{"id":10902,"date":"2011-07-05T02:02:17","date_gmt":"2011-07-05T06:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kanglaonline.com\/?p=20119"},"modified":"2011-07-05T02:02:17","modified_gmt":"2011-07-05T06:02:17","slug":"the-rite-of-passage-of-every-manipuri-child-to-hindi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/2011\/07\/05\/the-rite-of-passage-of-every-manipuri-child-to-hindi\/","title":{"rendered":"The rite of passage of every Manipuri child to Hindi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_product='wpp-252';var addthis_options=\"Google+1\"<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js#pubid=kanglaonline\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>By Dr Irengbam Mohendra Singh<br \/> December 6 2010<\/p>\n<p>This is an article of thinking about thinking. Everyone thinks. It is human nature to do so. But<br \/> much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased and distorted.<\/p>\n<p>We all love our children to distraction. Then hope is not enough for their future. Children<br \/> consider themselves to be important people with rights and no responsibilities (80% in long<br \/> running American personality tests in the 1990s). Even unborn children have rights according<br \/> to anti-abortionists.<\/p>\n<p>Going through the archives of internet articles of E-Pao it seems that certain insurgent group<br \/> or groups banned the screening of Hindi films in cinema halls in Manipur for the past few<br \/> years.<\/p>\n<p>I have good reason to believe that the revolutionaries in question, were then engaged in re-<br \/> moralising the Meitei society from the bottom up \u2013 from a mayangised society to a meiteied<br \/> socio-cultural group. They must have thought about it critically and decided to strike the right<br \/> note.<\/p>\n<p>The Spartan simplicity in the thinking does not need much explanation as the intention was<br \/> altruistic. It sounds like a condescending statement on my part but it is not. I honestly believe<br \/> the decision was prompted by a concern to preserve a Manipuri cultural identity.<\/p>\n<p>But the driving force was on a collision course with the future of our grandchildren<br \/> who have a right to learn the Hindi language, as will be followed up later.<\/p>\n<p>My essay is an attempt about putting a spoke in the revolutionary wheel against railroading<br \/> the children into doing things that would leave them hungry and inadequate.<\/p>\n<p>It is a peace-offering debate on the reasons of discontinuing the ban on Hindi films, now that<br \/> so much has happened in the socio-political structure of Meiteis in particular, and Manipuris<br \/> at large. It is all about shifting sand in the winds of time from the clich\u00e9 of hating Hindi to the<br \/> clich\u00e9 of accommodating it for the benefit of our grandchildren.<\/p>\n<p>We will have plenty of time for societal reforms once independence has been restored.<br \/> In the interlude, our children have rights, which the grown-ups should see that they are<br \/> honoured.<\/p>\n<p>To quote Dwight Eisenhower: \u201cThe older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of<br \/> taking first things first.\u201d<br \/> The ban on Hindi films has been a culture shock to our children as if they have needed an<br \/> infusion of a much-needed paradigm shift to define their culture. There are other ways of<br \/> instilling such a culture.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of being fixated on primordial dress, dance or language, the children would be better<br \/> taught to see their culture from a socio-historical perspective and in the light of the existing<br \/> Indo-Manipuri political conflict.<\/p>\n<p>(2)<\/p>\n<p>The revolt generated, partly by the coercion to hate Hindi films has forced many well-to-do<br \/> parents to send their children to schools outside of Manipur to learn Hindi among other<br \/> subjects and to see Hindi flicks. One cannot blame these parents. Darwin\u2019s \u201csurvival of the<br \/> fittest\u201d was not just hot air.<\/p>\n<p>It is a vast amount of dough spent in \u201calien\u201d India, which could be kept in Manipur by<br \/> sending some of the children to good private schools in Imphal. There are so many.<\/p>\n<p>Our grandchildren should have liberty, meaning to be free to do something. Thomas Jefferson<br \/> declared: \u201cLiberty is one of our inalienable rights.\u201d They should be taught the meaning of<br \/> freedom, meaning free from something. The limitation of liberty should always be the guiding<br \/> principle for the children and not shoved down their throat.<\/p>\n<p>As water always finds its way our children will find their way for themselves. No<br \/> revolutionary group has forced the new generation of Meiteis to change their Hindu names<br \/> back to the original Meitei names or to change Hinduism to Sanamahism, or Christianity.<\/p>\n<p>We live in Manipur which is hell on earth. All the same, our children like everybody else in<br \/> India are entering an era of postmodernity ie living beyond the modern ways, ideas, beliefs,<br \/> and paradigms. They need to learn Hindi to enter the socio-economic continuum of India,<br \/> whether we like it or not.<\/p>\n<p>We live in India and sleep in India. We breathe and eat a little bit of India everyday. Look<br \/> at what happened when All Naga students\u2019 Association, Manipur (ANSAM) blocked the<br \/> National Highway 39 for 52 days in June 2005. We were without India and almost starved.<\/p>\n<p>Our young people have to keep up with the Joneses. They have to adapt to the rapid changing<br \/> times of modern technology and be able to freely communicate with the mayang Indian<br \/> population.