Susan Waten Naga
I don’t know how successful I’ll be, but I’ll try my best to set aside that which comes naturally to me (i.e. skepticism and satirical humor) and try to see the sunny side of things. What grabbed my attention and struck me as rather bizarre this Hornbill season was the children’s cultural troupe. During the Opening Ceremony, a commotion of giggly laughter and amusement, coupled with clicking of cameras buzzed around me. I was utterly speechless and not too amused to see excited adults getting an obvious thrill at that pretty sight – tiny exposed bottoms of little boys. I asked around to people as to whether children in the villages really wore “langtum” (loin cloth) and danced around like the adults. Surprisingly, none of the townies knew of such a thing; some were unsure, saying, “Maybe, in the olden days, who knows….”
For the next couple of days, tanned exposed bottoms were a common sight to behold in the local papers, not to talk about some of the shots traveling abroad. The shots were strategic, and flawlessly taken. But I still wasn’t convinced as to whether it was practical (read ethical) to make children dance around 95% naked in the freezing cold of Kisama. I was curious to know what others thought about this terrific idea of exhibiting children in adult cultural gear and making them 1st class entertainers. My question to these interviewees was this: “What do you think about the children’s cultural troupe and their exposed bottoms?” Toshi Aier, Principal Secretary, said, “Isn’t it easier for children rather than adults to wear langtum and dance around?” Point taken. Adults have more conspicuous body parts that are difficult to conceal under a loin cloth. It not only embarrasses the one who steals a peek but also the one who was peeped at. Toshi even had several photocopies of these children from the newspapers to “show friends.” They looked like the Cock Fight pictures. Metsubo, Director, was around. He added lightheartedly, “Ajak pass se dak tsu tsua ta shir anir arua.” (For those who can’t read Ao, look for an interpreter.) It was learned that some of the children vomited on the way from the village to Kohima, and preferred to walk instead. “Who doesn’t vomit? Even adults do,” said Metsubo. True.
I caught Achum Ngullie and Sukhalu, both Secretaries, in the Rock Show – my next interviewees. Sukhalu, polite and gentlemanly, said he found children dancing in langtum rather “fun.” I probed deliberately, “Don’t you think its child abuse, having them expose their bottoms to the public for entertainment?” Achum almost pounced on my poor throat. With vigorous hand movements he thundered, “We are NAKED people.” Then he paused to think, “I mean we used to be naked; that’s life in the village.” Peace, peace! I asked politely, “In your village do children still wear langtum and dance around?” He replied, “Of course, then how do we pass on our culture to the children?” Makes sense. Toshimongla, wife of Eastern Mirrors’s Abu Metha said charmingly, “For a change, it was nice to see children because we only see adults. Children are more cute and entertaining than grown ups.” All said and done, I wondered if I was the only one who still insisted that the whole thing was rather pitiable and exploitative. A friend commented, “Children are like decorative pieces this Hornbill.” I couldn’t agree more.
I stumbled upon an interesting observation made by a 1st time visitor to Nagaland who witnessed the Ms. Nagaland Contest. Sheela Reddy, a Journalist from Delhi who works for Outlook commented, “The energy to break out of frustration is far greater here than in other states.” When asked what kind of frustration, she replied readily, “To break out of the traditional shackles of society that may be claustrophobic and conservative.” Unimpressed; so she continued. “The girls have less chance to win in Femina Ms. India Contest because of their height, so Nagaland is a forum for a 2nd chance.” OK, listening. She continued, “I’m surprised to see such a big space in the Media for beauty and fashion. There was even an editorial on it.” Yeah, I was beginning to unroll in my mind the professional immaturity exhibited in some of our editorials. She added, “Women are not seen as sex symbols here, but rather as symbols of youth empowerment, and thus channels for change in society.”
My most enlightening communication went with Guy Baeyens who ran the Belgian Coffee Fest in Dream Café. In the brief encounter, he shot out some brilliant ideas. According to him, “In Europe, Politicians often visit coffee houses before lunch to interact with university students and people from all walks of life. Ideas come directly from the people.” I wondered how our coffee houses will provide space for the politicians’ huge convoy of vehicles and armed body guards. Anyway, our politicians are not so down to earth or accessible to the public, so the problem’s solved! I asked if there was a relationship between “coffee and economic development.” He said, “Make the maximum use of what you have. Belgium does not cultivate coffee beans. We import them and then re-roast and re-blend according to the taste of the people. Small companies come up and then start exporting them. Belgium is famous for coffee although we do not grow coffee beans at all.” Guy mentioned that with tourism taking off as an industry in Nagaland, we need high quality handicrafts; if purchase power is weak in Nagaland, we need to find ways of exporting to other countries. Coming from a foreigner, I was surprised that he said this: “Young people here study for government exams because the jobs appear safe and secure. But you need more private initiative to alleviate un-employment. You need to be creative with ideas.” Agreed 110%!
