Culture Beyond A Quest For the Useful Past
Manipur's imperative for a contemporary culture for a meaningful future

Amar Yumnam *

Loaded trucks / tankers arriving at Imphal :: Pix - TSE

Manipur today stands at an historically critical juncture and this is unavoidable. The emerging transnational interventions put Manipur at a junction where South Asia would interact with South East and East Asia. This is where the contemporary weaknesses and unpreparedness of Manipur for playing the host for the interactions come to the fore with dangerous social implications.

Any interaction between different entities at any historical juncture demands a new set of cultures to serve the purpose of the interactions as well as to enable the involving parties to flourish out of the interactions. The needed set of new cultures goes much beyond the preoccupation of Manipur society so far of only the quest for a useful glory of the past, and rather demands evolution, new dynamics and practise of hitherto ignored dimensions of social functioning.

This functioning with a new culture is needed of the society collectively, of the individual at personal levels and the government in performing governance. Let me put a word here on what I mean by culture. I would rather put it simply as the character and principle with which an individual performs her functions, the society conducts the business of societal existence and the government performs her responsibilities. The needed new culture is very different from the ones we usually identify with, e.g., our dances, the valour of our forefathers and the like.

The new culture is oriented towards facilitating the movement and exchange of people and commodities. It should be in sync with any new technology, knowledge and ideas irrespective of whether these are home-grown or inflows from outside. Earlier the relationships and interactions between different economies were mercantile focused, and the component of knowledge and technology was very small if any.

But the very content of mercantile relationships has undergone a drastic change now with rising content of non-material movements. Besides, the movement and exchange today include movement of people and exchange of knowledge and technology in addition to the rising content of knowledge and technology in the mercantile component as well. Still further, there is a continuous competition based on efficiency and competence inherent in all these. Since the movements and exchanges are in differentiated items, the efficiency and competence are not necessarily in relative terms.

Nevertheless, I must hasten to add, the presence of a minimum level of globally acceptable efficiency and competence is essential for in the otherwise case the society would be just swept aside by the tide instead of floating with the new wave. Now all these movements and exchange of mercantile items, people, technology and knowledge are accompanied by a new set of culture hitherto unexperienced by Manipur society; every new technology comes along with a new culture to make it functional and meaningful; this is besides the new competence and efficiency required by the evolving dynamics. This is exactly where the weaknesses of Manipur are salient at all sectors – individual, social and governmental.

Let me start with the individual level challenge. Many new technologies are now present in Manipur. Let us look at the ATM machines – though these are widely present in Manipur, the people of Manipur at large are non-conversant with the culture associated with the functioning of these. There are now so many new cars and motorcycles, but the culture associated with these is absolutely absent among the people using these.

Even more unfortunately, there is no scope for acquiring this new culture as the very people who should be foundations for social learning are the most violators of the new culture. The most common and extreme example is the behaviour of the individuals manning and performing the functions of the government. Even the civil servant who has just started his/her career would move about with a flag-post in the official vehicle and would impose right of way and precedence at every point of travel.

So the absence of culture associated with new technology characterises both the common people and the people in the government. Besides these individual level crimes (crimes because these go against the to-be-shared and long-term interests of the people and society), the collective level crimes too are aplenty. We continuously hear of mob delivery of justice (well the governance might fail in delivering justice but mob-delivery is not something in tune with international norms for advancement) instead of social movements for improving the quality of governance.

We are aware and experiencing the conduct of cultural bodies like Pakhangba Seva Committees by a set of social thieves on a principle of continual practising of lies. As we know that both the individuals and the society of Manipur are not in sync with the contemporary interaction based on technology and knowledge and the culture demanded of it, we may now ask as to how the functioning of government reflects on these.

One example I frequently cite my friends is a comparison of an individual moving in a private car and the trucks loaded with goods. Any private car moves on the road purely to serve personal interests. In comparison to this, the trucks loaded with goods are on the roads serving the cause of the society and the economy of that society. It requires of the governance to see to it that these movements of loaded trucks are really facilitated in order that the economic activities of the society are fastened and growth is hastened; I am aware of regulations needed in this context.

But this is exactly what the functioning of the government of Manipur violates today. Whenever a loaded truck moves on the road, we observe the traffic-policemen/policewomen and the police personnel suddenly become alert, and the consequent event is the hand-shake with the driver wherein money is exchanged. This is something, we would never encounter in any developed social atmosphere. It should always be the case that the loaded trucks are more facilitated vis-à-vis the private cars in public interest (which in this case is development of the economy of Manipur); public interest is seen only in government orders and notices but never in practice of the government of Manipur.

So when the whole world is moving towards Manipur equipped with new technology and continuously improved technology and knowledge, individuals, society and government of Manipur are least prepared to face the world with a culture founded on competence and efficiency. Manipur today needs a new cultural learning and a new cultural dynamics oriented to the present for a brighter future instead of the current of looking back to the past and immediate personal gains.

This is where we need to dethrone Pakhangba and bring Sanamahi to the throne with all the performance, purity, perfection and competence associated with the latter. In the emerging scenario, pretensions and anything goes attitude would not serve the social purpose and the economic compulsions for participating in the development process based on efficiency and competence. The role of the provincial government in assuring the evolution of a new culture alive to the contemporary technology, knowledge and ideas is paramount.