2009: Job Well Done

Dennis Misao *

Its reflection time once again. Time to tear and shred the pages of 2009 into the dustbin, and look at the mess accumulated over the past 12 months. The piles of debris accumulated in 2009 were indeed noteworthy. Whatever 2009 was, it is now another irreversible chapter in our history of infamy.

I must say I am tired of repeating the same point over and over again over the years. The point has been made repeatedly over the years.

And yet here we are once again. We bid good riddance to an awful 12 calendar months, and look forward to another 12 more of the same awfulness.

We proclaim glad tidings of joy and cheer and peace and hope with the same exact language as we did exactly 12 months ago, and then proceed to do exactly the opposite. Ditto for 2010 as well.

If there is a section of the reading public that thinks we’re just sitting on the fence and keeping mum on all the issues destroying our state, let me assure them that we don’t enjoy the silence.

We are just tired, like everyone else. We are tired at the pointlessness of shouting reason into hardened ears and minds and hearts and souls.

If there is anything that will bring about change in this part of the world, it will definitely not be through the actors in the ragged, battle weary press. It will be through the audience.

And we, the silent fence-sitters, do sincerely wait for that monumental event to take place, so that we can finally write a positive review for a change.

Will 2010 really be any different?

Why should it? All odds are stacked heavily against it.

The only possible illumination is the FIFA World cup providing some semblance of power supply in June – July. The rest of the year is going to be filled up with more of the same maniac death and blood and gore that would put even Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King to shame.

If the pages of Manipur started out as a fairy tale, it is now firmly set in horror and disaster mode. And just like any other horror story, this one doesn’t seem to have any particularly happy ending.

So it is with a familiar sense of trepidation that we begin the New Year. The why and how did we allow it get so far does not matter anymore.

There is no deeper meaning to life in Manipur. So it is pointless to start looking for it in the first place. What matters in Manipur is whether you have already paid the price or are in the process of paying it, or will end up paying eventually.

This is the reality that confronts us in 2010. The reality of Manipur is not one that can be classified into abstract notions of truth and falsehood. Such high-fledged ideals do not belong here.

The reality of Manipur is vicious and savage. It is a gruesome evolution of a species and environment, eager and thirsty to devour itself at every given opportunity. A strange species and environment, bereft of emotion and empathy for young or old, man or woman, rich or poor.

Whether you like it or not, this is the state of Manipur as it is today.

I wish there were better things that I could write about this depressing state of affairs, but there aren’t any.

However, as we look back at the mess that was 2009, there is one thing that I can say:
Job well done. To all of you who contributed.