Vividly with a pride note on her face, the old women of Nandawshei in Mandalay said,? Is not this the
real Kaase (Meitei) God?? The portrait was of the Lord Jaganatha of Puri. Some Manipuri tourists handed over
the picture to her few years back convincing the Lord Jaganatha is the real God of Manipur.
Most of the Meites in Mandalay belonged to the Ponas Kaate (Meitei Bamon) community. And, every one seems
to be happy and considered themselves to be a privileged class or that of a noble birth on being a
Bamon. The castes schools of Brahmin, kshetriya Beisya and Sudra do still remain intact in Mandalay's Meitei
sectors and it will take time to bring about a change, in the system that is been transformed in Manipur
society today.
The Bamon Khunjao, Ningthem Puruhit Khul, Ninsijeng, Minde Ekin and little farther from the town lays the beautiful meitei villages Amarpur
and Saigang.Yes these are the meitei colonies that one could so far have visited and made interaction with
the Manipuris in Mandalay. Nevertheless these are not only the Manipuri villages in Mandalay.
It will be an injustice to the Manipuris of Nandawshei if we fail to visit them while in Mandalay. It is said that the
brave Meiteis warriors who fought to the teeth with the Awas during the historic 'Chahi Taret Khuntakpa' have been brought here as war captives by the Awas and
made them settle in Nandawse near the Royal Palace of Mandalay. It may be worthwhile to mention that never
in the history of Myanmar had the war captives been allowed to stay near the Royal Palace except the
Manipuris.
Later the Manipuris who were well versed in the skill of martial arts became a major thrust when
King Alongpiya of Myanmar attacked Chingmai in Thailand. In due course of time they have become part
and parcel of Myanmar and a diligent citizen of this beautiful country and of course not to be treated as
mere war captives thereafter. Go far west or to the south, wherever we may be, blood can't be
purified? - is the logic and concept the Meiteis in Myanmar subscribes to.
However among the Manipuri communities in Mandalay the Meiteis of Nandawshei have been branded the status of
'Beisya' and 'Sudra' a lower caste of Manipuri by birth in Hindu doctrine and belief. The vicious
tradition and bad side of religion gradually kept them aloof from the Manipuri mainstream over the years and
today they are less known Meiteis in Mandalay.
My intention of writing this peace doesn't unnecessarily mean to hurt the sentiments of other meites communities who follow Hindu Religion and belief in
Mandalay. When the whole of The Manipur was taken by storm at the advent of Vaisnavite religion during the
period of Santidash, and when this alien culture and religion was forcefully imposed to the Meiteis many
who defied the new religion were sent off to exile by the then King. Other embraced it, as a newborn loved
one. The tradition and cult that was existed some 300 years before in Manipur is still in practice today in
Mandalay. Long years of perseverance of religion and Manipuri culture, indeed.
The huge figure of about 30,000 Meiteis in Nandawse
has now reduced to a meager number. They have
forgotten their mother tongue. Culture no more.
Everything seemed to have sunk in the layer of time.
The years rolled by had pushed them off the track and
virtually hidden themselves from the Manipuris of the
World over as if they have committed a sin. They have
nothing in possession to claim themselves that they
are also the Meiteis. Neither does any of the Manipuri
tourists in Myanmar visit this small group of Meiteis
for no one knows their existence in Mandalay.
Nothing seemed to have gone wrong. Let us keep aside
the Meiteis in Mandalay for a while. Let us have a
hard look on some Meiteis of particular character;
those migrated in Nagaland, Mizoram and other parts of
the country and married to the local women. They
amalgamated themselves into the clans of the women
they married to. They have forgotten their language,
culture and tradition deliberately. If we have a
comparison of these two Meiteis closely the one in
Mandalay are far worth than anyone else.
Just at the bottom of Mandalay Hill, amidst the gentle
wind that sprays fresh aroma of exotic flowers of the
Royal Palace, and in the pleasant breeze of the Royal
moat, exist the forgotten Manipuris quiet calmly. They
knew no hatred. They work hard and enjoyed life to the
fullest. When they saw us they wept bitterly driven by
the emotion. The long three hundred years left nothing
for them at least to say, We are still Meiteis.
