Bishnupriya Manipuri Online

Dr Smriti Kumar Sinha (Translated by Ramlal Sinha) SUNDAY morning. Cleansing his spectacles with a soft cloth, Narendra sat in front of the television in the drawing room. “Has it started?” His wife, Surabala, asked him from the kitchen. “No.” Surabala was busy preparing breakfast. With the serial about to start, she was in a tearing hurry. “Hasn’t it started yet?” She repeated. “No, not yet. I will call you. The background music will let you know,” said Narendra. At the very moment, a scooter stopped in front of their gate. Narendra peeped through the window. “Hey, do you hear me? Sunanda and Surendra have arrived!” He rushed to open the door. “What a pleasant surprise! Welcome, welcome. I hardly believed that you would come,” said Narendra. Surabala, on the other hand, poured two more cups of water in the kettle. In haste, she made a couple of omelettes too. “Has it started?” Surendra too questioned as he set foot in the verandah. “About to. We too are waiting,...

Cementing and extending the Bishnupriya Manipuri web presence, the Bishnupriya Manipuri Search Engine "Bisarei" has been launched. Bisarei would be a few, one-of-its-kind search engine to empower and manage knowledge resource of an Indian community. Visit the Bishnupriya Manipuri Search Engine "Bisarei" . Bishnupriya Manipuri Search Engine "Bisarei" Bisarei would facilitate and equip researchers, journalists, writers, publishers, academicians and common users to come to a common platform and meet their "search" demands. 

Bishnupriya Manipuri literature, art and culture are facing an existential crisis, thanks to the onslaught of a host of factors like Hindi movies and Western influences. But is there a way out? Certainly, says Ramlal Sinha . There should be a holy yet profitable tie-up among litterateurs, artists and industrialists of the community so as to evolve a vibrant medium that can convert the literary and cultural ventures into a dividend-paying industry. The linguistic policy being followed in Assam, mushroom growth of English-medium schools in the state, a section of yuppie generation in the community shying away from speaking the mother tongue and many other factors of their ilk have a cumulative and cascading effect on Bishnupriya Manipuri language, literature and culture. For the survival of a minor language and literature, such a cascading effect is more lethal than what a nuclear weapon is for the hard-earned and highly metamorphosed human civilization. Senior journalist and critic D...

Ramlal Sinha takes a close look at DILS Lakshmindra Sinha’s collection of folktales that mirrors the community’s life accurately. DILS Lakshmindra Sinha THE folklore of a community comprises its traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and the practices of its individuals, being transmitted orally from generation to generation. If one wants to know a community better, the surest and most effective route to that is through understanding its folklore. Folktales are an essential component of folklore, and the oral tales of the Bishnupriya Manipuris are no exception to this. The Bishnupriya Manipuri folktales, called Babeir Yari or Apabopar Yari (the tales of forefathers) by the community members, can be categorised as (1) Apangor Yari (tales about simpletons), (2) Raja-Rani baro Rajkumar-Rajkumarir Yari (tales about royal family members), (3) Bhootor Yari (tales on ghosts), (4) Soralelor Yari (tales about the Rain God, Indra and his seven scions), (5) Pahiyapolei baro Jibojantur Yari (t...

BRAJESWARI Raaikishori Aamaai dayaa karla naa Aamaar sanger sangi sabaai gelo Aamaar jaowa holo naa…  Bishnupriya Manipuri poet, Champalal Sinha, traces the origins of his poetic consciousness. Champalal Sinha CULTIVATION of poetry, study of poetry, service to the nation, society and the like are all that my life is exactly about. I am still alive because I was attracted to all these virtues at the right age. Many a cyclone of distress, shock and penury blew over my head, and keeps blowing even now; but against all odds, I am indifferent and unshaken only by virtue of my cultivation of poetry, study of poetry, and service to the nation and society. Among all these, cultivation and study of poetry inspire me the most to be resolutely self-confident. The study of any branch of literature shows one the right path of life, gives immense pleasure, inspires one to work and leads towards light. However, no other branch of literature can ...

The School Annual Day celebration is one of the biggest events of a school. It is generally organized at the end of an academic session. It is a day of great fun and enjoyment. Don Bosco School, Guwahati Don Bosco School, Guwahati, celebrated its Annual Day function on 3rd and 4th February, 2012. It was held at the school playground. Students were divided into two groups. One group performed on the first day and the other group performed on the second day. As I was a part of the first group, so I performed on the first day. Parents and guests were invited. Prof. Umesh Ch. Sarmah, V.C., Srimanta Sankardev University of Health Sciences attended the function held on 3rd February as the Chief Guest, Mr. Puru Gupta (I.A.S.), Commissioner, G.M.C, Guwahati as the Guest of Honour and Mr. Ashutosh Agnihotri (I.A.S.), Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup (Metro), Guwahati, attended as the Distinguished Guest. The programme began with felicitation of the guests and the Rector of Don Bosco School Rev...

