By Khura Seraton
New shirt, new trouser and a new leather slipper, everything was new. I saw Nobin on his over-used two wheeler bike, riding down the Kasturi Bridge towards Nagamapal side. No one will be mistaken to identify Nobin as one of the newly married of this season. The all new clothing speaks for itself. Besides his clothing, one of the easiest ways to identify a newly married man among the Meities is to look at his slipper. If the man is wearing a clean white slipper, nine out of ten will turn out to be newly married. May be, the white colour slipper is worn to match the all-white Pheijom, Pumyat and Kokyet. Some bridegrooms prefer to wear off-white or dull-yellow slippers instead of the white colour one. But white colour is dominant. Someone told me that the all-white Meitei bridegroom signifies the sun. Yes, the sun which is the best power supplier of the earth, the life giver, the ubiquitous sun. But I was not told what the bride signifies. May be because brides are multi-coloured, giving too many options for signification.
Nobin, riding through the busy Nagamapal Street passed by me, and was gone with the medley of vehicular sounds towards the Khuyathong side. He didn`™t notice me waving. Though I know, his mind was occupied with so many things. The Mangani Chak-kouba (a grand feast at the bride`™s parental house on the fifth day after the wedding) was just two days away. It is usual for a newly married husband to make himself busy with some more shopping even after the wedding. You never know the small requirements of the new house, of the woman who have just moved in to stay together for the rest of her life. And it is a good gesture to remind friends to attend the Chak-Kouba even though the formal invitation cards have already been dispatched along with the wedding cards. But Nobin have different preoccupation. His house is going to be dismantled soon.
Earlier Nobin`™s family as well as other families in the locality was served with a government notification. The notice informed them that they will have to shift their houses to a new location on a specific date, within a few days`™ time. That specific date is same with the date of Nobin`™s wedding. It is not that they were not aware of the eviction drive which is rampant in Imphal with the new surge of developmental works carried out by the government. The localities were earlier served with a similar notification. But the date for eviction was however extended after much pleading with the government. They pleaded that constructing new houses at a new location will take some more time, as it was rainy season. The government agreed to give some more time. Yet, uncertainties still loom large as another notification was in the offing. The latest notification arrived like a bad presage. It knocked the loudest to Nobin`™s family, when everyone was busy preparing for the wedding. They have never imagined that eviction drive would begin on the wedding day itself. As soon as the latest notification was served, Nobin`™s family members had to leave the wedding preparation aside. It must have been one of the hardest decisions to make; whether to take part in the Leiaki meeting to discuss about submitting another appeal to the authority for one more extension of eviction date, or to anyhow shift to the newly allotted location so that the marriage is not disturbed.
In the meantime, the Leikai decided to appeal for yet another extension of date. This time they have cited Nobin`™s wedding as one of the chief reasons of extending the date. But it was never easy. Should they meet the MLA, or should they meet the aspiring one, who is very influential `“ who could tame ferocious breed of earth movers like the JCB. Yes, that yellow coloured breed, which can alter a landscape within minute`™s time. I also heard that the influential one also owns quite a number of the same breed. You call it luck or anything, the influential man turned up in the Leikai when heated discussion was going on. He got down from his black Bolero vehicle; offered greetings with folded hands to the elders, shook hands with the young. He talked with the Leikai for some minutes. He made a call from his smart phone. He informed the Leikai that extension notice will be out by evening.
And that was how Nobin`™s marriage was not disturbed. I was wondering what if the phone call of that influential JCB owner had failed to extend the eviction date. Would Nobin and his family shift to the new location? Would they postpone the wedding? That day I met Nobin. He told me that on the day of Chak-Kouba a commotion nearly took place over some trivial issue, which was not at all related with the impending eviction. `Why do things have to go wrong on my important days`, he asked. I had no answer. I cannot try reasoning with him that it was just a matter of coincidence, and that things will be fine. I did not enquire Nobin about his newly wed life; about eating on new plates, about sleeping on new bed `¦ new furniture and above all about the new family member. Nobin, who signified the all-powerful sun for a single day, will have to stay away from the JCB one day.