Forgotten state

I am not one of the more informed people when it comes to my knowledge about my hometown. Its almost deplorable how little I know about my people and the valley I call home. There's no excuse for this, except for the fact that since I have been ten years old, I have been studying far away from there and only visit during vacations. But I guess in the times of the internet and television, even that does not make for a valid excuse. Perhaps I could (slightly) blame it on the lack of national and international media coverage that Manipur enjoys (or rather suffers).. It seems Indians are more interested in how 'missed' international calls can rip you off and what advice Steve Jobs gave to Microsoft rather than how a small valley called Imphal has had a blockade for the past hundred days.. (the hundred the mainland Indians are anticipating more eagerly is Sachin's, it seems)..

Despite of efforts made once a while by newschannels once a blue moon and tweets by well known correspondents such as Rajeev Sardesai (https://twitter.com/#!/sardesairajdeep) who has called Manipur the 'forgotten state' and Barkha Dutt (https://twitter.com/#!/BDUTT), the state has never been able to get itself heard at the centre. It is often drowned out in the cacophony of noises from mainland India... How else do you explain how in today's Times of India issue, Manipur's hundredth day blockade does not even figure on the first page.. Had Sachin (finally) scored his hundred, the situation would have been very different..

It is indeed a shame that we Indians care so little about the valley where life is at doldrums with petrol and gas prices reaching new heights and where people are struggling to make ends meet everyday.. Isn't it about time India reached out to their own in the far corner of North eastern India and did something to let them know they are not entirely 'forgotten'.. That amidst all the focus on central India and filmstars and jail-bound politicians, there is still a tiny space on the front page of newspapers for this Valley which is going through so much...

here's a little something to read about the blockade: http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=25..081111.nov11

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