Just as in much of mainland India where the institution of arranged marriage ensures a steady stream of revenue for newspapers through matrimonial advertisements, it is often joked that making notification of births and deaths mandatory, as in most advanced countries whose populations are closely enumerated, would add another major perennial revenue source for newspapers. Regardless of whatever ups and downs the world goes through, births, deaths and marriages will continue to be the destiny of humankind. This is however not to canvas for the creation of revenue sources for the media in the state, although it would not have been altogether unreasonable to do so considering compulsory registration of deaths and births after their public notification, can make the decadal national census exercises much more accurate and easy to conduct. On the other hand, this editorial is to point out another very immediate consequence of deaths and births against the backdrop of an ever increasing congestion of Imphal city.
Greater Imphal`™s population is growing exponentially both by birth as well as migration, and today close to a third of the entire state`™s population live in this capital city. One of the inevitable consequences is constantly shrinking living space. The traditional drainage network of khongban have disappeared and in their places are tiny, so called modern, drains most of which are barely able to carry the city`™s daily liquid waste. Not surprisingly even a moderately heavy monsoon shower cause them to overflow and flood the city; playgrounds and community lai haraoba grounds too are progressively shrinking, and some have actually disappeared; family courtyards where family ceremonies were traditionally performed are becoming history. The most painful of these consequences however is the shrinking spaces for the disposal of the dead. Amongst the Meiteis, who form the majority of the population of Imphal, this is by cremation, and among them cremation is very territorial in nature, obviously reminiscent of a clannish past, and no family would want their dead cremated anywhere else than at their traditional community cremation site. Unfortunately, the expanding city, with its widening roads, rising new multi-storied buildings etc, has little respect for these grounds. The result is the indignity of cremations having to be performed on the roadsides or at the foot of high rise buildings. This indignity is both for those performing the last rites for their kin, as well as for onlookers who are left to stare at funeral pyres when they peep out of their windows or step out of their homes.
It is not easy for a community to leave behind their tradition, but sometimes the flux of time move ahead of the pace at which traditions change. Imphal`™s cremation problem is one such case. It is therefore time the government began considering introducing a few modern electric crematoriums in Imphal. It is unlikely everybody will take to them immediately, but a beginning must be made. When the people come to realise that with a little reorientation of their rituals, they can much more efficiently, cleanly and cost effectively complete their obligation to the dead, this can become the new tradition. They can then take their dead to these crematoriums and return with the ashes for the continuance of their religious rituals. It must also be kept in mind that even if it is not today, at some point in the near future, this will have to be Imphal`™s and the state`™s new reality, so why not begin taking steps towards this now. There are still some well placed traditional community crematoriums too. Perhaps some enterprising MLAs can think of their upgrade to modern electric crematoriums with their MLA local area funds, and thus be the beacon for the future shape of things.
Leader Writer: Pradip Phanjoubam