after the Vreak

after 7 days break, i return to my chair in Jamia. These 7 days were filled with many bad moments.
I remember doing nothing constructive or productive. I spent the days watching Movies, so many movies. some of them are four musketeers, hidalgo, the quick and the dead, Saw-1,2,3,4 , Oye lucky, Dasvidaniya.
And during these day, i received Ibopishak's book of poems which was sent by my band-mate Sachindananda Angom through Billie's Sister.
I find every single poems of Ibopishak is deadly awesome. my favourite line:
"Eigi punshi gi esei mallaba eigi kangkhal manungi segairaba kanda-gi lang-la singda palhoure" is from the poem "Eigi punshigee Esei"
The poem belongs to his poetry book "Apaiba Leichil (Flying Cloud)" which was published in 1969.

I played guitar lots, i think i have almost composed the whole song sequence of my rock opera during these day. But there are things that i want to forget soon.

Imphal Talkies

A short note about the making of Imphal Talkies (June 2008)

Composing music is easy i mean financially and physically, but recording music is a real job particularly in place like Imphal.
For poor guys in Imphal talkies who don’t have a guitar to strum in studio, they really have to run hard
to find guitar that too among the bullets and barrels of Kangleipak's armies.
we were often disturbed by IRB (Indian Reserved Battalion)and Manipuri commandos, we were stopped everyday at Minuthong and asked what all we were carrying even if they saw it was just a guitar(which have killed the fascists in case of Comrade Guthrie's Guitar)

Our financial supports will surprise you guys... i was damned sure that i had to record my music.. whether i had money or not....whether i had guitar or not....it was the time i got some scholarships for my PhD. and my PhD title is "Cosmological Inflation and late time acceleration of universe"....and the scholarship really accelerated me to reach "the Shallow river studio"
I thank UGC (University Grant Commission) :)...i may get expelled for misusing their fund...this should be kept hush hush hush. And with a little help from many friends we finally emerged out as "Imphal Talkies" with eight recorded songs.

Why is it named Imphal Talkies?
There was this time movies were silent, when the voice became part of it ,,they were considered or called as talkies. In India talkies means movie hall/theatre (i dont know about other countries). Imphal talkies the band presents a speaking imphal/manipur.
Yes we have taken the name from the small movie theatre imphal talkies opp. Johnstone school which was called Rupmahal theatre in post Second World War. this theatre played a big role in shaping up contemporary Manipuri theatre. Many great plays of great playwrights like GC Tongbra were staged in Rupmahal Theatre. As we love heatre and inspired by old/contemporary Manipuri literature. We name the band as Imphal Talkies. The Band is also inspired by Beat Movement of America
Unfortunately there is no more Imphal Talkies now in Imphal. it has again become Rupmahal Theatre. now staging plays again. the last play i show was "Narsing" in Rupmahal Theatre.

The HOWLER howling

I saw the the best minds of my generation
destroyed by madness, starving hysterical
naked,
dragging themselves through the negro
streets at dawn looking for an angry fix
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient
heavenly connection to the starry dynamo
in the machinery of night.
(from Howl!)

Loving King Crimson

Right now, I am addicted to King Crimson's sound. I have never come across such progressive sound. I believe this is what my ears were trying to listen too. Robert Fripp is a Genius.
And yes their album Beat speaks to me

beat goes on

Few days back i read "on the road" by jack kerouac. I thought it would enlighten me as i heard a lot about it from great great readers and intellects. yes it did enlighten me but not as much as i expected. I would say the novel is just a celebration of America.
I wonder what would be today's America if Kerouac was Ernesto Guevara of the motorcycle diary.
After reading the novel i happened to look up Ginsberg's poetry America which is my favourite poem. i noticed the phrase "1400 miles per hour"
And you know what is it referring to? nothing other that Kerouac's "on the road"

The Typewriter

He came down to this town
in one winter with a typewriter..
He was roped in an old shawl.
People said he rented a hut
in the middle of the field
next to the Hills...
His eyes were hiding..
Like he had seen many unseen things
he walked with his hands counting
something...
he rarely walked out of his hut..
he was always a stranger
he was always a crazy chap
as they said he stayed awake whole night
with a strange noise
louder than the hustling
Of Spring leaves
Or fallen leaves of Autumn..
Gradually he became thin
Eventually his lip learn to smile
His uncomb hair became wilder
His look was nothing
better than the dying Oak Tree...
He seemed tired
Like he swam an Ocean,,,
The said He sounded a Sin to the town
for the children He was just a Clown


....to be continued....

i dont know what to call this peice of shit

Someone says “Nights are always silent unless you make love” it is indeed true. But nights are always silent after sex too. And a silent night takes me anywhere. It often reminds me I am suffering in hundred ways. Yes! We have suffered like hell as we belong to Manipur , the jewel of India. Jewel is something a man or woman can posses and can do anything with it. Many rare cases in the history of mankind have happened inside this jewel of india, perhaps it is the reason why we are being called jewel, like Sharmila’s incident , Pebam Chitaranjan burning himself alive. If we belong to any sensitive part of this undemocratic world, there would have been so many great movies and singers and writers and activists. It will often lead them to Nobel prize, Oscar and any sort of prizes available. But we are just suffering! no one out of us are ready to celebrate our suffering, celebrate with anger celebrate with celluloid movies.

Or we are so damned comfortably numb to feel the pain, may be that’s why the film makers go to Rajasthan for a camel ride shooting in Jitendra’s favorite white suits. Our helplessness can be seen when we ride a bike in our own town. Once I rode my father’s Hero Honda CD 100 from khurai Chingangbam Leirak to Khoyathong, I was stopped by Manipuri commandos and asked every necessary questions and documents. I answered to them and show them every document they asked for. I remember by heart my driving license number my automobile number. If I could not answer them I would have got a slap or two. Finally they asked why did I wore a torn jeans, before I could answer, one of them put his finger inside the hole of my torn jeans and started pulling jeans to make my torn jeans worst. But I wore torn jeans because it has been with me for last six years. Even if I was fashion conscious, what was their right to tear it further. It hurt me it has made me furious inside. But I kept quiet with my brimming eyes helplessly watching them making fun out of my poverty.

This is the kind of freedom one feels driving or riding in the heart of Imphal city. Whom to blame? Whom to share? Whom to cry? Even in my friend circle there are people who doesn’t understand what was the situation? Whenever one say freedom it does not necessarily mean freedom from a state or country. It can be a freedom to ride your bike from Imphal to Moirang it can be of how you wear your jeans or how your wear you Sarong. But we have lost it. We suffer from both end. We are the slice of cucumber inside their political sandwich. I have a sense of belongingness that’s why I still wore that torn jeans, that’s why I still feel we have to fight against such act of barbarism or militarization. I know it is hard to fight, many of us has already been Sisyphus. Simply following what we have seen. Get married and earn and make love and die.

Even our intellectual society they speak jargon in their language, they publish books they attended seminar, they talk of rights but in their terms, it never reaches any grassroots where it is needed the most. They are like classical music. But what the suffering people need at the moment is rock and roll kind of music which breaks all norms of LAWS and RULES where it can be useful at the moment.