With so many parallel events in Kohima during the Hornbill week, the Belgian Coffee Fest could not compete with the Coffee Carnival organized jointly with Maxiburg last year. The attraction at that time was the “Live Music” in Dream Café. Likewise, live music at the Local Ground stole the thunder from Kisama, which wore a deserted look for most of the time. I wonder if the state government will be able to maintain the expenses of the Rock Show should that be an annual or regular event for the youth. Many stalls at Kisama ran at a major loss. More than half of them signed up a written representation to the CM for refund (not discount); but nothing so far has materialized. The CM was kind enough to patronize some of the few lucky local artists and crafts people. He shelled out in cash Rs 35,000/- for Thechano K’s painting on Leh. He also splurged Rs 60,000/- in instant cash on one round up of the stall on the last day – thus alleviating some of the misery of the people who lamented about their loss due to poor sales. But not everybody can be pleased equally. For my peon friend and contract LDA friend who earn fixed monthly salaries of Rs 1,300/- and Rs 3,500/- respectively at the Secretariat, I simply want to say, “May you get lucky next time.”
Some Media representatives who came from outside the state were disappointed with the cultural event at Kisama. They maintained that with all the “Media hype” about Hornbill, they expected something more spectacular. I asked D.K. Bhalla, Commissioner/Secretary, “Do you think Nagaland is unable to attract tourists because of the insurgency-torn image?” He replied, “Who creates that image? The Media. So bring the Media from outside to redo what’s been done.” The Media did come to Kisama, but the locals didn’t show up for the biggest, greatest cultural festival of the north east. Nagas preferred the evening entertainment and the venue of it was not at Kisama – simple reason. Many people agree that splitting the Hornbill activities (whether cultural or modern) into 2 venues was not such a good idea after all. The Local Ground was jam packed although the space is bigger than Kisama’s amphitheatre.
The 1st International Film Festival was one great opportunity lost for the people. Nagas not showing up has good reasons. We don’t really have a movie going culture because of the absence of movie theatres, except for video parlors that show B grade films. Award winning and highly educative/inspiring films should be screened in school, college and university campuses – they expand our minds and enrich our beings. The academia and not the government should play a greater role in fostering higher aesthetic sensibilities in the Nagas. The DC’s Bungalow, which resembles 100’s of British colonial bungalows in Shillong, made me wonder about its sudden hospitality. I asked Nancy Kikon, “What’s so special about an ex-DC quarter?” She narrated patiently, “You get to see the old architectural style – high ceilings, chimneys, wooden floors and bath tubs; and the buffet. The foreigners loved our smoked pork and chicken. We had about 20 people eating our food every evening.” That’s it? Another opportunity missed on eating out and enjoying with family and friends. We need to develop the exciting culture of experimenting with food beyond our comfortable home kitchens. Archives? A single small room with few shelves, Xeroxed copies of documents (the most archival being only from 1866), a hand full of rare books and private papers, few maps, and books on sale on the Nagas by non-Nagas! Not such a pretty feeling I tell you.
The Hornbill, now a well known “brand name” in the nation’s list of cultural festivals, is still unable to attract its own local people. For tourists, whom we fear may go back with “broken bones and legs because of road conditions,” as said by D.K Bhalla, we don’t understand why locals who are accustomed to the roads, are not motivated to make that short trip to Kisama. Perhaps like Kaziranga, we may in the near future boast that our festival attracted “77,000 tourists, out of which 5,000 were foreigners,” (Kaz, Nov 23 IANS). Most of all, watch out for a smallish, oldish looking man, who went around at Kisama in a faded Chakhesang shawl, an old woolen cap and dark glasses, trying to get people to read his letter by saying, “Naga National Council.” told him “Ami to Naga manu ase to,” and foolishly lost the chance of reading the contents.
The Hornbill week and its heated activities are over, and to the NSF and the NCSU, I want to say, “Press on for your rights with INTEGRITY if promises made by the government are not kept.” To the Longsa (Ao) and Naghutomi (Sumi) children’s cultural troupe, “God Bless!”
