Paper short abstract:

This paper seeks to discuss how friendships are forged, managed, twisted and mended among aspiring youths in a sensitive borderland.

Paper long abstract:

Manipur, a state in India's North East is currently witnessing serious instances of violent conflicts since May 2023. More than 200 Kuki people have been killed, 200+ villages burnt, 7000+ houses burnt, 360+ churches and synagogues burnt, 41,425+ Kukis have been displaced (Thingkho le Malcha 2024). In such context, what does it mean to be a young Kuki person who has dreams and aspirations? Situating friendships at the confluence of aspiration and conflict, this paper deals with the Kuki youths in Manipur. It aims to understand the complexity of aspiration – desiring to conform to societal ideas of success and masculinity – and how it is entangled with friendships. In other words, how are friendships forged among youths, in this case mostly young men, who encounter the shared experience of violence-induced precarity, and what are its moral, instrumental, ethical and affective registers? The paper also explores ruptures of forged friendships in a volatile borderland and as a consequence, the dilemmas and resilience of social relationships. The ethnographic materials in this paper are primarily based on participant observation among young ‘aspirants’ at a coaching centre in Manipur. In-depth interviews were also conducted with some of the interlocutors.