Many of us are really proud of the fact that we have come a long way from where we started. We could see people from our small native place almost in every corner of this country and abroad. This is quite a change from what it used to be some few years back say the last ten to fifteen years. Sometimes in very unbelievable places within the country we find our boys and girls studying or pursuing various fields and careers.

Tolerating or in most cases liking and adapting to the environment, making it their homes for however long they would remain in the respective places. Some of us would have the gift in academics and some in sports. A particular few would even sail the seven seas, for their careers have in a way decided them to be far and away.

Individually, quite many of us are looking at newer and better things in life, excellent! In reality today, the world seems to have become small. In fact, going away wherever the destination would be across the seas or within the country seems to accumulate not much of distance anymore as everyplace seems accessible and in more than one way it has become a kind of culture and necessity if one wishes to live life with some sensible meaning taking the status of our crumbling society into account.

Perhaps the stagnant society seems to be the main reason why more of us are drifting away farther, we believe in hope and future but we clearly see the absence of both of these at home! We do not see anything in the near future that holds a promise for us.

There used to be a time when parents wanted us to remain by their side, insisting we live with them for the unconditional love (mind you the unconditional love is very rare, if you look and try to find anywhere else) that they hold for us and also for the fact that they can never get use to letting their children stay away from them.

This has been true for a long time, surprisingly today our parents are happy that we are somewhere wherever living a normal life seeking or practicing whatever one could successfully support and grow in one's life.

Would this change in our parents' attitude make us take a moment if not too long and ask ourselves what would be the right reason for them to have come to look like its okay for us to be away from them?

It is indeed the deteriorating conditions once again (political, socio and economic) which definitely are responsible while bringing our society almost to a stand-still.

Wait a minute, a crumbling society we may belong to, but we would not be totally deprived of any sort of visible progress. Yes, the one and only prominent progress which even a blind man could witness and a deaf man could hear are the politicians' and their families' progress, now this in an overnight job and almost magical.

They are flourishing, of course why wouldn't they? They are Gods' chosen ones, our homeland is their playground and the rest of us supposedly have strings to our arms, legs, head and everywhere for we are nothing more than puppets on ? Could you actually digest this whole puppet story?

So we watched the God's chosen boys at their game and we are still watching, waiting but nobody understands exactly why when everyone from far and wide slowly realized that we would be safer and perhaps happier wherever we are now i.e. away from home.

Indeed away from home streets are brighter, wider, nicer and life is always up and running anytime once it is not home. Peace of mind creeps in again once you are away from home. It is a free choice left to the individual, a simple decision any common man could make, as simple as telling the difference from sugar to salt. So what is your choice?

We have all too suddenly understood what we mean by insecurity and we have looked at death and danger right in the eye uninvited, it really did not make any of us feel alive did it? So things back in our hometown does not seem to be going the way we would wish they should have been. Why do we feel walking around in our courtyard unsafe or unpleasant while on the contrary it should have been the so- called "best" place in the world, as everyone says home sweet home. Wasn't it meant for us? So our homeland is not a friendly place to live in anymore.

Nevertheless its not too late, we all can still bring back life, still could make it a place which would carry the face of a warm and welcoming homely land. Many of us who would read this piece of my humble thought would obviously be some one who knows what is going on and what kind of sophistication the world has come to.

It was not possible to take a glimpse of the rest of the world if you wanted to, but through this medium where you are reading this we are omnipresent and this is an added advantage should we feel constructive.

Having the means to reach out to anybody anywhere so easily used to be a far-fetched dream. Something to be proud about again. E-PAO which is solely ours and prepared and managed by us. Indeed, we have come of age. Cheers to all of us!!

So what would it tell us, doesn't it tell us something about the potential in store? When we have the potential to have come so far, we certainly must have the capacity to do lot of other things. Why not?

Yes we have a lot that we do not harness, we are the gifted lot whether we like it or not, who could do ourselves good and who had, have and would always be a pride of the country. The time to call everyone around to come together and perhaps discuss a word or two, is it still a far cry? I am anxious to see it happen, are you…?

The fact is that anybody who would read this piece of thought is going to read it alright, but, the moment its done with, how many would for a moment in time consider it as something personal (ours) and how many would flatly comment "it's a waste of time" or offer the usual feedback "boring" blah blah blah. I am not in the least suggesting coming around to run a revolution or something, no. Only just a simple question.

After having lived for however long and wherever, the day when you arrive at the airport at home or when you are coming through by road, do you see any specific changes in and around town and its outskirts, doesn't it appear to look even worse than the last time you saw it? While on the other hand in the places that you live, lived, changes take place almost all the time and they are very rapid, did it occur to you as to why does it not happen in our case? So I dream all the time imagining a changing face of our land, so if you at all think why haven't I done anything well. Its impossible to clap with only one hand can you, isn't it?

Well here we are worried about our tomorrow, on the flip side and very much among us there is a bunch of us who does not look concerned nor worried about themselves leave alone our native place. The population in this category is already healthy in size and growing really fast and vastly found in all the major places where there are Manipuris. This is their story that we all are familiar with: intoxications of various nature, walking the dark and shady alleys, contemptuous thoughts, misuse of time, incomprehensible deeds and acts.

Lies, deceitful uncooperative nature, impolite unpolished, misbehavior, irate, irrational, unpleasant and the most outstanding ego factor, the list can still go on. Creating havoc during a gathering, fighting over trivial matters, misbehaving and public nuisance, outrageous sense of clothing and hairstyle, even these would add to the list. What is remarkable would be the formidable sense of satisfaction and achievement after executing and repeating such misdemeanor.