They can't even chant 'Nang Chak Charabara'' It was
indeed quiet a shock moment.
I have met them one year before in a business trip
from Kolkata to Yangon than to Mandalay. The land
route facilities via Tammu, Kalimyo and Mandalay was
not permitted by the Myanmar authorities that time.
Thank god, my Myanmarese friend who accompanied me
from Yangon came to my aid when I tried to communicate
them. Had not he been there I might not have been able
to communicate them except the stream of tears that we
wholly shared together. Yes it was not easy affair for
I knew no Myanmarese and they spoke neither Manipuris
nor English. Sign language could not make up the
deficiency specially when the emotion speaks.
The long discussion with them was all about the
Manipuris in Manipur. The killing spree in Manipur and
orgy of violence that have been taking place in
Manipur was something they heard and felt pity too.
When 18 brave martyrs made a supreme sacrifice during
the June 18, 2001 they were shocked yet the pride
prevails in the core of the heart for they are also
the Meites, they said. We loved each other shared our
way of living style and sympathized one another but
the view was of different concept.
We felt pity on
them thinking that they have been settled in a foreign
land and must surely be longing to come back one day
to their motherland. In contrast, they sympathized us
and prayed that, 'When you go back home never become a
victim in the hands of the predators and come back
next year again in Myanmar'. So the concepts of being
cared one another happen to be different.
Back to the old women who plaintively queried me about
the real Meitei Deity I replied, ' Yes we worship the
Hindu God Jaganatha' and continued, 'But if you ask
for the traditional deities it is not'. I tried to
explain the origin of Meiteis and the God we worship
including Hindu and Sanamhi applying my limited
knowledge in religion through the interpretation of my
Myanmarese friend.
With much inquisitiveness they pleaded me to bring a
portrait or an idol of our traditional deity in my
next visit. They wanted to treasure it for their
historical posterity and worship it alongside the
Buddhist religion. ' Yes' were the answer but it is
not known when I will visit next to this adorable
land. I fervently prayed to the Almighty who are
unseen, ' God if you really do exist please fulfill
their cherished dream someday'.
After a pleasant flight back to Kolkata from Yangon
International Airport I have once again landed on the
Kolkata's streets and trying to negotiate the busy
traffic in the city of joy. The noisy horn-sound on
the streets and exchanging of vulgarity term among the
cab drivers welcomed me back to India. Just two hours
earlier I was in a city where honking horn in the City
Street liable one to penalize 500 Burmese Kyats.
After two days halt in Kolkata I have boarded the
Imphal bound Jet Airways. The
ever-smiling airhostesses showing welcome gesture with
their glittering teeth as usual and wishing, 'Good
Morning, have a pleasant flight sir'. In my crazy ear
it sounded like 'Welcome to the land of guns and
roses'. After half an hour flight in the air we have
crossed over the boundary of Manipur. The beautiful
landscape and silent sleeping mountain ranges, which
had been living evidence and witness to all the hues
and cries of Manipur days in and days out, came into
view one by one.
The Loktak Lake, the mirror of
Manipur, which is larger in size than the 'Inle Lake'
in Yangon, could glance from above with few fishermen
on their small canoes. Sometimes I tried to compare
the artificial Inle Lake in the heart of Yangon City
with our Loktak of Manipur dreaming our Loktak also
developed to another tourist attraction of the world
some day. But we are all aware that it will not occur
in the near future.
The Aircraft finally touched down the Tulihal
Airport. My friend waited me outside the Arrival
lounge. As I sat in my car and reach for the FM radio
knob, the AIR presented a number of Mukesh.
A popular
one indeed during yesteryears prior to the Hindi
film and song banned, "Jina Yahaa Marna Yaha Iske Sewa Jaana kaha?. The inner voice said to myself, 'Yes
this is the land I belonged to and that is why I had to return back'.
Rajkumar Shivachandra is the President of Indo Myanmar Fraternal Alliance and writes regularly to e-pao.net
He can be reached at [email protected]
This article was webcasted on April 22nd , 2005.
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