Where the hills hum hope, but the ground trembles

Saiprem Thingbaijam *

"Hey, when are you calling us home?"

My friend drops the question like it's nothing, not knowing that my "home" is a headline. A place where, for two years now, the thunder hasn't just come from the clouds, but from conflict.

"Yeah, yeah bro... if you can handle bad roads and power cuts, you're welcome," I reply half joking, mostly not. I don't expect him to show up. Not to this version of Manipur.

But oh, if he did. If he drove through the forested curves of Ukhrul or watched the sun melt over Loktak, he'd see it. The land is breathtaking-but what truly stuns you is the heartbeat beneath : its youth.

Manipur is called the 'Gem of India'. It's not just because of its rolling greens or woven traditions. It's because of the fierce brilliance of its youth who shine despite the grime.

These are no longer just the sons and daughters of farmers or engineers. They are crypto traders, stock tinkerers, footballers, creators, cage fighters. The new North East doesn't wait for Delhi to decide what's trending.

Ask them what they want from life, and you won't get vague dreams. You'll get precise ambition. A sports academy. A content studio. A music label. A startup.

Ask them who they look up to, and you'll get names that don't make the usual TV panels:

Khumanthem Diana Devi, bureaucrat and change agent.
Yelhoumie, hip-hop poet of protest.
TinkCool, the influencer shaking up algorithms.
Jeakson Singh, who put Indian football on the global scoreboard.
Chungreng Koren, fists of fire in the MMA ring.

This isn't a "potential" problem. The talent is here. The will is burning. What's missing is the wiring. Because passion alone cannot power through power cuts. And dreams, no matter how vivid, flicker in the dark of policy voids.

What they need is simple:

A Government that governs, not just posts.
Infrastructure that enables, not exhausts.
Community that lifts, not divides.

It's time our elected reps did more than rep slogans. We don't need applause on stages; we need action in the streets. Less campaign trail, more actual trail repair.

Manipur's young are ready. They're not waiting for Delhi, Imphal or anyone else to grant them permission to succeed. But how long can they run when the ground beneath them is still cracking?

"Call us home," my friend said. If only he knew, home is calling us. Asking us to do better. To show up. To care harder. To stay rooted and yet help it rise. Manipur isn't broken. It's paused.

And like all things paused, it's waiting to play again.