M. Konmei Phom
Longleng, Nagaland
The phrase ‘Exotic Nagaland’ is a highly clichéd term where some get used to the term and others like me get fed-up with such catch phrases. In beauty pageants, mass gatherings and when foreigners visit Nagaland, we keep hearing and saying ‘exotic Nagaland’ blah….blah….blah….! When outsiders come to see Nagaland, we take them to the sleepy villages, War Cemetery, Museum, Folk Dancers and finally please them with choicest Zütho. The tourist route in Kohima is to take them to such places only. Those are the impressions that are reinforced time and again. They could be completely ignorant of the existence of the other face of Nagaland. Well, I’m not degrading the traditional and cultural ethos of Nagaland in any manner but what I’m trying to emphasize here is the fact that inspite of hiccups and hurdles like lack of opportunity and under-development, we have an emerging new face of Nagaland, which mirrors individuals who are techno savvy, articulate and vibrant poets, writers, bureaucrats, teachers, brilliant students, engineers and doctors who can make an impression by their inherent individual quality and capacity. These individuals represent the other side of Nagaland and are raring to go! So why don’t we capitalize on them and showcase that aspect of our land?
Next time when people come to Nagaland, please let’s not flatter ourselves only with the visual pictures of our land rather we must present Nagaland with our intelligence, wisdom and innovative ideas to let people know what we are capable of. And to showcase that we need to have a room for dialogue and a platform for exchange of views and ideas. Interaction is the most important ingredient for both human and social relationship. However if we remain silent and simply showcase our tradition and culture, how would people come to know and learn about the changing face of Nagaland? Everything is changing. Look at the bureaucracy. Earlier, we’d have bureaucrats mainly from the other states of India; now we have our own Naga bureaucrats from every tribe. Now we have our students doing phenomenally well in academics, leave alone Nagaland, even in other states. Look at what Elizabeth Jamir has achieved in Guwahati University. She sure did make us proud! Today in both beauty and fashion industry, our girls are doing incredible well. When we see them in magazines and advertisement hoardings we say, Atta Girl!
I’m sure one would agree with me when I say in music we excel. Naga singers have the ability to adapt to any kind of music genre with panache. Also have you noticed, when you visit various offices and interact with young officials and sometimes pot-bellied middle-aged officials how impressive they are in their originality of thought and innovative ideas! (If they can’t implement their ideas then that’s another issue. Could be due to various other reasons, so let’s not dig into that.) But what impresses one most is that these individuals are so versatile that a nudge is enough for them to take Nagaland to a new height. They are the power house of Nagaland and the changing face of Naga society. When all these groups of dynamic individuals excel, they change the perception of Nagaland. Don’t they?
Many years ago when as a student I stayed in a city in India, I learned the meaning of ‘condescension’ there. They envisaged Nagas as head-hunters and naked people running around with spear and machete. How hurt and angry I felt when they thought of me as a bimbette and a country pumpkin who could not understand English language. Such misconception is all because of the wrong presentation of our state and the stereotypical image we give to others. Clearly it provokes indignation to know that people still think of us as we were fifty years ago. We have done a very poor job of marketing and projecting ourselves. The day we reassess and focus on the image makeover of Nagaland people will find it intriguing and once they get past the exotic factor, their perception will also have a makeover. Let others identify Nagaland with vocabularies such as intelligent, innovative and original and that will be our take on Nagaland 2008.
