Maphava in Hundung village

Yesterday I met Maphava in Hundung village
Life was quite in her place
She spoke of things of the past
Of what life was of the Nagas

Yesterday I drank rice beer in Hundung village
Old men were singing folk songs in one place
Tears rain in my eyes
The songs will die as the old man dies

America is far away
But Naga children like their music, they say
Radio and records have corrupted their minds
In our tradition of memories, they crossed lines

Tomorrow I won’t see Maphava in Hundung village
Life would be noisy in her place
The past would be buried in her grave
And there would be no Nagas left



Note: I had gone to Hundung village in Ukhrul district to do photography with (Guru) Rewben Mashangva. Two of my old classmates Biplab & Sword on a Tata Fellowship were there to do research on Rewben and the roots of his music i.e. the Tangkhul Naga folk music traditions.
I thoughtfully listened to the old men & women singing their folk songs and the verse is an expression of what I felt at that moment.

The photograph is of Maphava, one of the folk singers. She had asked me to send her a copy of the photograph which I would do so.

Save Loktak, our life music campaign was launched by Ranbir Thouna, one of the biggest music composer/singer of Manipur. He has 16 music albums to his credit as well as music direction for 11 feature films.
Her Royal Highness Princess Padmashree MK Binodini was the chairperson of the campaign. she is a writer of novels, short stories and screenplays. out of the 9 screenplays she wrote, all of them won either a national or an international award.

i directed a number of shorts, PSV, a music video called LOKTAK and produced video installations for the music concert.
The PSV included international icons like Padmashree Ratan Thiyam, MK Binodini, Award winning filmmaker A Syam Sharma, Ranbir Thouna, myself, environmentalist Nandiram Sharma etc.

Our Partners were AIRTEL, BSNL, WWW.SIROY.INFO, NARAYAN ADVERTISING, THOMTHIN DIGITAL.

Koken ~ coming soon

Synopsis

Blended with a dash of animation & real life characters, Koken is an economical ‘crossover’ film.
Though based on realism and combines an interest in social issues (youth unemployment, insurgency, AIDS), the film adopts occasionally a non-realistic approach, surrealistic post-modern style. This blend of genres, themes and determinedly self-conscious aesthetic style give the film a fresh and innovative approach.
The world of Koken is dark but infused with a sense of humor that is exhilarating, fantastic & unordinary.His world is peopled with characters that hold alternative lifestyles but permeated with humanism & understanding that represents them as victims of either society or circumstances.
But Koken’s adventure completes a circle and makes his journey back home while his doting mother waits in the verandah of the house beside a lantern with the words “ I will wait for my son’s return”.

75% complete. Releasing in 2010.