The present tone

It is, by now, quite noticeable the weary tones of once vociferous CSOs of Manipur. I'm referring to the super abundant 'Civil Society Organizations'.

Going by the press handouts of the CSOs during the last few weeks, it is quite remarkable that they seem to be a little cowed down.

It's the remarkable success of the ongoing dirty war. We can also name it as the Chanakyan mode of waging war.

When you see faces on the street and watch their body movements, they also seem to be genuinely foxed by the spiral of events that engulf them.

Thses events seek to shift the playing field itself to a 'dirty' level. We need not talk of Rule of the Game here. 'Dirty' playing field need not have a Rule of the Game. Palpable lack of any Rule makes general people confused and felt loss.

We have the option of learning from the dirty wars waged during the cold war. Or, from the centuries old of Chanakya.

Here, it is better to write off the media complelety. The media is completely cowed down.

The learning may come from the rallies of the meira paibis or the various 'struggles' of the CSOs.

Here, we can only be optimists. Every crisis comes impregnated with an opportunity. I hope this society learns its lessons quickly and jumps to a higher level.