Singngat

Singngat Village - aerial view

Beisak Tuak – Mikhual Vui Aki Vui-na

(Phattuamngaihna leh Lusuun hun a ki-uapna-II)

~ Siampu Thomte

Vangsiatna leh nek-le-taak zonna ziakin khualzinna (khuagam) ah (or mahni khua lou ah) va sih theih tham hi. Hichi bang a om zeuhzeuh ta. Khualgam a si, huai khua a beh-le-phung leh tanau-laina neih ziak, leh, lemtang zawk ziaka sihna khua a kivui a om thei hi. Huchibangte nidang deuh khawngin “Mikhual vui in kivui” sek uhi. Ka neulai in ka khua uah mikhual vui a kivui khat ka thei kha ngei hi. YPA in innteekna la. Hanmual nawl/kil deuh ahihkeh khomite kivuina taangpi louh deuh ah kivui hi’n ka thei. Ahihang in lenkhawmna leh thildang tuamtuamte kisai dan ka theisau kei; huailai a ka neu lai mahmah man in. Himahleh, hanmual fee leh thildang bangbang hiam bel YPA te kia ah pia uh hi’n ka thei (correct me if I’m wrong).

Ka letnung in mikhual vui a kivui a omlam ka thei nawn mang kei hi. Banah, khua khenkhat ah mikhual vui a vui chih om sak nawn sese lou uh hi’n ka thei zawmah. Thil buaihuaipi bang leng hithei diing in ka ummawh mawk hi. Ka chihna san bel, sepna leh nekzonna ziaka khopi tuamtuam (zogam lou deuh) ah tamtak ki om ta a, banah, innkuan a khosa bang leng tamtak a ki om hi. Himahleh, isepna mun (Post) pen hometown kichi thei(/ut)lou hi. I gen chiang un leng innlam kichi nilouh hi. Sihna bang ituah chiang un leng vaigampur khawnga luphum diing utlou tamtak ki om a, innlam (hometown) mah ah (tamtak) iki paw tung teitei uhi (correct me if I’m wrong).

Mikhual vui a kivui ichih chiangin, mahni khua lou, khodang a kivui, ahihkeh, khotual hilou khotualte inn khat (tanau/beh-le-phung) inn pansan a kivui, chihna ahi pah hi. YPA in hantoh/vukna leh lenkhopna ah innteekna la thou mahle uh khotualte toh kibanglou zek a om hi. Himahleh, YPA sung ah Veng/Unit/Block-bing ah zuih leh pai dan akibang vek kei. Atangpi in mikhual vui a kivui te nitak khat kia YPA min a leenkhawmna a om a, inntekna leng ala uhi. Aban ahihleh, innveng leh ngainatute khohar leenkhopna hun, chihdan hi’n ka thei hi. Sing(khuah) leh Anntang don, chihte a om kei (Lamka ah veng/unit khenkhat in misih chiang a sing(khuah) don a omsak nawn kei uh, chihthu kaza). Unit/Block khenkhat in Mikhual Han di atoh chiang un akizom (midang ate toh) in atou ua, khenkhat leuleu in mun tuam deuh (akil koilak hiam) mikhual vui-na di abawl tuam uhi (hiai chiah zaw, hanmual leitang kidaih leh kidaihlouh in leng thu apaw kha diing). Hiai omdan bel, eimi isate lakah khat peuhpeuh ah kivui poi sa khol kei mahle hang mikhual vui a kivui diing, chihna ahi (correct me if I’m wrong).

Ahihleh, kuate mikhual vui a vui diing? Kuate mikhuallou vui a vui diing?  Ngaihtuah zual na ah, adawnna haksa hetlou di abang. Khosunga omlou/teenglou te mikhual vui a vui diing, chih ahi lel hi. Hiai saanga sau zaw deuh in ngaihtuah lai le, hiai atung a i dawnna uh haihuai lua bang thei hi. I pianna leh khankhiakna khua/gam i it chiat ua, i ngaina chiat uhi. Ahihhangin, nekzonna/sepna toh kisai in India khopi tuamtuam a khosa tamtak i om ta uh (gamdang tanpha ah leng). Tua mun ah innmun-loumun va nei kei mahle hang, innluah leh quarter ah innkuan a khosa hunkhop ki omta hi. Ahihhang in a hometown uh chuh i Zogam ua khuate laka khat ahi a, huai ah innmun-loumun anei chiat tangpi uhi (correct me if I’m wrong).

I khotaang uah phatuamngai pawlpi YPA ahi a – panpih ngaite panpih; Khristian hinkhua tawisang; hun-awl zatdik; chihte thupi in nei hi. Ahi’a, hiai bang paipih thupi hoihtak nei phatuamngai pawlpi ah eite (mipi/nautang) ahon huamtelna diing in hih diing a om hi. Eite’n mi iva panpih/kithuahpih leh lusuunna iva suunpih kia lel hilou in, Annual Membership fund te leng piak angai hi. Hanmual tan theihna diingin hanmual fee piak angai a; hankuang YPA in ahon bawlsak theihna di hankuang fee piak angai nawn a; YPA member hihna diingin Membership fee a om nawn. Hiaite kumkhat a khatvei alom apiak ahi (tangpi). YPA Annual fund lakah heltel (tangpi) in om hi. Tam lua bel ahi khol kei. Azawng pen tan in leng apiak zoh diing tan uh ngima bikhiah ahi (tangpi). I gensa bang in Veng/ unit/ block teng zuih leh paidan akibang kei. Khenkhatte’n tuabanga fee pelou, muntuam a om, khomun a kivui utte’ kiangah Annual fund leh sum bangzah hiam (abikhiak zah uh) pia in, mikhual vui chih agingsak sese kei (omsak kei) uhi. Akhen in bel, Annual fund i gente uh ni 7 tan in a valid sak uh. Huai omdan ahihleh, annual fund apiak nung uh ni 7 ching nailou a si a om uhleh mikhual vui a vui di, chi uhi (YPA Annual fund piak theih hun kihong tan a peloute, muntuam a omte genna ahi). Veng dangkhat in lah YPA Fund yearly renewal fee dan ala in, huai apiak nak uhleh koimun peuh ah om le uh leng, sihni-manni a YPA in inntekna la thei, chih bang a om. Zuih tumta neilou a, mun/khua tuam dungzui a Dan bawl thei chiat. Heutute leh pawlpi gense dana lat khak di lauh/utlouhna ziak a, hiai bang DAN kibawl pen hoihsak suk pah theih tham hi. Ahihhangin, case tuamtuam om thei dite ngaihtuahna a, phatuamngaihna ipaipih pen uh thei kawm a, thupukna lak tuak mahmah hi. Case om thei khat bang en ta le: Muntuam a khosa khat damlou. Ki etsak. Dam khe zou dia kikoih. Mahleh, Si phut mawk. Innmun-loumun neihna mun a vui nuam. Kipua. Si dia kikoih louh uh ahihchiang ua, tua ni 7 ma a fund (sum) va sunglou. Innlam tun tak ua sung. Himahleh, mikhual vui a vui a om (correct me if I’m wrong).

Phatuamngai pawlpi chi a ikisak theihpih mahmah uh, kol leh vaite’n aneih louh uh, YPA bang in leng i paidan uh etthak zekzek ngai di tamtak a om diing. Dem utna leh soisel utna ziak ahi kei. Unit/block teng paidan kibang veklou, mahni khua/veng/unit/block te adia lemtang zaw diing a paidan tuam neih chiat. YPA GHQ ki golhlou dan a om isak chiang in lah zuih/paidan kibang di chi hileh kilawm zeel. Lah, Central Lamka YPA te’n amau adia lemtang zaw diing gelna a hantou dia mi agoih thu ua lah kigolh zeel uh. Ahihhang a akibang a zuih diing Dan (constitution) kichiantak nei lah hilou zeel. Khualgam apat si delhte veng khenkhatte’n angak theihlai ua, khenkhatte’n ngak theilou, chih khawng te alah bangmah gen lou thepthup zeel. Ki golhlou. Khentuam neilou a vaihawm diing, chih paipih a kineih lai un, khenkhat te dia vuahzu sak a, khenkhatte dia nisa sak dana kilatna hun bang dawk thei zeel. Hi lemluam. Mumal chiahlou (correct me if I’m wrong).

