Calgary, Alberta , 14th July, 2018
Getting in touch with our roots through MAC Cultural Program – By Manoranjan Haobam
We are living in an era of internet where the sources of entertainments are abundantly available through many electronic media such as YouTube, Netflix and social media. It is an advantage for all of us to know different cultures at the same time would be a disadvantage if we let our own culture get diluted by other cultures. The 4th biennial Manipur Association of Canada (MAC) cultural program was an opportunity to share our culture with the younger generation to appreciate our own culture as well.
The program started with beautiful audio visual poetry presentation by Nilkumar Naorem with his own poem titled “Lamdam ama koubru gi Namibia nungshita” to which we all felt the breeze of our hometown. That was followed by a Manipuri patriotic song titled “Sanagi thambal” by Haobam family and it was very well appreciated for the efforts put in for three months by young Mitsna and Jianna to sing a song in Meiteilon which they are not very eloquent in. The discovery of our own talents continued with two heart touching Manipuri poetry presentations by Sayon and Malemsana written by their mother Sarda. On the instrumental side, Priscilla, Mitsna, Chimmi and Jianna played wonderful piano pieces that they have been learning for years. It was a time for all of us to applaud them for the musical skills they have acquired.
A MAC cultural program would be incomplete without a Manipuri dance. Shanta Sapam took the lead in presenting two Manipuri dance performances. One of the big challenges in presenting the Manipuri dance “Phungarel” was that of Shanta, Devika and Melinda living in different cities and having barely enough time to practice together. To everyone’ surprise, they presented a full fledged, well synchronized Manipuri dance with only two hours of preparation. The second dance number performed by the young Priscilla, Mitsna, Chimmi and Jianna was indeed stupendous! The performance was unique in a way that they have never known a Manipuri dance before. With a rigorous practice under the guidance of Shanta Shapam, the girls made the audience applauded throughout the performance. The program also included many singing acts on stage, leaving the audience asking for more starting with Ranibala, Kiran presented “Kari Thada Lak Uge”. Ranibala and Mano also covered the classic Manipur number “Surrender” which took the audience back to the time Manipur was under the British Empire. Shanta Shapam continued the musical feats with “Segaira Thamoi gi Machet Singda”. Tolen Moiranthem and Yaiphaba Kangjam presented modern Manipuri songs. Despite some technical difficulties with background music, the vocal skills of two singers could entertain the audience. The music team myself on guitar, Manaranjan and Kiran on Cajon were happy to play with singers to be part of the great presentations. Last but not the least, we had a surprise song from Yanglem Swarnalata, mother of Yaiphaba Kangjam, titled “Hingminashi Ko Nungshinashiko” summing the day:
“LIVE TOGETHER AND LOVE EACH OTHER”
Having said all this, the program will not be possible without the parents who have motivated their children to participate and their continuous support throughout all the practice sessions. Despite their busy work schedules, Shelly, Ranibala, Any, Joyshree and Shanta made sure that the participants could get together for the dance and singing acts. Finally a big thank you to Krishnamani, Manaranjan, Okhoi, Amuchou, Kiran, and Syam for being the backbone behind the whole program. Kudos to all for making the MAC cultural program 2018 a memorable one.