Remaining part

There is a peculiar transformation that occurs when many Indians step into an airport or land on foreign soil. It feels as though someone presses a hidden switch that brings out the most polite, patient, and disciplined version of people who, just hours earlier, honked at traffic lights, jostled in queues, or argued with taxi drivers at minutest of monetary gains.

At immigration counters, they speak softly, follow instructions with near-military precision and some even apologise to automatic doors for not opening fast enough. The guy who crosses roads diagonally in India now waits for the green pedestrian signal as if taking an oath of citizenship. The man who flung his luggage at home now handles his trolley with the tenderness of a newborn.

Why does this behavioural shift occur? Are Indians naturally rebellious at home but obedient abroad, or does the environment shape us far more than we admit? Indian society has long honoured flexibility over rigidity. “Adjust hojao” is a cultural commandment.

Overcrowded buses, erratic queues, unpredictable systems and casual rule-bending are normalised. When a rule becomes inconvenient, we instinctively find a jugaad. If a checkpoint appears, the route changes. If a policeman is absent, the red light becomes optional, and incorrect turn becomes a correct one.

This holds across regions, though expressed differently. In North Indian states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, a louder, more assertive public style is common. Queue merging, honking as a means of communication, heated arguments passed off as normal conversation, and a certain pride in outsmarting the system be a routine can be a routine.

In the South, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and in metropolitan Mumbai, people generally show more patience in queues, lower tolerance for honking, and more predictable compliance with rules. Silence is more respected, aggression less glorified, and personal space more valued. Yet even here, bending rules isn’t alien; it is simply done more quietly and with less public drama, perhaps in a courteous manner.

Why the Instant transformation abroad? The shift begins the moment people realise they are entering a zone of strict systems and tight enforcement. The same person who negotiates a Rs 100 fine in India panics if a parking meter abroad flashes red. The traveller who argues about cabin baggage at an Indian airport pays extra abroad without debate.

This is partly historical. For generations, laws in India were imposed from above. Following them was never internalised as civic duty; compliance became situational. After independence, the rulers changed but the psychology remained albeit the ruler disappeared, rules ruled.

Systems and enforcement are decisive factors. Discipline thrives only when systems work and enforcement is swift. In India, enforcement often inspires neither fear nor respect. Helmets appear only when police are visible. Signals can be jumped. Littering fines exist mostly on posters. Illegal structures vanish one day and reappear the next.

North versus south differences play out here too. In some states in India, rules are interpreted as negotiable. There the honking is instinctive, overtaking from any side is normal, loud dispute is a legitimate negotiation tool. Road rage, howling at weddings, drunken driving and physical expressions of celebration or anger are almost cultural.

In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, honking is restrained, lane discipline comparatively better, and aggression socially discouraged. People stand in queues more naturally, speak more softly, and resist cutting lines because social disapproval is stronger. Mumbai, with its fast pace but orderly queues, often sets the gold standard for public discipline in India.

Abroad, however, everyone recalibrates instantly. No friendly inspector uncle, no deals, no influencing phone calls, no empty pockets and no exceptions. Break a law in Singapore or Germany, and consequences follow quickly and impersonally. Naturally, people align with the system because the system offers no room for negotiation.

A subtle psychological factor also operates. Indians abroad feel they represent the country. The same families who push through queues at Indian stations form perfect lines in foreign airports and also move along the right side of roads and paths. People who shout across rooms back home whisper in hotel lobbies. Children who scatter toys across homes, disarrays books and clutter study tables in Indian homes behave like angles till duty free shops on return.

Clean orderly spaces and what one observes influence behaviour. It is difficult to honk on quiet streets, litter on spotless pavements, throw empty water bottle, used disposal plates or wrappers on lush green road sides or talk loudly in peaceful cafés. Such an atmosphere is obtained all over abroad. Indians hold trash until they find a dustbin, wear headphones in public transport, carry empty bags to temporarily store waste and even forget the sound of their car’s horn.

Interestingly, the same regional behavioural contrasts soften abroad. The assertive North Indian mellows down, the soft-spoken South Indian becomes even more rule-bound, and the average Mumbaikar continues with the queues they are already used to.

These transformations show Indians are not inherently indisciplined. We simply adapt to the ecosystem. People who resist seatbelts at home buckle up abroad inside a stationary Uber. Those who speed through tolls in India turn into accountants abroad while counting exact change.

