Am I a maverick

I inherited my love for Western novels from my father who is a huge fan of Louis L'Amour. My dad has a very good collection of novels written by Louis L'Amour and other Western writers like Oliver Strange, Max Brand , Zane Grey and the like. But it was those by Louis L'Amour that he loves the most.
As I was growing up, I would see him absorbed in these books and I would wonder what it was that was so interesting about them. I think I read my first Louis L'Amour when I was in Class XI or XII. Like a child who had just learnt to ride a bicycle and just couldn't have enough of it, after finishing the first one, I picked up another one and then another until I completed reading all the books in the collection.
What attracts me and other fans of the Western novel to Louis L'Amour is not the intricacies of the plots or the techniques employed. Louis L'Amour tells his stories from the heart. If you read his biography, you will realise that he himself led a very eventful and colourful life - dropping out of school, sailing around the world, doing odd jobs and writing his stories all the while.
His stories are about love, family bonding and enjoying the simple pleasures of life but most of all, they are about incredible courage in the face of insurmountable obstacles. In many of his stories, such as Utah Blaine and Flint, you have the hero who has the zeal, courage and strength to take on the baddest ass in town who has all the resources and teach him a lesson or two.
In the Sackett series, you have this extended family called the Sacketts who are dirt poor but fiercely loyal to one another. My favourite Sackett novel is the one where Tell Sackett's wife is molested and murdered and he himself is hunted down by the murderer and his cohorts. He is finally trapped in a small stretch of forest and completely surrounded by the bad guys. However, as the news that a Sackett is in a difficult situation spreads, all the other Sacketts, even those who don't know Tell, come rushing to his rescue.
I remember my friend Anthony who was like a brother to me. He passed away many years ago and may God rest his soul. I used to share Louis L'Amour novels with him. He was an avid reader himself. I believe his grand dad who was a friend of my dad also was a fan of L'Amour novels.
This initial fascination with Western fiction perhaps developed in me a love for reading which is still with me. I don't know how I have benefited from it but I do know that I have passed many a wonderful hour, sometimes late into the night, on the bed, or the sofa or the phak lost to the world, riding on my gelding, rounding up the cattle or sitting around the campfire with my hat pulled down and a cup of dark coffee (strong enough to float a horseshoe) in my hand.




 

Here and there

Have you ever taken a drive from Shilllong to Jowai or from Jowai to Dawki, on the border with Bangladesh? It's really enjoyable. The road is smooth, well made and the view is really worth raving about. The road kindof winds through the hill slopes which are dotted with pines and other mountain vegetation. The hills in Meghalaya are not very steep and abrupt like they are in say Sikkim, Shimla, or even Nagaland and Manipur. You can literally smell the pine trees and see the hill tops rolling away as far as the eye can see. Because the road is so smooth, you have the luxury of taking in the spectacular view as you drive along. During the summer, you can also see the fruit trees laden with pears, peaches or plums.
Having stayed here in Meghalaya for the past 6 odd years, I really can't help comparing it with Manipur, my beloved homeland. Meghalaya has really changed over the years and I am not referring only to Shillong or the roads. It's everything. Somehow things seem more transparent and clear here as opposed to Manipur where everything is shrouded in a cloud of dust.
It's not that corruption doesn't exist here. I think it does... as it does everywhere. However, it's not that apparent.... and the rich and powerful don't seem to flex their muscles as much as they do in my beloved homeland.... or at least they seem to respect the law. The elected representatives here also seem more sincere, educated and concerned about the common man.
You can judge the efficiency of a society or government by the way civic services are maintained. Take traffic for instance. Shillong has a very high vehicle density and so there's a lot of traffic congestion, esp. during the rush hours but I have always found the management of traffic to be very efficient. Overtaking is not permitted and I have seldom seen road rage like I have in other cities.
The bypass connecting Umiam on the Guwahati-Shillong highway and Mawrynkneng on the Shillong-Jowai highway has been completed and now the congestion in Shillong city because of all those trucks and interstate buses will ease considerably. My point is that the authorities here seem to be able to identify the problems being faced by the people and take rectifying steps to solve those problems.
Or take electricity. Forget the urban areas, even in this backwater village that I stay in, there are absolutely little or no scheduled/ unscheduled load sheddings if you discount those caused by accident or acts of God. Just yesterday, there was a power cut because the strong winds that we have been having for the past few days apparently snapped a wire somewhere but it was repaired within a few hours and lights came back on. This year, in January, the transformer supplying power to my locality, Nagamapal right at the heart of Imphal broke down. Guess what, it took two and a half months before lights came back on. That's my beloved Manipur for you.
I have been visiting home sporadically over the years and I have not really seen any positive changes there. I mean, yes, they have built this enormous complex at thangmeiband presumably to house the State Assembly and the other important organs of governance. They must have their reasons of course for spending hundreds of crores on such a project ... which I don't presume to know. However, what about the woes being faced by the common people. What about the electricity problem being faced by the people... who hardly get 3 or 4 hours of power in a day. What about the roads which are not fit to be called roads? What about the very high unemployment rate? What about the rampant corruption... I mean you cannot get any government service without paying the mandatory 'cha thug na ba paisa'.
I wonder.... what is wrong with us? Why can't we wake up from our deep slumber and smell the coffee? Why does everyone seem to be complacent with the status quo?
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This Thing Called Education

The term conjures up so many different things. To learn to live an ethical, well rounded life; to learn some skill or trade by which to make a living; to learn to live in harmony with other members of society; to learn values and ethics such as compassion, empathy, discipline, perseverance – qualities required of a good human being; to understand that material success doesn’t always guarantee happiness; to learn to understand the threats faced by the environment and society at large and how to combat them - these and more…. isn’t this what education is supposed to mean, for our children and us?

