Shanti Thokchom's Life Experiences
- Part 33 -
India Festival UTSAV '09 at Tulsa, Oklahoma

By Shanti Thokchom *

Dear friends, I am glad to be back to writing once again. I had been so busy all these days and months, working two jobs to make ends meet and also trying to raise enough funds to help sponsor the Manipuri Dance Troupe from Maryland.

Thank god, I was just able to do that and I can heave a sigh of great relief!! What if I had to depend on people for funds, I would never had gotten off the ground!! I had to focus on that so much so that I had to ignore all of your requests to write more articles. Please forgive me, ya'all !! I am just human, y'know !!

Well, this year's India Fest Utsav '09 was held on 12th Sept here in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I am really proud to tell you all that for the first time here the Manipuri dance was performed by Mrs. Indrani Singha and Ms. Noopur Singha of the Nritya Rangam Academy of Maryland. They both mesmerized the festival goers with their unique and graceful dances.

I really am happy and so grateful to uncle Naba Ghana Singha, his wife Mrs. Indrani & his sweet daughter Ms. Noopur Singha for having made all the efforts to make this trip and help us out with our booth and perform the "Mangala Charan & Krishna Nartan" dances. It was a big treat for T-Townspeople !! All I can say is a big thank you to you all for that!!

Even though Ms. Noopur was jet lagged from just having arrived from India a few days ago, she decided to accompany her dad and I sure appreciated that!!

It made it all the more worthwhile for me to have put in so much efforts and time for this Utsav!! Well, its for spreading awareness and existence of our home state of Manipur!! So I dont mind it cos I like doing it as it gives me a sense of pride and happiness to do that!!

Though back home, the scenario is entirely different and that is one reason which makes me very, very sad!! Would we ever be able to see a quiet and peaceful Manipur & the NE region at all ?? Nope, so long as they are under the rule of the UGs & rampant corruption!! Can we ever hope of having an "Obama" in our region ? Dont we have one amongst our youth and present generation? Its just my thought, no offence to anyone...!! I cant help pondering about it every now and then !!

At the stall

Back to my story ,many of my co-workers from my church and assisted living center came to visit and they went back all happy and beaming!! They all got their full Vasooli (money's worth) for their Moolah...ha..ha..ha...!!

It was pretty much a small town affair and I am sure the dance team knew it was not like other big US cities they have performed before. I ask you all to forgive me for any technical delays/glitches you might have faced at the Utsav...It was not under my control but I am very thankful to you all - having travelled such long distance to be here and perform without any complaints!! It was funny when aunty Indrani described how exhausted she was, just by being a passenger in the car driven by Ms. Noopur and uncle Naba.

There were lots of other exciting things going on at the UTSAV like Henna tattoo, Sari draping for photo ops, giving out free t-shirts by some organisations etc. I was busy doing my stuffs - answering questions about the location & the people of Manipur. My hands hurt from using the globe for just that but its worth it!! I had few visitors/students from other Asian countries wondering about Manipur.

They were from S. Korea, Vietnam , Laos & Cambodia and were very curious to know the existence of Manipur. One of my volunteers Khaigin Haokip was very nice enough to write out their names in Manipuri (Bengali script-sorry, we dont know the Meitei mayek as we graduated from h/school eons ago....forgive us, brethren ! ")

All of them squealed out "cool" especially the young gals who thought it was the coolest thing to have their names written on a card with a foreign language!! Thanks goes to Ms. Manju Kaul for providing us those cards!! Some of them took so many pictures of the displayed stuffs and wanted to buy them. I had to tell them that it was only for display and not for sale.

Many youngsters liked the different tribal beaded necklaces, bracelets and some others wanted the colorful shawls for their wall and table decorations. It was a great to have students come in just to take pictures for their class projects and to get good grades. I do feel my efforts did not go in vain. At least some students went back with some knowledge about the location of our tiny state of Manipur and be able to tell their class!!

I displayed the dance "Potloi" (costume) ,"Pung" (drum), the Radha-Krishna dolls, courtesy the Maryland dance family and some more ethnic stuffs like the "Sagol Kangjei" mini horse polo stick & the ball. People really enjoyed looking at the Manipuri hindu wedding pictures and wondered about the bride's "Potloi" (costume).