Hun paisa leh tu naichin a khosakna khua lou a kivui (hometown) te khenkhat en zual le: Pu Thangthuam, IPS te innkuan asepna/nekzonna ziak in imphal ah sawttak ana khosa ua, Lamka a hometown uh ahi (di). Vangtah huaitak in ahong si a, Lamka a kivui atel ua, vui in a om. Pi Chhungi leng tuabang bok. Himahleh, amaute mikhual vui in aki vui lou uh hi’n ka thei (correct me if I’m wrong). Alehlam ah, zanhal zek in Unaupa T Khamkhochin in hon mualliam san hi. Amah sepaih ahi. Imphal a posting ziak un, azi ate toh Imphal (Sainik) ah quarter luah in a khosa uhi. Kum 2 vel paita in. Himahleh, New Lamka ah mun-le-mual (leh inn) anei uhi. A hometown uh New Lamka ahi. Asepna te un aluang a hometown atun uh. A innkuante un atung a fund (sum) i gente ni 7 ma in an ape kha kei ua, YPA in mikhual vui in avui maimah uhi! Hiai thudik ahi.

Pawlpi khat peuh, nasem thei dia i delh leh, ki etkol na’ng sum-le-pai a poimoh him hi. Ahihhangin, tua sum-le-pai te saangmah in i phatuamngaihna mah uh pibawl zawk tuak hi. Mahni khankhiakna khua, innmun leh tanau-lainate omna khua ngoihngoih a mikhual vui a kivui chih beisak tuak hilou hiam? Sum-le-pai poimoh isak uhleh, fund pe utlou a phengpi leng samlou, omna mun leh nekzonna mun kibatlouh/tuam ziaka fund pe theiloute kianga vui theihna dia sum ilak vet ahihleh, mikhual vui chih gingsak sese dah mai le, bang achi dia? Hiai mikhual vui a kivui va chih zenzen phatuamngaihna toh leng kigamla lua hilou adiam? Banah, zuih diing kichiantak leh kibang neih tuak mahmah ta hilou hiam? Sivui hun toh kisai – vai lap leh vai laplouh bang, khual adelh te ngak leh ngak theihlouh toh kisai bang, bawlthak leh khektuak tamtak om diing hi. Pawlpi bang in Study group (commission) khat phuan a, kivaipuakdan bawlthak dan sai hun mahmah ta hi.

Ahih kei leh houh ZYA a ki merger vek di thouthou, chi a ngai sa lou vet ihihleh lah thutuam. Gen bei hita ven!!

Author’s note: Pawlpi (abiktak in YPA) demna leh soisel ahi kei. Tuadan a la i om uhleh, laigelhtupa tup ahi kei, chih thei ni. Simlei ah zaw mikhual ka hi, ahi, mikhual ka hi diak uh, ka khua mahmah aleng mikhual a sim in ka om, kuaman achih nawnlouh deuhna diing uh ngimna leh tup ahi zaw. Leh, pawlpi hawmthohna leh deihsakna ziaka – hih/paidan i neihte uh, izuih lelte uh sut kawm a – ngaihdan kupna ahi. 

© siamputhomte@gmail.com | 06.07.2011

Sihna

Lungsim a suak zual..... gen zenzen le.........

Tomchik a gen in, mihing sapum a living organism te hingsaktu biological function khawlsak in om leh, si kichi mai hi. A piangkhe peuhmah adia khatvei sih seh hi a, tangtawn daih a dam den diing ki omlou hi. Mihingte i sih nungchiang a om diing didan toh kisai leuleu ah khovel a sahkho tuamtuam te gindan ana tuam chiat hi. Himahleh, hiailam gen sawm ihi kei. 

Maban a mihing kuapeuh tung a thil tung diing chiantaka kithei omsun tuh SIHNA ahi. Pumpelh theih leng ahi sam kei hi. Mahleh, sih hun diing genkhol thei kuamah a om kei zeel. Utluat ziaka sawtpi dam leng ana hi kholkei zeel. Leitung hinkhua ning kitel huai sa a, si pah ut pawl bang ana om thei leuleu ua, mahni kithat bang leng a om zeuhzeuh ta. Himahleh, hiai te lawi mi dawilok ahi zeel uhi. Sih kihtaakna pen dawilokna ahi zaw kei a, hin kihtaakna pen dawilokna ahi zaw daih hi. Khenkhat te leuleu lah kum bangtan dam diing chih theinuam in online Death Calculator, Death Meter, Death Clock, etc te ana buaipih mahmah zeel uhi. 

Nidang lai in, Khristian te lakah leng sih hun theih utna zaw ana om ahi ngei dia, Laisiangthou ah, "ka damsung kumte uh kum sawmsagih ahi a, hatna ziakin kum sawmgiat leng ahi thei hi" chih ana kigelh hi. Hiai dan a i et chiangin, tuailai hun sih hun hilou deuh in, teek leh upa hun ana hi leh, kilawm hi. Ahihhang in, "Nang seh in kum 1000 tuh zanmangta bang phet ahi ngal a, Zan ven khat sung bang phet ahi" chih Laisiangthou mah in ana gen zeel hi. Huaiziakin, sih hun diing buaipih ek pen thil haihuai pi khat ahi, achih theih...

Sih zoh chiang diing khual a hinkhua zat diing ahi diam? Ahihkeh, Dam sunga mite adia phattuam thei pen dia hinkhua zat? Hin manpha maw, Sih manpha? Koi atel huai zaw dia? Huai bel nang deihtelna ei mai ve............

@siamputhomte.blogspot.com

Phattuamngaihna leh Lusuun hun a ki-uapna

Paite lak aleng adaapzar leh Unau Lushei/Duhlian pau naih lam deuhte'n 'tlawmngaihna' achi ua, ataangpi in, ei Paite lakah 'phattuamngaihna' kichi hi. Tlawmngaihna ichih leng Paite pau mah ahi thou hi. Atomlam a gen in, panpih ngaite panpih ichih 'phattuamngaihna' ahi mai hi. LST in, "nna hoih sem diinga siam a om in, Amah khutsuak ihi ngal ua…" ana chi hi. Huaibel, panpih ngaite panpih a nna hoih sepna pen 'phattuamngaihna' ahi pah a, Khristian hinkhua tawisanna khat leng ahi hi. Taihmakna toh leng aki gamla kei.

Alehlam ah, phutluih a midangte' na va/ki sepsak, minhoih leh pahtaak deihziaka kuahiam panpihna/nasepna, muhkik diing lam-etna toh mi panpih, ichihte phattuamngaihna aki chi thei kei hi. Banah, taimataka akullou hetlou leh mite adia thil hoihlou/poi va sep/hih ichih 'phattuamngaihna' akichi thei kei hi. Phatuam ngaitak in mi van vaguk, chih bang phattuamngaihna kampau zatkhelhna khat ahi.

Khenkhatte'n phattuamngaihna aki genkhak chiangin lusuun hun a ki uap-na kia toh ana mekmat kha pahpah sek uhi. Lusuunna hun a ki uapnate tengteng leng phattuamngaihna ahih toh ki rualrual in, hiai polam a mite panpihna te leng phattuamngaihna ahi hi. YPA leh Philanthropic Organization tuamtuam akizatna apat kia 'phattuamngaihna' suah theih ahi kei hi. I pu-ipa te hunlai apat in phattuamngaihna ana om khinta hi. Tagah-meithai leh gentheite ana kankuah ua, teeksia leh hat nawnloute ana aduat uhi. 

