Why Manipurʼs Capital Is Indiaʼs Best-kept Cultural Secret?

Why Manipurʼs capital is Indiaʼs best-kept cultural secret

- Vivek Menezes

Soft rain enveloped my footsteps the first time I walked the streets of Imphal to meet Ronid (Akhu) Chingangbam. The 38-yearold musician dropped me an internet pin to reach his recording session in the haphazardly overbuilt neighborhood of Khuyathong, but the location proved stubbornly elusive. When my phone buzzed “destination reached”, I found the entranceway forked three ways into dizzying stairwells. It was only after huffing up and down two of them that the Shallow River Studio finally revealed itself. One step across the threshold and I was captivated by the instantly recognizable, wistful treble voice that had drawn me all the way across the country from my home in Goa.

Back in 2012, Akhu first came to my attention via The Dewarists, the long-running MTV India series, pairing musical acts from around the world to create collaborative tracks. Episode 7 showcased an all-time favorite, the swaggering British electronica pioneers, Asian Dub Foundation. Right alongside their gut-pounding grooves was an unknown voice, singing lyrics, unlike anything I’d ever heard before. This was the brilliantly surreal “Qutub Minar”, the story of a Manipuri who casually picks up the centuries-old iconic Delhi monument, and hefts it directly back home, “Please convey to Manmohan/When AFSPA is repealed/you can take back the Qutub Minar/Otherwise I will be on my own course/ Draped in a phanek I hope to install it at the Samu Makhong.”