Meiteilon Newspapers: A Daily Affair

★ The following piece is a translation of Thangjam Ibopishak’s essay Meiteilongi Pao-che (Meiteilon Newspaper/s) written originally in his trademark narrative style. The essay is taken from Sajibu (pp 53–57) that was published in 2015 by Imphal-based Yaibiren Communications. The anthology comprising 62 essays is the first collection of prose from this acclaimed Manipuri writer. Ojha Ibopishak (b. 1948) has published ten books of poetry, and a dozen of his poems have been translated on/for this blog: Hit to read here.

Once a protagonist in one of GC Tongbra’s plays asserted, “Those who don’t read newspapers or listen to the radio are uncivilized!” Whether it was serious or sarcastic, knowing Tongbra’s style, it’s likely a bit of both. Today, it’s hard to imagine life without our morning papers and evening news on radio and TV. Newspapers fill in any gaps left by other media.

Reading the newspaper is as essential as eating and maintaining daily hygiene. On less busy days, I spend about an hour with the paper and my morning cup of tea. I start with the front page, move to the inside pages, and then devour the classifieds: on, for and about lost wallets, missing phones, and thank-yous to Ojha Kumar for curing illnesses and distresses—I read them all. I never skip the obits and funeral notices for people in and around Imphal. Sometimes, I find out about the passing of old, long-lost college friends this way.

Life feels tough without newspapers. When I’m out of town without them, I often worry when I contemplate about friends and family in this godforsaken land called Manipur. Once I’m back home, I catch up by reading all the newspapers in order of their publication dates. I usually complete the routine by cutting out and keeping the most important clippings for my collection.

On the Record

I started reading newspapers as soon as I learned Meiteilon, spelling out each letter and word. Back then, we learned Meiteilon before English, so by 1957–58, I was fluent in the language and reading newspapers. At home, we had several dailies my father subscribed to, such as Ngasi, Prajatantra, Simant Patrika and Anouba Samaj. They were all two-page, one-side, tabloid-sized papers. If I remember right, a paper cost four paise and most were pretty much mouthpieces for political parties. The Congress had Simant Patrika, the Communists Khollao, and the Socialists had Anouba Samaj.

Things were a bit different back then. In winter, for instance, hawkers on the payroll of each respective newspaper would deliver the papers around 9 or 10 am. You could read the whole paper, top to bottom, in 10 to 15 minutes. People with piles could get through three issues in one bathroom visit! These small newspapers had some ads, a few government tender notices and a horoscope section. They were full of typos and hard-to-read prints. In those days without radio, newspapers were our only source of news on politics, governance and administration. Where else could we get the “real news” instead of town rumors and gossip? [Blogger’s note: The All India Radio (AIR) was established in 1936 and the station in Imphal in 1963; albeit earlier, news bulletins were relayed from Guwahati starting in 1957.]

Soon, two-page, double-sided papers came into existence along with hazy, smudgy photos printed every now and then. These photos always had the tiny attribution: Photo: Government of India. Let me share a funny story from those days. Some English newspapers reported on a storm with the phrase, “It was raining cats and dogs.” One local paper took it literally and published: “Hui houdong faoba yaona akanba nongju chukhre,” which loosely means, “Even cats and dogs were falling during the torrential downpour.” (A bit lost in translation here.)

Notwithstanding this long-running joke in the Manipuri news industry, we should not criticise the media folks from back then. Even today, many English-speaking media professionals struggle with the native language, and you can see it in their news stories sometimes.

A society without newspapers will merely be as good as dead.

Set the Story Straight

For those who love newspapers, something truly amazing happened in the world of Meiteilon dailies when offset printing machines and desktop publishing, also known as DTP, were introduced for the first time. The transformation was nothing short of a miracle. Similarly, the construction of the Kangla moat, the facelift of Kangjeibung into a mini stadium, the installation of the Sahid Minar, the building of Khuman Lampak Main Stadium and its sports complex, and the relocation of Assam Rifles are all miraculous. And let’s not forget the Bir Tikendrajit flyover, which went from being almost abandoned looking like a dilapidated citadel to fully functional—a miracle in its own right. (Blogger’s note: The author is, here, referring to the late 1990s and early 2000s. The construction of BT Flyover started in summer 2003 and the bridge took four years for completion. Length: 623 metres!)

