Tada Gunamani the Brahmin was not a pundit though he was the nephew of a Learned Treasure. He displayed no trace of education whatsoever. But when I think of him today, he turns out to be one of the persons who helped Maharaja Churachand in shaping a modern Manipur. He could be said to be the first Manipuri to have a license to screen films in Manipur. So we heard that the Maharani underwrote all his film screening expenses and machines. Therefore I would say that it would not be proper for any researcher on Manipuri film to overlook the name of Gunamani the Brahmin. And whatever little I know about elephant hunts comes from what Tada Gunamani heard and from his testimony.
When Sovereign Father used to camp for months in the enormous, dense forests of Burma, Tada Gunamani would accompany him. It was said that Sovereign Father captured elephants then. I remember we used to have many elephants when we were young. There were cow elephants, bulls, and baby elephants… many, many of them. The elephants were kept at a place called Kokchai. There were perhaps some fourteen or fifteen of them. Not all of these elephants were bought by Sovereign Father. Two cow elephants, Gambhini and Modhumalati, were bought as trained hunters for capturing elephants. Sovereign Father’s royal mount, Prince of Flowers, the Beast of Tripura, was presented to him by Birendra Kishore, the Maharaja of Tripura52. There is a story behind this.
After the death of Maharaja Narasingh, and following a major setback in a battle, his younger brother Debendra who had been ruling Manipur for some time, fled to Dhaka. One of his daughters became the Maharani of Tripura – she came to be known as the Rani of Dhaka. She did not have any children, so Birendra Kishore was adopted as her son. Therefore, when there was a dispute about succession to the throne of Tripura, Birendra Kishore claimed it as an adopted son of the Rani of Dhaka. It was said that his mother was a Meitei maiden. For this reason, Sovereign Father and his uncle the maharaja shared a very close relationship. I saw the maharani once. She visited Manipur on one occasion. The noted film critic and scholar R.K. Bidur is the great grandson of Maharaja Debendra.
It is still remembered that the state visit of the Maharaja Birendra Kishore of Tripura to Manipur was a major event during Maharaja Churachand’s reign. On the occasion of the visit of the Maharaja of Tripura the people of Manipur brought out a declaration in which they wrote, ‘Today is a fortunate day for the people of Manipur. Our two monarchs shine together like two suns, like two moons, in our Meitei Homeland.’ I found a copy of the declaration much later, while searching for some old papers and showed it to Tada Khelchandra. He probably still has it.
The shows held in honour of the occasion of Maharaja Birendra Kishore’s visit to Manipur were said to be amazing. During a polo match, he saw a pony called the Beast of Maibam that belonged to Maibam Samden. Upon seeing the pony, the Maharaja of Tripura made this request, ‘Dear nephew maharaja, would you give this pony to your uncle?’ Maibam Samden was the son of the Maibam Tamrasingh53, so it cannot be said that Maibam Samden was an ordinary person who was merely fond of ponies. Maharaja Churachand personally asked for the pony and gave it to the Maharaja of Tripura.
In exchange for the Beast of Maibam, the Maharaja of Tripura gave Prince of Flowers, the Beast of Tripura, to Manipur. But people used to also say that Prince of Flowers was given to Manipur since he could not be controlled. But we saw Prince of Flowers as a very gentle and intelligent elephant. And how enormous, how beautiful! Prince of Flowers used to come with the other elephants when they were brought from Kokchai. When Prince of Flowers was brought to be Sovereign Father’s ceremonial royal mount during festivals, his young offspring would accompany him. Whenever he was brought up, we used to see him in the meadow on the side of Mahabali temple forest with an iron chain around his leg. The mahout used often to bring him to Sovereign Father and make him perform many tricks. How we loved that. The mahout used to make the Beast of Tripura get down on his knees, salute with his trunk and trumpet. He would drop a rupee coin and make him pick it up. Sovereign Father would also go up to him and feed him bananas.
