Events
27th
NAMA Convention Report, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 2018
Introduction
The 27th Annual North American
Manipur Association (NAMA) Convention was celebrated on 7th July 2018 at Tulsa,
Oklahoma. Keeping the tradition of NAMA, people from different ethnic groups of
Manipur from different part of United States attended to make this event more
inclusive. This event highlighted NAMA’s continued efforts to bring different
Manipuri diaspora of different ethnicities together. It also provides an
opportunity for the younger generation of Manipuri American to learn and value
our rich and diverse Manipuri culture. By engaging the members in the cultural
performances and discussion, the idea of community spirit and our Manipuri root
is strengthened.
This event was the outcome of
several months of planning and coordination between the executive team and the
Tulsa Team. Hegin Haokip
and Shanti Thokchom with the strong team efforts of Tulsa Manipuris
worked together to make this event successful.
Meet and Greet July 6th, 2018
The social event of the convention
was held at Kuki Worship Service, Tulsa, OK USA. Meet and Greet event started
with a warm and friendly welcome from Tulsa Team. The event took off with a
welcome speech by NAMA President, Bish Moirangthem, on behalf of the host team,
and then followed by the member introduction round. Attendees introduced
themselves or their families and expressed their happiness about attending 27th
NAMA convention. Socializing was followed by a sumptuous dinner that was
highlighted by traditional Manipuri delicacies, reminiscent of festive feasts
back home. The social evening came to a close after everyone enjoyed a game of Tambola popularly known as Housie.
Main Event, July 7th, 2018
The main event was held at Marriott,
Tulsa OK, kicked off with Reception and Registration. The event hosts, Mimi Haokip and Isaac Haokip
introduced and welcomed the guests of honor and the chief guest for the day.
The chief guest was Dr. Binadevi Raghuvanshi and
guests of honor were RK Borosana Patel, Raj Patel and
Dr. D.P. Haokip.
The event kicked off with the melodious
tune of a patriotic Manipuri song, “Hingmingnasi Eikhoi”. President of NAMA, Bish Moirangthem continued the proceedings by welcoming everyone
to the 27th Annual NAMA Convention in different dialects of Manipur. He
recognized the founding members of NAMA, Dr. Surajal
Sharma and Dhrita Singha without whose continuous
support, NAMA will not probably exist. He emphasized on NAMA being organization
for all the communities of Manipur.
Our respected Chief Guest, Binadevi Raghuvanshi thanked Mr. Bish, Mrs. Sarju and entire NAMA team for inviting her to be the Chief
Guest of the event and expressed her pleasure in joining NAMA convention 2018.
She reminded everyone that even though Manipur is small and not many people
know about it, we as Manipuris have to remain proud
of our heritage. Being an expert in health, beauty and wellness, she encouraged
everyone to stay healthy.
Dr. A. Surjalal
Sharma, Chairman of Advisory board and one of the founding members of NAMA,
expressed his happiness that NAMA is prospering. He mentioned about how NAMA
has evolved from few members to a strong organization representing people from
different communities of Manipur across North America. NAMA has a Constitution
and has two distinct bodies Executive Team and Board of trustee. One important
aspect we are focusing is to manage finance properly and in a more structured
way. We are working toward it and encourage members to help achieve it.
The Chairman of Election committee
and one of the founding members of NAMA, Dhrita
Singha thanked all the first-time members for their support. He emphasized that
the members are the backbone of NAMA community and concluded by thanking Tulsa
Team for being a great host.
Hori Singha, former Vice President
of NAMA and a regular convention attendee, expressed his happiness to see NAMA
progressing every year. He further stated that Manipuris
are well rounded, very strong and hard working. He reminded us of our history
that we gave the world, the game of Polo.
RK Borosana
Patel thanked the NAMA founding members, Executive team, Tulsa host team and
the next generation of NAMA for keeping the tradition alive halfway across the
world. Being a victim of the flooding during Hurricane Harvey, she thanked NAMA
for supporting her by raising funds and supporting them at the time of need.
Peraly
Meyer thanked NAMA for supporting her, when her husband Sam Meyer unexpectedly
passed away. She recollected how excited Sam was attending 2017 NAMA Convention
in Houston. She remembered Sam as a man of people, believed in sharing and
caring and was full of life. She further stated that Sam was deeply compassionate
toward NAMA Convention. She also reminisced how Sam constantly reminded her,
never to forget our roots. Mrs. Meyer also donated to NAMA in memory of Sam.
NAMA Executive team updates:
Updates were presented by members of
the NAMA Executive Team led by Bish Moirangthem – President of NAMA, Roshan Ngangom- General Secretary, Sarju
Laishram – Assist. General Secretary of NAMA, Kelvin Asem
– IT Secretary of NAMA.
President: NAMA Executive team has a very
diverse team inclusive of Meitei, Kuki and Naga. We tried to reach out to all
the communities to be part of the NAMA family. We also need diversity in the
locations for hosting convention and that is why we chose Tulsa for 2018 Annual
Convention. NAMA as a community has come together to support and contribute
toward the flood relief fund to help the victims of flood in Manipur and
Hurricane Harvey. We kept our community informed about well-being on the
aftermath of Hurricane Irma and emotional support for the loss of Peraly Meyer’s beloved husband, Sam Meyer.