But the question is - what does education really mean for most of us? A process one needs to go through on the path to adulthood; a necessity that needs to be done in order to progress in life; a degree one needs to secure to get a job.

We live in a world where success is measured in terms of the amount of money you have in your bank account, a world where material wealth means everything. It really doesn’t matter how you get your money… as long as you get it. We are willing to resort to any and every means possible to get what we want. We will trample on anyone. What matters is that we get ahead in life…. at any cost… even at the expense of our soul, our conscience. This is the kind of world we have created for ourselves, our children and their children.

We have only ourselves to blame for the mess we are in. We live in a world where merit is seldom recognised; after all what matters is the connections you have and the amount of money your father/ forefather has left you. If you have connections, money – well, you can get away with anything, even murder. It seems, we are slowly losing touch with our humanity… at least with what it means to be humane. The corruption, the nepotism, the utter self serving nature of the powers that be - the signs are everywhere. In our narrow minded, selfish pursuit of material wealth and fame, have we lost track of the more important things. Are we losing our humanity? If so, how can we regain it or are we even willing to?  

Education, in the proper sense of the word, can be one of the most important, if not the only way, of bringing about this much needed change. Personalities can be moulded, character can be formed and perceptions can be created through education. Of course, for that to happen, we have to redefine education first. We have to give priorities to values and ethics. We need a set of immensely dedicated teachers to lead this revolution in the schools and colleges. The very system of teacher education, teacher training and teacher recruitment needs to be overhauled. Being a teacher myself, I feel the teacher plays an extremely important role in the entire process of education. Therefore, it is imperative that talented and intelligent young people with good ethics and moral values must be motivated to join this noble profession.

I envy societies where the rule of law is respected by everyone, regardless of class, creed or position. I envy societies where the rights of the people are respected. I envy societies where people enjoy freedom of speech and religion. I envy societies where women are genuinely liberated and able to prove that they are the equal of men. I envy societies where merit is recognised and acknowledged. I envy societies where corruption is negligible. I envy societies where the elected or appointed officials truly perform their jobs and serve the people. Don’t you wish to live in such a society?? Well … it isn’t impossible to create one right here in India, you know.

Names and me

My parents gave me two names - Vishwanath for the world and Tutu, an endearing term which they would use at home. These two names have in a way created two identities for me. In fact, the two mes inhabit two different worlds. I have two different sets of friends and acquaintances- those who know me as Tutu and those who know me as Vishwanath. Of course, there are those who know me as both.

I have always, in my mind, differentiated between the people who call me Tutu and those who call me Vishwanath. I think that the friends that I made at home, from my leikai and those whom I met while I was being "Tutu" have a different perception about me than those whom I met at school, college and the work place and who know me as Vishwanath. Sometimes, I feel the two perceptions are very different and at times, even contradictory.

The truth is - I think the Tutu part of me is a little sheltered, sometimes childish, often immature and always naive. The other me - on the other hand - has grown over the years. He is wiser, worldly, practical, rational, introspective with a zeal to better himself and likes to think of himself as a hard working professional.

I wish the two mes can learn to coexist and learn from each other.

The foodie in me

Food for me is much more than just sustenance. I love food. I enjoy trying out different cuisines. You might say, I am quite adventurous as far as trying out new food is concerned. I am ready to have almost anything that other people eat.

This is not to say that I am an expert or anything on food and cuisines. I do feel though that every cuisine has something to say about its people - its history, its culture, its origin, its geography etc. India, being a large and diverse country has a lot to offer in terms of different cuisines. To be honest, I love them all. I like the South Indian platter - tangy, spicy; I like Punjabi food - robust, buttery; I like Bengali food esp. the elish cooked with mustard seeds. But of course, the food from my region, the North East of India holds a very special place in my heart.

Food from the North East is all about simple yet delicate flavouring. The North East itself is a diverse region with a myriad number of communities and each of them has its own cuisine. Most of us from the NE are dedicated meat lovers esp. of pork. Each community has its own way of preparing various pork delicacies. The Assamese, the Meiteis of Manipur (my community) and the Bengalis of Tripura and Assam also love fish. The sareng thongba, the nga atoiba thongba, the maringkha ngouba are some fish delicacies I remember from home.

But of course, nothing beats pork, which to me has been specially created by God to tickle our taste buds. The Khasis and Pnars therefore have Doh Jem, Doh Khlieh and the ubiquitous Jadoh which taste best when they are made from pork. The Assamese have their pork tenga and the mizos have their voksa chhum. However among all of them though, I guess my personal favourite would be pork cooked in Naga style. For me naga food is all about simplicity. It goes to show that good food is not always about spices and elaborate techniques. Magic can be created with just a handful of ingredients. When I think of Naga food, I think of smoked pork cooked with bamboo shoot, some parboiled vegetables, a little chutney, a bowl of boiled dal/ mashed potatoes, a plate of white rice.... heaven in your taste buds. I also like pork cooked with akhuni or fermented soya beans.

The North East of India offers a diverse range of food habits and cuisines. The food of my own community, the Meiteis of Manipur, is something that I have grown up with. And for me, meitei food is about home, mom's cooking, childhood. Unfortunately, apart from the simplistic kangsoi, champhoot or the morok ametpa, I don't really know how to prepare any of the other dishes. Staying far away from home, sometimes, I crave for home style food. Even though I call up my Mom or my wife to ask for instructions, the finished product never seems to resemble the food at home.