From their homes all across North America, Manipuris and others with ties to Manipur converged to Bethesda, a suburb of Washington, DC, for NAMA 2005, the annual convention of North American Manipur Association.

More than 50 people representing the Manipur Diaspora gathered for three days (2 – 4 July) of activities, ranging from enjoying a wide variety of Manipuri cuisine to serious engagement in matters concerning Manipur. As is the tradition in Manipur, the women stood out in their activity and can-do spirit, and all took comfort as the chanuras (the young ladies in Manipur) once again took charge.

For the families and friends of the people of Manipur this annual function is now the biggest and most important occasion to reminisce and revel in their culture and heritage, and to renew their commitment to contribute to the progress of Manipur.

The attendees came from across North America and represented different people with close ties to Manipur. The highlight of the convention this year was the presence of many new members – about two-thirds were attending NAMA convention for the first time. This is very encouraging as it indicated a broadening of the membership base and an increased participation in the NAMA activities.

Business meeting in session with NAMA President Mr. AdhikariMayum Surjalal presiding.

A welcome reception in the evening of 2nd July provided a casual forum for meeting new members and catching up with old friends. The local organizing group was busy preparing for the main convention the next day, including picking up those from out of town, cooking for the main meal at the convention the next day. The barbecue grill was a natural gathering place where the skills in American style barbecue were abundantly clear.

The convention site was full of activity early on 3rd July and as the attendees continued to arrive the welcoming atmosphere engulfed them. As the business meeting began everyone was awed by the size of the gathering – no one recalled a bigger gathering of NAMA before. There were a number of important issues, some concerning the organizational matters of NAMA.

First, in the light of an expanding membership and recognizing the difficulty of organizing and coordinating activities by a central executive body over the huge North American region it was decided to identify coordinators for different regions.

The idea was to formally bring under the ambit of NAMA various informal groups in different regions, which has been getting together since some time so as to better coordinate future activities and for better information exchange.

Secondly and related to the first issue, it was recognized that the NAMA website and the e-group will be the future platform for the exchange of ideas, the conduit for coordinating the regional chapters and the source of information for members and new arrivals and as such the enhancement of the website for NAMA was identified as a priority task and a team of volunteers was formed.

Read Part 2