Bishnupriya Manipuri Online

By Prabal Atreya, Bangalore This one is solely intended for the BM reader population although we see it almost everywhere around us. No prizes for guessing the intended audience, and lets leave the upper limit open. Off course others can take a cue out of it as well and form an opinion. And this is generally not for love birds. And not that I’m seeking attention from all 30+ women out there without shying away from my desperate self to get married. I’ve been fortunate to meet quite a few women under this bracket, all so wonderful in their own ways. Some didis, some friends and some real good friends. In fact some of them surprised me with their persona which the latest ‘IT’ girls fail to display and practise. Some are really qualified, intelligent and smart. Some really are the desirable ones, which we BM men see, with jaws and tongues wide open towards women from other communities but not within. And I’m seriously proud of having known them. And sometimes, I do feel for them…I’m so...

By Prabal Atreya I would like to start off this column with my deepest condolences for the lost lives and injured lots in the LATEST Mumbai carnage; may Almighty provide strength during this time of crisis to the family members of the victims. Just a day after the blasts, I was having a regular conference call with my business partner sitting in US, and he started off the discussion with a condolence note and asked me about the ground situation there in Mumbai. I, in a quick response, based on what is shown by our very RESPONSIBLE media, described him a brief and ended up saying that “Mumbaikars are known for their resilient characters and they would bounce back to normalcy in a day or two” with a very casual tone. And then we continued with the regular stuff. But then, just after the call, as I replayed the discussion, something bothered me. With the casual tone and the content of what I said, saw me rating myself very low in my moral ME. It also reflected the attitude I possess for...

By Prabal Atreya, Bangalore I opened the newspaper and saw this loaded supplementary paper along with it. It seems the 9th of May is celebrated as the Mother's Day. I googled around, it took me to Greece as a practice, then to the American Civil War days, many individuals and groups involved US in commemorating a day for Mothers; the state of Michigan serving it for the first time, then officially at Virginia. And finally, US President Roosevelt approving at as a National Holiday. Was followed in parts of UK and Europe and spread across the world. Back to newspaper, I found columns on Moms, Super moms, doing extra-ordinary things in life, balancing acts done by them with multiple roles that they conduct in their respective everyday life. There's Kajol giving her ' motherly ' gyan, I like her. It also talked about the immortal story of ' Yashoda and her Nandalal ', Mr. A.R.Rehman dedicating his award to his mother at the Oscars. And so was Sandra Bullock at th...

Introducing everyone with a young budding talent from the field of music, Hrishikesh Sinha from Silchar. A singer composer, who, in his small little ways, have been scaling small but steady heights in his career. By Prabal Atreya , Bangalore Hrishikesh did his schooling from Oriental High School, Silchar, and graduated from G.C.College, Silchar. During his childhood, he was the favourite child when his seniors would call him for a song in every other gathering. In fact, he started off as a dancer during his school days by participating in various events, singing came at a later stage. His first big platform came in early 2005, with Khourang, a socio-cultural organisation, which organised a cultural programme, with a brilliant performance. That’s how his motivation and interest towards music, learning guitar, composing etc. began. He was supported through out by his family, particularly by his elder brother, Haridas Sinha, so much that he went on to produce his first ever...

NEWS & VIEWS By Prabal Atreya, Bangalore About a month back, a bunch of young minds, gathered to discuss the possibility of an event. These minds were all in unison, knew the importance of having a social life. They also understood for a fact that we can’t wait till everything’s hunky dory. And we would socialize when we get ourselves a swanky car, a 3-BHK, crack the CAT, so on and so forth. Because, they felt, by the time it happens, we would have lost many of the precious things and moments. But considering the challenges B’lore has, in terms of getting everyone under one roof, this appeared to be a mammoth task. So, this team set out with a single objective to have everyone in one platform, believing if this could be possible, we can get into finer things as the time goes. Each one went with an assigned task along with a deadline. In due course of time, some of us met expections; some of us did fail too. The targets were revised and the cycle continued. The young Indi...

