Development in Tourism

Tourism is something that I can safely say I know nothing about. In the absence of an appropriate editor, I edited a series of tourism books seven years ago, and that gave me some ideas that there can be tourism of even the weirdest kind (it must not be weird to many, of course, that here is even sex tourism), and considering that even my movements never straying out of my official itinerary lines must be technically an activity covered by the wider sense of tourism, though I just do what I think I should do, out of sheer necessity. Why I'm saying this is because if I'm doing a bit of tourism in any way, even then I know nothing about it, and what I gather from my movements may hardly add to the tourism knowledge of any other person. I may sound weird in this all too personal investment and blah blah blah blah..., but it really makes me feel comfortable when I'm going to say about something which is really Arabic (for the lack of word) to me. (Sorry, but "Arabic" (at least the script) is no blasphemy, and Greek, or even Georgian is no more so strange to me!)

Well, some nine years ago (was that in the early 2005, or before that?) the Sahitya Seva Samiti, Kakching organized a four day translation workshop. Short stories. Manipuri to English. That was sponsored by Katha, New Delhi, and short story writers and translators from or representing (coincidentally) all valley parts of Manipur. Fifteen short story writers, fifteen translators, some five or six resource persons speaking on issues of translation in the morning sessions every day, and a representative from Katha. Yes, some of them were from Kakching itself, and the surrounding villages, for example Maibam Nabakishore, and some from Imphal, and they did not need to hold the five days and four nights at Kakching. "I'll travel", they said.

Only two persons, as far as I can remember, stayed at Kakching--NB Konjengba from Moirang, and Salam Tomba from Toubul. It was very hard to find a place for these two persons to stay during the workshop. We finally found a room at "Fooding & Lodging" (the sign board read), run by an old man beside the Super Market Composite Hall--a small, dirty, smelly, darkish room, whose look honestly showed it had not had any visitors in a very long time. But that was the best Kakching had for its visitors back then, and our two kind literary persons kindly agreed to stay in that--both of them. Tomba, a person who has traveled quite much, said, "It's OK. Just for four days."

The Katha representative did not consider to stay at Kakching. Imphal. That's it.

I really don't know how it would have been if the workshop was well attended throughout by all of the short story writers and translators whose works were being studied. Kakching was not ready! And I don't know how much has improved in the town now since then. Without having no place for people to stay, people will not come, and without much coming and going, a place is quiet like abandoned (in a touristic sense), and no abandoned place develops. The momentum is rather quite negative.

Manipur is in fact a small place. Only poor means of communication makes it a huge orb (when they say the world is flat). This makes local hospitality services all the more essential. For example, if you go to Wangoo, some 25-30km from Kakching, quite early in the morning, you will have to get ready for your return not later than a couple of hours of your arrival, failing which you will not get any passenger service to take you back to Kakching. (What's tourism if you feel flustered, rather than relaxed, and feeling that everything is at your disposal--time, money, food, transport...?) The result is, you have to be romantic under the Wangoo skies all that night! And how your sky and night depends really on the weather. How lucky are you in life?

That's one example.

Of course, Kakching must have changed quite a lot since 2005, and the prospects of tourism development must have also accompanied all these changes naturally, even when no specific conscious attention was paid to its development by any individual or group (I don't know if there were any during the last nine years). Population is the key. Every industry needs at least a significantly sizable (more active than passive) participation of people for it to be sustainable--some people should live by it, it should be a full time business for most, not a part time one (except for some). In this sense, population is the key. In a community of small population, when a considerably sizable group of people are engaged in something else, they are absent from other areas in the community, and the areas where most community people are usually absent from (though it does not mean they neglect those areas) tend to be those which does not immediately touch their daily needs. And tourism had been one of these areas in Kakching, if we did not neglect it. But with 30000+ population now, the community's dynamics must have definitely diversified at a significantly interesting degree, which can sustain certain sectors.

Interestingly a friend of mine told me last month he would leave Delhi to start (with a couple of his friends--did he say?) something related with tourism development at Kakching. Now he is at home. He said he would take 3D videos of some places in Kakching and post it online--Google streetview, etc.--to attract tourists. Impressive. That's what he can do, and there must be others doing independently, on their own, unbeknownst to us so far (it should come to our view, anyhow, for tourism development feed on visibility), and when all the bits of contributions from all corners start to peep above the nebulous mix of community life, and then tower up clearly, they form a network, deliberately or naturally (it's better if a concerted effort is made toward a general growth).

I'll get that friend of mine to write about the current situation of tourism related things in Kakching.