Atongla Rothrong
Enthusiastic applause broke out as the crown was lowered onto the new beauty queen’s head. Smiling, the previous queen took her by the hand and led her forward to present her to the crowd. What’s she like? Demanded a frustrated member of the crowd, who rather being short, was standing on tip-toe and craning his neck to see. ‘Not bad!’ was the approving comment of the more successful onlooker. “In fact, she’s absolutely gorgeous!’ wonder if she’ll last longer than the one’s crowned before, though,” was the cynical remark of another bystander. ‘She was pretty too.’(This is a true account of a beauty contest held in Nagaland)
Yes, but does she know her place, so we’d say. Wearing a crown is one thing, but knowing how to use your power is another. Does she realize that in spite of the tiara on her head she is after all like any other girl? At that crowning moment she might have wondered ‘Am I really a queen? Do I have any authority, and if so, how far does it extend? She may be uneasily unaware of her predecessor’s fate. With the Miss Nagaland beauty pageant just around the corner, the contestants better watch their steps - She needs to fulfill her potential.
The explosion of joy inside that she has won the title, the feeling of newness that set in, and the person standing next to her totally unaware that anything has happened, but within her a profound change has taken place, that it seems as if her previous light was darkness. At the age of 19 she finds freedom. But, freedom to do what? Act high and mighty? Look down upon the ‘lesser few’? Command the world at her dainty feet?
Every one of us yearns for freedom. It has been the cry of many hearts through the centuries. Freedom from oppression and tyranny; from pain and sickness, poverty, degradation, fear and worry. It is the subject of songs, the reason for protest marches, and the motivation for assassinations, coups and conflicts. The desire for it has vented itself in anger and violence or sometimes in passivity and inertia. In their search for freedom, some people precipitate action by taking the law into their own hands, while others do the opposite and drop out. In rejecting society with its current codes and values, they seek to establish an individual separation that is not dependent on, or obligated to, anyone.
So how dare I say that a young girl of 19 has found the key to freedom when so many others are still blindly groping for the door?
Freedom begins here- not with grandiose schemes, ideological reforms, attempts to be better, social changes or revolution. Those all have their place, but later down the line, change must begin in the human heart which humbles itself as it stands before that narrow and winding door. This door is too narrow to admit pride, intellectualism, and prestige, trappings of wealth, celebrity, or beauty queen crowns. They must be dumped outside. The human heart should be where the crown is worn. Because your accumulations are obstructions to freedom.
Being a beauty queen can plunge you enthusiastically into fervent activity and run the risk of making the blunders associated with experience and naivety. Or she can spend her time on silken cushions being fanned by slaves and be a passive achiever who takes no risk at all. In fact, the beauty queens of Nagaland should take a wiser course than either of the above. She can adopt a humble stance, move slowly and take opportunities as they are presented themselves and not seek to prove her worthiness to be queen by launching into frenzied activities. She should become aware of the authority invested in her, learn that there are ways laid down for her to use that power most effectively, by not undermining the needs of the society but rather approach it and carry out the peoples will.
The moment the crown has been put in her head should be the instance where her eyes and heart opens, because she is not crowned as an independent individual but as a representative of a people, who is also empowered to carry out the plights of the down trodden. Enjoyment and title satisfaction are an added bonus! So it is in Nagaland.
Many Naga girls vying for the crown identify with this picture. Sooner or later there should come a time for them to realize that there is more to being a beauty queen than simply enjoying the benefits. So let that time be now. And when you walk up the stage the next time to hand over the coveted crown, let the harvest be abundant, let the vision of the harvest that the people who chose you inspire and motivate other Nagas to share the freedom you had found during your reign. You can have a part in gathering it in then. We can be co-laborers with you in setting captives free.
