Growing up in the heart of Kohima Village in the 1980s got me introduced to almost every important aspects and facets of the Angamis’ ‘idea and way of life’ from a very tender age. Being tutored and brought up in a household and a neighborhood where all the people with whom I lived and encountered on a daily basis were Angamis, I was no stranger to the Tenyiedie dialect, the folklores of the Angamis, poems and songs of the Angamis and the Angami way of life. All these experiences have gone on to make me the person that I am today.
Yes, I am not just an Angami by name. I have lived and experienced the typical Angami way of life with all the ups and downs and glories and disgraces. So I guess I know what it meant to be an Angami boy growing up in the heart of Kohima in the 1980s and 1990s. And obviously, I naturally feel and have a strong bond and attachment towards almost everything that an Angami Naga would normally consider dear and close to his heart. Yes indeed, my upbringing, my childhood environment and my early experiences continue to influence me in many ways even to this day.
A very intrinsic, inseparable and influential part of my growing-up years were the many stories, accounts, reports and versions that I heard from others. Many of these stories and accounts which I heard from elders, friends and acquaintances are still very vivid in my mind and I still feel a very strong emotional and cultural attachment towards them. Fables and myths of the Angamis; stories of the American missionaries like Rivenberg, Supplee, Tanquists etc; accounts during the Japanese invasion of 1944; the accounts of the plight, suffering and turmoil of the Nagas during the Indo-Naga conflict etc were all part and parcel of my formative years and all these have influenced me in one way or the other.
In the same way, through stories, accounts and reports narrated by others, I was also introduced to Dzükou at a very young age itself…. and over the years I developed a very intimate and personal bonding with Dzükou. I guess I was still only a toddler flapping my tiny arms in my mother’s lap when the word ‘Dzükou’ first entered my ears. I was told that Dzükou lies beyond the mountains situated opposite to my house here in Kohima Village and that it was the most beautiful place in the whole world. As I grew up, I heard many fascinating stories, reports and accounts about Dzükou from different people who made trips into the beautiful valley. Likewise I also heard and read poems and songs written and sung about the beauty of Dzükou. In this way, Dzükou got embedded in my young mind and memory and almost became an inseparable part of my upbringing. If there ever was a ‘Second Paradise’ on earth, it would have been undoubtedly Dzükou for me.
Ironically, to this day, I remain a total stranger to this beautiful valley. This is so because I am yet to set my foot on the valley. During my high school years, college years and even after my graduation I got invitations from friends, classmates, well-wishers and even neighbors to undertake a journey into the valley. But somehow I could never decide to go as I was never an adventurous fellow who would enjoy a hunting expedition or a long, tiresome and tedious trip into some beautiful valley. However, even though Dzükou is still ‘Yarrow Unvisited’ for me, I still consider Dzükou to be a part and parcel of my upbringing, my culture, my story and my very being.
All the accounts and stories that I heard and know about Dzükou are from others like classmates, friends, relatives, elders and well-wishers with whom I had the chance to converse about Dzükou by sheer coincidence. I have also seen numerous beautiful pictures of the valley in books, magazines, calendars, diaries and photographs. However, apart from this, I have never come across or read any book relating to the history, geography or topography of the valley. All these long years, nobody also told me who is the real or sole owner of the beautiful Dzükou valley and I also did not bother to ask anybody about this because I did not care. All that mattered to me was that my conscience told me that it must have been none other than God who made and placed this beautiful valley in the Naga hills.
However, deep inside my heart and since my earliest childhood years, I have always known that the beautiful Dzükou valley is situated somewhere in the backyard of the Angamis…since that was what the accounts and stories indicated. Deep inside me, there was also this feeling that almost all Angamis probably consider Dzükou as theirs and that Dzükou was made for them. Besides, another reason why I strongly associate Dzükou with the Angamis is because the word ‘Dzükou’ happens to be a combination of two Tenyiedie words i.e., ‘Dzü’ and ‘Kou’. Thus Dzükou not only lies in the backyard of the Angamis, but even the name ‘Dzükou’ itself is probably an Angami word. Thus, etymologically also, Dzükou has a strong Angami connection. Therefore one may assume that the beautiful valley was named by some Angamis long before the present generation appeared on the scene. And if that happens to be the case, it simply means that Dzükou not only lies in the backyard of the Angamis but also that it was some Angamis who first saw the beautiful valley, named it and probably claimed it as theirs.
This are probably the reasons why I feel that many Angamis feel so attached and so bonded with this beautiful valley irrespective of whether they have set foot on the valley or not. Even for a person like me who has never been to Dzükou, the feeling and the attachment towards the valley is indeed very warm and very strong. And I guess the feelings would be much more warmer and stronger for those who have been to the valley and for those who have been living in the close vicinity of the valley for generations.
Therefore, someday, out of the blues, if some people were to start proclaiming that the Dzükou valley does not lie in the land of the Nagas and that the valley does not belong to the Angamis or that the Angamis have no right to claim Dzükou as theirs, I would feel like somebody is trying to snatch away from me something very precious. It would be like snatching away a part of my childhood, my culture, my cherished memories and my way of thinking. Dzükou must remain a place where one can find beauty, peace, comfort, joy and contentment. And it would be a great injustice to God and nature if we are to litter the beautiful valley with our greedy and selfish temperaments and egos. These are the thoughts that make me cry for Dzükou today.
To end on a beautiful note, let me recite here the lyrics of a song which I heard years ago: “Hie pie mesi rei, hie phi mezie rei, Terhü merü rei A Dzükou ngunyü; Kezivi-u, Thenoukemvü – u, Hei…hei Dzükou Hei…hei Dzükou”
(Translated as: “Though my burdens are heavy, though my feet are weary, Though I thirst and starve, I still want to see Dzükou; The beautiful one, the exciting one Hei…hei Dzükou Hei…hei Dzükou”)
I hope the beautiful Dzükou valley continues to be a source of joy, happiness, comfort, contentment and peace for the Naga people……. and not a topic for baseless controversies and confrontations……
