Dr Asangba Tzüdir
Celebrations are central to Naga life and the flow of jubilees, landmark celebrations, conferences, etc seems to be never ending. So many conferences are being held this time of the year. Our Honorable Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries are the mostly sough after VVIP’s who seem to be tightly scheduled running around as Chief Guest and Guest of Honor because the general understanding among the masses is that no celebration or conference is complete without a Chief Guest or Guest of Honor. Their presence adds the required tinge to the programme that once they leave the whole aura seems to get lost leaving the programme high and dry. They are being felicitated which is then followed by their speech. An abstract of their speech under a ‘punch line’ mostly becomes the news for news consumers to read irrespective of its content, its truth and falsity, often repetitive that flows on the lines of the issues relating to trust on ‘Framework Agreement’, and also the oft quoted cliché on the need for peace and unity among the Nagas. Nonetheless, their speeches are always ‘politically correct.’ As for the congregation, the gossip centers on the monetary amount which they donate because sadly and bluntly put, the monetary contribution of the Chief Guest and Guest of Honor is considered the lifeline and the whole purpose of the invite.
Certain pressing concerns can be drawn from such pompous celebrations. Firstly, the bulk of the attention is focused on the Chief Guest or Guest of Honor and thereby the question whether we can do away with this Chief Guest culture or for that matter VVIP’s culture who are literally ‘blessed and worshipped’ like God in the guise of begging for earthly manna. This takes us to the second concern where the whole objectivity of any celebration seems to be overshadowed by meaningless prioritization compared to the larger context of the occasion and thereby the objective and purpose of the programme becomes nothing more than like a ritual practice.
Often one wonders the scope, rationale and the objective behind its celebration, and thereby the need to ponder upon the end result of its celebration. Well, most of the conferences and jubilee celebrations are planned five years before time and often the whole purpose of its celebration gets lost in translation or gets dissipated away with the blind celebration. One can imagine the various forms of resources including time, money and human resources that have gone into the making of the celebration after years of preparation. This demands the need for engaging our available resources especially human resources and to put it to good effect that would merit productive returns in the long run.
Thus, the whole idea of our style of celebration needs to really evolve beyond the caught up traditional norms and forms; to revamp by way of giving a meaningful face lift; and also revolutionize towards a productive transformation of our engagement and activities. In short, change in our mindsets as well as to broaden our horizons will be a much needed breakthrough for our present Naga society that is shrouded in being unproductive and totally lost in routine affairs. Often it is where our mindsets stays caught up giving no scope for exploring alternative ways and means towards productive engagement of available resources.
Celebrations being a part and parcel of Naga lifestyle, it will be difficult to do away with celebrations. As such it needs to be made more meaningful so that any celebration becomes a learning experience and thereby a productive engagement in the long run rather than getting lost in the unnecessary ‘routine affairs’. This will then become the parameter to define whether the real purpose and objective of such celebrations or having a conferences is served. If not, it will just end up being another meaningless celebration along with huge wastage of all forms of resources because resources are vital for giving impetus to development of all forms beginning with human development.
(Dr. Asangba Tzüdir is an Editor with heritage publishing house. He writes a weekly guest editorial for the Morung Express. Views and comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