by Asmita Sinha Today morning a tragic incident happened in my locality; a student took his own life. This tendency is gradually increasing in youths who are constantly under pressure from their own and others' expectations. Life is an asset in itself. It is precious and must not be measured in terms and conditions. It is simple and demands no complexity; only few simple needs are to be fulfilled to lead a satisfied life. But the unbridled desires, aspirations, ambitions drive us to compete, make us restless, judgemental, cynical, pessimist and desperate … Whatever conditions life brings, one must be rooted in knowledge of reality everything is transient, temporary. In fact, change is the only constant thing. The phases, conditions, opinions, perspectives all are relative, going to be changed with changing time and experiences. Man has to be flexible in perspective, of course not in ideals and ethics. All problems are temporary...People who take their life, they give permanent ...

Ramlal Sinha GUWAHATI, Feb 20 Shakuntala, Droupadi, Duhshala and Jona rose like a Phoenix from the ashes at the District Library Auditorium in Guwahati on Sunday night when actress Jyoti Sinha from Bangladesh stormed into the stage at the two-day international Bishnupriya Manipuri Literary and Cultural Festival that concluded on Sunday. The drama of Manipuri Theatre of Bangladesh, based on Michael Madhusudhan Dutt’s Kohe Birangana, was directed by Shuvashis Sinha, an alumnus of Jahangir Nagar University, Dhaka and recipient of Tanushree Padak and Munier Chowdhury Drama Award. The drama has already created a storm in various urban and rural stages in Bangladesh. The drama highlighted the plight of the woman in the society. Be her Shakuntala, Droupadi, Duhshala or Jona, she had to face the wrath her ‘dear’ male, be him Dushmanta, Arjun, Jayadartha or Neeladwaja. Right from the prehistoric days, it is the woman who has always been at the receiving end in the male-dominated society. In th...

Post Bureau GUWAHATI, Feb 20 If the greatest-ever Bishnupriya Manipuri poet Brojendra Kumar Sinha kept the literati at the District Library Auditorium in Guwahati spellbound with his eloquent lecture on poems, Northeast’s one of the top short-story writers Dr Smriti Kumar Sinha made the intellectuals present among the capacity crowd in the auditorium think the need of changes they need to bring about in the way of working for the development of Bishnupriya Manipuri language and literature. Bishnupriya Manipuri Writers’ Forum (BMWF) president Dils Lakshmindra Sinha, on the other hand, proved the talent latent in him by giving a precisely decisive direction to the two-day international Bishnupriya Manipuri literary and cultural festival right from the inauguration to the thank-giving programme by virtue of his managerial skill, apart from literary and cultural acumen. The literary extravaganza concluded on Sunday night. The auditorium was agog with literary and cultural activities on F...

Rebati Mohan Sinha A meeting of the Central General Assembly of Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha held at Rabindra Bhavan, Patherkandi, Karimganj on 29th Jan 2012 to (i) discuss present situation and (ii) fix up date and venue of 44th General Conference. The meeting started at around 11AM. in a gathering of about 200. The numbers increased later. The report said, The incharge of the reception committee was at the mike to give the welcome speech; but he kept talking on some irrelevant topics. He was later persuaded to take his seat. Then the SG of NBMM came up to speak, and followed by another five/six speakers. During the period, proposals for extension of present committee (which was not in the agenda) also raised. At last, the President, NBMM declared that the present committee had been extended to one more year (could it be kept on Ventilator as some Sr. members had apprehension, quoting, Society Act 1860 doesn’t have any provision of one year extension?). There was no debate...

Rebati Mohan Sinha In the course of my visit to metro cities, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Poona and Ahmadabad, I met our BM community people and found that senior members are having a concern – they fear that the future generation is rapidly losing the identity of its traditional culture. Indeed, I have seen that although families have achieved substantial material progress, still they are unhappy. They feel strongly that their children will suffer a fate commonly known as cultural assimilation. I told the senior members of our community that their fear might be genuine; but their present efforts were not going to yield any positive results. The real problem is that we are living in these metro cities as takers, not as givers. We strive to earn money but we don’t try to figure as giver members of these cities. In the course of a conversation, one senior remarked that the present development of metros was due to mostly to the labor of migrants. I said no, although apparently m...

