M&M: Some German dance authority decreed that at 2 million, Macedonians do not have the critical mass for a national dance form, Bibi said. That he was German seemed to add to the authority, her tone implied.

But Manipur has less than that yet has a dance form. And 15 films a year to Macedonia’s one or two. Sure, they are junk. But genius can spring anywhere; only a discrete culture can produce junk.

I realized during my travels that Manipur is an extraordinary place. I know of no smaller culture that has all the defining expressions of a culture. I tried saying it is culture that keeps people going in hard times but it sounds too sentimental, though it may have some truth to it.

Manipur has a culture of culture.