Review of “Manipur Sahitya da Nupeegee Khonjen: An anthology of Women’s writing(20th century) in Manipuri”, Ed. Memchoubi, Sahitya Akademi, 2003. Price: Rs. 100

Memchoubi, a poet and a critic who emerged in mid nineteen eighties could effortlessly map the whole evolution of women writers. Existence of women writings in Manipur is hardly 50 years old. In the Introduction section, Memchoubi’s mapping of women writers starts from what Amaibis sing or speak which is an old tradition weaved with the celebration of local deities. She sees such songs or words as oral literature, though this thought has not been brought out by her alone, it is nevertheless refreshing to look at women’s writing in the context that includes oral literature as a base.
The book has covered almost all women writers starting from Thoibi Devi, M.K. Binodini and Khaidem Pramodini, (more popularly known as the three pillars of Manipuri women’s writing), to very contemporary ones like Ningombam Sunita. One can see from the book that these women writers have tried their hands on all possible form of writings ranging from novels, travelogues, short stories to plays and poems. The novel part consists of some section of Binodini’s much acclaimed “Bor Saheb Ongbi Sanatombi”. Among the short stories that could be stated as exemplary is Ningombam Sunita’s, “Khongji Makhol”. No wonder her first collection also entitled “Khongji Makhol” published in 1997 won the Sahiya Akdemi Award in 2001. The story is a simple tale of a widow mother and her son Sanathoiba, but what is astounding is how Sunita tells the story. The story is very contemporary with respect to violence in Manipur. Thus this story which could be one amongst many other written in the same backdrop is elevated by the writer to an urge and angst of what human being over the years seeks at the same time questioning the space which has drove one to such angst. “I don’t want war but my pen always tries to write of it” (p. 78) clearly depicts the conflict in the narrator’s mind which got woven in the story itself. When reality is hard to digest, one write, while some write to tell a story, some write to urge one to look at the reality from its roots. Sunita belongs to the latter group of writers. And the line furthermore shows why most Manipuri poets and writers are obsessed with themes like violence. One could therefore see Sunita’s “Khongji Makhol” as story of a writer who has conflicts in her own mind after seeing blood soaked Manipur and that has unconsciously crept into the story of a widowed mother and her son.
Another from the anthology is that of Haobam Chanu Satybati. Her short story “Izat” portrays women of Manipuri society who are exploited both in the domestica as well as societal sphere. The story through a seeming glamorization of a woman’s ability to save her family from poverty brings out the realities of women in patriarchal Manipuri society. The strength of the women to stand for their families economically and otherwise through focused upon in the story, their status in the family and society was not critically dwelt upon. Thus it seems that the writers haven’t questioned herself about such issues in our society even if she sees women being exploited by society.
The poetry section could be said to be best part of the book. One cannot ignore Moirangthem Borkanya’s “Kobi Chamfut”. The lines from the poem vividly describe the burning Wainam and could smolder the readers’ mind. The poem here is about frustrations of a housewife whose life is confined inside kitchen. In her poem “Sister Meera” she reflects her own daily life of being a nurse. Memchoubi’s poems are in defiance against the patriarchal Manipuri society. Her poems like “Nongthangleima” and “Punbiranu Sanagi Yotlhingna” are path breaking. Memchoubi is a poet emerged in 1980s with Lancheba Meitei, Sharatchand Thiyam, Hemchandra, etc as her contemporaries and together formed the Aseilup group. The uniqueness of this group lies in their continuous effort to create poems out of folklores, culture, heritage and traditions. Memchoubi’s “Nongthagleima”, “Androgi Mei”, “Sandrembi Cheisra” are few examples of her being a nativist to be mentioned from the book.
Ningombam Satybati is another poet who finds mention in this book. She is a poet starkly different from the others in the book as shown by her deep concern for the people in the hill and her usage of dialect of the hill people. She laments over the struggle of hill people to survive. She writes in the simplest language with a very unique touch, everyday things like biscuits Krackjack, Good day, etc find their places in her poetry. One can here think on the possibility of translating such dialect into English or any other Indian Language just as Manipuri literature needs to be translated in other languages just to find its own place in the literary world. Sarcasm is again an integral part of her writings. In ‘Atumba Hill’ she shows how those educated ones take advantage of the ones who are uneducated and simple. The poem with such theme and sarcasm reminds one of poet Laishram Samarendra. Surprisingly in “Eigi Emadi Masak Fajei” she turn away from her simple way of writing and makes the poem a romantic one, her versatility thus cannot be ignored.
From the book one can see despite its existence of only 50 years, women’s writing in Manipur has developed enough to be noticed, read and engaged with. Memchoubi did a fair amount of research to compile the books by gathering poems, short stories and other works not only from published books but from journals and newspapers. The book is a must-read for those interested in Manipuri Literature
Memchoubi won national Sahitya Akademi Award in 2009 for her poetry book ‘Idu Ningthou’