Lusuun hun a ki uap dialdial, lusuun lenkhawm leh hantou dia kuan khawm nainai pen a nuam a, tamtakte'n phattuamngaihna hipen diing bangin i koih kha sek uhi. Lusuun huna kinaih khawm a; ki uap dialdial a; hehnepna thute gen a; late sakhawm a i om chiang un anuam a, akhamuan huai hi. Innteekte adi'n leng mite' phawkphak a om kisakna aneih theih dia, alung uh leng muang tuan mahmah di’n agintak huai hi. 

Ahi’a, khovel akhantouh dungzui in society a thil hihdante alemtang zaw diinga khek tuak tamtak ana om ta hi. Nidang, kum 15/20 vel paita in, misi a om chiangin tangval phattuamngai bangzah hiamte si inn ah va giak sek uhi. Sih lusuunna ziak a thawmhau-na thuak, innteekte’ di’n, anuam tuam mahmah diing hi. Ahihziakin, tuni chiangin hun neihdan, sep-le-bawl leh khosakdan ah kibatlouhna tamtak a om ahi ngei dia, tuni chiang in hiai chiindan tawpsan ahi ta hi. 

Hantohna toh kisai bang ah leng, tuma deuh in Central Lamka YPA te’n mi goih/lakthoh diing ahon thupuk theih khongkhong ta ua, etzual dan in phattuamngaihna om nawnlou sak theih mahmah hi. Khota zaw te adi’n bel, hi thei nai vuallou abang hi. Neekzonna/sepna leh khosakna kibatlouh ziak ahi lel kha diing. 

Khopi zaw deuh leh khota ah nektaak zondan leh innteen-louteen ah ki lamdanna tamtak a omta hi. Hindan ah leng ki batlouhna tamtak a om ta. Khopi zaw deuhte ah siamna, pilna leh laizilna a kitaitehna asaang diak hi. Sim/zil maimai a mi phak diing ahi nawn ta kei. Nekzonna leh sepna ah leng mahni hun neihdan tanlel a khotaai theih ahi nawn ta kei hi. Hun-awl hauh luat pen miphak louhna leh gentheih kipatna buk ahi ta hi. Huchi bang kal ah, siatna leng asaang hiaihiai nawn a, huntawk theihlou khamtheih-guihtheih chiinna tuailai tamtakte lak ah a uang mahmah ta. Taksa mahmah adia leng zawnkhaalna leh thildang himhim vei khak nawnlouhna diing khop a khamtheih sal a taang tamtak a om ta hi. 

Huchi bangkal ah, tulai in, tuailai tamzawte siamsinna leh sepna/nekzonna ziak in mundang ah a om ta uhi. Khosung/vengsung a tuailai zattheihte (khamtheih leh thilchiin hoihlou sal ataangloute) leng mahni a kitunsuah sawm a kisa ahi ta uhi. Banah, khamtheih sal ataang te nasan leng ni khat hihcheuh na'ng leng amau a kizon peihte hisim ta uhi. Huchi kawmkal ah, i khotaang uah Pawlpi tamkuamtak ki omta hi. Simlei leh saptuam vai ah. Tuailai zattaak hi a mite'n atheihte un kizatna athuah-athuah in nei uhi. Hichibang hun ah Neektak zonna leh khantouhna diing dal kha lo lawmlawm lou dia phatuamngaihna latsak/suah theihdan geel hun mahmah ta hi. 

Tu naichin a Central YPA te’n hantou dia mi goih diinga thupukna alak uh bang leng khantouh vai mahmah khat hi a theih in a om hi.

Hiai i gen chiang in, khenkhatte'n phattuamngaihna i khotaang in mansuah diing khop hial in ana ngai thei mawk uhi. Misi a om ni in, nupi-papi te a inn uah iki punkhawm ua, khamuanna thute gen in, Pathian late kisa khawm zeel hi. Tuailaite leh hatlaite'n hanmun ki zuan zeel hi. Nitak leenkhawmna ah leng nupi-papi leh tuailaite kipaikhawm khawm nawn in, dak 7/8 tan khawng leenkhopna hun va kizang nawn hi. I gam uah, nitak a nekzonna a om nai tadih lou ahihman in, hiai in nupi-papi leh tuailaite nekzonna a dal kha nawn kei hi. Laizil leh Siamsinte adi'n bel laisimna hun a zat diing ahi mai hi. Ahihhangin, phattuamngaihna a ngai a, tua hun va zang nuamte adi’n bel dak 8 nung in leng hun a om mahmah lai hi. 

Hantou dia mi va goih in phattuamngaihna sulang kei, achih theih mawk diing hi. I gentaak sa bang in, innmun ah leng va suklat theihluat ahi. Tulai in, mun tuamtuam a omkhia (sepna/laizilna leh thil dangdang ziakin) aki tamta hi. Huaiziakin, khualgam apat siluang delh ngai tamtak leng a omta hi. Ki it, kingai leh ki khelah ngoihngoihte ihi ua, sum-le-pai tamtak seengin mun gampipi apat in iki delhtuah kheukhou uhi. Huchih hun ah, nikhat ahihkeh dakkal bangzah hiam ngak lel diing leng ki vuisan, chih veng khenkhat ah gen diing a om hi. Khopi zaw (etsakna: Lamka) ah veng khenkhatte’n khual adeihte ngak mahle uh nitaklam dak 6 nung pawlpi (YPA) vai bei ahi sak uhi. Phattuamngaihna ichih vanglak leh ni 1 or dakkal bangzah hiam ngak lel diing haksa kei leh kilawm hi. Ahihhangin, nungak-tangval hantou/vuk te khualna ziak, chih ahi tangpi hi. Huaiziakin, hantou dia milaih/goih hileh, hiai nawngkai-na pen om nawnlou diing in aginhuai hi. 

[sutzop diing]

© siamputhomte.blogspot.com 

Waka Waka – Just do it (This time for Zogam)

~ Siampu Thomte

Football Kimawlna Khovel in angaihsaang penpen ahih kei zenzen lehleng eilawi in i ngaihsang penpen uh ahi ngeingei diing. Kum 4 hal teng a FIFA World Cup a om ziak mahmah in i thupi ngaih ua, khovel’ bildoh khat leng ahi him hi. Tukum 2010 FIFA World Cup, adiak in, azintuntu South Africa gam leh Africa gambupte’ phurdan a uang a, a ap-huai vuvuzelas ging vevu toh stadium sung lumzeen dan ahihtuak. Latin American (Columbian) lasiam Shakira leh African band minthang Freshlyground te’n asak uh “Waka Waka – This time for Africa” World Cup 2010 laapi (WC 2010 song) dia telkhiak in om hi.

FIFA World Cup 1930, Uruguay a akipat chiil in WC Song a omkei. England in 1966 a azintun lai un Lonnie Donegan’ Laa “World Cup Willie” World Cup Laa hihsak (official a puankhiak hi kei mahleh) in om a, huai nung World Cup in Laapi ana nei denta hi. Himahleh, alamdang mahmah bel, World Cup Laa dia telkhiak a omte World Cup aa di mawngmawng a phuah omlou hi. Ataangpi in, laa kumlui leh nidang a ana kithang khinsate khawng zat ana hizeel dan ahi. Tukum a WC Laa “Waka Waka” i chih bang leng 1986 in ana thangkhinta a, Cameroonian lasa (siam) pawl “Golden Sounds” kichite’n ana saksa uh ahi zeel hi.

World Cup 2010 laa diing ngaihtuah ahihlai in ‘Waka waka” leh Coca-cola te sponsored “wavin’ flag” te genkhak in om a, “Waka Waka – this time for Africa” telkhiak ahi. Waka waka laa dawngkhatna i etleh: “You're a good soldier/ Choosing your battles/ Pick yourself up/ And dust yourself off/ Get back in the saddle” chih ahi. Football toh kisai khakna nei hetlou abang hi. Khenkhatte’n, gamngaihlaa ahihkeh galhang laa, chi hi. Dik thou. English leh Africa Pau (Cameroonian) zatkhawm aa sak (phuah) Waka waka bel kihanthawnna leh kihihhat tuahna lam kawk ahi, kichi hi.

