CHAKOUBA SPIRIT |
We love festivals. We also love to spend extravagantly on every available occasion despite the poor State tag attached to Manipur and Manipuris. Examples are never lacking to demonstrate that we love revelry and merry making apart from spending money freely. Last month we celebrated Durga/Panthoibi pujah with pomp and gaiety. We spent money on housie, crackers and feasts. Yesterday was Diwali. Candles are lit and households were decorated with colourful flowers and electrification. Such celebrations call for some expense. Today is Govardhan pujah and come tomorrow we will be celebrating Ningol Chakouba, another important festival of the State. All these festivals need huge expenses, poor and rich alike will have to part with hundreds if not thousands as a part of the celebration. And the fact that the Government has not been able to release two months' full pay with all the allowances for the employees before Ningol Chakouba does not seem to have dampened the spirit of Ningol Chakouba. If one wants proof of this he should pay a visit to the Khwairamband Keithel today. Chakouba shoppers, mostly women, old and young have already been swarming the main market in the city for tomorrow's festival. Fish and other expensive items of gift for married sisters are integral parts of the celebration. Married ningol will require best of gold ornaments and costliest clothings. Indeed it will be a competition of wealth. When it was more than apparent that there would be no salary before Chakouba it was thought that this will certainly dampen the spirit of the festival. A few days’ back when this daily conducted a survey in the city it was revealed that sale dropped drastically and most of the shops were shutting at the end of the day without a single customer turning up during the whole day. The poor merchants had even predicted that sale in this year's Chakouba season would record an all time low. The traders must now be smiling throughout the day with buyers rubbing shoulders inside their shops, stalls and kiosks.
|
Courtesy: The Sangai Express |
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.