In the field of novels... ... ... ... ... a young writer, Loitongbam Pacha exposed the rottenness of our society with vigour and cruelty in an idiom allied to that of Virgina woolf. His novel, Na Tathiba Ahal Ama (An old man who is hard of hearing) restricting itself to the events of a single night, is about two young friends (one an observer and the other, an ex-revolutionary) who watch the night scene in a hotel and bazar of a city. The novel, the first of its kind in Manipuri, gives the impression of a slow-motion camera at work. A sense of defeatism and utter helplessness of the hero in the context of the decedent society, dominates the entire picture and the novel concludes with a wish of the hero to suggest an epitaph on his grave. An old man who is hard of hearing. The young writer evidently faced the alternative of 'not yet' and 'co more' and experienced passing conflicts of a transitional era in the heart of personal experience. His earlier novel, Hayad Begum, questioned deeply the meaning of the love and life. - Elangbam Nilakanta Singh, Indian Literature, 1971, Sahitya Academi, New Delhi 

This author singed copy was presented to Elangbam Rajanikanta Singh (R.K. Elangbam) on 21 September 1973 by Pacha Meitei himself. We received the book as a donation from Elangbam ongbi Khuraijam Ibempishak Devi, wife of R.K.Elangbam, Keishamthong Elangbam Leikai on March 3, 2021.