving four-wheelers for the last fifteen years or so and thus have been involved in many such occasions. The first instance occurred when I had just started driving my brand new car. It was a lovely blue car. Its makers called the colour ‘Deep Pearl Blue’. I loved it and enjoyed driving it. One day, in the hospital campus where I worked, an auto rickshaw passed by me and made a deep scratch across both doors on the right side. The driver looked at me and I also looked hard at him. We were assessing each other in a battle of stares and planning on the next move. The scratch was going to cost me a lot and it was obvious to everyone that I was not at fault. In my heart of hearts, I knew that he would be earning hardly a thousand rupees in a day. So, I shifted my gaze to the road in front and let
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The Persistent Shadow

  The Persistent Shadow When a student reaches class 10 in Imphal, there is a mad rush for private tuitions. There seems to be no exam bigger than the Matric exam. Everyone in the whole state knows who tops the Matric exams every year but no one is that bothered about who has cleared the NEET or JEE or the various competitive exams conducted by the UPSC. So, my point is Matric exam is like the queen of all exams. So, the daughter of a friend of mine is in class 10 now. So, private tuitions start at 4 A.M. in the morning and ends by 6 P.M. These extra coaching classes are before and after the regular school classes. For the 4 A.M. tuition, one must get up at 3 A.M. and start the mad rush. The father and daughter drove as fast as they could and reached the tuition centre, but, no one was there as if it was a holiday. They were surprised and checked their phones for messages and found the teacher’s message regarding his inability to take the class that day. So, they proceeded for
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The fish trail

The fish trail A hobby is something which we do in our leisure time. Passion is something which we make time for. The following story will elucidate the difference between the two. I have a doctor friend who is so crazy after fish. Not for eating but for rearing them in his little pond where he will watch them swim in lovely patterns every morning in the warm morning sunlight. So, one day, he set out to procure a lot of tiny fish from a village pond, the owner of which was a friend of his office staff. Actually, he had a busy day lined up in office but he made the time for the very important trip. He and his staff took advantage of the lunch hour and started driving towards the village, thinking that the whole mission would take only one hour. His office staff had asked a man from the village to keep the fish ready for his boss. But nothing was ready perhaps because of the laid back lifestyle of the village folk and also who would have thought that a doctor working in a busy hospital i
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The flying bed: Episode 5. Annihilating the Guns

  The flying bed: Episode 5 Annihilating the Guns   A bedtime story for every night is indeed a tall order. But, it must be done somehow. So, here goes the spinning yarn at work once again…   A small state lying in the border of two countries is literally burning. There is not a single day which passes by without the news of a village being burnt down by arsonists in the name of a communal clash between two communities. What appeared in the beginning as a communal riot between two ethnic groups has literally turned from a mole hill to a mountain in no time. Bullets are sprayed from sophisticated automatic rifles by one community sitting atop the hills surrounding the small border state on the unsuspecting villagers. When the villagers flee, their houses are burned down. The next day when the villagers come out to salvage whatever is left of their burnt property, the armed group again fires upon them. The menfolk of the other community have started forming local defence forces
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the fragrant cloud

In the stillness of the night When darkness itself becomes bright And silence raises a cadence A yearning begs to be heard Demanding for peace among fraternity. In the din and cacophony of the day An echo reverberates from all around Asserting itself repeatedly Demanding for peace among fraternity. The world is adamant Human whims are mean Egos are unaccomodative But still, the yearning persists. Some man's toil is turned to dust By another's hunger for power Forgetting foolishly that one day We all will be dust Still, the yearning persists Demanding for peace among fraternity. Deep down in my heart A beat starts a new rhythm Asserting itself once again That Hope still burns bright. Because, I still have My fragrant cloud To fly away loftily To bond with a like-minded few To be on our own fragrant cloud And shed Rain of Peace. Memchoubi Phanjoubam
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