E-Pao! talks about itself
- a 10th Anniversary collection -

By: E-Pao! *

Now the World Knows...

Early 1999, Internet had come up in quite a big way. Bangalore, which was slowly becoming the silicon valley of India, saw many internet surfing cafes springing up shop almost overnight. For Manipuris working in this city and such other cities, the weekend meetups were still a date to discuss news about Manipur over their own version of Loitong Phamba. With the advent of emails, these discussions continued to the weekdays through this medium. Unknowingly, this is where the seeds of e-pao were sown.

Internet directory services called Yahoo! was quite a giant those days and it used to be a definitive place where we search for information on the internet. Often the information we search are about Manipur. The results of which were quite dismal. Of course, the local news and even newsworthy events in manipur do not see light of day in any of the national dailies.

The non-availability of Manipur related news and information on the internet prompted some sparkle-in-the-eye Manipuri lads to come up with a plan to share these much needed information amongst themselves and other Manipuris on the net. This group of young lads launched e-pao on the evening of 31st December 1999 from a surfing center at Bangalore paying Rs 50 per hour. All the pages had already been structured through usage of several desktops and the files were carried on a 3.5" diskette for the final upload. The site was initially launched with the tagline: News about Manipur. Everybody came back that evening for a night long celebration of the new year and a job well done. It was a culmination of days of planning and hard work. We didn't know then but the premier Manipuri viral has just sprouted roots.

The site was received with enthusiasm from fellow Manipuri netizens and the lads were fuelled up even more. Soon other like minded guys joined this movement. They all aligned themselves with the goal behind e-pao... to let the world know about Manipur. Thats how the second tagline was born - Now the world knows. Soon enough this movement was being refered to as e-pao amongst these lads and by many beyond this group.

Years later in 2004-05, it was decided that e-pao has already made known to the world what it initally aspired to do. So what was next? With the advent of Web 2.0, the website as a platform was the next thing everyone should be working towards. This was when we conjured up our next mission - to be the e-platform for the Manipuris.

"Dont be serious, Be Sincere" - Chetan Bhagat

The guys that buzzed in and out of the movement called e-pao were all fun-loving types with a serious sincerity about them. They created a magic formula where the weekend meetups always turned out into a constant flow of ideas and energy that bounced off each other. On one of these typical weekend, you will see a buzz of activity in the room with quite a lot of people glued on to the lone desktop monitor, few other over the kitchen stove making meals for the lot, while some others would still be discussing ideas on the mat. The desktop never stopped clicking with someone or the other always occupying it. If you do an alt-tab, you will find applications such as WinAmp, HTML Editor, multiple sessions on IE & Netscape, Notepad, IIS console, solitaire, Minesweeper, etc - all traces of stuffs that made the e-pao.

The e-pao Logo

Logo was thought to be the all-defining-thing for any given site. Enough brainstorming time was spent on this topic. Some brought colors while others brought design into the discussion. But we simply had nowhere to go at the end of the day, everyday. One amongst the group came up with a simple E-Pao! being spelt out in red color using an oriental looking font. There was no conflicting comments against it and somehow the oriental design of the font seem to fit well with our origins. So, there, the logo for e-pao was born (circa Feb-Mar 2000).

This logo stayed on until the same guy who came up with it in the first place said, "Come on guys, its high time, we do something about this logo". In 2008, we made it colorful and removed the oriental look out of it. Still on the lookout for a firebrand designer who can suggest anything different.

From 1999 to 2009, from hate mails to solidarity mails, from site hack to site love, from golden oldy songs to modern Manipuri rock, from the chat-abuser to the love-pairs, from sad news to articulated opinions, from Sharmila to BT Road, from General Legislative election to Legislative burning. From there to here.
Thats the journey of e-pao for the last 10 years. Trying to link you up with another dot - another entity or an event or a report ... anything.

"Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment, because it'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived. After all, we're only mortal." - Jean-Luc Picard

E-Pao! is the legacy we would like to leave behind.