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Define Zero In Hundred Words

What if Governor V. Shanmuganathan’s politics of culture is put to a 100-word test

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Define Zero In Hundred Words
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Tit For Tat

  • The governor asked Manipuri 'gurus' to define culture in 100 words and get ­invited for tea
  • Aribam S. Sharma asked the governor to ­invite 100-word definitions of ­politics from politicians too

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The riposte was swift and scathing. Define what is ‘governor’ in 100 words, read an exasperated social media post. Others were even more acerbic. “Busy doing homework, writing 100 words on stupidity,” read another. They were Manipuris giving vent to their hurt at outgoing governor V. Shanmuganathan’s “playful invitation” to the state’s cultural ‘gurus’ to define culture in 100 words and win a chance to have a cup of tea or coffee at the Raj Bhavan, the debate raged on whether it is appropriate for a governor to be playful. A week after his gaffe, Najma Heptullah was named as the new governor of Manipur, leaving only Meghalaya—where he has been governor since May 2015—under Shanmuganathan.

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The protests acquired a life of their own following an open letter from ren­owned filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma, who was present at the ina­uguration of the University of Culture and Manipur State Film and Television Institute on August 12 when the governor made the offer in English and insisted his ADC translate it into Manipuri.

The audience, say media reports, greeted the “invitation” with “thunderous app­lause”. Though some Manipuri guests saw nothing wrong in the governor’s “playful” offer, there were many who felt offended. “Gurus from different disciplines were the audience,” a renowned scholar, who was in the audience but wishes to remain anonymous, tells Outlook. “Some didn’t care about what the governor said, others remained quiet. But then the elderly gurus believe in forgive and forget; they don’t fight. But it was unfortunate and awkward. We were to get an Act passed by the assembly for the culture institute to come up. A lot of hard work had gone into it. And here, in front of the chief minister, the governor asked us to explain culture in 100 words.”

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The day after that goofy invite, Padma Shri awardee Sharma wrote an open letter to the governor in which he bluntly said the challenge thrown at the gurus by the old RSS hand in the Raj Bhavan was best described in a Manipuri saying: “thaksi khasi naidaba, leibak macha tadaba.” Translated roughly, it means one who doesn’t respect elders and knows nothing of Manipuri culture can still be civil.

Sharma went on: “We expect a sports univers­ity to come up in Manipur. We expect your excellency would grace the inauguration. I would like your excellency to make the adventure of asking those assembled, which would include Olympians, the meaning of sports in 100 words. In a gathering of politicians, we would also like to see you invite a definition of what politics is, in 100 words.”

The letter went viral on social media, and the entire episode only reinforced the stereotype of the ignorant Indian imposing his culture on Manipuris.

With a population of a little less than three million, Manipur is known for its ­music, dance, theatre, literature, handicrafts, handloom, sports and martial arts. People say it is difficult to find a Manipuri girl who cannot sing or dance. No doubt the governor’s tactless playfulness seemed like a challenge. “It is the governor’s prerogative to define culture in 100-200 words, but it is not his prerogative to insult the culture of any society,” says Rajendra Kshetri, the first sociology professor from Manipur.

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This cultural faux pas was even more unfortunate as Shanmuganathan, a pol­itical science gold medallist from Madras University, has written three books in Tamil on culture and society. When he took over as the Meghalaya governor last year, he had openly disagreed with the idea that governorship is a sinecure. Governors, he had said, must understand people and appreciate their values. Browsing his Facebook page, though, tells you more about his visits to Tamil Nadu and his official engagements in the Northeast. Five days after the controversy broke, he had made neither any comment nor any effort to reach out to Sharma and other Manipuri gurus.

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Manipuris recall another incident inv­olving the governor. When it was proposed at the Governing Council meeting of the state Lalit Kala Akademi that a two-minute silence be observed to commemorate Manipuri poet Laishram Sama­rendra Singh, who passed away this June, the governor’s immediate reaction was that boxing legend Muhammad Ali too had passed away in June.

At another function the day after that gaffe, the governor called out the Speaker sitting on the front row and asked him to furnish the Manipuri word for ‘foundation stone’. Could he be trying to emulate A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s informal classroom style of addressing students? But then the late President chose to quiz students and not an audience of gurus.

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