曼尼普爾朋友的聚餐
此篇有關我所知的曼尼普爾(Manipur)的文章，台長之前受EX-亞洲劇團邀稿所寫的，大家一起來認識他們吧。
第一次和來自曼尼普爾(Manipur)的朋友們相遇是在印度舞蹈學校裡，有著相似東方臉孔的我們，第一眼印象彼此覺得很有親切感。當時在完全沒有認識其他華人的情況下，很快地就和他們成為好朋友。對於曼尼普爾的認識，只知道它是印度八種古典舞蹈之一的〝曼尼普里〞(Manipuri)的發源地，而曼尼普里舞那燦爛奪目的圓柱狀長裙Kumin，長裙上方罩著弧狀造型的”Pasuan”以及罩上頭上的透明面紗，獨特的造型令人過目難忘! 藉由這群朋友，我對遠遠掛在印度東北方，被稱作珠寶之地但卻被世人忽略的曼尼普爾有稍微的了解和認識。
曼尼普爾當地的傳統舞蹈”曼尼普尼”(Manipuri)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2178/1848734908_b7855fc95c_b.jpg他們的外表雖然和我們有點相似，有些朋友長得就和台灣人沒兩樣，但文化上很多還蠻不一樣的。舉個吃飯的例子，從煮飯說起，不同於中華料理的大刀快切，熱油快炒，朋友們蹲在地上，在沒有砧板的情況下，很有耐心地拿著小小菜刀切根莖蔬菜，常用壓力鍋煮出一道道湯湯水水的料理(他們也是有無湯汁的料理)。他們習慣坐在地上吃，在上菜之前，會進行地上撒水的動作，然後才會把菜端出來。吃飯的食具是大圓鐵盤，用右手抓食物吃(這點和印度人很像)。 因為飲食文化的不同，有時會鬧出一些笑話。第一次作菜給他們時，我給朋友約一碗飯的份量，在場的男性朋友內心OS”她怎麼那麼小氣啊,還是家裡沒米?”後來我才知道他們食米量驚人，男生大概可以吃5.6碗的份量以上的米飯。而且煮給他們吃的菜之中至少要有一道是有很多湯汁的料理，如果全都是乾的料理，他們會難以下飯，只要淋上湯汁，他們就可以吃得津津有味。炒菜時要煮得很熟軟，如果煮出保有香脆口感的炒青菜，他們會抱怨”這是給牛吃的草嗎?”
以上都是曼尼普爾朋友作的家鄉菜
曼尼普爾有其傳統服裝，但年輕的一輩喜好西式打扮，女生在外地不穿自己家鄉的傳統服裝，也不愛穿印度式傳統服裝，和男生一樣牛仔褲和T恤打扮最常見。很有趣的是，曼尼普爾也受”韓流”影響，在外國人聚集的班加羅爾的街頭上，打扮時髦的韓國年輕人有些其實是曼尼普爾人假扮的！在曼尼普爾韓國電影和韓劇很受歡迎，年輕人紛紛效法影片中男主角的裝扮，有些人看起來很有型的咧！
台長沒有認識曼尼普爾的韓風型男，只好拿一張曼尼普爾朋友的來充數:P
曼尼普爾的歷史可以追溯回西元一世紀Imphal(現為曼尼普爾邦的首府)的建立，在1891年成為英國的土邦(Princely state由世襲的土王統治，土王承認英國的宗主權，而換取對內的自治)，在第二次世界大戰期間，日本人佔領大部份的領土，戰後曼尼普爾曾建立以君王為行政首長的民主政府和立法機關，1949年Prabodhchandra國王被迫簽下”入盟條約”(Treaty of Accession )，曼尼普爾被併入印度，1956年成為聯邦屬地(union territory)，1972年正式為曼尼普爾邦。現在仍有許多地下組織致力於將曼尼爾尼脫離印度的統治，成為獨立的國家，這也是為什麼當地和印度政府的關係十分緊張，政府無心讓他們經濟繁榮的原因吧。
地圖上最右邊的紅色地區就是曼尼普爾邦
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/India_Manipur_locator_map.svg/530px-India_Manipur_locator_map.svg.png當地90%是山區，湖泊和河川遍布，風景優美，氣候怡人，主要除了Meitei族之外，還有許多部落種族，居民純樸善良，但卻是一個很窮的省份。據朋友表示，印度政府未好好開發投資，當地工商業不發達，公務人員的職位也有限，除了參加薪水不錯的印度政府軍隊外，居民被迫要到外地謀生找工作。在南印的班加羅爾(Bangalore)就可以看到很多曼尼普爾人從事電話客服中心(call center)、餐廳服務員、銷售員等工作。對這些在異鄉工作的曼尼普爾人，外地的生活也是很辛苦的，尤其他們長得不像典型的印度人，有時會被路人輕視嘲笑”Chinky”(中國佬，為貶意)，當地人看他們就知道是外地來的，欺騙佔便宜的事常常發生。我有時都很替他們抱不平，問他們為什麼不像我一樣強硬地和他們吵架，捍衛自己的權益，他們說〝妳是外國人，印度人可能會怕惹是非，但我們是來自曼尼普爾，這不是我們的家鄉，鬥不過當地人的〞這個回答令我感到無奈和難過。
曼尼普爾擁有好山好水，文化資產豐富，除了古典舞蹈曼尼普尼之外，還有傳統武術Thang-Ta(意指刀與矛)，無奈命運的捉弄，成為動盪不安的地方。願上天保祐那塊土地上的人們，走向和平繁榮，讓世人看見並驚嘆於他們的文化與藝術。也希望觀眾藉由此篇文章和今晚Chongtham Jayanta Meetei(江譚佳彥)的表演，對這顆掉落在印度東北角的珠寶之地有些許的認識。
翻譯/Mike Huang
The very first time I met my friends from Manipur were in my dance school in India. They have very similar facial feature like people in Taiwan, and because of that, we didn’t feel so far apart despite the fact that we came from two quite different places. Therefore, I became close friends with them really fast.