The most amazing fact is, which ever town or city we are in, one thing that many of us would have noticed would be; a Manipuri or Manipuris stand out wherever one may go, and it would again never be so difficult to find as they always stand out with some or all of the peculiarities or the defined characteristics mentioned above. It would be the easiest of all things to look for and find a person of this character who would be a Manipuri in a crowd.

And the ones that we all call dutiful, with diligent behavior, attitude and responsibility, could still be listed. I believe given a job to look up for such people of this responsible category from within and around the country, it definitely would be a piece of cake as the search would relatively be snappy and the list would undoubtedly be a small one.

Would this known and understood result make us feel positive, are we satisfied? In the name of anything that we could lay our hands on our folks are almost everywhere supposed to be engaged with prospective indulgences. Blame it on the prevailing situation at home. The thing to remember is "situation at home is not good that is why we are all away", but did we all buy a one-way ticket?

Now the concern is, as compared to the increasing number of our people seeking education, fame, fortune or simply a good future, the result and good news that we wish to hear is almost non-existent. On the contrary, overdosing cases, group fight news, eccentricities, loose character, drunken brawls… , news on these keeps pouring in from all sides every-time incessantly. Mind you such news doesn't help a bit on the already deteriorating and crashing image we portray in most of the places.

It is aggravating with each passing day, and a lot of us still don't seem to be bothered at all. The relevant question which arises at this juncture is do all of us who have come, did we really come looking for a better, brighter tomorrow?

It is doubtful because most of the above breaking news comes from the student sector!! Moreover, having studied for years, at the end of it, it is not a rare occasion to find that very few of our boys and girls would be able to make themselves presentable, smart with the tongue and the attitude. Later in life one would definitely tell the story that they attended college in a far away, advanced and a beautiful land.

Come to ask what actually did this person learn during those "beautiful days", the person in most probabilities would not stand out anywhere and would not appear polished. So give a thought to this. Was it really worthwhile? If it was just for a degree which seems most apparent, it is possible to acquire it at home no matter how and what it takes.

During the time of the "beautiful days" the folks would be huddled among the same old groups, sailing the same old boat, finally when they turn around home- bound the only new luggage they could have would probably be the degree and the short -lived memories. The degree if at all is there stays, but the rest would disperse into the clouds in a matter of months or even days.

When we return home are we going empty- handed, empty-headed? I say that would be shameful! A small gift that we all normally bring for our friends and family regardless of the price or size, the joy the small gift would deliver and the joy we receive. This is a wonderful moment to witness.Likewise, if we get gifts for our land, and possibly these gifts would cost us nothing more than the books, time and exposure that would be traded for the knowledge we seek. Don't you think its high time and quite deserving for her? We are only ripping her apart, poor her!

In a more helpless situation lies another facet of our upcoming generation. All of a sudden the world moved too fast, it surely left many of us in chaos deciding on what to learn. Too many people concluded on too many decisions disregarding all the pros and cons again judging solely from the ongoing trend. Suddenly, microbiology, bio-technology, and many others, but what is important is, after this what would follow, are there enough suitable jobs?

Just for the heck of it and possibly only for the name and status there are innumerable doctors, well quite a lot of these trend-setting doctors have managed to leave objects inside the body during operations. By any chance this is no good news and it can take a life, so are these doctors saviours or the other kind? They even at times feel that treating sick people is beyond their dignity and duty, but the name and status makes them feel invincible.

Do you think they were meant to be what they are, don't you think they are in the wrong profession? Choose a job that you love to do and you will never have to work a day in your life, there is this saying I am sure you have read it! So this is the medicine trend bought and made at the expense of heaps of cash, and such as the ones mentioned above are some of the results.

Do we need to have some more of them? A real doctor at heart would be embarrassed! Would it not be more sensible if one gives time to oneself, a little bit of self- examination and get to know the true self. Of course parents also play a major role here, blindly getting carried away with the concerned child ultimately turned sour.

Parents know their children and if they don't then they should try to know and help choose the correct and the most suitable area or stream, then perhaps the hurdle could become less difficult. Parents love their children unconditionally and want to give the whole world if only they could, but it is possible that some of their love gifts could prove hazardous instead of making them happy! Our land is decades behind when compared to many others, so does it serve a point to study anything in particular that's not even heard of and taking note of the infrastructure at home? On top of that what about all the other social crisis' that we must resolve? In the market today there is a big competition everywhere, managing to become just a number and nothing more to compliment one's profession would take the smiles away, keeping in mind the money and the pain that would have been involved.

Only to find out in the end that quality is the major concern but not quantity. Medicine generally has a sentimental value as far as the parents' are concerned, but while following the trend if we at least give a humble thought to who is going to hold the losing end?? It's the poor kid's life that we are talking about.

One cannot expect a dog to run like a horse, and all four-legged animals cannot simply become horses even if one wishes, can they??

So in the end all that we are, wherever we are and whatever we do, the never changing fact is that we are of a common origin and home.

If good, all are praised and if bad all are to be blamed, this is how it has been happening and will happen. We all can see what we are going through, if I can see from where I am standing why can't you? None of us would be insane, for if that were the case we wouldn't have been wearing clothes. All that we see and know in life has two sides, it depends on what one chooses, and the choice had better come early as no one likes regretting and the fact that life is short! United we could build hope, on hope we could build a dream. Dream built ROME, and it was not built in a day! It's your choice…