Folktales in the changing Manipuri Society

Sole Ningthouja *

Telling of folk tales (phoonga / Funga wari leeba)
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No society can live in isolation when the whole world has become a global village. And no society remains unchanged. Though there is a constant slogan shouting at the background "going back to the roots", it is impossible to remain untouched by technological advancement and not to undergo change. It has to undergo change with the ever-growing, ever-changing society to meet the needs of the time. Folklore too undergoes change. The element of folklore, the approach to the study of it and the medium it embraces highlights its development.

Folklore is the voice or the "impulse" of the people created by them with certain purpose of a particular society or the community. The origin of folklore may be hard to trace or may not be able to understand if we place them outside its cultural background. An Irish or a Scottish folklore, for instance, will be hard to understand by an outsider if one doesn't have the knowledge of Irish or Scottish culture, customs and beliefs.

Folktales, folk songs, legends, myths, customs, beliefs, rituals, epics and ballads have its own function through which certain messages are coded. Folklore plays a very crucial role in understanding and mirroring the society. Folklore studies try to decipher the meanings, the structure of the plots, the characters, and the messages it most possibly wants to deliver to its audience, to its listeners, to its people.

Folklore changes with the changing times. It is never static in the sense that the medium through which these stories are handled down from one generation to another depends on various techniques which will result in the variation of interpretation and in the process creates a new version of the same tale. Folklore is an on-going process.

In Manipur, we certainly see this development in the form of the medium it uses to reach out to the people. Folktales were the stories which were once told by the elders to their children following oral tradition of narration. But in the present technologically advanced state /scenario, people don't get time to spend telling stories to their children. And the kids too on the other hand are too engrossed watching cartoon network or playing games in the computers. The best possible means to attract their attention and keep them in touch with the folktales which were once narrated by our forefathers is through the medium of mass media.

Unlike the production of animated epics like Ramayana which seems more profitable addressing to a nationwide audience, Manipuri animated folktales is not profit driven production since it is in its initiative stage. But what is important is that it opens up a space where our kids get entertained and yet at the same time educate them through the moral message it imparts. Besides it also gives a platform for the folklorists to study the folklore and its society in a synchronic manner, giving a new perspective.

Mass media is a means through which we can introduce our animated tales to our future generation. The art of story telling is revived in the form of animated videos. Some of the Manipuri folktales like Keibu Keioiba, Uchek Langmeidong, Eita Thangmei are retold through animation. The motive of producing such animated videos of the folktales is a productive activity wherein a new version of a folktale is being created. Every tale undergoes change with every narrator though the basic structure of the story remains same and unchanged. To suit the purpose of the narrator the emphasis shifts while narrating the tale and in turn the story gets a new version contributing to the already existing storehouse of adventures, of knowledge.

Animated videos have a high entertainment value, with sound and visual effects. Hence it grasps the attention of the young minds and stays longer in the memory since it is presented to them more vividly. What we see remains longer in the memory than what we hear. So story telling through animation becomes more effective. The imaginative reproduction of the animator too is very important. The narrator is the characters themselves and the imagination of the animator is responsible for executing the characters.

There is no more a story teller sitting in front of the children telling stories. The relationship is established between the audience and the story itself though it is the reproduction of the creative mind of the animator. The very fact that folktales are taken up for animation shows the intention of the creator- to revisit and revive the old stories for a new audience, with a new taste. These videos are made easily available and accessible in YouTube.

Another concern here is the role of animation in the study of folklore. Earlier we witnessed the animation done on epics and other Hindu myths and legends, in the larger perspective of the country. But coming to our society where the social, political, economical condition is bleak, the very step of taking up such project is quite appreciative and progressive. The initiation taken up for reviving and preserving the folktales of Manipur through animation enhanced the entertainment value to the children though some critics may say that it limits our imagination when we 'watch' the folktales.

Unlike the larger scenario where market is set for such animated movies and videos, it is totally a different matter/story when it comes to Manipur. The target audience of the animated movies is limited. It may interest the children and perhaps those who study it. Perhaps it may not be as profitable as compared to the animated movies on the Hindu epic like Ramayana, or on gods like Lord Ganesha or Chota Bhima which are aired in Satellite channels.

This may be considered one of the paths to preserve our heritage, our oral tradition, oral literature which also helps in reconstructing our identity up to some extent. Today, everyone talks about going back to past, reviving history, our tradition and our identity. But it takes time to convert into action. And such creative activity of reviving the folktales by making it suitable to the taste of the kids is one of the sensible way of reaching out to our future pillars of the society, by helping them grow with the changing time yet keeping intact with their own 'roots'.