All of us will know that women in particular use cosmetics (makeup) to enhance their beauty or when they have to go outside the home. No wonder the dictionary meaning of the word cosmetic means ‘superficial’, ‘on the surface’, ‘decorative’ etc. Putting on cosmetics or your makeup is for a short period at most for a day after which it is removed to be worn again the next time you have to go out. Development in a place like Nagaland can also be like putting cosmetics, to cover up whatever inadequacy and to make oneself presentable in front of your esteemed guests or suitors. The recent visit of India’s Vice President Dr Hamid Ansari to Nagaland (Kohima) for the World Bamboo Day on September 18, 2010 had generated quite a lot of hectic activity in Tuensang town where the VP was also supposed to visit although it was cancelled at the last minute. It will be worth mentioning here about a short write-up appearing in the local dailies wherein two citizens of Tuensang Town went on to mention about what they termed as “surprise development activities” taking place in one of the oldest districts in Nagaland just ahead of the proposed visit of the honorable VP. The point that the writers were making was obvious. Tuensang town was witnessing a welcome change, the unprecedented development work which has been neglected all these years suddenly taking place thanks to the visit of a very special guest, the VP of India. While thanking the VP’s visit (which later on did not materialize) the citizens also realized that what was being done was only a sort of a cosmetic exercise to last a short time. As rightly questioned by the write-up, why do developmental activities take place in such a rush only when the VIPs and VVIPs arrive? Repairing our roads and renovating all the departmental offices, hospitals and schools is a job that has to be done irrespective of whether VIPs come or not.
This superficial exercise is not confined to development related areas only but we can see it in the attitude of our people as well. Again to use a factual account the SP Kohima ahead of the VP visit to the State Capital issued a public notification directing the regulation of traffic and certain dos and don’ts. The first directive to the public was this: No building material will be allowed to be kept by the roadside along the NH-39 and NH-61. In case of any defaulters the material will be seized, the government notification warned. Next was a directive asking the public that no vehicles will be allowed to park along the NH 39 and NH 61 and that any unattended vehicle will be towed away with charges to be paid by the vehicle owners. After this stern notification, the public was informed that the traffic regulation was “temporary and is applicable only from 18/09/2010 till 20/09/2010”. The point that we want to add is this: why should we clean up our roads or follow traffic regulation only during visit of a VIP from outside. Why these basic duties of cleanliness and traffic order can’t be maintained even otherwise. The government machinery should also share the blame for not enforcing the dos and don’ts on a day to day basis. This is another cosmetic exercise that we in Nagaland are expert at doing.
