No! I am not here to do yet another Celina act. The landmark decision by the highest judicial body of the country, the Supreme Court sent across a greater message to the people of India than to our very own Gay & Lesbian (GL) Brothers and Sisters. That it is the human that comes first than morality, ethics, society etc. It is the human rights that comes first, then comes the question of practice, moral ethics etc. Yeah! There would be many eyebrows raised against this. Do this virtually; kill all the so-called GL Groups, leave none and live happily; rest for couple of years, you’d find another ‘unnatural’ (in your words) group coming up, that you and I don’t know of today. Kill ‘em all…then another would wake up. If this goes on, one fine day, you’ll come to me; put forward your decomposed rusty ass with a tattoo that reads ‘Screw me’. Because this is very much part of the evolution and we don’t have a choice but accept everyone into the society.
Coming back to the human factor, the Supreme Court calling is very much in-sync with the requirement of the times. The same amendment could not have been possible a decade or two back. In a way, the apex court’s decision is also to do with setting an example on decision-making while living in a civic society. It suggests that no rule, practice, culture, religion, cast or creed is more valuable than the human himself. It’s about time we realize that if the human lives, then shall the rest. Given the great Indian cultural background, we definitely wanted some time to change our perception, but not anymore. We have to regard Human Beings higher, in fact at the highest level. We need to have a more holistic view and then a perception about Human beings.
And the same holistic approach is on my agenda today. Forget about GLs, Bishnupriya Manipuris have different worries to talk and get concerned about. We have a small population and we are scattered; a little better than refugees who migrate and settle down anywhere we get bread and butter. We take pride in our great culture which is getting shift-deleted with each passing day. We have a handful of rituals where people gather to celebrate and more importantly, the youth is giving a miss to all of those. On top of it, we have groups of self-proclaimed guards of the culture and morality, the custodians; who would try and establish rules. “Gaangee bejaati biya koresi utaare na boreyo”, “Puri-Jelei, tolophuti saara na thaayo”, “Gaurapei, mondiree dhoti panjaabi chaara naayo”, “Divorcee ugor loge kiya biya ditangai” so on and so forth.
I used to appreciate Baba Ramdev for he helped cure thousands of disease-prone Indians, but most importantly he gave hope, with his Yogic expertise. But I despised his stand on the GL issue, calling this phenomenon as a disease. Because his short-sightedness could not see beyond the sexual relationship, that it contains a mental and emotional bonding very true to human beings. It showcased his lack of spiritual knowledge, because spiritualism comes along with Humanism. The same applies to the lesser known seniors, bujons and gurujons of Bishnupriya Manipuri, the so-called cultural custodians of this community. With due respects, it’s about time we all need to graduate ourselves in this holistic human perception. Our elders are surely our cultural backbone, but the Ramdev Baba approach is definitely a significant catalyst in our extincting cultural base. Because the Ramdev Baba approach is not looking at and taking into account, the human aspects for sure. We need to handle things differently from here on considering our kind of a diaspora.
Let’s do some maths. A Small population of Bishnupriya Manipuris. Minus all intercaste-marraiges (A potential BM next generation). Minus all divorcees (another potent next generation provider). Minus “Aamaar Thar na totortata uta”. Minus BM or loge nathaitara uta. Minus “Muni jelei jeta dhuti aar tolophuti pidiya mondiree naitaara uta”. “Nijor Gangor manure shahajyo nakortara uta”. And all such things. How many of us are then left as Bishnupriyas in the already smaller and scattered population? Can we afford to loose more brothers and sisters? And at the end of the day, you and I would conduct Joydeb together assuming we are the cultural saviors when the truth is we are doing nothing but creating a repulsive atmosphere where we don’t have anyone to receive the cultural knowledge base, most importantly the youth.
In the process, we are detaching our very own people, depriving many from our very own culture. Because we are forgetting that today’s 18+ are as much the custodians of our future, much as you and me. And it is mostly because of the social limits and perception being made by the generations elder to us and the society at large. The challenge that we have is the cultural transfer to the next generation, and here we are, detaching our own next generation. Ridiculous.
How do you think, today’s 18+ boy would come with a dhoti to the mandir except for some handful pro-Bishnupriyas. With all the diversions going along with him, coming in an ethnic self would be the last thing on his mind. In fact, if he has to visit the temple, there’s just one good reason to attend, Girls. And the feeling is reciprocal. And the 18+ thoughts and the Ramdev Baba’s thoughts do not match. If we are to think about reaching the larger goal, we better blend these two thought processes. We are not talking about someone pissing on the sanctum-sanctorum; a dress code should not be a barrier to attend a Paali, which stands so critical to our not-so-many-ritual culture. Yes! You are right…we followed it in our times. I remember our very own Editor Hebaniya ( Henryy Sinha) doing it successfully, making a rule of sorts to wear our ethnic best, which was well received then. Because back then, we did not have too many diversions to involve our minds and hearts into, more so in the rural India. The same process would not work today. Imagine doing the same in our metro population. There are people who turn up with gusto, but there’s this small chunk that simply shies away because of ‘n’ reasons and we don’t need a Sigmund Freud to tell what they are. Going back to the history and possibility of following ethics, dynamics have drastically changed from then and now. Also, let’s also not forget that Bishnupriyas are not just about few net-savvy metro populations but truly in the heart of Patherkandi or a Koilashohor. You make a rule and the already not-so-interested kid would be more than happy to sit at home, talk to his sex-goddess over internet. We lost another kid there who would be devoid of the culture. True! It is important to have cultural discipline around. But why not do this. Get the kids around, in the way they want to be, make them sit and witness the whole cultural richness. The seniors lead from the front by dress code, other ritual norms etc. And I bet the third time, if not the second time, he would like to be doing what you’ve been doing. Likewise, an inter caste offspring could be a good ambassador for a BM. A Divorcee Male, accepted in society, could inject crores of safely guarded healthy sperm cells, good enuf to start a next generation; so is a divorcee female who could, if god willing, give a bonus of triplets and quadruplets, a community that want its count to be more and more (with all due respects to both of them). So what if somebody cannot speak the language/does not want to speak/makes fancy by speaking non-Bishnupriya (that’s very human of him); we can’t afford to loose him, we still need to invite him with open arms for the get-together happening; because without him, we are loosing on the entire thread connected along with him. And likewise, we have to come up with many more things that we did not think, talked and behaved before. A more rational thinking is the call of the day, given the liberal world we are into, which accounts for the benefit of a cultural growth and non-stagnation.
We’ve talked enough. We know our challenges as a community and its survival constraints. We’ve discussed numerous methodologies to deal with it. But we cannot implement any, provided we change into a more holistic approach towards human beings. Regard human beings around you, more so with the bishnupriyas around you. We have to kill all Baba Ramdev mindsets, be more rational. Remember that it is the human being that stands above all, practices shall follow him. If the man himself is missing, who’s gonna practice? And it is not just for a certain age group to give a thought about; the whole of the community needs to have a re-look and move forward with this holistic approach for human beings. I don’t need to remind anyone where we are otherwise headed.
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