I went to Loktak Lake near Imphal in Manipur in Dec 2021. It is a huge freshwater lake, that looks like an inland sea. It is like a living lake with fishermen and farmers living on various floating islands called ‘Phumdi’ locally.
Loktak has a lot of history associated with it.
When we took a walk to the lake as well as when we had a boat ride around the lake, our guide filled us up with it. He vividly described the Battle of Imphal that had taken place in the Second World War only a few kilometers away from the lake between the British and Japanese army – both of which had Indian soldiers.
The water level of the lake had gone down significantly over the decades.
Besides, the number of families living in and around Loktak on the ‘Phumdis’ had lowered over the years, partly due to the reduction in vegetation and fishing, partly due to better employment in Imphal.
The city of Imphal also has an amazing women only market Ima Keithel which sold everything from fish and vegetables to household items, all by women. It was fascinating to see the women peddling their wares at Ima Keithel and the fishermen in their small boats rowing around the Loktak lake.
Later, in recent years, Loktak had also been a hotbed of insurgency activities in Manipur. A lot of insurgents took refuge in the Lake’s many hideouts, moving from Phumdi to Phumdi. It was only in the early 2000s that the Assam Rifles from the Indian Army had done a massive cleanup on Loktak to reduce the insurgency operations.
Locals regarded Loktak almost as a deity, so it wasn’t a pleasant sight for them.
The entire experience of spending that time in Loktak made me wonder how it might have been for a simple farmer or fisherman family to live around the lake over these years.
What if a young couple wanted to make a life and a living and had the simple aim of spending their lives around Loktak? What would they have gone through, from their youth to their old age?
These were some of the thoughts that struck me as I left Loktak Lake and Imphal.
They took shape in the form a story later which I named ‘Staying Afloat’ – a fictional short story inspired by my visit to Loktak and Imphal. Eventually, it became part of the book ‘A Bend in the Road‘.
I highly recommend a visit to Loktak Lake whenever life presents you with an opportunity.
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