A bengvaklou lawitak aki hi ngei dia, 1986 khawng a ana thangkhinsa himahleh Shakira te pawl in World Cup 2010 kipatma’ ni-zaan a AXN channel a live performance abawl ua kipan kana zakkhak pat ahi leltak hi. Amik-amak kathei kei. “Waka waka - this time for Africa. oh, oh, Champion! Champion!” chih peuh kana hisak zialzial hi. Nalh chuh sa thouthou. Alaa kaih leh aluandan fuh kasak banah alaam ziahziah dante uh kha nopchi ana sa lo mahmah dan ka hi. Ka ngaina topmai. Internet (youtube) ah ka download a, nasep kawm khawng peuh in ka ngai hi. Athu ka thei nuam a. Google ah ka zong a, wikipedia site ah le ka mu hi. “Champion! Champion!” chih ana omkha teuhlou mai! “Waka waka, eh eh/ tsamina mina zangalewa/ this time for Africa…” ana hi deuh ngal hi. Alehna tak ngial le ana thulim lolou phiing maimah. Waka waka ichih “hih in/bawl in” (do it/just do it); Tsamina mina (Zaminamina) zangalewa (Cameroon) ichih tageet lah, “kua’n hong pai dia hong sawl ahia?” (who asked you to come?) chihna, ana kichi leltak hi. Hou kasa lo dek phiing hi. Ahi alah, a laa hiai teng kia ahi kei a, asau a, agen nop pen i theihchet leh thupi lo dan ana hi daih.

Taangpi theihdan in Africa i chih gam tuantual leh zawng, mi vomte teenna, kholum gam, chih khawng ahi. Uthuai lo didan in leng i ngaihtuah ngeikei diing uh. Industrial Revolution lai khawnga British (or Europeans) leh America te’n suak-le-sal dia ava nawnte uh ahi ua, simmawh leh nelhsiah in a om uhi. Bob Marley laa “Buffalo Soldiers” ah leng achiang. Hunsawt kuamtak akhangthu uh nasan leng a theikei uh. Khovel a imperialism/colonialism hatlai in Europe gamte’n a ukkhum uhi. Ahihziak in tuni chiangin khovaak amu ta ua, amau omlouhna gam om nawnlou bang khop hial in akithehzaak ta uhi. Gam khangtou lellel ahi ua, khovel’ ngaihsaang mahmah FIFA World Cup 2010 azintun ua, ahithei tan in phattuampih sawm uhi. WC 2010 Opening Ceremony bang leng atawndante uh leh a ngeinate uh khovel muh a lahna leh hih minthanna hun lemchang in azang uhi. Atomlam agen in, ahoih lam a kikhekna’ hun manpha khahsuah sawmlou ahi (diing) uh: Waka Waka – This time for Africa!

Hiai World Cup ngeina banga om dia, ngeina banga bei nawn diing. Ngeina dan mah a kum 4 nung chianga om nawn diing. Ahi lel. Mahleh, Africa adi’n tua banga ngaihzam theih ahi kei. A zintun nawn hun diing uh theihphak leng ahi samkei. Ahi, Simleivai ah, khosakna & nekzonna kong tuamtuam ah leh khantouhna thil dangdang ah hitaleh hunhoih bohfuh angai hi. A hun laitaka thilhih geih/bohgeih bang leng apoimoh lua. Tulai pau leh ‘chance’ lak siam ngai aka. Ikiim-ikiang a thiltungte (deihhuai hi in deihhuailou hitaleh) akipan in panmun akhoh theih a, tunung om diingdan bangtan hiam a geelkholh theih hi. South Africa-te’n World Cup a zintun uh amau phatuamna dia azat theih bang un, eilawi in leng thiltung (buaina hi in buailouhna hitaleh) te apan in banghiam inam-igam ua dia phatuam khat hihtheih di om diing ahi. Huai bang ahi dia le, en sin le hang maw....

Manipur dinmun melhcheuh ta le: tulai a Manipur a buaina tuamtuam piangte i kipahpih hetkei. Kum 20 paita a i na tawpsan uh MDC/ADC election thu leh NSCN (IM) Gen. Secy. Th. Muivah in Manipur/apianna khua a phak sawm Manipur Govt. in aphallouh ziakin Naga-te’n National Highway 2 (Manipur lifeline) te ah Economic Blockade pan uhi. Ni 60 val vingveng nung in hon nawn in om hi. Manipur ah Vanman nasatak in kal ngal. Tutung a Naga-Meitei kal buaina bangle ei ut-le-utlouh, deih leh deihlouh thu a buai leh veng diing uh ahi thahah kei diing. Naga-te’n amau teenna munteng gawmkhawm a vaihawmna khat nuai a koih diing achihlai un Meitei-te’n Manipur gam leitang neuchik leng keeksak/eukhiat theihlouh diing, chi threnthran zeel. Zomite’n bel thei sam mahle ei va kitaaklah theih chii le ahi kei zeel. Lah, a entu leh angaikhetu a va om det ringot le ahi thei tuan sam kei hi. Ki buai uh heh, chi a va awiluat leh kipahpih luat theih le ahi kei hi.

Tuabangkal ah, Naga-te’ deihlouh leh nawlkhin ADC/MDC eilawi in i na deihlo nawn zeel uhi. Ahi’a, Naga te’ di’n zaw le lunggulh pen ahi kholkei diing. Mahleh, Eilawi adi’n bel adeihhuai louh luatna le a om kholkei maithei. Tu’n MDC sehna bang leng i nei zouta ua, Chairman bang leng Zomi te mah hilai! Huan, Naga toh Meitei kal a kikaantuahna/kingiiktuahna a om lai in, Naga-te adi’n Zomi-te’ kithuahpihna poimoh lua hikei mahle uh, amaute kalh zawng a gamtat, kampau leh hih i neih diing uh adeih kei diing uh. Alehlam ah, Meiteite’n lah ei Zomite Naga-te kalhzawng in om le, chih ahon deih mahmah (diing) uh. Huaiziakin, zol leh heel a om lellel bang leng kihi khamoh lou di ahi. Zol leh heel a i om laitak uh ahi nget leh ngiat i neihtheih hun uh.

I theihchiatsa mah bangun, Manipur Govt. nuai ah Singtangmite i bit hetkei uh. Gam-le-leitang leh i dikna (right) nasan uh leng lakmang sak theih diing dinmun in patauh huai hi. Khantouhna nna sep di thu hong ginga, Lampi bawl (Guite Road tungtang ah) lel di natan ah dal theihna chiteng a dal in i om uh. Census thu hong ging alah, District boundary thubuai om sak teitei-na toh ging khawm zeel. Hiai tenglou leng thildang tamtak a om. Genseeng kei ni. Hiai teng lel akipan in leng hihtheih, bawltheih leh phuut diing bangzah hiam a om (diing).

Huaiziak in, enle ‘Waka Waka - this time for Zogam’ chi ni. Churachandpur kichi bang leng Lamka a khek zoh ngeingei dia panlak diing; I MDC uh leh MLA/Minister te uh makaih a. India constitution a om, singtang gam leh leitang, tawndan leh ngeinate kepbitna diing, leh, kivaihawmna tuam (Manipur state sung ah - phot in) Sixth Schedule bang, nidang teng saanga chitak zaw in panla le hang, suang huan sawm kibang hetlou na diing ahi. Chih taktak na toh i sual nak peuh uhleh......

Hiai ahi i gengen, waka waka - just do it!

ZC Demand to GoI: Autonomous Tribal State Under Provision 244A

The Zomi Council has demanded, to the Government of India, for “Creation of an Autonomous Tribal State in Manipur, under the provision of Art.244A of the Constitution of India’’. In a memorandum submitted to the Hon’ble Home Minister, the Zomi Council pointed out this to be the most workable solution, if not the best, to solve the present problems besetting the State in the state of Manipur.