The enthusiastic English accent appears, often regardless of whether the listener understands it. But the moment the plane lands back in India, the switch flips. Indeed, some passengers start calling home or cab drivers while few hundred nautical miles away.

Michael W. Charney in his write up titled, “Demographic Growth, Agricultural Expansion, and Livestock in the Lower Chindwin in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries”on the religious reforms brought by Garib Nawazin Manipur with emphasis on diet in particular had greatly influenced the Burmese kingdom. In this regard Michael Charney writes,

“Although specific details remain unclear, the Hindu prohibition of beef consumption being emphasized in mid-eighteenth century Manipur appears to have influenced Buddhist monks further down the river. Manipuri influence was especially influential among such Lower Chindwin monks as Shin Nyana, who worked extensively with a range of Sanskrit and Bengali secular and religious texts that they frequently translated into Burmese.

The intersection of Hindu and Buddhist prohibitions on certain kinds of meats worked together to influence a drive among Lower Chindwin monks to establish animal sanctuaries throughout the region.”

Garib Nawaz following the order of Hindu religious customs excavated the burial grounds for the predecessor kings, his forefathers and burnt the remains on the bank of Ningthee River.

Ningthee River (Chindwin River) was considered a sacred river of the Manipuri people. The last rite of King Garib Nawaz (Pamheiba) was performed at Tomphang Hiden at the bank of Ningthee River. The ashti of the king was immersed in Ningthee River.

The name “Manipur” is derived from Sanskrit name and it is noteworthy to pay some attention to important changes like how the name Manipur was coined in Garib Nawaz’s reign. According to Jacques P. Leider it is only in the eighteenth century that Manipur became Hinduized by Brahmins coming from Bengal.

The Burmese call the country “Kassay” and the author of the Lokabyuha-kyam states that the name “Manipura” was only adopted when a faction of the Manipuri court openly favored the changes promoted by the immigrant Bengal Brahmins in 1742.

Michael W. Charney emphasized the contributions of Manipuri Brahmins who played a significant role in shaping the perspectives of and cooperating in the literary activities of Chindwin-based Buddhist scholars and lay people in a powerful literary culture which existed from mid 17th century to 19th century known as “Chindwin Literary Culture” in Burma-Manipur Frontier.

Gharib Newaz selectedtheChindwin River areas of Burma-Manipur Frontier and patronized the intellectual exchange amongSouth Asian and Southeast Asian scholars. In fact, Chindwin River basin was the common borderland respected by both Manipur and Burma from the time of inception of their monarchies. Particularly, this borderland had been the lifeline to generate economy forManipur.

The Burmese and Manipuri courts both attempted to mark out the division of their territory in the area using both the rivers (Chindwin and Irrawaddy), which were held sacred by the Manipuris at least, and temples which would seem to indicate a religious border.

During Gharib Newaz’s reign,thenewlybuiltKowmawdawPagaoda at Sagaing with Irrawaddy River wasestablishedasthedividing marker between the two realms. Between these two poles, the royal courts, the Chindwin appears as a transborder region culturally not completely dominated by one or the other, certainly by neither of the royal courts. The Chindwinare are mainedethnically diverse,townsand other placesknown by different names by Burmese, Manipuris, and other groups, such as the Shan and Kadu.

The missionary dynamism of Gharib Newaz influenced Chindwin Buddhist monastics and the young prince who later became King Bodawpaya of Burma thus may provide an example of the orientation between literary culture and religious culture moving across communities, although other factors, such as longstanding disputes regarding the value of physically distancing oneself for meditative purposes from the everyday world and other doctrinal disputes over interpretation of the Vinaya would also have been at work in the latter case.

Nevertheless, Manipuri Hindu zeal may have provided a model for Buddhist monastics in the Chindwin to follow. In 1782, keeping this in view, King Bodawpaya brought the Konbaung Burma’s “Suddhama Reformation” a reformation which gave emphasis on Burmese intellectual life, monastic organisation and practice, patronizing the characteristic peculiarities of the Chindwin Literary Culture resulting in the promotion of intellectual exchange between Manipuri and Burmese societies

The Tai book in new Shan script “Shan History in Ancient Times” authored by Hsur Lahn Hsao (Merng Paeng), 2005, in pages 60-64 in the list mentioned the names of the Tai dynasty kings from 2512 BCE onwards.In point no. 19 of the said bookGarib Nawaz name iswritten with a spelling erroras Guyaed Nawaz (1672-1734 AD).

