Saturday, February 28, 2009

Dr. Kishan and Manipuri Literature

The post independence Manipuri writers are somewhat disillusioned. The acceptance and the rejection of the new faith, new governance, the confusion of the people coming to terms with the changing situation, the search for the identity became the mirror image of the present day Manipuri literature. These writers are more politically conscious. They began to realize the predicament they are trapped in. The earlier excitement turned into anger and sorrow and the romanticism turned into absurdity and meaninglessness. Their main themes are defeatism, cynicism, and despair. They are aware of the corruption in the society, the unstable life style and are vulnerable and insecure. The present day life of the common man is caught in the everyday existential crisis. The literature churning out of this period depicts this social reality of violence and death and the ever-present problems of poverty and unemployment. Though very very limited, Sir Dr. Kishan's writings clearly represent the present day situations and somewhere excels from the contemporary writers in terms of long term perspectives, and the way of analyzing the situations, and always gives a way to get solution to the persisting problem, marked by a distinct note in the theme and style and the way of presentation. It is very unfortunate for the Manipuri Literature; its treasure will have a big hole now. We have lost not only a good human being but a great writer/author of future Manipuri Literature. There must be some unpublished matter of his writings at his home. Those writings will further strengthen his great vision in Manipuri literature.