Pele George
Many times when we meet old friends after years, the first words that leave our mouth are careless. “You have become so fat.” “Why are you so thin?” We laugh when we say it, thinking it is normal. But we forget something very important words enter the heart deeper than we think. What is a joke to us may be a silent wound to someone else.
We never know what that person has gone through before standing in front of us again. Maybe they were fighting illness. Maybe they were battling depression in silence. Maybe they cried alone at night while the world slept. Maybe life crushed them with responsibilities. Maybe they survived storms that almost broke them. Yet the first thing we notice is their body, not their strength for surviving.
Why can’t we change this small habit? Why can’t we greet each other with life instead of judgement? Why not say, “You look strong.” “You have become more beautiful.” “You look handsome.” “It is so good to see you again.” Words like these may look small, but sometimes they can lift a heart that has been carrying heavy pain for years.
Nagaland is a land of strong people, a land of faith, culture, and deep community. But true strength is not only in our traditions or achievements. True strength is in the way we treat each other’s hearts.
Today many people are silently fighting anxiety, loneliness, body image struggles, and emotional pain. The world already judges them enough. Let Nagaland not become another voice that breaks people.
Let Nagaland become a land where our words heal. A land where when we meet someone after many years, we do not measure them by weight or appearance but by the light that still lives in their eyes. Because sometimes the person standing in front of you has survived battles you will never understand.
So the next time you meet an old friend, pause for a moment before you speak. Choose words that bring life. Choose words that restore dignity. Choose words that make someone feel seen, valued, and loved.
Let our hills echo with kindness. Let our people be remembered for gentle hearts. Let Nagaland be known as a land where words do not break souls but heal them.
