Founded on 31st December, 1999, E-Pao is celebrating the fourth year of its glorious existence. It is young, almost a toddler, but in its achievements, it has surpassed everyone's expectations. From being a humble website that brought Manipur to the World Wide Web before anyone does, it has become a cultural icon to Manipuris throughout the world today. It is the Yahoo! of Manipur, the ultimate web lingo of the chic-est Manipuri youths. But with a difference.

Founders of successful portals like Yahoo!, for example, make no bonds about making their identities known to the world, but the hard working men behind E-Pao choose to remain anonymous. Theirs is a very rare quality of humility that shows their character. Such people who shun publicity are hard to find in today's world of 15-minutes-fame, despite the fact that they deserved to be known, encouraged, and rewarded. They have contributed immensely to the popularisation of IT in Manipur. With the website they have created, they have attracted thousands of their brethrens to the charms of IT, and help people to shed their fear for internet.

E-Pao's love for anonymity is only matched by the curiosity of the website's legions of loyal visitors who wanted to know the wonderful team behind it. I have spoken to E-Pao, telling them it makes sense to allow some spotlight on themselves -- to make people know more about them--but they have remained steadfast with their no-publicity-for-us principle.

"The first thing that could be said is that," clarified a press release from E-Pao, "these people (referring to themselves) are the day to day layman that you meet in your life with the only difference of having had a vision of an e-portal for Manipur".

The same press note, theirs first, which they issued on the occasion of E-Pao's 1st anniversary on 31st December, 2000, further went on: " It's (E-Pao team) an honest, clean and hard working group of Manipuris who happen to believe that IT can help find Manipur a place in the world. E-Pao.Net's intentions are very simple and clean. It merely tries to help Manipuris have a common platform for mutual help and growth away from the propaganda or power politics".

True to their words, propaganda and power politics are the anathema to E-Pao, who believes in independence of views and functioning. Discerning visitors to this website must have noticed that it is free of all brazen self-promotional props that seem to characterise the media nowadays. Partly, their independence is due to their self-reliance, and partly, they have no axe to grind. They kowtow to no one, nor do they offend anyone. (One article of mine was censored by E-Pao, because it would have potentially led to false conclusion about E-Pao's (a)political soul).

E-Pao is now ingrained in our popular culture. It has become a part of the youth's trend setting vocabulary. It has served as the bridge between loved ones living thousands of miles apart. It has made IT serve its fruits to us, in delightful and useful forms like the convenience to read the news headlines from Manipur anywhere in the world, and the ability to chat online with kindred souls. It has made Manipuris feel as one wherever they live, something that money can't buy.

E-Pao also has practical utility that might be unavailable in the real world. Its hugely popular chat service is proving to be a matchmaker for professionals and other busy-bees who have hardly the time to socialise. Chances are that you may know some of your friends or acquaintances who have found their soul-mates through the chat service. I know actual married couples who found each other in the romantic cyber realms of E-Pao. Isn't this a miracle?

The website that has spawned many clones, E-Pao has become a cultural force to reckon with. Its recently held "internet queen" contest is a step in that direction. There were frenzied response to the contest; Internet users monitored the results like they were waiting for the Legislative Assembly Elections' results. Some even complained through the readers' feedback column, which I saw, that the contest was being rigged. That was when they must be realising it was a roaring success. It was only fitting that the winner of the E-Pao's internet queen has come to acquire more recalling value than the actual Miss Manipur held by TAPRO in Imphal!

But the truly defining moments of the portal was during the anti-ceasefire protest movement in the tumultuous 2001, when Manipuris worldwide scramble to find any shred of news about their home state. E-Pao catered to that need with commendable speed and professionalism. Major global news outlets like BBC, CNN, among others, gave links to E-Pao for further information on Manipur. "Those were our proud moments", says E-Pao.

E-Pao is a movement, the face of progressive Manipur. I hope it will go from strength to strength, setting new standards for others to follow in the future. As it swaggers into the new year (with good reason), we should wish it and the dedicated team working quietly behind the scene all success in their endeavour to keep the portal in pace with the times. Without doubt, it will continue to set the web scene of Manipur on fire, and keep reinventing itself. It is a phenomenon that can't be reversed. So, the other day, when a fellow Manipuri asked me, "Do you E-pao?", I was no longer surprised. It is already a trendy word of iconic proportion. I replied, "Sure I do, buddy". Because I wanted to be trendy myself, a part of the groovy, coolest folks. Like www.e-pao.net.