Dear Endangered !

Nishikanta Sagolsem *

O dear ! Dear jeopardy,
In grief, I call you this.

O ear! Dear ear.
This ear has heard 'the exquisite ' of your land.
The land- O land ! The enchanted land,
Where upon her eyes douched and dazzled with splendour,
Her hair lanced by the gold splashed of Korou ,
Girdle and behold by the dawn lit mountains.
The Kokil sings hymns to praise thy beauty,
She was called 'Sana Pungmayol'.
Dear! You remember? – She no more exist.

I remember, I remember – O land !
The land of the seven 'Maichous' , which were our brethren.
Where upon her heart the divine serpent resides.
Loyumba governs her land, O the Silyen !
The magnificent Loktak mirrors your grace.
Where upon her lap, your civilization races.
Palem! I pray thy name.

Of thy 'illustrious' too, this ear has heard.
Mighty and bold, Prestige and laurels .
Taught and sung, drawn and echoed – once?
Nongda to Chingthanglen , thy son grace thy land,
Nongshaba! The other species of this Malem fear.
A mere glorification?

In your own rhapsody and ecstasy, you now no more exist.
Nor do thy land.
The land where Kombirei blooms no more,
Nor do Kusumlei gifts this faded land, the lunar year.

O dear! On this Malem, I ask every species.
Of what this ear had heard ; No calls nor answers.
But a fading voice seemingly answered –
"Once there was a land, Sana Leipak , whereupon her son resides".
"They were Meiteis, the Nongshaba, once magisterial , now extinct."