Deconstructing the Discourses on Manipuri Women

Abstract

Manipuri women are much adulated and glorified by various sections of society. The media also report their active participation in economic, civil and political life. This however represents only a slice of their lives. The larger picture that is woven around their private lives, which play out in a multitude of ways to define their place in society is invariably lost in this glorification. This paper traces the emergence of women, their participation in public life, and their glorification, to the epoch-making NupiLaan movement that took place in 1939. This event is observed to have sanctified women rising to the forefront in a variety of public concerns up to the present day. My paper intends to deconstruct this sanctified position accorded to Manipuri women. It analyses whether such public activism serves to unshackle them from the mundane but complex social challenges of being a woman. It examines their aspirations and the capacities they have to nurture their individual dreams independently. It argues that social realities confound them and they are not in tandem with their aspirations. The role of religion is also analyzed here. This paper thus tries to unearth their aspirations and the kind of realities they have to grapple with. Unique Individual achievements and excellence in any chosen field and the realities or challenges related thereto are not within the scope of this discussion. Rather it underlines how the paradox of public adulation tinged with private agonies complicate the understanding of the status of the Manipuri women.