Poets began responding to the altered circumstances by breaking with their romantic

predecessors and choosing a diction which would suit the times. They became more
inward looking and, consequently, tried to adapt the world to themselves by
adopting ironic and

alienated stances. In short, these modernist Manipuri poets fashioned a skeptical post-
independence poetics in which irony, satire and detachment or confrontationbeca
me the prime means of self-discovery’
’

Muktibodh incessantly fights against social injustice,corruption and bloody past with reformist
zeal. To him theworld is bleak, barren and irrational and individual souls arecaptives of
degenerated and debased human conditions. Adistinctive voice of protest has been heard in
Muktibodh’spoetry. It is a voice which articulates class, society, strugglefor survival in an
apathetic world and expresses resentmentagainst the existing socio-political order.

Muktibodh celebrated common man in his poetry as hewas deeply moved by the
sufferings of the poor and one seesthe hatred and rebellion against capitalism in his
poetry.Muktibodh is essentially a poet of human sensibilities, a poetwho seeks
freedom from the exploitation and oppressivesocial system.

ThianjamIbopishak’s“IWanttobeKilledbyIndianBullet’’originally written in Manipuri and

translated by Robin S.Ngangom, addresses a host of issues that confronted
thecontemporary Manipuri society such as violence, capitalisticmarket system and a
cry for freedom from all exploitativeforces. The underlying tone of the poem is that of
anger. Therising sense of protest and resistance running throughout thepoem was
grounded in the contemporary Manipuri societywhich witnessed upsurge of several
political conflictsresulting in formation of many insurgent groups.

Sanamacha Sharma rightly points outthat Ibopishak’s poetry presents a critique of the socio-
political unrest and corruption in Manipuri society. She callsit ‘
dystopian

satire as protest’
. Undoubtedly, the satirical jibesrun throughout his poetry creating mood and manners
whichdon’t only perpetuate the situations but create a hope forreform and change. Ibopishak
like Muktibodh creates hisown method of literary diatribe against a social system inwhich the
unprivileged and deprived sections are alienatedand condemned to suffer. Ibopishak’s
diatribe is rooted intothe existential conditions of the society where an individual isnot free
and he sees no escape from the traps which conditionhim. Ibopishak is a poet who sees like
Conrad no escape fromthe darkness but Muktibodh sees the hope for escape indistant future.
Here Sanamacha Sharma’s these words arerelevant
“In Ibopisak’s poetry, one doesn’t find the optimism of abetter future world. The
castrophe is not in the distant future, it isour very present and there is no escape
from it. Dystopia is anextreme form of satire and Ibopisak’s satire of Manipuri
societyoften goes to this extreme point. He
sometimes calls it ‘
a heap ofdarkness’
, sometimes an ‘
illusionary land’. He is attacking thewhole society directly as an insider…

The dystopic satire in this poemoperates on two levels of consciousness that of the
narratorand the terrorist leader. The narrator’s fearlessness, his coolsurrender to the bullets of
the opponent can’t be seen as anact of timidity but signs of inner resource and strength
whodefies death as a protest against antagonistic forces. Therhetoric of protest in Ibopishak
can be discerned inmanifestation of anger, discontent, acceptance and rejection ofa given
situation. He chooses allegory, myth, drama, fantasyand storytelling as different methods for
poetic and aestheticeffect. The last line of the poem is important and
quitedramatically, it attains the climax of the poem: “
Being fastidious about death, I escaped with my life’
(Ibopishak, p136
).
Here one can see the irony embedded into the simplicity ofwords, the conversational and
dramatic style of the poem inprosaic language like that of Muktibodh in his many
poems,appeals to the feelings of the readers.
“The Land of The Half- Humans’’ is a bleak portrait ofan irredeemly damaged society that
spawns a race tragicallyunable to constitute body and mind. The poet profusely usesthe
elements of myth and fantasy to reflect on thecontemporary society. It is poetic rendition of
violence, fear,moral desiccation and political turmoil. The poem powerfullycaptures misery,
hardship of common people caused by therotten and corrupt system and evil nature of man
resulting inmoral bankruptcy. The underlying tone of the poem is socialmoral protest against
all that is inhuman, grotesque, ugly anddevilish. Ibopishak’s satire attacks the injustice
andoppression, lawlessness and corruption that reigned theexisting social system. Sanamacha
Sharma in her researchpaper “Dystopian Satire in Thangjam Ibopishak’sPoetry’’writes “
For Ibopishak, his bleak satire may be one way ofresponding in the immediate
dehumanizing influence of a society full of injustice, corruption

and oppression’’
It is an allegorical poem written inconversational style. The poet laughs at the
dehumanizedconditions of the society and its people. He weaves rhetoric ofprotest against
the very human civilization
By applying history, myth, prosaic conversational modeIbopishak creates a world within a
world. It is a world of‘half-humans’, inhabited by ‘headless body’ and ‘bodylesshead’, it is a
strange world which thrills and shocks the