KALEIDOSCOPE By Prabal Atreya, Bangalore Austerity. Rahul Gandhi. Shatabdi Express. SM Krishna. Shashi Tharoor. Five-Star facilities closed. Pranab Mukherjee. Shashi Tharoor again. Twitter. Cattle class. Jayanthi Natarajan. Ashok Gehlok. Media. Blogs. Most of us reading this piece would have gone through at least a few of the above mentioned in some way or the other, in the last couple of days. The austerity drive by the government that’s been labeled by the media, so-called intelligentsia, and the learned bloggers all around the country. Can’t blame them, it’s this country which has such a tarnished image about the politicians. Such has been a polit-bureau’s image that the common man does not want to distinguish between the age-old practices and good practices that are on the process. As if Rahul Gandhi and his invisible army of advisers were not aware of the fact that he cannot board a Shatabdi Express every now and then; that this drive could only aggravate his image as a lausy e...

By Prabal Atreya Well…Well…Well. Yet another airport conduct incident. Mr. Shah Rukh Khan being detained in Newark, NJ (USA). The Indian in me got furious for a moment; after all SRK does hold a place in our hearts. And I don’t compare the Badshah with the Shehenshah, both have their own forte. Maybe, as a human, I may tend to do it down the line but surely when SRK turns 60. But that does not mean ‘am putting my CRAZYmeter down for him; for I’ve also grown up with all the Yash Raj banners he was part of, seen the craze in the female fans who came to hold my hands but only to watch SRK do what he does best- Stretch his hands open so wonderfully that almost half the world’s females would get into his already suffocating heart. Sir, you almost made me a pimp then! What more, I tried doing the same magic; and got responses like- Honey! I like the way you are! Liar she was, because I never saw the same craze for me! Nevertheless, on a serious note, over the years, I also developed a fan fo...

Today is Leipakpa (Tuesday) KALEIDOSCOPE By Prabal Atreya Rakhi Sawant Rakhi Sawant! I could not help but get glued to the headlines about your TV show being aired in the last couple of days. I got a glimpse in one of the news channels where eligible bachelors were arm wrestling in order to woo your heart. TRP ratings were into an all-time high, you commanded so much attention. Let me tell you for once that the whole of the India laughs off everything that you do but deep down, applauds for you. The media said it’s yet another Jade Goody stunt…I don’t need to know her, I only know Rakhi Sawant. There are still a few in the country who would understand your stand. And why not, you are a product and this was part of your productization; you incur value for the same. Seriously, if there’s one person who could do this, that was you. It was you who could pull this off with so much of élan. Rakhi! You do not know that by being part and the central protagonist of the show, you’ve actually bee...

With all the focus in the outsourcing industry, there has been an intense scrutiny over the sustenance and credibility of it. You can hardly ignore the gripping that the same youth is getting into. A thought of where do I see myself 5 years down the line? Is the industry going to be in there for a long time, what will I do afterwards? All of that. In spite of his happy present, his thought process is limiting and cannot see beyond . By Prabal Atreya The buzzword Outsourcing today needs no introduction among the average Indian Youth. We see other synonyms in the form of Call Center, BPO, KPO, LPO etc. An average graduate looks out for one of these as soon he steps out of college. He brings along a fat salary in the first month itself, quite unheard of during the previous generations. Suddenly, he/she belongs the most suited son/daughter, boyfriend/girl friend, husband/wife. In comes a lifestyle, where black and white is just a color, gadgets became a must-have, shopping experiences were...

I consider myself a decent Bishnupriya Manipuri; I speak the language, follow rituals whenever and however possible. My idea of contributing my community was limited to be an ambassador, a representative of my community; do good in what I’m doing. With every recognition comes my identity and then I would be probably introducing myself as a proud Bishnupriya. But the big question is, is that enough?? By Prabal Atreya I am an average person with decent EQ, attitude, geo-politico-socio-cultural awareness (and all such termsJ) and doing so-so in my career blended with motivation. I’ve had pretty decent upbringing and exposure, my parents being rich on their own knowledge base and very active on the social front. They always offered to get me the best of our culture; probably I shied away deep inside. But I’ve got pretty decent amount of resources to expand my horizons overall, to say so. I think I speak my mother language pretty well, understand the rituals and practices, and abide by tho...