Justifying on their demand for Creation of an Autonomous Tribal State in Manipur, under the provision of Article 244A of the Constitution of India, the Zomi Council stated that the majority community become too sensitive towards tribal issue. The majority community remains suspicious of every tribal move, even if it was with the best intention. The memorandum further stated that the tribesmen began to lost confidence in the leadership of majority community. The repeated anti-tribal policies and stand adopted on tribal issues-both overt and covert- pushed the tribal to the extend of believing that, “ It is far better to live separately in peace than to live together in a mixed set-up with the possibility of incessant discords”. 

Article 244 (A) states --

244 A. Formation of an autonomous State comprising certain tribal areas in Assam and creation of local Legislature or Council of Ministers or both therefor. 

(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may, by law, form within the State of Assam an autonomous State comprising (whether wholly or in part) all or any of the tribal areas specified in 7[Part I] of the table appended to paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule and create therefor— 

(a) a body, whether elected or partly nominated and partly elected, to function as a Legislature for the autonomous State, or 

(b) a Council of Ministers, or both with such constitution, powers and functions, in each case, as may be specified in the law. 

(2) Any such law as is referred to in clause (1) may, in particular,— 

(a) specify the matters enumerated in the State List or the Concurrent List with respect to which the Legislature of the autonomous State shall have power to make laws for the whole or any part thereof, whether to the exclusion of the Legislature of the State of Assam or otherwise; 

(b) define the matters with respect to which the executive power of the autonomous State 

shall extend;

(c) provide that any tax levied by the State of Assam shall be assigned to the autonomous 

State in so far as the proceeds thereof are attributable to the autonomous State; 

(d) provide that any reference to a State in any article of this Constitution shall be construed as including a reference to the autonomous State; and 

(e) make such supplemental, incidental and consequential provisions as may be deemed necessary. 

(3) An amendment of any such law as aforesaid in so far as such amendment relates to any of the matters specified in sub-clause (a) or sub-clause (b) of clause (2) shall have no effect unless the amendment is passed in each House of Parliament by not less than two- thirds of the members present and voting. 

(4) Any such law as is referred to in this article shall not be deemed to be an amendment of this Constitution for the purposes of article 368 notwithstanding that it contains any provision which amends or has the effect of amending this Constitution. 

What is the Jan Lokpal Bill, why it's important

The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body  that would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year and envisages trial in the case getting over in the next one year. 

Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Bill envisages a system where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without government permission. 

Retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi and other known people like Swami Agnivesh, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Anna Hazare and Mallika Sarabhai are also part of the movement, called India Against Corruption. Its website describes the movement as "an expression of collective anger of people of India against corruption. We have all come together to force/request/persuade/pressurize the Government to enact the Jan Lokpal Bill. We feel that if this Bill were enacted it would create an effective deterrence against corruption."

Anna Hazare, anti-corruption crusader, began a fast-unto-death today, demanding that this bill, drafted by the civil society, be adopted. The website of the India Against Corruption movement calls the Lokpal Bill of the government an "eyewash" and has on it a critique of that government Bill. It also lists the difference between the Bills drafted by the government and civil society.

A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:

1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up 

2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.

3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.

4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction. 

5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.

6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.

7. But won't the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process. 

8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.

9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician. 

10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.

http://indiaagainstcorruption.org

ZRO/ZC's Autonomous Tribal State: Mimal Ngaihdan

Thil himhim ahoihlam kipiak diing mah ahi dia, ahi theilou diing bangmah a om kei. Politics ah hi in tics lou ah hita leh; himahleh ihihsak sawmdan leh tua dia panlakdan ah aki nga lel diing hi. Kuhkal, chitak, geel detdet leh panmun khohsiam apoimoh hi. ZC (or ZRO) in leng tu'n Autonomous Tribal State (ATS) under section 244A of the Constitution of India demand i bawl ua, heutute'n akim-akiang di leh ahi thei didan study/research nguttak a bawl a, demand abawl uh hi diing leng ikoih hi (amau hihtheih tantan ah). Mi tuamtuam (heutu hilou, minautang) abawl leng a om kha diing ua, huaite' lakah hithei (muhtheih) dia gingta lou leng a om ngei diing uh. Bangteng hileh, i demand a i serious taktak a, chitak ihihleh, hithei lou dia ana sui pawlte point chiamteh a, huaite pelh (overcome) theih didan ngaihtuah leh panmun khoh angai diing. Hi theilou dia gingtate leng lunglel leh pessimist lo dan a koih pah diing zong hi khinlou kha diing hi. 

Constitution zil ka hi kei a, asimkha maimai khawng chuh ka hi sam di (examination point of view lel in). Huaiziak in, kenleng baihtaka muhtheih/ngahtheih didan in ka koih kholkei ngut a, central thuzoh le hang leng State Govt in hon reccomend diam, ahihkeh, Manipur Tribal tengteng leng aki tuak diam? chih khawng a om a, panmun khohsiam angai dia, maban chuh sah mahmah maithei eive.

Lawi khenkhat gendan a, review committe ahihkeh, ATS Demand committee bang bawlkhiak a, huai laka Manipur Govt toh kisai a thuthei deuh di, Central Govt toh kisai leh tribe dangte toh kikal a kihouna, diplomatic skill nei deuh di leh zilna nei (research scholar, etc) te bang leng telsak di. Zomi lak ah leng Central Govt aleng top post leen a retire ta bang leng bangzah hiam ki om ta, zilna lam a leng doctorate degree ngah thei bang ki om samta. Hiai te kai khawm thei a, amaute leh mipi ngaihdan i pool khawm theih in chuh, ATS imuh louh tawp un, anuai adeuhte kimu mahmah di eive. Ahunsawt bel thuthuam hita leh.

Ahi'a, pawlpi (organisation) sung ah ki makaihdan leh mipi toh kisai dante, tulel dinmun dan a pai a, organisational structure te lawi etthak ahih kei zeel leh bel, mipi muanna ki ngahlou thei ahi, chih ka muhdan ahi. Morality issue mahmah leng ngaih poimoh tuak kasa hi. 

Banah, Demand a hahtaka pai, haichilhpih dek zozen in, issue tuamtuam (i teenna manipur state toh kisai) omte ngaihsak a neilou zozen chi bang leng om thei diing. ATS i muhchiang a, hiai tengteng hong hoih mai diing, chi dan a pai mawk theih din ka ging kei. Chihbel, i demand mupah diing dan khawng a kikoih khak theih mawk ahi. 

Political demand kum 10 halhal hiam in i bawl zeel ua, memorandum bang leng tamkhop government a ki denglut kha ta ahihna ah, Past mistake/experience akipat zil diing tampi om ta hi ven, chi in tutung a demand chuh mu thou diingin ka koih ve, kei chuh.

Gam-le-leitang thu a HAMHAIHNA

SSPPNet ah tulai in Gam-le-leitang thu leh, Manipur Govt. in Singtanggam toh kisai ah Act tuamtuam bawl sawm in akisingsa hi. SSPPNet ah "Autonomous State under Article 244A-Is it really feasible or achievable" chih thulu ah kikupna paizeel a, tamtakte'n gam-le-leitang kepbitna toh kisai a mangbat thu agen uhi. Tua bang kal ah, thukup hiai anuai abang bawl ahi:

Na hamhaihna thute uh kana  simsim chiangin, ka theihlouh thute thei thak a navaak tuan mahmah diing kasak leh, na hon loh ua, hamhaihna kokhuk ah ka kesuk! I topic/subject bang uh leng Article 244A lamlam hi kei henla'n, "Hamhaihna Gam a Chihmawhna" ('Hamhaih kidemna' chuh hilou in) houh ahi zaw diam? Kenle hamhaihna point 6 tak (dotna le hi thou in) kon bawl di :-)

1. Hamhaihna masa pen din, MLR & LR Act kizatna khua 89 te bangbang ahi, hong gen thei i om di ua aw? Manipur ah khua (Village) 2391 om laka 89 a MLR & LR Act kizang i chi ua, i houlimna ua pat in Lamka bang le khua 89 te laka tel kha hileh kilawm in kana thei. Guite kual/Thanlon bial khuate ah chuh hiai MLR & LR Act kizang lou (nailou) ahi di maw?

