Kendra Parichay Programme at Manipur Vibhag

Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari, Manipur Vibhag conducted a Kendra Parichay Programme in Khangabok village of Thoubal niyojit nagarstan.

Prant Sangathak Adharneeya Rupesh Ji graced the occasion with his presence. More than 20 people attended the programme.

Karyakarta Milan at Manipur

Karyakarta Milan is organized by Vivekananda Kendra Manipur Vibhag on 3rd April 2022 with Karyakartas from 1978-1987 Kendra Karya period in Manipur and present batch starting from 2011. Nineteen Karyakartas attended the meet today.

The former team fondly shared the memories of Kendra work and first Sangathak here, Late Vivekananda Royji. It was happy and emotional sharing.

In Kendra parichay, present works of Vivekananda Kendra in various fields and states were briefly delivered. It was followed by open ended discussion on future plan of work in Manipur bivhag.

Karyakarta Milan concluded with shantimantra followed by sahabhojan.

All expressed deep sense of satisfaction on restarting of Kendra work in Manipur.

Sampark with Sri La Ganeshanji - Manipur

 Sampark with Sri La Ganeshanji, Honourable Governor, Manipur, during Prant Sangathak Ad Rupesh Bhaiya's 4 days visit in Manipur bivhag, from 1st to 4th March 2022. Honourable Governor enquired about our activities and next planning in Manipur.
We presented a copy of our book Indian Culture to him.
S. Rupachandraji, our Kendra associate and Additional Advocate General, Manipur accompanied during the visit

Sadhana Divas celebration in VK Manipur

 On 19th November, 2021, Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari, Imphal Branch, celebrated Sadhana Divas, the Birth Anniversary of Mananeeya Eknathji Ranade - spirit behind Vivekananda Rock Memorial Kanyakumari and Vivekananda Kendra.

The program began with manglacharanam by Dr Wahengbam Sushma Devi, Senior Research Associate, Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture, Manipur Chapter. Importance of the day and welcome address was given by Sri Siddarth Huidrom, Kendra Karyakarta,  Imphal. The Sadhana Divas letter sent by Mananeeya Nivedita Didi, Vice-president, Vivekananda Kendra, was read out and discussed in detail by the Karyakartas present in the program.

As per the call of the letter, the Karyakartas agreed to identify volunteers who are ready to give one year of their life for the service of the Motherland, in this auspicious occasion of 50 years of Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari.

A geet dedicated to Eknathji was also there in the agenda. The program ended with sankalpa for strengthening of our Kendra work in Imphal and then shantimantra.

Free Cochlear Implant Programme

The Swasthya Seva Manch(Health Service Forum) of Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari, Uttar Poorvanchal organized a free Cochlear Implant (a very expensive imported lifelong hearing device) programme for deaf and dumb children in association with Max Hospital, Saket, New Delhi and Snehalaya, an NGO of Tinsukia working in the field of differently able persons . Dr. Sanjay Sachdeva, Head of ENT and Head & Neck Surgery, Max Hospitals, visited Tinsukia in the month of May 2017 to screen patients. 

In the screening camp six children were selected by him for the surgery. After counseling the parents, it was decided that three children will be send to Delhi for surgeries in July 2017. Accordingly Urmi Moran (2yrs.and7months), Ristina Buragohain(4 yrs.) and Arpita Gogoi(4yrs.and 6 months) were sent to Delhi along with their parents and on 30th July, they got the approval for surgeries. In next three days, they were operated at Max Hospital, Delhi by Dr.Sachdeva and his highly skilled and dedicated team and the internal part of the device were successfully implanted. After two days, they were sent back home.

After four weeks they had to visit Delhi again to switch on the device and the 31st August 2017 was fixed for that purpose. Accordingly they reached Max Hospital on that day and under the guidance of Dr.Shruti Sahni (Senior Audiologist) and technicians, the devices were switched on. It was a memorable moment for all of us to watch the reactions of the children, who were listening to sounds first time in their life. 

The third and very crucial part of this entire exercise is speech therapy, which will be given to these children very soon at Snehalaya free of cost. 

All these three children are from economically poor families background. Without the help from Max Hospital, Saket,Delhi, Cochlear (Australian manufacturer of the device), Amplifone (Audiology experts) it wouldn’t had been possible to have these implants free of cost. In this endeavor a major setback occurred due to relentless flood which disrupted the train connectivity between North-East and the rest of the country. A moment came when we all despaired that the second trip to Delhi would be cancelled. At this crucial juncture the most encouraging incident occurred, when on our request the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund (PMNRF) immediately reserved flight tickets for children and parents to Delhi. 

After the successful completion of the first phase, we are planning to organize the second screening camp in October 2017 to find more economically poor deaf and dumb children.  Feeling the need of this area for more such programmes Dr Sachdeva has offered all possible assistance to treat more deaf and dumb children and help them to lead a normal life.  

Diversified Unity: Focus Northeast India- The Manipur Perspective

The Sanskriti Anveshak forum of Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture, Guwahati organized a talk cum interactive session on - Diversified Unity : Focus Northeast India- The Manipur Perspective on Saturday, 15 June, 2013 in the VKIC premises at Uzan Bazar, Guwahati. The talk was delivered by Prof.W. Nabakumar, Head, Department of Anthropology, Manipur University, Manipur. The lecture was the fifth of the on-going lecture-series on Diversified Unity: Focus Northeast India.

In his talk, Prof. Nabakumar effectively presented the ethnic profile of Manipur with its complicated socio-economic and political standing coupled with the challenges faced by society as a whole and some possible solution by learning from our cultural history prior to its pollution by the colonial interventions.

He said though Manipur is a small state it is rich in its ethnic profile and cultural diversity. Following the advent of colonialism, a divisive ethnographic narrative was designed where it divided people and forced artificial identities on communities for various reasons, which still we carry through. Categorization like Kuki and Naga leads to the polarization of tribal identities. Other smaller communities were forced to reorient their ethnic identities in these lines irrespective of their original identities, a clear victim of circumstances.

In the post-colonial period, even though Govt. Of India, in good intention brought out policies for the betterment of the societies, because of following the colonial narratives, ended up in encouraging more divisiveness. This coupled with the lack of vision among leadership resulted in a society of constant strife leading to a situation where everyone becomes unhappy and feels a sense of injustice among them.

He pointed out that only by deconstruction of colonial ethnographic narratives which was purposely designed to sow discontent among the communities; we can find some solution for this situation. He emphasized the need to go back to our history and roots to find the symbiotic relations that we followed earlier and learning from that past to bring peace and prosperity to the people of Manipur.

The lecture was followed by interesting and informative interaction with the audience to get more clarity in the various aspects presented by the lecturer. Prof. A C Bhagabati, Tagore National Fellow, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India and Member, Research Advisory Council, VKIC congratulated the lecturer for pin pointing the causes of the conflict and the possible solutions available to us such as learning from our history sans the colonial narratives.

In his summing up, the Moderator Dr. Kishore Bhattacharjee, Associate Professor, Department of Folklore, Gauhati University appreciated Prof. Nabakumar’s presentation of the issues in its length and breadth. He agreed with the lecturer that it is important to understand the causes of ethnic conflict and polarization haunting the Manipur society and need for bringing back the symbiotic relationship among the different communities without affecting their distinct characteristics.

Earlier in the evening, Dipok Kumar Barthakur, Chairman, VKIC presided over the session and delivered the Welcome Address. Shri Subhobrata Mukherjee, Member, Executive Council, VKIC introduced the guests to the gathering while Kumari Pallavi Kashyap gave the Vote of Thanks.