Smart and articulate Manipuris usually find themselves suffering from syndromes of tongue tightness when they happen to be outside Manipur. In Manipuri soil, they are in their garrulous best talking like successful talk show host of prime time TV. They have great ideas and convictions and may be more educated and well read, but for all their wisdom they somehow turn into dumb shadows of their own selves when they have to confront people from other states in their turf. This is what they call us in their parlance-Chinkees, which is clearly a pejorative code name for us.

In the uninitiated mind of the non-Manipuris, especially those from mainland India, we are docile, pliant and gullible people, straight out of jungles. The jungle part is highly erroneous, but there are compelling reasons that might have cast us in this uncomplimentary stereotype. For example, just seeing our mongoloid features, a petty rickshaw driver from rural Bihar could fleece us by charging as high as threefold instant fare hike. A quick fair revision on the spot! In other settings, the scenario would no different. "Here comes a windfall", the illiterate bus conductor might think to himself and force the Ph.D Manipuri fellow of JNU to buy a ticket of, say Rs. 10 instead of Rs. 4 denomination that should be the correct fare. The "aunty" of the house in which you live as tenant may threaten you with prospect of eviction if you don't pay up more, while turning a blind eye to other brown tenants with long nose living in the same house with equal facilities. (Most of the times your problems have their origins from your flat nose)

Humiliating as it is, if not discriminatory, a share of the blame could be traced back to us. In all of the above situations above, we are culpable of not paying back our tormentors in the same coin. We are too shy -or gentle- to join issue with them in a verbal battle of words. We think it is better to ignore them and let them have the better of us to avoid petty squabbles which are unbecoming of our culture and status. We are laidback, generous and forgiving with a magnanimous heart of gold. We are after all the Manipuris. Or so we think.

The reality is quite different from the above line of rationalization. It is a bitter fact hard to swallow, and that is: the Manipuris are awfully lacking in communication skills. This is the fountain of many acts of injustice inflicted on the Manipuris by the Mayangs. They will assault you with a barrage of Hindi and English atrocity full of lies, but you will not hit back because of your inadequate language skills. In any heated argument with the Mayang, you are at a great disadvantage because of lack of power of expression. Your ideas are egging you on to explode in a seminal lecture session to floor your opponent to the ground, but you can't simply do that in a logical sequence of words. What a pity, given our remarkable debating skills back home in Manipur, amongst the Manipuris and against the Manipuris and in Meiteilon.

Such pathetic inability of the Manipuris to express themselves is a real hurdle to their advancement in most of the professional fields where they aspire to gain a toehold. In job interviews, the linguistically challenged Manipuris do not leave the interviewers impressed even if they have sound qualifications for the job applied. They will murmur, mutter and croak strings of unintelligible syllables that end up confusing even themselves. It is being rumored that at interviews for call centre jobs, "Chinkees" are segregated, mentally if not physically, by the HR executives so that they don't have to waste time chatting with them for no avail. The reasons often proffered for rejection are pronunciation problems, lack of neutral accents, and so forth. I rather choose to suspect that they are simply not interested in recruiting people who can't speak well enough to handle international calls.

Looking foolish and dumb in job interviews does not have much adverse effect on others, other than the candidate himself. But when our illustrious state leaders whom we send to the Parliament to articulate our aspirations, grievances and demands sit like lame ducks, we are in for a serious trouble. Do we send them as tourists to New Delhi? Or as a student of architecture to admire the engineers who built the Parliament? Have they considered their stint in the Parliament as a paid holiday, tax free? At least one MP from Manipur has a genuine problem of communication. But that is no reason why we should condone incompetence and non-performance on the part of our leaders.

P.A Sangma stands out from the rest of the North east MPs by his sheer oratorical skills. And this explains why he quickly rose to become a political heavyweight at the national level. So much so that he was once in the reckoning for the post of Prime Ministership during his good old Congress days. His volubility was refreshing and lively to anybody who met him. In his role as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, he was regularly seen chiding the unruly MPs like a teacher smacking a kid in his back. He had the courage to reprimand the MPs from all over India whenever they storm to the well of the parliament by shouting "Are you not ashamed? This is the Parliament of the world's largest democracy…", to which the erring MPs reacted by recoiling to their seats with mock reluctance. His comfort level with language certainly helped him in having his say and thereby earning the respect rarely shown to his fellow MPs from the North-East.

Unlike Mr. Sangma our politicians can hardly make the cut to top league of their clan in the country. We have to look for someone else to represent the Manipuris. Our sportsmen who have won the laurels for the country, then, are cut out for that role, we hoped. A hope that is to turn sour given their abysmal lack of media savvy. Instead of becoming an icon for the country's youth and favourites of the brand promoters, our highly accomplished awards winning sportsmen have fallen into wilderness. While Sachin Tendulkar, Bhaitung Bhutia, Jaspal Rana, etc. have wooed the media relentlessly and vice versa, our world beaters, boxers, wrestlers and other sportsmen remain relatively unknown. Our sportsmen simply don't have in them what it takes to face the media, much less communication and social skills to engage it.

We need to overhaul our education system to inculcate more confidence in our students from the grass root level. Emphasis should be placed on imparting life skills, mainly in the area of communication, both written and spoken. The present school curriculum is equipped to impart such skills more or less, but it is not backed by honest teaching and examination system based on rote and unfair means.

It is not by coincidence that most motivational and management books emphasize on communication skills for success in life. The myth of the introverted genius that was held as the epitome of leadership has been abandoned to give way to extroverted leaders in the era of globalization. It is now accepted that the more loquacious and articulate you are, the more chances you have of gaining the notice of others who matter to you. But of course, your convincing histrionics should be backed by clear, logical and cogent ideas. Your choice of words should impress others for their decency, etiquette, elegance and proper tone.

Talking of decency and grace in our conversation, I can't help but comment at the way how certain misguided youngsters behave themselves in the E-pao's chatroom. Because of few social misfits (dare I say?), E-pao's chatroom has become a free for all garbage bin of profanities and other unsightly obscenities. These are the people, I suspect, who does not know how to have a good time themselves and won't let others to enjoy wholesome fun. May be they are a frustrated bunch of maniacs who can't chat up anyone and so have to resort to other tactics of getting attention. Their desperate measures may include typing out in red capital letters in the public view the choicest vulgarities and the most perverted fantasies of their sick mind. These are not only unmanly, but also speak of their own insufficiency and uncouth behavior. That the E-pao's administrators have had to intervene by putting up warning sign boards is the very indictment of this unacceptable lack of manners from these cyber yokels is not lost on them even a bit. For these people we have only contempt and pity. We would have been proud of them if they have used their resourceful mind for some other productive purpose and stop being spoilsport to others' having a nice time.

Coming back to our earlier track, every Manipuri should brush up their language. This process should begin right from the primary school level and be continuously pursued by the individuals. Poor verbal expression is misunderstood as signs of incomplete education and naivety. This weakness should not be made to become a hurdle in the career advancement of the Manipuris, especially at a time when Manipuris are increasingly trying to enter India's job market as job opportunities in Manipur dries up. It's time to mend up our language, and for some people it would be better to mind their language as well.