The kingdom of Manipur was one of the semi-independent states of the Mong Mao Long and Mogaung kingdoms. The political entity of Tai kingdom of “Mong Mao Long” in ancient time functioned in the most dynamic manner.

The centre of power shifted frequently between the smaller states or chieftainships. Sometimes they were unified under one strong leader, sometimes they were not. The Shan scholar Sai Kam Mong observes:

“Sometimes one of these smaller states strove to be the leading kingdom and sometimes all were unified into one single kingdom. The capital of the kingdom shifted from place to place, but most of them were located near the Nam Mao River (the “Shweli” on most maps today).

Sao Saimong Mangrai a renowned Shan scholar in his book titled, “The Shan States and the British Annexation”, 1965, mentioned enthronement of Mongpo Sawbwa (king) by Garib Nawaz.

J. George Scott’s book, “Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States”, Part 1. Vol.1, 1900, records in the region of Mong Kawng or Mogaung, comprising ninety- nine Mongs, among which the following were most important, –  Mong Long (Assam) followed by Kahse (Manipur), part of Arakan, the Yaw country, Kale, Hsawng Hsup (Sumjok), Mong Kong Mong Yawng etc.

The Tai kingdoms of northwest Burma and Cachar kingdom were vassal states of Manipur. The close affinity Manipur shared with the Tai kingdoms of northwest Myanmar in Garib Nawaz’s reign indicated Manipur was part of the Tai/Shan confederacy.

After in-depthanalysis of the Tai accounts aboveit is well established beyond doubt that Maharaja Garib Nawaz was indeedan emperor and not just the ruler of Manipur in his prime but also the ruler of Mogaung kingdom in northern Burma.D.G.E. Hall referred to Manipur as trans-Chindwin mountain kingdom of Manipur, and Garib Nawaz was the ruler of Manipur.

Garib Nawaz had tirelessly worked hard in the interest of the nation with the religious and cultural reforms against all the odds as the ruler of Manipur though the reforms wereopposed by some section of the people. It’s an undeniable fact that the religious and cultural dynamismbrought almost all the ethnicities of Manipur into Kshatriya fold that actually inspired and transformed Manipur into a very powerful kingdom.

Garib Nawaz was able to build a largeroyal army which enabled him to consolidate and strengthened his positionin order to thwart any attempts of the enemiesfrom attacking Manipur and to safeguardher motherland from the religious warfare of the Theravada Buddhism.

It is high time the great emperor Garib Nawaz (Pamheiba) should be cherished and remembered not only bythe Manipuris butshould alsofind a respectable place inthe Indian history books in the making of the history of Southeast Asia.

The Two-Day National Seminar on Maharaja Garib Niwaz: Builder of Manipuri Civilisation collaborated by Manipur Seva Samiti, organised by College Development Council, Manipur University and sponsored byIndian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi should take up proactive role to highlightthe greatness ofEmperorGarib Nawaz of Manipur,and make his nameremain inthe consciousness of every Indian mind.

The peopleof Manipur should not forget the history in 18th centuryafter Manipur came under Ramanandi fold as stated earlierattained zenith of her powerand an Asiatic power inSoutheast Asia in the reign of Garib Nawaz. Theidols of Rama, Lakshman and Hanuman were worshippedand the Ramji Prabhu Temple was built by Garib Nawaz in Imphal.

It’s very unfortunate that Ramji Prabhu Templeto-day is lying in a dilapidated condition and needs world-class upgradation unlike Shree Shree Govindaji Temple which has been renovated several times and its one of the prime attractions of Manipur.

It is not late for theManipur state government tohonourthe great emperor Garib Nawaz andname placesin his memory, andestablish museums and historical sites, and fund historical preservationwhich will provide a tangible link to know the great emperor for both locals and visitors and to ensure his legacy isn’t lost to time.

(The writer is an independent researcher and the author of “Vedic Imprint in Southeast Asia: with special reference to Manipur” and on the Two-Day National Seminar on Maharaja Garibniwaz: Builder of Manipuri Civilisation, he presented the seminar paper on the sub theme: Religious and Cultural Changes during the period of Garib Niwaz on 13, December, 2025 held at Manipur University)

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