TODAY -
| Eeta thaomeina "Hao" khumlaklabada A review of "Funga Wari Painting and Writing Competition" |
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| By: Dr Krishnananda Samurailatpam * |
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Munna tao langanuko A gripping sense of nostalgia accompanies the melodious voice of Chongtham Kamala taking us back to the warmth of those secured and peaceful days in Manipur full of hope and goodwill........ From Che Guevera to Leo Tolstoy, Napoleon to Abraham Lincoln, John Lennon or Jimmy Hendrix; Be it revolutionaries, exceptional writers, warriors, great leaders or Rock stars there are very few people who haven’t been inspired by Folk Tales. We all know how children love folk tales.
Bearing in mind that we all have a child hidden within ourselves, folk tales appeal to all of us irrespective of age. With their simple, adventurous, exciting characters and settings, as well as captivating conflicts early in the story, folktales immediately grab anybody’s attention (hence an easy Inspiration for movies through the ages most notably "The Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" series which became the highest box office grosser). The repetition and rhythm we see in stories such as Eeta Thaomei, Sandrembi Chaishra, kabui keioiba, Lai khutshangbi, Hanubi hanuba pan thaba, etc, are very appealing to all of us in general and children in particular. And, of course, everyone loves when humor and wit are used to outsmart an adversary. The stories develop quickly, and often obstacles seem insurmountable before, in the end, everything is resolved to our satisfaction. Good triumphs over evil.
Reading and telling funga wari is not only a wonderful way to entertain and bond with children, it is also an effective way to educate them. The stories in classic folklore offer both social lessons as well as an opportunity to teach about cultures and languages in addition to providing an excellent way to teach our youths about the consequences of good and bad behavior, the importance of co-operation, and the rewards of courage and ingenuity. Thus with an aim to combine fun, tradition, art, healthy competition and constructive patriotism all at once we at International Manipuri Progressive Forum (IMPFO, UK) embarked on this idea of organizing a painting competition for schoolchildren based on funga wari in Manipur. The event evoked such a widespread warmth and sympathetic response not only from the participating children but also from the parents, which created a history of sorts for maximum number of participants in a painting competition in Manipur. It gave us a sense of sheer bliss seeing the unrestrained happiness in the eyes of the children in their participation for a noble cause of bringing our traditions and funga wari towards a centre stage. Against all odds our children are still managing to keep their smiles and enthusiasm intact, which have reinforced our firm belief in the resilience of our children implying a bright future for Manipur.
The painting competition itself was conducted in highly professional conditions with four renowned personalities as Judges, namely
The immense support given by Our respected Maharaja Leishemba Sanajaoba who as the Chief Guest of the function inspired everyone through his comprehensive explanations of the funga waris with relevant examples in today’s context, can never be overemphasized. We are ever so grateful to him and are looking foreword to many more inspiring words from him. We are very much indebted to Premananda Samurailatpam, Karam Pramodo, Okendro laishram and all the sympathizers for all the selfless and unrelenting support in making the painting competition a grand success. Altogether 430 students took part in the painting competition done in 2 categories and around 800 people attended prize distribution ceremony which followed painting competition. The prize distribution ceremony also included that for the international online funga wari competetion. Details of which can be found at www.impfo.com, www.radiomanipur.com . The feed backs from the parents gave an interesting insight that in the name of the painting competition many children who had lost touch with the traditional funga waris got a chance to know the funga waris and even some parents had to ask the grand parents to refresh their own stock of funga waris. Thus the competition managed to affect at least three generations of our society. And more importantly creating a curiosity abut the funga waris among the youths inching the funga waris closer to centrestage, quite an interesting observation indeed “EETA THAOMEINA HAO KHUMLAKLABADABU KANANA THINGBA NGAMGADAGE”! “Our funga waris are no less in quality than any other folk tales in the world, nor are the paintings submitted by our children and youths. It is our duty of utmost importance to make sure that these extraordinary and world class potentials of our youths are not wasted . It is hard to believe how more and more Manipuris are excelling in the international stage in numerous fields, despite having such a massive disadvantage due to lack of resources, infrastructure and communication problems. It is high time all of us join together to make our best effort to make a conducive and warm atmosphere where our youths and children can compete with the best in the world without having to go through such a massive disadvantage” One of the most inspiring observations though has been that from a Japanese colleague. He found the Manipuris very interesting and has been observing the nature and characteristics of Manipuris for a while. He summed up his observation as "Almost all Manipuris are very good cooks, excellent sportspersons and are very good in music sense as well. Rare combinations of qualities. A good cook signifying a perfect balance , perfect timing and presentations. A good sportsperson signifying balance of discipline and controlled aggression. A Good musician signifies tolerance, refinement, and blending of different ideas and cultures. This group of people having all these qualities together, will definitely rise and deserve to be at the top"!! We sincerely hope his observation holds true for all of us. We once again thank everyone involved in organizing the funga wari writing and painting competition and are looking foreword for many more projects and competitions based on constructive patriotism for a progressive peaceful and tolerant Manipur. We sincerely have a firm belief in the major role "funga waris” can play in bringing together all our brethrens and also bringing out the best from us and doing justice to the immense potentials of our youth. In solidarity.... " Eema nangi damakta Check out Gallery picture on all winning entries here and of the Prize Distribution here. Related Articles:
* Dr Krishnananda Samurailatpam is President of UK based International Manipuri Progressive Forum (IMPFO) contributes to e-pao.net regularly. He can be contacted at krsnsh(at)yahoo(dot)ca . This article was webcasted on November 18th 2007. |
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