2. Gam/khua neitu (hausa) kiluah tou (inheritance) i chi ua, ahihleh Singtanggam (Guite kual & etc) a mimal in gam alei te register bawl ahihnak leh neitu hihna taktak (legal ownership) nei uh hilou di hiam? Kana theih dan in, singtanggam a gam lei ahih a, register bawl ahih chiangin, "unsurveyed hill land measuring about so and so acres/hectares...." chi in ki gelh sek a, ahihleh unsurveyed land ahih ziaka neitu hihna taktak kinei tuanlou di ahi diam? Huchi ahihleh, unsurveyed land leh Surveyed land in kibatlouhna nei tuanlou di avoi maw? Huchi ahih thouthou ahihleh, PRI bang deihhuai lua hilou di? Community (land) ownership deihhuai zaw di hilou di amaw? 

3. Tua omdan (i gendan un), ut hunhun a hausa beisak theih didan bang kasa. Chihbel, hausate kianga a Govt./GoM in compensation apiak nak leh (adik diam?). Ahimhim in, Kho hausa ichih te bangziak a kho hausa hi uh ahi di? Nidang lai a galhat a gam alak zeel ziak uh ahi diam? Or, British te'n gamlai ana piak ziak ua hausa hi mai uh ahi diam? Ahihkeh, tulai in, utziak leh neih zoh ziaka kho hausa hihtheih ahi diam? Huchi kawmkal ah, Hausa bang beisak hita leh, agam/khua uh Govt. ah lut hita chi aw? Mimal in gam lianpipi hausate akipan aleite uh lah, register hoihtak a kibawl, sale deed ngen hi zawmah, value sang taktak ngen bang hi'n chin, huaite le Govt. aa hi mai di ahi diam? Amau lawi in compensation amu sam du'am? Amuh kei di uh leh bel, midang teng saanga amau lawi adia, PRI or The Manipur (Hill Areas) District Councils (Fourth Amendment) Act, 2011 & The Manipur (Village Authorities in Hill Areas) (Amendment) Act, 2011 te deihhuai hetlou di mah ei voi maw?

4. Conversion of land use toh kisai ah, Mimal in singtamgam a gam lianpipi a lei chiang ua kha 'agriculture land' chi a kigelh taangpi in ka thei a. Etsakna din (eilak ah): Heutupa D. Kamsuanthang bang in Maukot gam lianpi lei (kichi) in, huaikha lou (farm) bawlna di, huchibang mah in, Pu Lian C Tombing bang in Tonglon (P), huchi bangbok in, Enpum, Suangdoh, Aibulon, Lungchin, Lungthul, Singngat, etc bang leng Lamka leh Imphal a mihausa bangzah hiamte'n lei uh. Akhen in, lou/farm bawl uh. Summuhna dia zang thei. Hiai a gam kileite agriculture land apat in Residential land din conversion abawl thei du'am? Bawl thei le uh, khua sat a, kho hausa khat suak thei di uh hilou ahi diam? Huchia M/o Rural development nuai a fund tuamtuam te ngah thei zawmah di uh hilou maw?

5. Unau Thadou te bang in leng gam hah lei petmah un, Namdang khua (abikin Zomite khua) ah gam lianpipi lei uh. Khothak sat uh. Kho hausa (Ningthou) ki behlap zungzung mai uh. Singngat Constituency sung bang i etleh, Nidang a Thadou/Kuki tam hetlou. Paite te saanga leng tawmzaw tham uh. Tua chuh khothak tam mahmah ta. Inn tawmchik om napi voters tam petmah om uh. MLA bang nei theita mawk uh. Village grouping di bang chuh buaipih a nei kha vetlou uh (bang).....

6. Eilak ah bang ah leng, mihausate'n gam alei chiang un, eisung kia khawngah ki lei mawk lou in, namdangte lak khawnga lei in, khothak sat thei didan khawng ngaihtuah thei mai le, chih huai simsim aka (ei gam lah namdangte khut i tunsaklouh kawmkawm un). Tua issue i gengen te uh bang leng, Manipur vaihawmna innpi a hon tangkou sak diing omlou bang maimah. MLA bang tam nei zaw deuhle houh, khat bek thuzohzoh om na lou di adiam, chih sim in om. Politics i sai dek taktak chiang ua 'politics is all about numbers' chih hi zeel.... Solkal a sik-le-tang a pau di poimoh sa lah kibang, lah, ngaihsak (zou) tuan taktak lou. Gamkeek ut lua hina pi, mimal nopsakna ditan lel khawnga ki makaih (ki bang). 

End line: Huai pek apat tuni tan, akhonung pil lam ngen in i pai ua, lawite va-uk a leeng (dek)chiang ua lah Patau dak khen bongbong zeel.  I gengen/kikupkup chiang ua lah complicate gai vek zeel. Abul ah kipan thakni, chih lah om thei nawnlou. Hamhaihna tuichiim tunga Buaina Longpi a tuang in, leitak laka ki galkai thei mahmah lou! SOS message lah zak a om ngeilou. I va gengen chiang ah lah, "who will bell the cat" chih kitung suk zeel!

So, can somebody bell the cat?

But, i, me and myself cannot bell the cat!!!

from helplessness to hopelessness..................

Daybreak reveals huge devastation in tsunami-hit Japan

Reuters: Japan confronted devastation along its northeastern coast on Saturday, with fires raging and parts of some cities under water after a massive earthquake and tsunami that likely killed at least 1,000 people.

Daybreak revealed the full extent of the damage from Friday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake -- the strongest in Japan since records began -- and the 10-metre high tsunami it sent surging into cities and villages, sweeping away everything in its path.

"This is likely to be a humanitarian relief operation of epic proportions," Japan expert Sheila Smith of the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a commentary.

In one of the worst-hit residential areas, people buried under rubble could be heard calling out "help" and "when are we going to be rescued", Kyodo news agency reported. TV footage showed staff at one hospital waving banners with the words "Food" and "HELP" from a rooftop.

In Tokyo, office workers who were stranded in the city after the quake forced the subway system to close early slept alongside the homeless at one station. Scores of men in suits lay on newspapers, using their briefcases as pillows.

The government warned there could be a small radiation leak from a nuclear reactor whose cooling system was knocked out by the quake. Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered an evacuation zone around the plant be expanded to 10 km (6 miles) from 3 km. Some 3,000 people had earlier been moved out of harm's way.

Underscoring concerns about the Fukushima plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, U.S. officials said Japan had asked for coolant to avert a rise in the temperature of its nuclear rods, but ultimately handled the matter on its own. Officials said a leak was still possible because pressure would have to be released.

The unfolding natural disaster prompted offers of search and rescue help from 45 countries. China said rescuers were ready to help with quake relief while President Barack Obama told Kan the United States would assist in any way.

The northeastern Japanese city of Kesennuma, with a population of 74,000, was hit by widespread fires and one-third of the city was under water, Jiji news agency said on Saturday. The airport in the city of Sendai, home to one million people, was on fire, it added.

TV footage from Friday showed a muddy torrent of water carrying cars and wrecked homes at high speed across farmland near Sendai, 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Ships had been flung onto a harbour wharf, where they lay helplessly on their side.

Boats, cars and trucks were tossed around like toys in the water after a small tsunami hit the town of Kamaichi in northern Japan. Kyodo news agency reported that contact had been lost with four trains in the coastal area.

Japanese politicians pushed for an emergency budget to fund relief efforts after Kan asked them to "save the country", Kyodo news agency reported. Japan is already the most heavily indebted major economy in the world, meaning any funding efforts would be closely scrutinised by financial markets.

Domestic media said the death toll was expected to exceed 1,000, most of whom appeared to have drowned by churning waters. Even in a nation accustomed to earthquakes, the devastation was shocking.

