Cocktail Of Election Result and Yaoshang

Seram Neken *

Yaoshang Festivities :: March 20 - March 23 2011 :: Pix - Ringo Pebam

'Kare makhol kadre makhol, ware yu nungaire yu'

Yaoshang with tears and Yaoshang with joy - two facets of celebration will be visible. A good chance indeed for the winning camp to felicitate their representatives in public while embarrassing, belligerent and antagonistic feelings will galore in the losers' conglomerate. Election results will surely affect the smooth celebration of Yaoshang this year.

Gun shots from the trigger-happy community of election-addicted citizenry - either for success or for failure, will surely create nuisance to the ordinary people around, while sale profits for Sekmai, Phayeng, Andro brands will get a sudden boost. Bet money will change hands of big gamblers. Let us be optimistic that bizarre things may not happen amid hues and cries of celebrations.

"Waare Yu Nungaire Yu…. Kaare Nongmei, Kadre Nongmei" - the Manipuri people unfortunately do not know how to celebrate wins and how to console loses. The ways of expression are all the same for both the success and the failure.
–Writes Seram Neken

Let me recall that a mindless incident broke the festive mood of the people in Yaoshang last year, as the trigger-happy son of a cabinet minister shot dead a colleague in Imphal for reasons better known to all. On the last day of Yaoshang festival two years back, state's advocate general received a controversial bullet injury from a cabinet minister's trigger.

The birth of a trigger-happy community in Manipur has been producing extremely mindless violence marring the festive mood of Manipuris during festivals. What will happen in this Yaoshang festival amidst celebrations, felicitations, consolations, desperations and revenges related to poll results. We need to be careful everywhere so that this festival becomes rosy and constructive as usual, rather than gunny and destructive.

Almost all assembly constituencies of Manipur are presently having two MLAs till the election results are out day after tomorrow. Latest by afternoon of 6th March, 2012, it will be clear who is in and who is out. Feasting, picnics, concerts, Shumang Lila, Thabal Chongba etc. will follow the results. On the other hand, losers will console in tears, revenges, fights etc. It is feared that Yaoshang may turn violent with poll results.

Yaoshang festivals have been replaced by sports festivals in almost all localities of Manipur valley during the last few decades. It is a positive social change. Manipur is sports house of India and yaoshang sports have a big role to groom the state players from the grassroots. Traditionally, the Yaoshang festival was marked by 'Aber Teinaba, Pechakari Kapnaba, Sen Munbi, Chak Chanaba, Holi Sakpa, Thabal Chongba etc. However, all the ugly scenes of the Yaoshang festival have been sidelined to bring in a new genre of sports personalities all over the state.

Each and every locality of Manipur valley organizes sports festivals in its locality during the five days of Yaoshang. The waste of energy, time and spirit in enjoying the festive mood of Yaoshang has been stopped and the festival turns constructive and productive in the guise of sports and games. This is a very positive and encouraging trend of Manipur society, which the elders of yore dreamt of in the 1940s. Yaoshang has become synonymous with sports all around the state.

In the 1940s, some like-minded youths started organizing games and sports during Yaoshang. The attempt was solely to divert the energy of the youths from indulging in ugly and useless spends of traditional Yaoshang to promoting healthy and disciplined social life. An example was set at Akampat in Imphal east around 1946 by the elders of Singjamei Kshetri Leikai, Bamon Leikai and Khongman by organizing games and sports during Yaoshang.

This may historically be termed as the origin of Yaoshang sports festival in Manipur. Most of the elders of the time involved in this venture have either expired or too old to appear in social events. But their vision and objectives have been successfully achieved nowadays, as almost all the localities of valley organize Yaoshang sports with varied events and disciplines.

Besides promoting health, sports reduce the quantum of alcoholism and substance abuse, as young people are increasingly attracted towards participation in and arrangement of sports. It maintains discipline and grooms character, because both the young and old people the locality mingle together in such a platform for five days. It helps create mutual understanding, co-operation and respectfulness among the youths. Small children and youths have the opportunity to expose their talents in various fields like games, sports, public appearance, public speaking and socializing people.

Yaoshang sports serves in reducing the generation gap in the society, thereby moulding a well-disciplined social life in Manipur. The entertainments like Shumang Lila during Yaoshang educate the people of all walks with values of life and society. No doubt, many sports stars of the state were once the siblings on the bed of Yaoshang Sports. Famous debaters, politicians, academicians and sports persons owe their origin from local sports festivals. Thanks to the right thinking elders who mooted and materialized the idea of organizing sports festivals during Yaoshang.

Yaoshang sports, in fact, are the right platform for socializing the youths of Manipur particularly the Meiteis/ Meeteis. It is said that Muslim and Christian communities have the right platform for public gathering and positive discussion in their weekly religious sermons. Thus, their unifying and disciplinary tendencies are active and alive. However, the Meiteis do not frequently meet and discuss their social welfare on regular basis. So, it may be rightly said that Yaoshang Sports is the only regular opportunity for the Meities to have a rendezvous for social good.

The present day youth unrest, substance abuse, alcoholism, unwanted behavior of the young people, cultural invasion, losing moral values and character, generation gap etc. need to be monitored and reformed with the right platform and right tool. Yaoshang Sports has been optimistically serving this purpose. May the smooth celebration of Yaoshang Sports not be marred by the dirty post-poll practices. It is the nature of representative democracy to elect leaders based on adult franchise.

We have the right to support and the right to recall the representatives during elections on the basis of past performances of candidates and parties. If he or she does well, the chair will be meant for him or her. In such a situation, why shall the workers fight among themselves. Let us celebrate the victory with conscience. Let us console the failures with calm. May the poll-result does not affect a constructive Yaoshang.