It's highly surprising to lean that our present CM tried hard to build two complexes under the scheme name "slum development program" at Athokpam and Boroimakhong. If he thinks Athokpam is a slum locality and needs to be developed then he could be the first slum dweller in India to become CM as he is from the same place. Great achievement on his part!!!. My point is that if we want to develop our state with the financial support from the Central Govt. we can always do it but not in the degrading manner like what he has done. In the name of "slum development" he must have thought to siphon off the lion's share. This may be a wild guess but such guesses always come true later in Manipur. Manipuris always prefer to keep the eyes wide shut though such malpractices are all around!!!

It's unfortunate to note that that our people unlike some other communities never wish to remembers our ancestors/leaders and their achievements and sacrifices etc. The best example is the real and cool one: the negligence and less importance of remembering 13th August, "the patriotic day" among the Manipuris staying outside the state. The widely given excuses for these kinds of deliberate indifferences are: time factor, office going or classes etc., pointless to remember or celebrate this special day. But most do have the time to spend hours in cyber cafes for chatting and net surfing, to hang around in and around restaurants or shopping malls, to snore out in apartments, to engage with bottles in mouth and cigarettes in hands and in extreme case, to reach the short live/forbidden ecstasy with drugs/tablets etc. Really pathetic!!! We people are socially becoming less and less cohesive. Instead of using such special occasions/days for social and ethical gatherings, we rather go astray.

Most astonishing of all is the invisibility of our state flag and therefore the unknowing of its existence by general public. I myself haven't yet seen a flag of our state though I have heard that it's very beautiful and unique with seven shades of color. But in many other states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, each and every one including the farmers know about their state's flag and are proudly displayed in every nook and corner and even perform puja on state's special occasions. Even the Americans do the same. We also know that a nation's or state's flag is usually displayed proudly and prominently in those important buildings and establishments. Our state's flag is not even furl on the rooftop of our own 'Secretariat Building'.

Is the Central Govt. (Delhi) to blame for all these negligence and disrespect and self lacking of pride? My point is that there is a sense of disrespect and the lack of pride among us of being Manipuri and the absence of portraying this inherent pride to others. Let us impregnate us with those outstanding ideas/things for our state's glory, as learning/reviving something good is a sign of maturity and advancement.