Raven silken long hair falling at
the hips and exotic almond eyes. Bearing this hallmark of the North Eastern
India, Amy is a young woman from Manipur. Though more voluptuous and curvier
than her sisters, Amy scores in the fashion department and wins the crown
and title of hipness with her shorts and tight tank top. She manages my hair
for me in a slightly upmarket salon in Whitefield to where I can afford a trip
just once a month. I have never seen Amy with chipped nails or limp tresses or
sans a smile. Her cute dimples and chirpy demeanour makes my day. Behind that
life size doll’s smiles lay the common thread of truth that runs through almost
every denizen in Manipur.
Separatist insurgency since 1964 is
a known calamity in Manipur as in many states of the North East India. Clubbed
with general apathy from the Central Government, alleged Army brutality and infighting
(Manipur has twelve prominent insurgency outfits and none of them are united in
their demands), the victims of home grown war and violence are the aged, the
women and the children. Depending on their economic condition most of the youth
come away to the Metro Cities to make themselves a life away from despair and
zilch. Accoutered in trendy clothes they could be anything from waiters to
beauticians to students in good varsities. They are branded “Chinks” and the
women are seen as debauched. Unlike the rest of the country most of the North
East does not stake a patriarchal claim on female genitalia. Like any other
body part, the sexual organs are owned by the person it belongs to, not by the father or family who
strives to keep it protected and then give it to another man in an arranged
marriage for safekeeping and whatever else the husband may want to do. They
discover sexuality as nature has ordained humans to. Society make lay down
rules but hormones have their own story to tell and that explains why during Daandia
and Garbhaa in Mumbai gynaecologists cash in on sudden spikes in abortions. It
is a well kept secret of Mumbai but a close friend also a gynaecologist told me
how the late night dancing in backless cholis with young men leads to car park
amours when Mummy and Bhaabi are not watching. However the rest of the country
does not understand and respect this concept of “sex when I want not when you
need”. A lot of these women are subjected to crass sexual overtures and in some
serious cases rapes. They earn a good measure of local ire from those who feel that their jobs
are taken away by these “chinks”. Unlike the Northern or Southern populace of
this country the people from the North Eastern states don’t have an innate
nature to hoard away their money. That explains why they don’t have sustained economic
growth and dynastic businesses. What they earn they splurge. Someone from the same economic background from Manipur or other North
Eastern states generally would have a better turn out and less squalid living
conditions than people from other parts of the country. This factor has led some of the lower to middle class residential areas in Bangalore see a spike in North Eastern youths. They don’t haggle too much and are more open to paying higher rents. They are blessed with
good aesthetic sense and they can’t help being sensualists and romantics. Investments is bizarrely
lost on the people from thence. They rather eat well, dress well and merry
make. Most people will call them irresponsible but they could not care less.
Amy is just 24. She wants to get
married and have a family someday. She does not earn a lot because the services
industry does not pay very well in India. She supports her aging parents and
sends them money through other girls who go home or sometimes through a demand
draft. Her two brothers like many men in Manipur have taken to the bottle and rock
music and have left the toiling to the industrious women. She shrugged it away
saying at least they don’t do drugs. She did call them some colourful names
when she explained how they ask her for more money, on which they practically and
technically have no right. Against her better advice to her siblings to migrate
to Bangalore and make themselves more useful, they decided to stay back and hic
away.
Switching context she told me my hair needs some TLC and talks me in to buying two obscenely priced Kerastase products. I must tell her next time those products don’t seem to be weaving any magic in my hair and that my tresses are far from being as luscious as hers. I am quite sure she is using a regular shampoo. She mentioned she that changes her nail paint every night and that she washes her hair every day. So much for hair pundits booing daily hair cleansing and style Nazis extolling high end French products.
Switching context she told me my hair needs some TLC and talks me in to buying two obscenely priced Kerastase products. I must tell her next time those products don’t seem to be weaving any magic in my hair and that my tresses are far from being as luscious as hers. I am quite sure she is using a regular shampoo. She mentioned she that changes her nail paint every night and that she washes her hair every day. So much for hair pundits booing daily hair cleansing and style Nazis extolling high end French products.
End of March she plans to undertake
a seventy two hour train journey to Assam and then take a bus from thence to
Manipur to be with her parents. She plans to bring them to Bangalore with her.
I asked her what are her plans are once she brings her folks to Bangalore. She
smiled and said in her cheerful Manipuri accent “Ma’am I weel take dem to fud court
for momos. Mummy loves momos. But it is so expensif”.
I can’t help myself tipping this
cheerful young woman handsomely who by the way has managed to work for the last
ten years in Bangalore and recently bought herself a second hand gear-less
scooter. She gives a rat’s butt to people who may tag her “loose” “available” “Chink”.
Our Amy is having fun, working hard and sending home money. She holds her own very
firmly. Cheers Amy!!!