Might and right. Two big fat words, but only a small, thin difference between them. Neither is justified within any honorable parameters, and both are actually petty demeanors, which are otherwise defined as the common tantrum.

Apart from the sanguinary blockhead that keeps raising temperatures and lowering supplies in defence of might and right, anyone else will have realized by now that there is also a very thin line dividing cooling and boiling points.

Of course, we are told repeatedly that other considerations exist, when the bulk of the populace must bear the brunt of depreciative misery as the price for a holiday, but I am unable to judge the question, because I do not claim to be an expert on holidays.

A holiday is mostly a sigh of relief for us lazybones, but this particular holiday has seen no relief so far. The gravely sentimental theory of integration has been superseded by the current theory and practice of mass starvation: a feat for which the ANSAM will always be remembered in history.

And in the absence of any forms of dialogue to resolve the issue, and because a conversation cut off from past and present issues necessarily loses its bearings, the cutoff extends to the material realm of food and essential supplies as well.

Feelings and sentiments aside, it would seem that the entire Manipur landmass, minus the areas bordering Nagaland, is destined to go on an enforced diet.

In any healthy relationship, the touchstones of trust and security are found in shared relationships. Manipur has apparently had neither. Various ethnic-social situations and the vocabularies of everyday language remain inclined towards private sources of meaning.

We cannot deny the fact that there is a strong identification among the Nagas of Manipur with the language of Naga integration. Within that language, "Manipur" and "Government" often have negative connotations. The opposite set of pre-ordained definitions for the Manipur side containing "Greater" and "Nagalim" also holds true.

This ambivalence makes it difficult to address the problems confronting us as a whole. By definition, two extreme poles have no middle ground. They have only themselves.

The basic problem arising out of this rigid language is that its emotional outbursts are based on projections and exaggeration, not on objectivity or wisdom, and are therefore basically incorrect.

If the present blocks have a parallel in any book, it would have more to do with mental blocks, which are regarded as the primary source of anger and hostility. We can see more blocks in terms of a lack of awareness, as well as an active misconstruing of reality. Here a blockade, there a blockade, everywhere a blockhead, blockhead.

An issue so dissentious for Manipur must involve fundamental aspects of how the Naga world in Manipur understands itself. Especially when that world appears to be at odds with Manipur. It is a world in which the language of individualism allows its diverse tribes and sub-tribes to develop loyalties within the context of families, small communities, religious congregations, and lifestyle enclaves.

However, even in these relatively common contexts, reciprocal loyalty and understanding from the dominant Nagaland tribes are frequently precarious and hard to maintain. With the focus centered across the border, the larger geographical, occupational, and political interdependencies within Manipur are neither clearly understood, nor easily encompassed by an effective sympathy. The enormous complexity of the rest of Manipur remains blocked, elusive, and invisible as a direct result.

The destructive effects of these blocks are very visible, very obvious and immediate. It has acquired the attritional aspect of a siege, with a relentless tormenting of the besieged. The first casualty has been the market. The second may well be that of law and order, and the former would be rendered irrelevant in the absence of the latter.

Cascading effects of such a situation grows worse when facilities like water supply and roads and offices and bridges are vandalized, and when the black market becomes demoniacally possessed by greed. Manipur has eaten itself twice over. Perhaps the only thing left edible is to literally start eating each other.

It is local custom again. As soon as you bring up the topic of integration, the barrier goes up immediately. There is a strict privacy about this topic, any topic. Manipur has been reduced to the status of the public latrine.

Everybody does their dirty business in it, nobody takes responsibility for the mess they made, everybody blames each other for the mess and the stink, nobody wants to come forward to clean up the mess, their mess, any mess. And everyone still uses it anyway.

I fear we have all become quite mad. These are the negative effects of generating anger and hatred cosistently for far too long. Where else in the world can you find a place where the common good is reduced to last place over common evil and personal gain?

Where else can you find a government more insecure than its citizens? Where else can we find so many blockheads blocking every conceivable bend in any conceivable road? And no matter how hard one tries to seem bored and unfazed about it, one's face looks rather ugly.

Especially with steam coming out of not only the ears. Quite mad, the picture, you see.

There is a growing unpleasantness about Manipur. That unpleasantness is made more urgent by a growing realisation that there may be no way to relate to those who choose to be both different and indifferent.

Two opposites are at odds here - the affection that the Nagas of Manipur have for Nagalim, and the nostalgia that Manipur has for itself. When both are unwilling to divert from their rigid points of focus, what is left is a blank, glassy stare.

The same look that you would perhaps identify in the eyes of a maniac, or a blockhead, or even a dullard - someone who lives in a world of his own, and is clinically incapable of escaping his own tediousness.

But then, I really cannot judge the issue, because I am not an expert on the subject of what makes sense to the retarded. Or to the bored.

I can, however, suggest a visit to the nearest mirror. As long as the head fits in the frame, and as long as the face isn't too boring, it might be well worth it to give it a closer look. Especially at the blocks inside it.

Especially at the blockhead residing inside it.