The way printing has evolved is again nothing short of a miracle. In the past, letterpress printing was messy with ink blotches everywhere. Using a treadle-powered jobbing press was physically demanding, but it got the job done without electricity, and it became even more efficient with bigger cylinders. Then came offset printing, which was adopted quickly and made newspapers look almost picture perfect with multi-color (or technically, the four-color) printing process. It has been, so to speak, a dream come true for both professionals who have dedicated their lives to the profession and the people who are passionate about all things pao-che. I’ve seen this firsthand with my own companions.

Back in the days of old-school printing in Imphal, there was this one evening when a Japanese tourist visited a printing press. I heard he was visibly surprised and felt sorry seeing compositors working on archaic cylinder machines way into the late 20th century. He said something like, “We had these machines back in Japan. These are making me nostalgic now.” No surprise but the whole setup must have appeared like museum artefacts to him.

Read:

Today’s Morning News

Some of the Meiteilon newspapers are doing really well these days. It’s amazing to see how skilled printing professionals in town are raising the bar with their work. Unlike English newspapers from outside the state, which arrive only in the evening, Meiteilon dailies have news from all over the world thanks to technology and subscriptions to agencies. Many readers here have apparently ditched papers from outside the state altogether. They prefer reading these dailies in the morning and catching some news on TV or radio. It’s a trend that’s catching on fast. (Blogger’s note: Check the post On Reading National Evening Newspapers, which focuses on, amongst other things, how all the metro newspapers are no less than an eveninger in Manipur.)

Plus, in the editorial pages, the dailies feature articles written by well-informed contributors with impressive academic backgrounds. They excel in various fields like politics, economics, science, medicine, and more, both nationally and internationally. It’s great to see experts sharing their opinions regularly.

These days, we’re fortunate to see what’s going on around us quickly and clearly: how many people have drawn their last breath, where a gunfight has taken place, who has hurled the bombs, where a joint action committee (just JAC in local parlance) has been formed, when a bandh or blockade is due, which minister has been garlanded—we hear about it all. We also stay updated on lighter topics like sports, culture, movies, music, and more. The papers are printed late at night, so we wake up to fresh news every morning, even if it has happened late the night before.

Stop Press

Despite the progress, press freedom in Manipur faces constant threats. The occurrence of one organisation or another interfering with daily news production processes, and physically shutting down outlets has become more of a norm than an exception. We are forced to go without newspapers for a good number of days each year. It is difficult to determine whether or if other areas affected by insurgencies, such as Kashmir, Assam, and Nagaland, also face the same kind of adversities. The government have told the newspaper offices not to print press releases from armed organisations, and that that it will censor the press, or the latter must do it on its own. Insiders reveal that they have already received strictures from the authority on the issue.

On the flip side, some folks are strongly against the government’s actions. They will also intimidate media houses to publish their press statement by any means. It’s gotten to a point where we’re worried about the future of newspapers. There might come a day when we don’t have them at all, and a society without newspapers is pretty much dead in the water. Even under dictatorial regimes, newspapers manage to stick around in some places, but what about Manipur? It’s part of India, the world’s largest democracy. Will there ever be a time when newspapers would vanish from our world?

- Concluded.

Translation Note:

Unlike in the Meiteilon essay, I have inserted subheaders in the above translation for design aesthetics and to give the above blog page more room to breathe with white space.
The original Meiteilon essay, as mentioned in the postscript of the piece in the book, was written in August 2008.
Meiteilon is spoken predominantly in Manipur, while sparsely in mainland India and the western part of Southeast Asia. In the 2011 census, 1.76 million people use the language as their native tongue in India.
In the state, the Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Government of Manipur mentions there are 34 newspapers, and out of which 16 are in Meiteilon. The list of media houses and journalists accredited by the directorate—which was last updated in June 2018 as per the timestamp of the post on its website—is either incorrect or incomplete. It does not mention The Morning Bell daily (Is it not recognised?), Elite TV, and SKTV in the list; and Pradip Phanjoubam is still credited as the editor of Imphal Free Press on the directorate’s website, and so on.
It is ironic but the official website of the DIPR that is responsible for dissemination of information to the public was launched for the first time only in 2016. A chunk of the website is still filled with 400 Bad Request errors in June 2024. The Japanese tourist mentioned in the essay will definitely faint if he hears about this DIPR miracle. See below the names of the dailies:

The list includes 34 newspapers mentioned on the DIPR website plus The Morning Bell; and the languages (and timing for some) of the publications are mentioned in parentheses. Just amongst the Meiteilon dailies—based on perception and available data on circulation—the more popular Poknapham, the Sangai Express and Hueiyen Lanpao can be grouped under Category 1, while Naharolgi Thoudang, Sanaleibak, Ichel Express and Ireibak can be placed in Category 2 and so forth.