"A big area of Sendai city near the coast, is flooded. We are hearing that people who were evacuated are stranded," said Rie Sugimoto, a reporter for NHK television in Sendai. "About 140 people, including children, were rushed to an elementary school and are on the rooftop but they are surrounded by water and have nowhere else to go."

Japan has prided itself on its speedy tsunami warning system, which has been upgraded several times since its inception in 1952, including after a 7.8 magnitude quake triggered a 30-metre high wave before a warning was given.

The country has also built countless breakwaters and floodgates to protect ports and coastal areas, although experts said they might not have been enough to prevent disasters such as the one that struck on Friday.

"I was unable stay on my feet because of the violent shaking. The aftershocks gave us no reprieve. Then the tsunamis came when we tried to run for cover. It was the strongest quake I experienced," a woman with a baby on her back told television in northern Japan.

FIRES ACROSS THE COAST

The quake, the most powerful since Japan started keeping records 140 years ago, sparked at least 80 fires in cities and towns along the coast, Kyodo said.

Other Japanese nuclear power plants and oil refineries were shut down and one refinery was ablaze. Auto plants, electronics factories and refineries shut, roads buckled and power to millions of homes and businesses was knocked out. Several airports, including Tokyo's Narita, were closed and rail services halted. All ports were shut.

The central bank said it would cut short a two-day policy review scheduled for next week to one day on Monday and promised to do its utmost to ensure financial market stability. The disaster occurred as the world's third-largest economy had been showing signs of reviving from an economic contraction in the final quarter of last year. It raised the prospect of major disruptions for many key businesses and a massive repair bill running into tens of billions of dollars.

The tsunami alerts revived memories of the giant waves that struck Asia in 2004.

Warnings were issued for countries to the west of Japan and across the Pacific as far away as Colombia and Peru, but the tsunami dissipated as it sped across the ocean and worst fears in the Americas were not realised.

The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world in the past century. The quake surpasses the Great Kanto quake of Sept. 1, 1923 which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area. The 1995 Kobe quake caused $100 billion in damage and was the most expensive natural disaster in history. Economic damage from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was estimated at about $10 billion.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. 

[Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by John Chalmers]

2014: Year of Rahul?

~Ashok Malik

As expected the Independence Day weekend came accompanied by a flurry of opinion polls, and a quantitative and qualitative tracking of the national mood and the issues on the top of India’s mind. Broadly, commentators and pollsters alike gave the government something to grin about. They indicated the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government hadn’t lost ground dramatically from the time of the Lok Sabha verdict of May 2009. This was despite the lacklustre 15 months in office.

Such estimations are in line with political assessments in New Delhi. More than the government’s strength, they speak for the Opposition’s weakness. The second UPA administration’s record has been patchy and wishy-washy. Yet, it has been helped by the fact that the National Democratic Alliance is still finding its feet. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) performance in Parliament has been purposefully compared to the previous five years, but it is too early to suggest this will have an impact on popular voting intentions.

Curiously, there was one question in the recent India Today magazine’s opinion poll that evoked a vastly different response from previous occasions. Asked about the best choice for Prime Minister, 29 per cent opted for Rahul Gandhi, 16 per cent for Atal Behari Vajpayee, 13 per cent for Sonia Gandhi and only one per cent for Manmohan Singh. In a similar poll in March 2009, Mr Gandhi had found eight per cent support and Dr Singh had topped the list with 18 per cent.

The responses to the “Who should be Prime Minister?” question are suggestive. They represent a fractured, coalitional polity — which is why no single individual scores a very high, say, 50 per cent. They reflect a sense of disquiet with the current administration and the search for a strong, more decisive alternative. The urging for a moderate, mainstream non-Congress option is undeniable: note Mr Vajpayee’s strong numbers despite his retirement from politics. Finally, they articulate a growing momentum for change, which is the wave (or wavelet) Mr Gandhi hopes to ride.

Unlike, for instance, Mr Vajpayee and L.K. Advani in the BJP, there is no duality between Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi, at least not one that is politically obvious. As such, a fair section of Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s support is likely to be smoothly transferable to her son. This makes his numbers even more formidable, at least on paper.

So is Mr Gandhi a shoo-in for 2014? Predictions are pointless and one can only speculate on his calculations and challenges. But there are three to reckon with.

First, the Congress seems to be reconciled to a below-par legacy of the UPA II government. By presenting Mr Gandhi as the alternative, it aims to translate straightforward anti-incumbency into a sense of fatigue with the entire existing political class. If the Opposition cannot come up with a charismatic figure with an all-India appeal or at least the political capacity to steer a rainbow coalition, and if the Congress’ rivals cannot find a hard issue on which to nail the top leadership of the party, then the only new factor in 2014 could be, well, Mr Gandhi’s “newness”.

Second, how “new” would Mr Gandhi really be in 2014? He would have been an MP for a decade. It wouldn’t be easy for him to delink himself from the perceived shortcomings of 10 years of Congress rule. Neither would he be an outsider — in the manner of US President Barack Obama and the Democrats. He would be very much a party establishment figure. He is already general secretary; by 2014, he may have risen higher.

Adversaries of Mr Rahul Gandhi have accused him of exercising authority without responsibility, of avoiding government positions, of not making concrete policy interventions. It is difficult to entirely disagree with such criticism. To the Rahul camp, however, these are necessary if he has to begin the 2014 campaign on a clean slate, without the association (or taint) of incumbency.

Such a twin-track approach — with the ruling party appropriating the Opposition space as well and addressing the electorate’s aspiration for change — is not impossible to accomplish. The Left and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee did it in West Bengal in 2006. Nevertheless it is decidedly convoluted. Can the Congress pull it off over a five-year period?

Third, in 2009, Mr Gandhi certainly got the Congress an incremental vote among key demographics — brahmins and Muslims in the Hindi heartland, a pan-Indian urban constituency and so on. How far can this process go?

This is not the 1970s or 1980s and the Congress is not expecting two-thirds majorities. Even so, there is a big contrast between the 206 Lok Sabha seats it won in 2009 and, for instance, a target of 250 seats. This is the contrast between dependence on one ally or the other, and more or less running a government on your own. A Gandhi family member will only accept the prime ministry in the second situation.

For Mr Gandhi to deliver those 50-odd extra seats, the Congress will need to make key gains in Uttar Pradesh and win 45-50 of that state’s 80 seats. In 2009, it won 23. To be fair, Mr Rahul Gandhi realises this and has been focusing his energies on that one state, where politics has devolved into a two-horse race between the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress.

This makes the 2012 Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh the true teaser-trailer for the national vote two years later. Mr Rahul Gandhi will need to deflect the shortcomings of the UPA government — chiefly high food prices, successfully sell a new idea and perhaps a new face to Uttar Pradesh, overcome the decrepit and compromised nat­ure of the Congress leadership in the state, and yet defeat May­awati. If he can do that, the road to 2014 will be clearer. If not…

[SOURCE: THE ASIAN AGE | AUG. 17, 2010]

In love, pain is a blessing

Love is painful, but the pain is certainly a blessing. Love is painful because love brings growth. Love demands, transforms and is painful because love gives you a new birth. 

Love brings your heart into relationship -- and when the heart is in relationship there is always pain. If you avoid the pain, you will miss all pleasures of life. With love you become human; you stand erect on earth. With love you are vertical. 

With love are problems. But with problems is growth -- the greater the problem, the greater the opportunity. More and more pain, too.

That's why many people never love -- it is so painful. They never become vertical.

Love never shatters you completely. It simply shatters you a little, a little bit. It shatters the crust of your ego, but the centre of the ego remains intact. Then there is a deeper pain, deeper than love, and that is of prayer -- it shatters you utterly. It is death. When you have learnt how to love, and you have learnt that the pain that love brings is a blessing in disguise, it is beautiful, then you become able and you take another step -- that step is prayer. 

All lovers feel a little miserable. They would like to disappear completely, but it is not possible in human relationships. Human relationship is limited. But one learns from it, that there is a possibility: if it can happen so much in a human relationship, how much more can happen in a relationship with the Divine? 