At first, the only thing I know about Manipur is that it’s the origin of one of the eight Indian classic dance, “Manipuri” . The sparkling pillar-like skirt(Kumin), arc shaped “Pasuan”, and the transparent veil, all those unique features of that dance gave me a memorable first impression! Through these friends, I started to know a little more about Manipur, a place in the north eastern part of India, and often been referred as “A jeweled land”.
Even though their looks are very similar to Taiwanese, some of them actually look just like a Taiwanese, we are quite different in our cultural and daily life style. Let’s start with the most basic part, our food. Unlike people in Taiwan, which loves to use a lot of oil, fry things, and have a lot of “fancy dish”. My friends there always use a small knife to cut the vegetables without using a cutting board. They often use a pressure pot to cook different soup like dishes. They are used to eat on the floor, and will spread some water around before taking out the dishes. They use a big round plate, and use their right hand to eat(this is very similar to the other Indians).
Because of the cultural differences, I have embarrassed myself many times. The first time I cooked for my friends, I gave my friend a bowl of rice, in the size which most Taiwanese would eat. And all the guys there gave me a strange look, almost as if they were asking me “why is she being so stingy on the rice? Is she running out of rice?” Later on I finally learned that they eat a lot of rice, the guys would normally eat the size of 5 to 6 bowls of the Taiwanese standard size. And at least one of the dish has to be full of sauce, so they can mix it with the rice, without that dish, they will lose a lot of appetite. And while cooking vegetables, you have to make sure it’s not dry and crispy-like, otherwise, they might complaint to you “is this grass for cows?
Manipur has it’s traditional clothes, but it’s not as popular among the younger generation. The young adults like the western look, and girls don’t wear the their traditional clothes nor Indian ones when not at home. T-shirts and jeans are the most common look they prefer. What is interesting here is that, like Taiwanese, many youngsters are loving the “Korean trend”, since the Korean shows are also really popular in Manipur. Sometimes you will see many Koreans with the newest fashion at the busy streets of Manipur, but they are actually local kids!!
Manipur’s history can be traced back to the foundation of Imphal(the capital of Manipur) in the first century AD. It came under British rule as a princely state in 1891. During the Second World War, Manipur was the scene of many fierce battles between the Japanese and Allied forces. The Japanese were beaten back before they could enter Imphal and this proved to be one of the turning points of the War. After the Second World War, the Manipur Constitution Act, 1947, established a democratic form of government with the Maharaja as the Executive Head and an elected legislature. In 1949, King Prabodhchandra was summoned to Shillong, capital of the Indian province of Assam. After much pursuation, the King signed a Treaty of Accession merging the kingdom into India. The legislative assembly was dissolved on the integration of the state with the republic of India in October, 1949. Manipur was a union territory from 1956 and later became a full-fledged state in 1972.
Even as we speak, there are still many underground groups, vowing to gain independence of Manipur. And there is one of the main reason there is still a tense relationship between the local resident and the India government, which also made them unable to develop freely in their economic situation. Manipur is a beautiful place with 90% mountains terrain, also with many lakes and rivers in between. Most of the residents were of Meitei, along with some other tribals, and most of them are very kind and hardworking people, but they remain a very poor place in India. My friends there once told me, there are very limited government positions, therefore, if you don’t join the India army, the only way out is to work somewhere else in India. You can see a lot of Manipuri working in a call center, as a waiter, or as a salesman in Bangalore(which is a IT city in south India).
And they are facing a tougher life there than other Indians, due to their look, and often they are discriminated or being taken advantage of. I sometimes felt bad for them, and ask them to fight back for their own right. But most times, they will tell me “You are a foreigner, some Indians might give you more respect, but for us Manipuri, this is not our home, and there is no way we can take on the locals.”
Manipur is a great place with beautiful scenes and rich cultural background. There is also a traditional martial arts called Thang-Ta(meaning swords and spears), along with the traditional dance Manipuri. Unfortunately, at the current time period, it’s been hurt by many people with extreme method for approaching their believes. I pray to God to look after people there, and sincerely hope they can improve their life with peace, and people from all the world can appreciate their culture and art. In the end, hope everyone know Manipur more by this article and Choungtham Jayanta Meetei’s performance.
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