Vishü Rita Krocha
In the recently concluded 6th edition of the two-day Nagaland Literature Festival (NLF), Advisor to Chief Minister of Nagaland, Abu Metha had commented: “For too long, others have written about us. For too long, others have represented or misrepresented us. For too long, we have been judged by others. The journey that we have undertaken, the colonial era that we underwent, and even the past decades of strife, struggle, tears and sweat, others have always told our stories.”
Just as he encouraged writers to tell the Naga story to the world, from the Naga context, from the Naga perspective, and from the Naga language, one of the primary reasons the Nagaland Literature Festival was initiated under his vision, was also to reclaim Naga stories.
The two-day festival witnessed and experienced a glimpse of the rich storehouse of creativity and cultural heritage of the Naga people, deeply exploring the profound transition of Naga heritage—from oral storytelling passed down around the traditional kitchen hearth to contemporary written, published, and digital forms through its theme, “From Hearth to Page.”
The General Secretary of Writers Collective, Vizovono Elizabeth had also elaborated in her way forward that the theme was conceptualized “to explore the ways in which we can sustain, continue and reinvent our stories in the many different forms of expression that are available to us in contemporary times.”
While the hearth refers to the fireplace with many of our stories being told sitting around the kitchen hearth for several years in the past, we also know that with modernity and the transition to the digital era has led to the disappearance of this tradition.
It is now rare to see families or communities sitting together at the kitchen fireplace to share their many tales. But just because the tradition of fireplace stories is disappearing, it does not mean that we need to stop telling our stories.
Now that our own people have started telling our stories, and started reclaiming our own narratives, in modern ways, there is even more an urgent need to build a storytelling ecosystem in our state. To build on the strong foundation of the storytelling tradition that is already there. And to tell our stories not only for ourselves but for people to learn more about us. In the most honest way possible, and in the best way possible.
This is a guest editorial by Vishü Rita Krocha. She is the Publisher of PenThrill Publication and a senior journalist based in Kohima.