At times they would bring a baby elephant, Prince of Flowers and Gambhini’s little daughter, Cheiraobi. She was brought with Madhumalati and Gambhini, her two elephant mothers, on either side. She used to play between the Beast of Tripura’s legs. Cheiraobi was adorable. At times she would feel sleepy and doze off while still standing. Sovereign Father would signal the mahout to take away the mother elephants. Not finding anybody when she woke up, Cheiraobi would panic and run around crying: it was really endearing. It was said that Cheiraobi the Maid of Manipur was given away as part of my older sister Princess Tamphasana’s dowry,
Besides this, there is much to tell about Sovereign Father’s fondness for keeping animals and birds. I remember seeing his miniature zoo. I think it was near the Lord Sanamahi Temple that he had his little menagerie. Muni, a barking deer doe, was seen wandering freely in the palace as Sovereign Father’s pet. Maybe she was taken out of the zoo and brought over. Whenever my sovereign father boomed in his loud voice, ‘Muni!’, she would emerge from who knew where, and trot over. She would eat bananas from his hand. We used to feed her bananas too.
Tada Gunamani told me that here were a lot of people who went on the royal elephant hunting expedition. Apart from all of them, there would be villagers from the different villages and clever Indians trained in the art of capturing elephants. There were so many of them – scholars and shaman priestesses, pundits, doctors, and cooks, as well as many useless people who did nothing very much. They were simply going along for the ride. Tada Gunamani was one of these. I forgot to ask how Sovereign Father travelled when he went to the Burmese border to capture elephants. Did he travel by car? Did he go partly by horse, elephant and boat? I did hear however that he had not yet bought a car at this time.
When we were growing up, my sovereign father used to go to Shillong frequently around the time when sports were prospering in Manipur. We were also taken along from time to time. At this point, there is some confusion in my mind. I had heard that the pony presented to the maharaja’s uncle, Birendra Kishore, the King of Tripura, was the Beast of Maibam. At that time too a pony known as the Beast of Maibam was famous in Manipur. It was said that this pony, too, was trained by Maibam Samden. This Beast of Maibam was a racehorse. He was taken to Shillong to take part in race. He was a Manipuri pony and, being small, he earned renown in the small pony races. At this point, horse lovers today may still remember another lovely story.
The teams of cricket players and racehorses that Sovereign Father took to Shillong were celebrated. They say my sovereign father also bought a tall Australian Waler called Sunana. It was said the sportsperson Maharaja Churachand and the British had a competition at that time. He issued a challenge, ‘Let my pony the Beast of Maibam take part in your big Australian Waler race and let us see who wins.’ But after challenging them, my sovereign father was restless with anxiety, it was said. I remember as a small child the prayers for the pony, which I never saw, with an earthen pot and the like placed in front of it, at father’s Shillong residence, English Bye, also known as English Bee, on the day of the race.
My mother the Lady Ngangbam, who was in the audience, later told me how nervous father was that day. The British brought out their big and tall animals to begin the race. Among them was the tiny Beast of Maibam. The jockey was Nongmaithem Thanil, the father of the noted singer Nongmaithem Pahari. In those days he was known in the racing world as T. Singh. I heard that the Beast of Maibam was given a handicap in the race that day as had been agreed upon. I heard from witnesses, however, including even Pahari, that from the moment the race started, the Beast of Maibam was not to be seen. Owing to its small size, our pony, ridden by T. Singh, disappeared among the big horses. But when the result was declared, it was announced, the Beast of Maibam has won – a win by a nose! Indeed it was won by just a nose. It was said that The Beast of Maibam, jockeyed by T. Singh, had extended his neck at reaching the finish line. When the announcement was made, Sovereign Father ran out from among the British and kissed the sweat-soaked T. Singh. He kissed the sweating Beast of Maibam over and over again. A telegram was sent to Manipur, ‘the Beast of Maibam has won’. The people of Manipur were overjoyed. The trophy that was won in that race was later given to me by the Lady Ngangbam and is now in the Manipur museum. So today, I feel that, when a new stadium is constructed at Khuman Lampak, it should be named after the Beast of Maibam, the pony bred by Maibam Samden, or even Maibam Samden himself or Maibam Tamrasingh. It can still be done. What harm is there in renaming something? This is my question today. Oh, I forgot something – the well-known sports expert today, Maibam Iboton, is the son of Maibam Samden.