E-Pao! - a journey through 2005
- VI Anniversary -

E-Pao! never ceases to be amazed of the talent people possess. We are sure you would have noticed all those wonderful writings from Manipuris of all walks of life. One thing that is common in all of them is that:
They are fantastic and it can only indicate the tip of an iceberg talent/ideas that is in them. This makes us all the more happy to be able to give them the platform to indulge and even give it a shape. We opened up most number of contributor's corners in 2005. Contributors dealing in serious topics of discussion like Thathang Lunghang, Shanjoy Mairenbam, Muhen Khundrakpam, Mohen Naorem, Issac Hmar, Okram Mukherjee must be fresh in your mind. On the other hand we have writer who indulge in fantasy and/or humor in Pengba, eNigMa, Lai Rakes, Takhellambam Anjan, Thoibi, Arween. We see new poets in Bulu Naosekpam and various anonymous writers while names like Arjun Haobijam, P Arjun still feature regularly.

On our side, we opened a new section dedicated to the script called 'Meitei Mayek'. E-Pao is proud to note that we had been a premier site featuring articles written and displayed in this script. The script in use on this site is developed indegenously at E-Pao and our first mayek article dates back to the year 2002.

The other channel that we launched this year is the YellOut. We meant it to be a platform for all the musical talents from Manipur. We hope to showcase them to the world audience. We reckon that's the best we can do until we can make a record deal with them. The first band called "A4Apple" comprises of talented brothers and composes own songs with English lyrics. The second band "Eastern Dark" is the new wave capturing Manipur in its grips. Their own songs has Meiteilon lyrics. There are more talents in the pipeline but owing to lack of information/data on them, they are yet to get showcased in YellOut. At this point we would want you to know YellOut is waiting to showcase your musical talents. You could pass this message to any worthy artists you know too.

Lots of pictures were updated as part of the "Gallery channel" and the "news in photo". The organisation of the Gallery was revamped and sub galleries and new groupings introduced. Now the sub gallery called "Festivals of Manipur" will hold collections such as Heikru Hidongba at Thangapat, Orange Festival, Gang-Ngai, Kut, etc. If you choose the "yaosang" sub-gallery within the "Festivals of Manipur" Collection, you can view several other sub collections such as Yaosang 2002, MSAD Thabal, etc. So go ahead, browse through and enjoy.

The state library was burnt down by some activists in April 2005. There was an outcry over this incident as immeasurable wealth and treasure of the state was destroyed by the short sightedness of that one act. E-Pao ran an appeal to donate books/money to rebuild the Library. The library also received help from other libraries and individuals who contributed books or money. Team E-Pao! raised some funds amongst ourselves and contributed 28 books dealing with varied topics of the Information Technology. The Library is still in a sad state and contributions would be welcome to help build this treasury.

The Message board was shifted and many an old message got lost. We are so sorry for that. But the regular message boarders had bounced back and there are many an interesting discussion going on there again. The chat service has been betterred but the language in the public room has not improved. what is heart warming is that we receive many mails complaining about the same. This could mean only one thing:
There are lots of people out there who believes in keeping the decency and decorum of a public chat room. We at E-Pao had tried to police the room but it's simply not possible. For the first thing, it's an open chat room with no registration or fees imposed. Secondly, we know that one thing people will want least is a moral police in the chat room. We can only appeal to everybody to keep the decorum and respect the fellow chatters. Meanwhile, other chatters can get into private rooms for their chat.

Hope remains...
Something drastic or terrible did not happen to Manipur.
Iam not sure if we have set higher standards for something to be called drastic or terrible in Manipur.
Anyways, That has to a good sign.
But do we see improvements?
Nay!
Is that a good sign?
Definitely not.
whats not improving?
Developments are slow if not dead. Infrastructure is still bad (what else can we expect?).
Allegations. Misunderstandings. Corruption.
Why is it so?
Hmmm... Much pages has been dedicated at e-pao and the web on these.
The truth is these analysis and advice are not helping better the condition at the moment.
The hope remains...

The past...
The Manipuris are able people. Their craftsmanship has been noteworthy. Their artistic temperament is good. They have had a history spotted with foreign influx - be it the erstwhile Burmese or British or Indian. One thing has remained - the pride and the easy going nature. That's quite an electric mixture to be possessed by one person. The only pitfall would be that this easy going nature can be very easily transformed into laziness. At such times, we would hope that the pride will come to the rescue and the Manipuri in question would leap back to safeguard it.

The Trend...
It is quite evident that the brain drain from Manipur is at its peak. Most (or all) educated youth are leaving home for cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, etc. While Most join the bandwagon of IT and ITES, there is considerable number of other occupations that the Manipuris are taking up to. Many of them get to travel out of India and many have adopted foreign lands as their own. One look at the e-pao web stats would indicate existence of Manipuris in most nook and corners of the world too.

Ask these Non Resident Manipuris about their home state. They are passionate about the state and sad at it's present condition. The parents who, at a point in time, would have been very particular about their son/daughter returning back to Manipur to work and raise a family are no longer particular about it.

At the same time, those who stayed back at the home town no longer thinks a government job is what they should look at for their livelihood. Most common reason for this might be that they are not able to 'buy' the job. But what are their oppurtunities. They have internet access and are thus opened to a whole new world of ideas and oppurtunities. Suddenly they see a whole new set of entrepreneurial avenues and are ready to tread the path. This means that a secure life is possible if one puts in hard work and is humble enough to understand the situation he/she is in.

As the issue on demarcation of land between neighbouring states and the question of allegiance looms large for quite some time now, Manipuris are raising questions about their own identities. Many a discussions are dedicated to names and surnames and their meaning and it's confusions.

What does the immediate future look like?
The mindsets are changing. The web has opened up new avenues to keep in touch. The air flights are getting less expensive. The last (or the first) leg of the journey to/from Manipur continues to hound us with so much difficulties. But for the rest of the world, the world is getting smaller. Manipuris are willing to leave their beloved leikais and Leiraks to check out other addresses. Manipuris are getting bolder. They will leave the home town and try and make it's mark on the bigger canvas. They are usually followed by their close kins and relatives and in a few years, a small Manipur would emerge out in all the bigger cities of India. The case is the same for Manipuris who moved westward to the US and Europe. Many will shine in their selected occupation. The electric mix of pride and easy going nature would surely help them sail through. This mix would lose its hold to be replaced by humility and hard work. And soon we will start hearing of some great leaders amongst them in the world's media.

What happens to the ones who stayed back?
The ones who are not complacent will look for avenues to help themselves and their kin. They would work on their own and not keep looking for a government job. This would drive the youths to be enterprising and realising the importance of hard work and its fruits. Suddenly there is this whole new crop of entrepreneurs.

What can we see in the longer run?
The culture back in the state will also experience a shift from the false pride and easy going nature of yore and they would start to appreciate hard work, non-complacent ways and success. The atmosphere will be condusive for developments all around. The reverse brain drain could also help bring technologies and ideas back home. Government could no longer be complacent and it has to live up to the standards set by the voting community.

This is not a fairy tale but a prediction.
E-Pao would be waiting for this to happen and all of you would be too.
As of now, we wish you a good year in 2006 and mind you, it takes us closer to our destination.

As we sign off for the year 2005, we will leave you with a figure. The e-pao statistics says that we have 125000 to 150000 visitors per month. That amounts to 1.5 to 2 millions visitors/sessions a year. Now consider that figure against the population of Manipur which is 2 million.