Five Days in Manipur

By Dibakar Borah, Parthajit Chutia, Durlav Kalita

The Opportunity

 

The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is an organization under the Ministry of Science, Government of India, started in 1914, to create a conducive environment for the study of basic sciences in India and to create scientific awareness and scientific mentality. This organization meets annually in different parts of India. 

Fortunately, we had the privilege of participating in the 105th Indian Science Congress held at Manipur University. We were studying 4th semester in bachelor degree in Doomdooma College. We had applied for Student Membership of Indian Science Congress Association on their website. Then we completed our Registration process for 105th ISC.

The Story

March 14, 2018:

We left our hostel in afternoon. Our college is located at Rupai Siding which is 28 km away from Tinsukia town. We went to Tinsukia by a bus. Our train departure time was 12.15 am. So, we went to our friend Gautam's room for the evening. He was a student of Tinsukia College at that time. We had dinner in Gautam's room and went to New Tinsukia Junction at 10.30 pm. We had to wait for our train Brahmaputra Mail. We had arrived station early because after 11 o' clock it was not easy to get an autorickshaw in Tinsukia.

waiting for train

Train was late. At 2 o' clock the train had arrived and finally our journey started.

 

March 15, 2018:

At around 5 am we reached Dimapur Railway Station.

At the station, we fresh up with a cup of tea. We had already included our name on the website of Indian Science Congress for Shuttle service from Dimapur to Imphal.  We contacted Mr. Jamir from shuttle service committee. He kept our names, ID numbers, etc. of the three of us and informed that since there would be delegates from different parts of India till the evening. We had to call him after 7 pm. So, we had time for the day. We decided to explore Dimapur.

We rented a room at Nagaland Tourist Lodge for the day. It is located in the middle of Dimapur city.

Dimapur is the largest city of Nagaland. It was the capital of the Dimasa tribe.

We moved around Dimapur market.

Dimapur Market

This market is near the station. A large part of the market is situated under the flyover.

Items like cloth and bags are relatively cheap. All three of we bought some small items (memories). We had breakfast with Paratha sabji. Yellow coloured Auto rickshaws are quite common in Dimapur.

We also visited Nagaland science centre.

It is like a science museum. Lots of science models are there and is a park inside the centre. We took photos.

We enjoyed the moments at the park. Then we move out. We had lunch in a normal restaurant and returned to the lodge in the evening.  We left the lodge and contact Mr. Jamir. He informed us that buses will arrive at 7 pm. But due to some inconvenience, it took around 2 hours more.

Waiting for bus

The delegates from all over India already arrived there.  We tried to speak in English and Hindi with the delegates. They are from Kerala, Lucknow, Delhi, Pune, Karnataka etc. At around 9.30 pm our journey had started towards Imphal. Buses are crowded. We had to share double seat with three people. There were not only passengers, lots of vegetables carried inside and top of the buses. Roads are dangerous. Buses are checked by police before entering Manipur in border.

 

March 16, 2018:

We had arrived at Manipur Central University at around 8 o' clock in the morning.

105th Indian science congress was very well organized. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi came for the inauguration of the event. That is why tight security was put in place. We were allowed to enter the university premises after a security checking. What a beautiful environment!

The volunteers took us into Registration Room. They checked our documents and provide us congress kit where was an Id card, a backpack, a file, an event schedule and a Food coupon including breakfast, lunch and dinner for 5 days. Then volunteers took us into our room. We had a room sharing basis of 30 people. But the problem is no locker facility, and no proper water supply in there. In the evening they gave us a nice room that could accommodate 5 people after we complained.  Amir Mansuri, PhD scholar from Delhi and Pratik Singh from Lucknow were our roommates.

We went to ISC for the first time. We had no idea about the conference or paper presentation.  So, we put a lot of emphasis on eating and travelling. We had many experiences around Imphal the rest four days.  The best thing was food service is so good. It was managed in two large halls. We are not food expert, don't know what kind of food was served there; but Fish, Meat, Eggs, Salad, Idli, Coffee, Ice Cream, Sweets were all there.

 

 

March 17, 2018:

We get up at 5 am, get fresh up, have breakfast and went out.

