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Post by Thoithoi O'Cottage on Jun 1, 2014 16:13:01 GMT 5.5
These days some of us are discussing the name of this forum and the scope we want to cover, and the area of relevance we want to maintain.
We think Kakching Thinks is a narrow name, and the emphasis on the town narrows down the area of contribution the forum can make to the state's overall social advancement.
We have all the state's human resouce, and these people (no matter where they are from) may have something to say about any place (say, about Kakching, or Imphal, or a smallest locality), or anything, if we keep the door open.
While there are Kakching unique things, most things about it cannot be studied in isolation from the rest of the state's affairs in relevant fields. There can be still place/community specific boards in the forum under a more inclusive name.
We will look to change the forum's name, and there will be other things that will necessarily change as a consequence.
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Post by Thoithoi O'Cottage on Jun 6, 2014 9:23:08 GMT 5.5
Philosophically, a name is nothing at the beginning and at the end. It is important in the middle. Everything is nameless at the beginning, and at the end everything goes--memory is a matter of time.
But yes, name is important in the human realm of things, because we find it convenient, or even essential, to think categorically. Manipur is Manipur, not Nagaland. The Manipuris are angry if any place within Manipur's political boundary is tagged "Nagaland" as if it were Nagaland's. So, name is political.
Name carries emotional valence as well. There are people whose passions run high at the mention "Kakching", and there are some on the other extreme end who associate the name "Kakching" with the basest of human behavior, not without reasons. To some Kakching is a great deal, while to some it is too much, while to still some others there is nothing so grand about Kakching. Nothing so grand even about being a Meitei. Many Manipuris outside the state in India feel proud (really so? Honestly?) about being a Meitei, or being from Manipur. I don't know why? I'm not a romanticist. Not a patriot either. Even Manipur is not a big deal.
However, if you want to sit down somewhere and work, you have an address. If you want to do it with others, you tell them where to come. If many of you different people work about the same place, a different name helps. A brand. That is convenient. After quite some time people feel developed in them an emotional attachment to that name of thatthing or place. This emotion is the root of the feeling of ownership, belongingness, nationality, etc. But these are ultimately groundless. However, as these things matter in life, a name is important.
Whatever the case, we buy Peter England, read The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Hindu, though we are not from England, New York, Wall Street, and thogh we are not necessarily Hindu. Big things can start from anywhere, any small space, be it Kakching, or a leikai in Kakching, or Sora.
Think globally, or universally, but ad you stand somewhere locally, act locally. Kakching Thinks is a fine name. An OK name. But we have a better one in mind now, more appropriate for what we want to do with this forum. Then why should we remain sticking to Kakching Thinks? Better not change every now and then. Better there be some consistency. That can be with a new name, well thought out. Not to change many more times again.
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Post by Thoithoi O'Cottage on Jun 6, 2014 11:12:47 GMT 5.5
"Oh! Your name isn't indigenous!"
"What a shame you ain't wearing your traditional dress. Nobody will know who you are, where you are from, what community you belong to."
I don't give a damn about these concerns. Ultimately worthless. Does the name "Meiraba" makes a man more Meitei than he would be if he is called "Robinson" or "Robert", or "Clinton"? I know many Roberts who are more Meitei than many Meirabas.
What's so much in a name? It's all constructs.
It is the characteristic of a small people (be it in population, or in thought) to imagine they will be better off if they recognize each other in far foreign lands. They think they would be at least safer if they are recognized as Meiteis by a Meitei in the crowd. Does that really happen all the time? Don't you know how selfish or indifferent nearly every average Meitei is like any individual from any ethnic stock across the world. Leave the comfort of your home, go to foreign countries, and try getting into difficulties such as running out of money, and see how many Meiteis come to your help. Not different from what happens at home in any part of Manipur. Myths. You are a guest outstayed your welcome while if you stay at your friends' or relatives abroad if you have streyched your stay beyond certain unmarked point. Even the largest of Manipuri hearts abroad have more limitations out there to reach out to you than they would be at home.
But yes, you will feel more inclined to help people from your own community than outside it. But these rare and exceptional cases are not reasons strong enough to support the ethnic dress and name thesis. Be it your name what's comfortable to you, wear that dress that makes you feel comfortable and confident. But be appropriate.
Things change. Culture is the first to get affected. For nothing is outside culture.
That said, it's excellent if one can present oneself to the world in the dress one is in when at home. It is excellent if you carry the name of your village in your name as Lata Mangeskar does. Even if you don't, it's excellent if you have the guts, the spirit. There are racist and ethnic hegemonies in the world, and with a currently minority category tag on yor forehead, you can fight that. If you think many Imphal people are arrogant, and look down on Smallvillage, then do have the guts to say you are "Tomba Smallvillage".
However, we don't have to remain challenging others. We don't have to remain always reactive. Kakching Thinks is not a reactive name. It is Kakching just because we thought of doing things about Kakching. Why then should it be any other name than Kakching? You are not necessarily parochial if you think primarily for your leikai. You are never parochial until your view does not allow you to see things beyond your "local".
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Post by Thoithoi O'Cottage on Jun 6, 2014 11:53:34 GMT 5.5
Kakching Thinks is perfect in its own right as Wall Street Journal (read worldwide) is. There is nothing parochial about it, though there will definitely be people whose areas of interest are different from ours. We are all local. We all of us are at some specific coordinates. We can't help. We cannot spread across the globe like an ozone or nano layer. We sit or stand somewhere, and work from there. You are where you are, and you are absent from any other place at that time. That's how the nature of things is.
Kakching is a small place. Very small. But it can be a blockbuster like Wall Street. It is not impossible. Some people buy only what comes from the already established, but some of us are always there who invest their life in making what's neglected counted. To see and read the Wall Street Journal is easy, but making it was not easy. We will make things.
Yet we will rename the forum, to cover even those who will not be coverable by the forum with "Kakching" in its name. However, we will still give space for Kakching, as we will do for every other place in the state, depending on how many people participate in place-specific discussions. |
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