By our Staff Reporter Guwahati, Feb 17: In a bid to preserve and protect the language, literature and culture of Bishnupriya Manipuri community and to discuss about the problems and challenges faced by the Bishnupriya Manipuri language, the Bishnupriya Manipuri Writer’s Forum (BMWF) is going to organize the International Bishnupriya Manipuri Literary and Cultural Festival from February 18 to February 19 at District Library Auditorium in Guwahati. Addressing a press meet here on Thursday, the president of Bishnupriya Manipuri Writer’s Forum, L K Sinha said, “ The main objective of organizing this fest is to develop a fellow feeling amongst the writers, artistes, intellectuals and social workers and to establish a cultural as well as intellectual relationship and friendship among the Bishnupriya Manipuri Writers and artists as well as intellectuals of the other linguistic groups of the Brahmaputra Valley especially of the greater Assamese society.” Putting more emphasis on creative...

- Two-day meet by Bishnupriya Manipuri Writers’ Forum begins today at District Library auditorium A STAFF REPORTER Feb. 17: Short film screening, interaction sessions and book releases — the two-day International Bishnupriya Manipuri Literary and Cultural Festival starting tomorrow — is expected to have it all. Organised by Bishnupriya Manipuri Writers’ Forum at District Library auditorium, the festival aims to promote the Bishnupriya Manipuri language, enlisted by the UN as one of the endangered languages in 2009. Writers in Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Bodo, Deuri, Mising, Karbi, Rajbongshi, Mizo, Manipuri and Nepali languages have been invited to “establish an emotional bond among the groups as well intellectual and cultural exchanges” at the festival. However, Bishnupriya Manipuri is gradually gaining importance during the past few years. It has around 15 poem collections, 10 novels and around 25 plays and uses Bengali script. The president of the forum, L.K. Sinha, said there w...

Guwahati, 17th February 2012 The Bishnupriya Manipuri Writer’s Forum is a leading registered non-govt. literary and cultural organization of the Bishnupriya Manipuri writers and artists, covering the geographical area of the North Eastern States. The forum was established in the year 2009 with the aims and objects of preservations, protection and development of Bishnupriya Manipuri Language, which is under threat of extinction and has been categorized as an endangered language by the UNESCO, SIL International and other organizations. We had organized seminars, symposiums and other literary and cultural programs from time to time to foster the development of language and culture. The Forum is going to hold the international Bishnupriya Manipuri Literary and Cultural Festival on 18th and 19th February 2012 at District Library Auditorium, Guwahati. The festival is aimed at developing a fellow feeling amongst the writers, artistes, intellectuals and social workers, to discuss about and ...

Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, Feb 17 – With an objective to preserve the cultural identity of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community, and to provide a platform for interaction among the intellectuals, the Bishnupriya Manipuri Writers’ Forum along with the organising committee formed for the purpose, is organising International Bishnupriya Manipuri Literary and Cultural Festival 2012, on February 18 and 19. The programme to be organised at the District Library auditorium, would be inaugurated by Kartiksena Sinha, ex-MLA and chairman of Bishnupriya Manipuri Development Council on Saturday at 11 am. “The Bishnupriya Manipuri people have fought a long battle to get a distinct cultural and literary identity of their own. The festival is our attempt to preserve the same,” Lakhmindra Sinha, president of the writers forum told The Assam Tribune. “However, since the majority of Bishnupriya Manipuri people of Assam live in the Barak Valley, there is still a communication gap between us and the greate...

Manipuri Theatre will hold two shows of its productions “Kohe Birangana” and “Shree Krishna Kirtan” at the International Manipuri Literature and Cultural Festival to be held in Guwahati, Assam in India. The Bangladeshi troupe will hold the shows on February 18 and 19. Moreover, the troupe will hold a couple of more shows of the plays in other places in Assam and Tripura during its ten-day tour. Chief of the troupe Shuvashis Sinha informed that the local Bishnupriya Manipuri Writers Forum in Guwahati will organise the festival, where Manipuri communities from Bangladesh and India will uphold their ethnic identity through different cultural performances. Both the Manipuri Theatre productions have been written and directed by Shuvashis. “Kohe Birangana” is based on Michael Madhusudan Dutt's “Birangana Kabya”. The play articulates four verses among 11 from the original text. The play features agony of female characters from the epic “Mahabharat”-- Shakuntala, Draupadi, Dushala and J...

By our Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, Jan 29: The Bishnupriya Manipuri Writers’ Forum will be organizing the International Bishnupriya Manipuri Literary and Cultural Festival on February 18 to February 19 at the District Library Auditorium in Guwahati. Announcing this at a press conference in Guwahati today, Bishnupriya Manipuri Writers’ Forum president LK Sinha said, “This festival is aimed at developing a fellow-feeling amongst writers, artistes, intellectuals and social workers. Here we will discuss the problems and challenges faced by the language, highlight the present state of development of the Bishnupriya Manipuri language, literature and culture as well as find out a way for faster development as well as protection and preservation of the language, literature and culture of this linguistic minority.” As part of the literary and cultural festival, a number of programmes will be organized likes poets’ meet, seminars, symposiums, artistes’ meet, editors’ meet, and publication of boo...