I made some beaded bracelets and handed them out to kids and adults alike which they all appreciated. I also gave away few visors with "Manipur" written on it in Manipuri & in English. It was a great opportunity for me to tell them all about the culture & unique traditions, in a short time!! Oh, how my jaws hurt from non-stop talking and explaining to the people, at the same time looking around to see if my son was in sight and not gone anywhere!!

He just disappears nowhere as he was having so much fun around wearing his kurta-pajama !! At one point his pajama "Nara" (strings) came off and we had to take some emergency measures..ha..ha..ha....! I'm sure all of you who have hyper active sons/ daughters, go through the same as I do.I can relate to your condition.

People kept asking why we looked the way we did and not like other people from India. It was great fun telling them why and its differences in dress, looks, habits, foods, culture etc. But I love it cos it sure gives me a great high doing all I can to promote awareness about my home state, to hell with all the nay sayers!! Goli Maro, literally.....all who thought it could not be done without all and sundry!!

At the stall

My biggest thanks go to Ms. Anjali Parekh of Comfort Suites of Tulsa for accomodating the dance troupe which made their stay comfy & that took a big burden off my me!! whew.....!! I was running around like a chicken head cut off....cos all my volunteers were all working in different schedules & times and could not come at the time I needed help. I forgot to even drink water in between. I wanted to make sure the dance troupe was comfortable and eating good. For us Manipuris wherever we are, our first job is Food....right away....ha..ha..ha...!!

I made Alu Soibum Ironba (manipuri dish made with potato, bamboo shoot, dried fish Ngari & green hot chillies-peppers ). It must have made aunty Indrani's belly upset with all the hot foods. But uncle Naba, I should say, ate her share too..He must have really liked it, I' m assuming.

I really wanted to feed them all. I do have a motherly instinct in me so so I guess maybe thats why I cooked all of those foods for them all- Kelli Chana (chickpea), Bhelendri Ironba ("ladies finger" -okra dish with dried fish & green chillies), Alu Samosa( potato snacks), I for one, still dont know how to cook a proper Manipuri fish curry cos it breaks up if I tried to cook!!

I made strawberry lassi too ..which was a big hit with Ms. Noopur. I was surprised to see her drink all the jug of sweet lassi I made for them. Well, it makes me happy to know at least some one likes to drink! it!!

Anyway, we got it done and thats what counts!! Thanks goes to Mano Haobam for the pizza for uncle Naba & family & taking pictures of the UTSAV and also to Rev. Manichouba for his company and helping them feel at home. I also thank Chingboi Touthang for coming out with her kids to volunteer for sometime at the booth.

Some of the Burmese Kuki fellas also did help me pack up my display stuffs and that was so nice of them to do so. I really appreciated all of you for that!! It was none-the less very exhausting when you are doing stuffs as a one-man-army but hell!! I sure enjoyed it as it served the purpose of making people know about Manipur!!

I was having a hard time wearing the Kuki "Fanek" (wrap around dress of the kuki tribe) cos it was slipping away and I had to hold it tight one time while I was taking questions from a visitor. They asked me if I was ok, I for a second did not know what to say!! It must have looked funny to them, me holding the falling "fanek"(wrap around dress).

For me, I profess to be a Manipuri rather than saying I belong to this tribe and that tribe cos its very petty to be indulging in caste politics and better off by being "One"!! Thats my view and no offence once again top anyone!!

So I am very pleased to say that this year's UTSAV highlight was the Manipuri dance performance by Mrs. Indrani & Ms. Noopur Singha and lots of thanks to all those volunteers Rev. Manichouba, Dr.Khaigin Haokip, Joe Cory, Chingboi Touthang, her kids Deborah, Grace & Daniel, Mano Haobam, his daughter Mitsna, Jamjang, Minthang & his friend!!

Hope next year's UTSAV will be better!! I am hoping to have an interactive booth with quizzes about Manipur & to hand out some little prizes for those who are able to answer questions about it!!

Check out a picture gallery on this here and here.





More stories later ...... to be continued ...!!

---

* Shanti Thokchom, a resident of Tulsa, Oklohoma, contributes regularly to e-pao.net . She can be reached at sthok65(at)hotmail(dot)com . This article was webcasted on September 30, 2009.

---