Dils Lakshmindra Sinha is a versatile writer and has made significant contributions to Bishnupriya Manipuri language and literature. Apart from his noteworthy contribution to Bishnupriya Manipuri poetry and short stories, he has published plays, topical essays etc. in the language. Shri Sinha has also enriched the literary culture of his mother tongue by translations from certain world classics into Bishnupriya Manipuri.
The Bishnupriya Manipuri community has a scattered population in three states of North East India, viz. Manipur, Tripura and Assam as well as in the north-eastern part of Bangladesh, with some concentration in Tripura and Barak valley of Assam.
The present title, The Sensitive Ear, is a collection of a number of delightful Bishnupriya Manipuri folktales and a few legends, retold by Shri Sinha. Within their limited ambit, the tales have quite some variety as to motif and type, which are not too familiar, but have substantial native flavour in their details. Whatever the archetype of the tales, their source for the present re-teller, is the oral folk-literature of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community. Here we come across:
The cruel and scheming stepmother (the Stepmother) or her likes, such as the seven sisters-in-law ('Dosumata'),
The trickster in the shape of a lazy wife in 'The Lazy Woman', who manages to outwit her own husband.
The blockhead or the ill-formed human, who, by some coincidence or stroke of luck, rise to enjoy royal glory ('The King of Kings', 'Heikiri Singh') or gets thrown into a prison by associating himself with thieves ('Apang and the Theives').
The supernatural ('The Prince and the Giantess', where the evil is destroyed, but with a price paid by the innocent), fairies too figure in 'The King of Kings'.
Animals in their natural form but talking and acting like human beings ('The Old Couple and a Group of Monkeys').
A contest ('A Courtier and a Rich Trader', one representing intellect and other wealth-intellect proving superior to wealth at the end. The tale is of a slightly complex kind and has a clever plot).
Jests ('The Two Brothers', where the smart one is outsmarted, 'The Silly Peasant', where the one positioned at the top in a long chain of people hanging on to the tail of an elephant, soaring high into the sky, let go off his grip, sending the entire chain of people crashing to the ground), etc.
The proposition in 'A man and His Friends' that a tiger or a monkey or a snake is more reliable as a friend of man than man belongs to the category of exaggeration, but an exaggeration based on experiential knowledge.
In 'The Story of Paani', a younger female sibling takes strong exception to her elder brother's 'innocent but indecent' remark about a certain physical attribute of hers: she refuses resolutely to go home and is finally transformed into a bird. The motif of this tale too appears to be a veteran traveler, for tales relating to some 'complex' of the kind, upholding traditional morality, are found amongst other north-eastern communities also. 'Golkulsena and His Wife' illustrates how single-minded devotion to one's deity-Lord Vishnu in this case-can infuse life even into an idol. Things in 'The Daughter and the Sun' truly seem to happen in a never-land-for here a beautiful maiden is hidden in a coconut-shell, only to be discovered by a curious prince and get married. But then the maiden falls prey to an evil design, is transformed into a beautiful water-lily, which, when kept in the coconut shell, becomes a beautiful maiden once again.
(1) The Bishnupriya Manipuri people, language, script and literature:
Rajmohan Nath, a famous Assamese scholar, said in his book The Background of Assamese Culture, "The Manipuris are divided into two main groups: The Khala-chais, who call themselves Bishnupriyas, are supposed to have been the first ruling race, and the Mei-this or Meiteis are supposed to have been the next immigrants. Their language is distinctly different" (page 75). By tradition, the Bishnupriya Manipuris believe that they are the descendants of Babhruvahana, the son of the third Pandava, Arjuna and Manipuri princess Chitrangada as stated in the Mahabharata. Historians such as L. Ibungohal Singh, R.C. Majumdar, Prof. N.NΝ. Acharjee, and others believe that Manipur was an Aryan Hindu colony from pre-historic time. In his book History of Manipuri Literature, Manipuri historian R.K. Jhalajit Singh expounded the view that a great Aryan wave entered in Manipur from time to time starting from the 1 century B.C. and settled there. Of them were the five principal Aryan groups that once occupied the land - Khumol, Moirang, Angom, Luwang and Mangang, and these five groups are popularly known as 'Pancha Bishnupriya'. They ruled over the country for many centuries. They loved the land and it became their homeland which they considered as a sacred land. In course of time these people came to be known by different names Mayang, Kalisha Manipuris, and Bishnupriya Manipuris etc.
It is believed that these people came in contact with the Meiteis at a later stage. The later immigrants subjugated the five principalities one after another. Here, we may quote a few lines from E.T. Dalton who, with reference to Manipur, says, "The valley was first occupied by several tribes, the principal of which are Khumal, Luwang, Moirang and Meteis. By degrees the Meiteis became dominant and that name was applied to the entire colony. Now they claim to be of Hindu descent. It is highly probable that these hordes overran a country that had been previously occupied by the people of Aryan blood known in Western India and to the bards." Large number of Bishnupriya Manipuris were forced to come out of their homeland due to various political reasons and they settled in Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Bangladesh and in Myanmar. The first exodus occurred during the reign of Ningthouja (Meitei) King Pamheiba or Gariv Niwaz (1706-1751). However, during the reign of Jai Singh or Rajarshi Bhagyachandra, there developed a relationship between the two groups - Bishnupriyas and Meiteis, at the initiation of the new king. A new composite culture shaped with the fusion of Aryan and Non-Aryan elements, popularly known as Manipuri culture which is considered by the world as unique culture, replete with spiritual as well as classical and folk elements. The second and largest Bishnupriya Manipuri exodus occurred during the 2nd decade of nineteenth century due to three successive Burmeese invasion on Manipur (1819-26). The incident is popularly known as 'AWAR DHAWA' or the invasion of the 'Awas' (Here 'Awa' means Burmeese). The last exodus occurred during the middle of the nineteenth century when there was a political turmoil in the land due to internal feuds among the princes of Manipur.
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