General Secretary: Mr. Roshan Ngangom
talked about the past year being a year of transition and how NAMA and its
members reacted to some of the events that occurred. He also talked about the
efforts towards transitioning NAMA to a 501(c)(3) status to make it easier to
raise funds and the challenges ahead in doing so. He mentioned about the
ongoing efforts by NAMA to reach out to more communities of Manipur and to have
a more diverse representation within NAMA.
Assistant General Secretary (Financial Update):
Sarju Laishram provided
detailed financial report for the year 2017-18. Since 2008, NAMA financial
status has grown eightfold. She thanked all the members for their strong
support and faith, without whom NAMA would never be able to stand strong. She
mentioned about the source of fund and the status. Lastly, she appealed
everyone to continue supporting NAMA.
IT Secretary: Kelvin Asem
highlighted some of the IT development work done in the past year which
included keeping the pages up-to-date.
Cultural Secretary: Mr Hegin Haokip being one of the
leading members of the local organizing committee welcomed everyone to Tulsa.
As a cultural secretary, he encouraged everyone to speak or converse in
Manipuri as much as possible.
NAMA Election for Advisory Committee update.
The following individuals are the members of Advisory Committee Dr. Lalit Pukhrambam, Dr. Ruhikanta Amom, Hori Irombam, Nongthang Langpoklakpam, Rakesh Moirangthem, Shanti Thokchom, Gautam Thokchom, Sarita
Moirangthem.
NAMA Excellence Awards
Continuing the initiative to
recognize and motivate members in the field of Academics, Arts and Sports, the
following were awarded the 2018 NAMA Excellence Awards:
Academic:
Oshin
Rajkumari Aslot, finished her 4th Grade in Cactus
Ranch Elementary school, Round Rock ISD, Round Rock TX. She qualified for the
TAG, Talented and Gifted program, starting this fall 2018. She has consistently
scored above 95th percentile in all STAAR tests she has given so far, from 3rd
Grade onwards. She is one of the top performers in her grade level in Cactus
Ranch and has consistently scored above 90 throughout her class exams in her
school. She is very creative with her writing and enjoys sometimes writing song
lyrics and poems, and stories too.
Sports:
Simi Moirangthem has been swimming
competitively since the age of 5 and qualified for the 2008 Junior Olympics in
Lansing, Michigan. When she started high school, she was not only selected for
the swim team but was picked for the varsity as a freshman. She also
participated in the All-Star swim meet for 2 years. When Simi joined UT Dallas,
she had the honor of swimming with the UT Dallas swim club which is a
competitive team one step above the intramural sports but one step before
becoming a D3 level competitive team. Her girls team
in UT Dallas broke the relay records for the 200m Medley Relay, 200m Freestyle
Relay, and 400m Freestyle Relay.
Arts:
Arushi
Sharma is an 8th grader at Canyon Vista Middle School in Austin, Texas, and she
is in the Women’s Varsity Treble Choir, or Honor’s Choir. In her past 3 years
at Canyon Vista, she has made the All-Region Choir, gotten solos in school
concerts, and been in two musicals. She competed in the All-Region Choir as a
2nd-Soprano in 7th grade, and as a 1st-Soprano in 8th, and placed top 15 out of
hundreds of girls. As she goes to Westwood High School, she will continue in
the choir program and hopefully have a future in music.
NAMA Photography contest 2018
NAMA would like to thank all those
who participated in the photo contest. The beautiful, creative and inspiring
photos were displayed at the beautiful venue for the audience to vote. Raj Patel won the 1st prize,
Sally Longjam
won the 2nd prize, and Sarju Laishram won the 3rd price. NAMA would like to congratulate all the
winners.
Highlights
of the entertainment and cultural performances included
·
Jaang
Kol laaam dance, Lai Haraoba dance, Sagol Kengkhai dance, Manipuri pop dance by Laksh
·
Cultural fashion show displaying
beautiful and colorful traditional attire of different ethnicities in Manipur
including Hmar, Meitei, Moyon, Tangkhul,
Thadou-Kuki added glamour to the convention.
·
Group song “NAMA Macha na Helli” by the Tulsa team.
·
There was talk show on the world of
Entrepreneurship by Gautam Thokchom and Roshan Ngangom.
·
A series of instrumental
performances wowed the audience. Oshin Aslot performed a heart touching flute recital
·
Laksh
& Kiyamba displayed their piano exploits
·
Songs by Priyobarta,
Gama, Arushi, Clay, Mimi & Minthang,
Shunghring, Mercy, Hevei Haokip, Bina Devi & Borosana
·
After the cultural program, it was
the time for much awaited ‘Thabal Chongba’.
Everyone joined in and danced to the exhilarating rhythms of Thabal music ending the convention in joyful mood.
·
Comedy show by Shanti Thokchom
·
Hibachi Show by Mangthang
Conclusion
We are excited that NAMA is evolving
and growing every year. This is a great platform to unite everyone and it
reminds us of our roots. We are excited to announce that the next annual
convention would take place in Chicago, Illinois. We are really looking forward
to seeing you all and many more again next year. We would highly encourage
everyone living in North America, to spread the news about NAMA and encourage people
to join the association. If you have any questions or comments, please feel
free to email us at namagroups@gmail.com.
To learn more about NAMA, kindly visit our website www.namaonline.org.
Also, stay updated with the news and events of NAMA by liking our Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/NAMASince1992/.