Love makes you ready to take the final jump, the quantum leap. That's what I call prayer, or you can call it meditation. You have to disappear for existence to be. Love is a training ground, a school, to learn first lessons -- of the beauty, of the blessing and benediction of disappearance; to learn that pain is blessed.

So when you are in love, or when love arises, cooperate with it, don't try resisting. People come to a compromise. The basic problem that I have been looking at is that lovers by and by come to a compromise. The compromise is: You don't hurt me, I will not hurt you. That's what marriage is. Then people become settled. They become so afraid of pain that they say, "Don't hurt me and I will not hurt you." But then when pain disappears, love also disappears. They exist together. 

When you are in love, love hurts. It hurts terribly.

But never resist, never create any barrier for pain. Allow it. And by and by you will see that it was a wrong interpretation. It is not really pain. It is just that something is going so deep in you that you interpret it like a pain. You don't know anything else. You are only aware of pain in your past life, in your past experience. Whenever something penetrates deep, you interpret it as pain. 

Don't use the word 'pain'. When love and love's arrow goes deep into your heart, close your eyes and don't use words -- just see what it is, and you will never see it is pain. You will see it is a benediction. You will be tremendously moved by it. You will feel joyous. 

Don't use words. When something new happens to you, always allow a deep look into it without any language.

[Source: The Discipline Of Transcendence, Osho International Foundation. www.osho.com]

Moms, they are a-changin'…

The mother-daughter relationship has always been a special one. But, in a changing world, today's moms live with their own pressures, perceived failures and disappointments. As a woman's role in the family changes, so does the mother-daughter relationship, says KUSUM LATA SAWHNEY.

One of the greatest relationships is the mother-daughter equation. It is a highly charged and constantly changing relationship. When you are very young, your mother is akin to a goddess. She has all the answers and can fix anything and you are her little follower. When you are a teenager, she is the most out-of-touch person who just does not understand you. We want her approval all the time and become irritable and disappointed when she is critical, for, she seems to only notice our flaws! When we are in our twenties and thirties, we again change and, hopefully, we become friends again. This is because you have matured or because marriage and childbirth also make you understand yourself better and in doing so you also have further insight into your relationship.

This was the old scenario. Today it is a different story.

It is still the greatest relationship. However, life around us has changed so much that the mother has to change to get it right. The onus is on the mother who has had to evolve. The mother has to understand, to empathise, to visualise, to work hard and also to change with the times! She has to keep the balance between your hopes and dreams and your failures and in between make sure you grow up with the right values.

Vital difference

One enormous difference between a mother and daughter of today and yesterday is the element of boredom that has crept into life today. I do not remember my mother ever being bored. I never heard her say those words. Today, on the other hand, women are bored several times a week.

They get bored shopping in the malls or the road-side stalls, they get bored working out at the gym and want to try something else immediately, they get bored going to the same old restaurant, they get bored driving their children to school.

This difference is quite glaring. One has to ask if it is the sameness that is boring? But then you would answer that there is a certain routine in everyone's lives. But when I say bored, what I am really talking about is the feeling of resentment at having to do anything that is less glamorous and less stimulating and generally less worthy of a perceived specialness.

The issue is not whether we are spoilt or not, but in fact to understand that we are spoilt and that we need to rein it in. After all, we have jobs, futures, social lives, gym memberships but not enough ‘mojo' to keep from reaching a plateau. And who is to blame? Is it the grinding routine of our busy lives? Is it the cooking, looking after the children, the partying, the caring for the in-laws or walking the dog? This theory does not seem to fit.

According to Anju, a housewife, her relationship with her mother is fraught with tension “because of her own issues of discontent”. She also adds, “my mother's routine was no more stimulating. She didn't have a job but she didn't complain because she thought she was quite lucky not to.”

It was very different before. A generation that was grateful for what they had, working constantly to make it better but realistic enough to know what was possible and what was just a pipe dream.

Everyone knew that there was a lot of hard work involved but there were good times too. Family get-togethers, parties and personal triumphs. Says Sushma Sethi, “We were much more hardy, we would do what we had to do and were genuinely grateful.” She says she never felt she was too good for anything. “If it had to be done, it had to be done”.

“A big difference in my mother's life is that she did not think of herself as a diva living a life less than she deserved,” says Bharti, a banker and her mother readily concurs. Mrs. Sheila Malhotra says, “She was content with what she had.” Bharti, on the other hand, has no qualms about being upfront: “she wants it all and wants it quickly.”

Life was tough and is tough. We make it worse by comparisons. We all know that realistic expectations are the key. “One should dream but with a sense of reality,” says Jyoti a down-to-earth mother of two. “It is so important to understand that if we want to change our lives, we'll have to think about what we can do to make that change rather than wishing we could be a movie star and live in a 26-floor mansion like the Ambanis”.

“If you are secretly resentful, it is like a slow poison that eats away at you,” says Sapna. And she should know. “My mother had a fabulous voice. I spent many years trying to be a singer but with a mediocre voice I did not get anywhere”. Today she runs a talent company and helps others up the staircase of music. She is happier and has a loving relationship with her mother who was the first one to point out her limitations. “I finally understand that she notices my every flaw but only because she notices her own so clearly.”

Changing expectations

Another big difference is that today life is much more competitive and stressful but we also expect more, are more ambitious and want more from life and we want it all now. We want it to all happen instantly. In the old days, there were rock stars but today we all believe we are rock stars or can be. It is not a bad thing to be ambitious. But we need to also get real!

We are all very special but there are yardsticks we aspire to. But we should not let them define us. It is great to have them but we need to take them with a pinch of salt.

People are generally happier when they have spent some time working out their own priorities and what is important to them. When they understand their strengths and weaknesses. It is when you measure yourself against an external barometer that you feel bad and guilty about how your life should be. Says Meena, “We are judging ourselves by other people's values.”

Doctors say it is all about the external versus the internal. If we are referencing ourselves externally we will always be unhappy. But if we live according to our internal selves, then we can make choices about what is important and then set our own standards.

Renu Tyagi, 60, who spent her entire life as a teacher says, “We were much more honest and realistic. We had clearly defined boundaries. Today it is all very vague and the adage ‘anything goes' seems to govern lives, which is not a good thing.”

Renu's mother, a sprightly 86, says, “Women didn't work in my time so we concentrated on being good home makers and always made food for our husband. Today she sees her married granddaughter constantly saying that she does not feel like cooking so the couple go out. It's as much about the changing times as it is about the evolving relationships and expectations.”

Priorities were very different then. “It was always about my family, my husband and children, my home,” says Mrs. Deol. “Today my daughter cares about her family but she also cares about herself. She is also a valued and important part of the family. Maybe it is because she also contributes to the household in a monetary way.” But not necessarily. Says Kavita, “The value of life has changed. Even a housewife is respected for bringing up her children in today's increasingly difficult world.” Agrees Mrs. Deol, “If my daughter is happy then it makes sense that her family will be happy too.”

Values are changing along with the times. Says Rima, “I was brought up liberally but I did not question everything. My daughter questions everything and paramount is her right to do what she wants within boundaries.” The young are much more forthright and unselfconscious. Says Rima, “My 15-year-old daughter wants to wear a bikini but my mother was horrified. I allowed her to wear a bikini when on holiday abroad and also when my mother was not around. Just because I didn't wear one does not mean my daughter should not. If she wants to, why not?”

New boundaries

Is that hypocritical? No, just understanding your daughter and the sensibility of your parents. It's a changing world with lots of new boundaries to work with.

As the child grows from dependence to womanhood the mother has to keep in mind the child's emotions, her need for limits, her privacy, her concern for her and her safety should not exclude the reality of an intensely smaller and global world.

Some mothers do change and can cement their relationship by being honest and forthright but some refuse to and lose out. A mother may appear cruel but by being honest she is demonstrating her love. As my mother keeps saying, “No one else will love you the way I do” and when the child understands that no matter early or late — in those times or these times — it becomes a great source of power and fulfilment. No matter the times we live in!

[SOURCE: THE HINDU | SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2011]