A festival of colour and a safety valve

That this is a much needed vent for the people of the valley is evident from the first big pointer — the newspapers stay off the stands for full five days. Business establishments, government offices and banks remain closed. The ATMs don’t work as well as there is no one to replenish them daily. Even newly re-elected chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh chose to take a Yaoshang holiday. He has been away in New Delhi, trying to get the state cabinet in order after consulting the Congress high command.

The festival is completely youth-oriented, as is obvious from the numerous rounds of sports activities organised in every major leikai (neighbourhood) throughout the day. Elders who have watched the festival take off in a major way in the last few decades say that Yaoshang promotes sporting excellence, and is one of the main reasons for Manipur excelling in sports nationally and internationally.

It begins with the symbolic burning of a Yaoshang (a small thatch hut) in the evening and is followed by the Naka-theng, during which children go from house to house in the leikai to collect money for their Yaoshang festivities like buying colours and other paraphernalia. The streets are full of youngsters zooming around on bikes, or just walking around in large groups.

The festival truly comes alive in the evenings, when the Thabal Chongba is performed. Young boys and girls hold hands and dance in a chain that moves around the musicians from early evening till late into the night. This, in a state capital that shuts down usually by 7 pm, is what makes Yaoshang stand apart compared to other events.

Many youngsters studying or working outside the state make it a point to return home during Yaoshang, says T James, a commerce student from Mumbai. “Everyone is free and the usual restrictions are relaxed. I get to catch up with my old friends besides dancing at the Thabal Chongba with the girls,” he grins.

In Manipur, cinema halls have been banned by militants from screening Hollywood or Bollywood films. And there are no activity clubs or hobby societies to speak of, not even malls to hang out in. With no entertainment options available to them, the youth here are invariably drawn to drug-abuse and petty crimes, but for five days in spring, dancing and sports take care of their pent-up energy. Yaoshang is to the youth of Manipur what a safety valve is to a pressure cooker.