We had planned to visit Loktak lake that day. Fortunately, we meet a high school teacher (ISC delegate) from Mysore.

His name was Panna Prakash. He speaks English very well rather than Hindi. Our poor English was the only ways of communication with him. He was an Unmarried person. Very Experienced. He attended in some ISC in previous years. He travelled many places like Shillong through ISC. We walked from Moirang to Loktak lake together.

What a awesome environment! It's like heaven. We took a boat (four of us including the teacher) and sailed a part of the lake.

A beautiful resort is situated on a hill near the lake. We went there. It has a beautiful view of the lake from above.

After sometime passed we left the resort. We walked besides the lake about 7 km.

We arrived in Keibul Lamjao National Park with the help of google map.

That was the most memorable hiking in my life. 

Farmer's shelter beside road

We missed our lunch also. There is no hotel or restaurant in this road.

 

Keibul Lamjao National Park is located in Bishnupur district of Manipur. The park has 40 sq km. It is situated along with the lake which is the only floating park in the world. It is famous for its rare dancing deer.

 

We bought tickets at the entrance. Some tall houses were built in the park to see Sangai (dancing deer). We turned to telescope.

Unfortunately, didn't see any Sangai. The environment of the park is very beautiful. We came back.

It was slight raining in the evening. By travelling tribal village, we reached Moirang town.  From there, we reached Imphal by a public van at 7.30 pm. At 8 o'clock we reached Manipur University. We had a wonderful day in a new place with an experienced person from South India.

In the main stage of ISC, we enjoyed local tribes’ cultural programs.

Then we had dinner and came back to our room.

 

March 18, 2018:

We woke up early in the morning and had breakfast. We visited Every building of the university.  A beautiful science exhibition was held. 

The departments like DRDO, Department of Atomic Energy, etc. showed their projects and models. They were explaining very nicely how machines and technology are works.

At 11 o'clock, three of us and our roommate Pratik and another new friend from Kerala, named Vishnu, went out together.

Form left to right : Durlav, Dibakar, Vishnu, Pratik and Parthajit

We visited Kangla Fort.

The historic Fort is located in heart of the city.

It is situated on the bank of the Imphal River.

In Meetei language (local language of Manipur), Kangla means - Dryland. It was ancient capital of Manipur.

Its ruins are very well preserved. There is a Rose Garden inside.

We had gone university in the evening and enjoyed the cultural program.

 

March 19, 2018: 

We had breakfast and went out. We had decided to visit Ima Keithel (Mother’s Market). It is located in the middle of Imphal city. It is run by the women only. Ima (or Ema) market is the largest all-women market in entire Asia. It is a huge market run in three large buildings.

Ima market

From tribal costumes to non veg foods everything is available here. We bought black rice (‘Chakhao’ in local language). This rice is famous for its medicinal properties. We couldn't decide what to buy or what to not buy in the market.

We had visited Imphal War Cemetery.

It has 1600 Commonwealth burials of the World War II. We take photos. The cemetery is situated in Kabo Leimai area.

We also visited Bir Tikendrajit Park in the evening. It is a great place to relax in the middle of the city. Usually it is crowded during evening time.

 

 

March 20, 2018:

We had breakfast early and were moving inside the university campus till 11.30 am. We talked to some of the university students (they were volunteers). Girls were beautiful and so fun.

We took photos with them. Enjoyed a lot. This was the last day for us at Manipur University. We went out at 12.30 pm to booked our bus tickets to Dimapur.

 

March 21, 2018:

Our bus was 6 o'clock in the morning. We get up early and went to bus station. Our bus left Imphal in right time. During the day, we realized, Manipur is a very beautiful state. The roads are curved, have many turnings. Somewhere cannot cross two vehicles in the same time. Sometimes it is in top of the green hill, sometimes it by a beautiful valley.

Enjoying the beautiful scenery in the whole journey was an awesome experience.

We reached Dimapur around 8 pm. We had booked train tickets to Tinsukia in advance. Most likely our train arrived at 11 pm.

We reached Tinsukia early in the morning. This is how our trip to Manipur came to an end.