When he meets children at relief camps in Manipur, artist-singer Chaoba Thiyam asks them to draw how they feel. A few draw stick figures shooting at each other, but “90 percent” outline a house, fill in the colours, and “call it home”. In a state where ethnic violence since last May has left thousands displaced and hundreds of families grappling with the loss of a loved one, some are using art to get children to open up. For Chaoba, the idea first came during a visit to a relief camp near his residence in Moirang. Amid internet shutdowns and restrictions on movement, Chaoba, in August last year, gathered his friends for an Instagram live video, where they played music to raise funds. With the `30,000 they managed to raise, Chaoba put together a “music room”, with instruments such as ukuleles and guitars, installed in relief organisation Matai Society’s “trauma response centre”. Today, his Instagram features scribbled drawings and videos of grinning children rehearsing songs based on their native folk tales, or running around camps to pose for a music video. “The idea was to give children the autonomy to make art even when we are not there,” said Chaoba, who also arranges sessions on photography, painting, and storytelling. “People express repressed trauma through art. It can especially help children communicate to a therapist what they cannot understand,” said Gurumayum Mukesh Sharma, an Imphal-based psychologist, who added that amidst the conflict, people came together to popularise the form. Irom Kajol, a 19-year-old college student, wanted to join the armed forces until the conflict changed “everything”. She had escaped from Chudhrachudpur district amid the violence, which she describes as one in “a series of events” that traumatised her, leaving her with nightmares. With 45 other internally displaced children in Bishnupur district’s Moirang area, Kajol signed up for music lessons held by Matai Society, Harmony Manipur and Siyom (an initiative of Chaoba Thiyam). She eventually joined several more of their art sessions. Today, she aims to play the guitar full-time. “Kajol’s had developed a sleepwalking problem which is now almost fixed now,” said her mother, Irom Nandini. Kamlesh, who teaches music with Harmony Manipur, holds sessions in a small 8/8 room: For kids of different ages, he has different slots. Among the children is 12-year-old Nongdamba from class 5, who told The Indian Express that Chaoba had gifted him a flute, one he practises with late into the night each day after school. “We are getting a good response,” Kamlesh said. “We plan to include more sessions for the children.” A member of Matai Society, Bidyasagar Moirangthem, said, “We started this project to ease trauma. Now we are trying to take it to the next level — from vocal training to teaching how to play instruments.” Like Chaoba, in August last year, Noel Tsujiy founded Relief Camp Hills for Kuki children. He had fled to Nagaland after his house was burned down in Imphal. When he returned, he was not satisfied with relief being in the form of “dumping clothes and leaving”. “Children in the hills wanted to go outdoors. So, we eventually brought in football, other sports and excursions,” he said, adding the local church was central in organising music sessions and choirs at a time when his district was reeling from outbreaks and riots. Beeshantam Yumnam, owner of Books and Coffee bookstore in the state capital, feared the situation could “turn hostile” at any point during a children’s books festival he organised in June and July this year, featuring calligraphy and art sessions. But the joy of watching children make pinwheels, rabbits and flowers out of paper surpassed the risk. His store opened doors for cultural events in 2014, and is one of few to have continued through the conflict. “I have seen many children’s faces turn from anxiety to happiness,” he said. “That is why I do what I do.”