<\/p>\n<p>The Manipuri children should be provided with better facilities to improve their Hindi<br \/> language skills and confidence so that they have a better opportunity to compete in India.<br \/> Seeing Hindi films is a stepping stone.<\/p>\n<p>The south Indians were once anti-Hindi from the time of C Rajagopacharia. They are now<br \/> producing Hindi films much more than Bollywood. We may perhaps take our cue from the<br \/> Keralite Christians. Delhi is full of Keralite businessmen and professionals because of their<br \/> fluency in Hindi.<\/p>\n<p>One of my best friends from early college days at St Xavier\u2019s in Bombay died on February<br \/> 16 2007. He was bed-bound for about 11 months at his home, needing intensive nursing care.<br \/> I went to see him in Mumbai in November 2006. He was nursed day and night by 2 nurses<br \/> from Kerala, who would communicate with me in Hindi better than English.<\/p>\n<p>In the fiercely competitive India where we are already disadvantaged by 50% because of<br \/> our Mongoloid looks, the future of our grandchildren without glibness in Hindi is very bleak<br \/> indeed.<\/p>\n<p>Keeping our children away from watching Hindi movies which is a good audio-visual<br \/> medium of learning Hindi is against the Universal declaration of Rights for Children. One<br \/> clause reads: \u2018we the children of the world must live with justice, but above all, with the<br \/> dignity we deserve\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>(3)<\/p>\n<p>While Hindi is spoken by 800 million people in the world, the Manipuri children are left<br \/> fumbling in the dark through the maze of Hindi speaking India.<\/p>\n<p>Hindi has evolved by a natural process for communication in day-to-day India. Nothing can<br \/> stop this. We need to involve our children to take part in this evolution. Otherwise, they will<br \/> be left behind as \u201cchimpanzees\u201d as some of our ancestor apes that did not take part in the<br \/> human evolution.<\/p>\n<p>Hindi language is a part of the political and ideological power of the rulers in New Delhi, who<br \/> mostly speak Hindi. Speaking Hindi is an advantage. It would be a greater advantage if our<br \/> children could speak Hindi in Received Pronunciation as spoken in Hindi movies.<\/p>\n<p>The majority of Bollywood actors and actresses are Punjabis. They have to take courses in<br \/> speaking Hindi\/Urdu with the posh pronunciation.<br \/> .<br \/> Modern Bollywood films have nothing in common with Indian culture. They are modelled on<br \/> musical Hollywood films except that the hero and heroine chase around a tree and roll down<br \/> the snowy mountain slopes of Kulu Manali.<\/p>\n<p>Educations are the birth right of all Manipur children and why ban their right to watch Hindi<br \/> films? It is obligated to us to let them see Hindi films in as much as they have a birth right to<br \/> be tucked into bed every evening by their parents.<\/p>\n<p>Every Indian whether a Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi or Bengali does not speak English or<br \/> Hindi. Hindi however, is a common language with which we can communicate with each<br \/> other.<\/p>\n<p>Our children must be taught not to speak in foist Hindi. Speaking like \u2018Ham khata hai;<br \/> tum kiya mangta hai\u2019 \u2013 will no go very far in explaining one\u2019s longings and fears in the<br \/> competitive world of Hindi speaking India. Watching Hindi films will improve their accent.<\/p>\n<p>Talking logically and persuasively, the Manipuri youths across the tribal divides should have<br \/> the rite of passage to Hindi, to be able to compete with mayang Indian youths. Hindi should<br \/> not be made as rare as hen\u2019s teeth for Manipuri youngsters.<\/p>\n<p>My article is a proposition about lifting the ban in the light of the argument I have given, by<br \/> showing an astute sense of strategic innovations required to deliver a solid foundation for the<br \/> future of our children.<\/p>\n<p>Whether the Manipuris, 2.5 million people in 1 billion India, watch Hindi films or not, it is of<br \/> no more importance than a flea or a louse to the government of India, or mayang Indians who<br \/> know nothing about Manipur. It is our loss, our children\u2019s loss.<\/p>\n<p>We are not a candle in Manipur to show light in New Delhi. It is in the interest of our<br \/> grandchildren to open up to India for our economic prosperity with a salubrious diet of Hindi.<\/p>\n<p>The writer is based in the UK<br \/> Email: imsingh@onetel.com<br \/> Website: www.drimsingh.co.uk<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/Kanglaonline\/~4\/OmpazEyjd1g\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">Read more \/ Original news source: <a href=\"http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/Kanglaonline\/~3\/OmpazEyjd1g\/\">http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/Kanglaonline\/~3\/OmpazEyjd1g\/<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Dr Irengbam Mohendra Singh December 6 2010 This is an article of thinking about thinking. Everyone thinks. It is human nature to do so. But much of our thinking,&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/kanglaonline.com\/2011\/07\/the-rite-of-passage-of-every-manipuri-child-to-hindi\/\">Read more <span>&#187;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[330,277],"class_list":["post-10902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kanglaonline","category-news","tag-kanglaonline-2","tag-notes-from-bradford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10902\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}