Memorable road trips and more
Who says no to an invitation from Ukiyo? Not people in their right minds. Martin Thokchom, began to live out his dream at 29. I first visited in 2019 and found a delightful bookstore in Imphal, complete with its tea corner serving amazing chai, a version of street chai, and a whole wall covered in postcards reminiscent of nineteenth century England. By the entrance stands a working postbox, fulfilling one of Martin’s bright ideas to teach younger people how to send postcards to their friends. The postbox is still regularly used. All these and more make Ukiyo a unique experience. One leaves the dusty highway and steps into another world, that offers another way to look at life. The selection of books has Imphal book lovers satisfied and updated with the most recent publications. It is not just about selling popular books but it is about making the reading culture appealing and desirable and Martin does it very well in his inimitable way. Ukiyo widens book horizons for the city by fostering books by writers of the Northeast.
Dimapur to Imphal on a very short flight. Who would say no to that? Even though the aircraft offered by Air Alliance looked like it had survived the last war. I imagined I was sitting inside a giant red centipede that miraculously had a flying route between Imphal and Dimapur. At the end of my trip was the softly lit, dragonfly wings adorned studio and my gracious hostess was a gentle Syrian woman who had married a Meitei and made Imphal her home. The lighting was perfect. Goodbye LED. And the well mannered questions from scholars who totally got what I was conveying because they were from the territory! That is such a joy for a speaker to connect on a DNA level with his or her audience. No pushy selfie obsessed individuals, and a healthy respect for the other’s personal space. How all these things added up harmoniously to the whole experience of an Ukiyo evening. Try it once before you die.
The next morning came early without Cat Stevens. We breakfasted on light and fluffy Meitei made puris and chai and drove out of foggy neighbourhoods until the harvested rice fields were visible. There were at least two Kuki villages along the way. People starting their day peacefully. Here and there, a few soldiers were patrolling. But no evidence of ongoing conflict. The media is not always trustworthy. The stereotyping cannot always be trusted.
Ukhrul. Amazing experience. The best asset the town has is the younger ones who have returned from metropolitan cities to continue making Ukhrul their home and to bring a good city flavor to it in the way of businesses, cafes, great bakeries, wonderful florists, and updated services in many areas. Yes the winter roads could not avoid generating dust from passing cars, but we chose to look up instead of down. There were cherry blossom trees everywhere in the throes of death, desperate to give us their last glory. The skies were brilliantly blue by day and adorned by the full moon and Orion’s belt by night.
The Pasei library and bookstore and our hosts, Mashun Khangrah and his family who built the bookstore, brick by brick, were more than gracious. We sat for a comfortable hour toying with comfortable and intelligent questions that avoided pseudo intellectualism. The audience was something else. Well informed, engagingly attentive and desirous to know (not asking questions to impress in other words), and contributing so much to the stories we were discussing. Every writer should be so lucky as to get audiences like the Ukiyo and Pasei audiences. Sigh.
There is a stark beauty about Ukhrul. If you look beyond the urban surfaces, you can still find old Ukhrul. A gentle people, generous with their gifts and their hospitality. Magen Hills where we were hosted could outdo any guest house in the west. I cannot recommend it enough.
And the truth is that life is back to normal in Imphal even if it is a new normal. Businesses are running, people are able to go about peacefully on the streets and interactions like the’ Homecoming Tour’ organized by Ukiyo and Pasei could happen without any hitch. Time to stop accepting the stereotyping. Time to bless our sister cities. Certainly time to bless Ukiyo and Pasei and all our sons and daughters.A
