Dr Samhita Barooah
Founder QueerUp
The understanding of 'no' is indeed a very interesting process of learning. How could Najane, Napare, Nalage, Nahobo, Nadibo and Najabo emerge from the context of resistance? I learnt these terms more intensely in Nagaland during the course of work, research and socialising. Women particularly use these words in self defence. They would like to stay away from the centrepiece debates and discussions. Their opinions are hardly counted in real terms within or outside the household so when they use these magic words of Najane which means don’t know, Napare which is cant do, Nahobo which relates to not happening and Najabo which is cant go, Nadibo is won’t give, Nalage equates to do not need anything. Thus these expressions give the speaker the safeguard to be outside anything that may be controversial.
They remain outside the main understanding or helm of affairs in the garb of not knowing which may not be ignorance in reality. They wish to resist the extremes, exhaustive rigours and exploitations of many layers through these magic words. Does choice play a role here? Now that is a bigger question? For a tribal woman to resist a non tribal person in any way is a matter of choice. But to resist a tribal agenda is mostly not a matter of choice. Nalage is also another important word in the lingua franca of Nagaland. Nalage means don’t need. It speaks of resistance to dependencies of any kind. One may not need food, one may not need money, one may not need relationships, one may not need land, one may not need rest, one may not need resources, one may not need job and one may not need a life of struggle and pain. So Nalage is another form of resistance to patronage, patriarchy or pervasive politics which could be dangerous for the people and society at large. Some of the women choose to use these terms out of fear, shyness, anticipating dire consequences, age factors, real concerns of not knowing and many other personal and threatening reasons. Sometimes these words are used as a way of pacifying a conflict situation. If a tribal woman is not supposed to speak above the tribal elders she prefers to use the words to ensure her tribal status of belonging rather than become an outcast for saying things which reveals bitter truths. So women in tribal society uses these words of Nalage, Najane, Nohobo, Najabo, Najane to uphold their tribal status within the society irrespective of age, gender, social status, economic class and tribal affiliation.
In another society when I interacted with tribal men about the use of these words the issue is slightly different. Men use these words more often to learn more from those who are not from his familiar circle. He said that he would like to understand the views of others more than their own which make him use these words. The same magic words are used in self defence or to resist any thinking process by a tribal woman but a tribal man uses these words to understand new ways of thinking and increase his own knowledge base. Such is the gender diverse experience of use of words like Najane, Napare, Nahobo, Najabo, Nalage. These are tools of resistance towards uncovering oneself which relates to tribal men and concealing another which relates to women in tribal society. I just wonder if such is the reality or is it a phenomenological understanding of a particular society.
Does it mean that the negation or reflection of ignorance is the convenient truth of being never heard? Speculations and interpretations may be many but sometimes it is sheer reluctance to be documented, quoted or covered within the written or captured forms of media and research. This is where self determination of telling or silencing one's own story becomes so crucial. It entails a process of defining the terms of what is private and what needs to be public for the larger interest of the community, culture, society and territory one represents. But in a place affected by perennial forms of apathy, conflict, mobility crunches and age-old stigmatisation, 'Najane' is definitely a blessing in disguise to create a safety net around oneself. Whenever there is a sense of alienation of exclusion or an assertion of familiarity the engagement with the local and hyper local contexts becomes pertinent. Here the use of the Najane, Napare, Nalage, Nahobo, Nadibo, Najabo and all forms of 'no' become very potent. These are the indigenous feminist expressions of dissent to diverse forms of oppression, subjugation and repression. In an era of manufactured consent and materialistic collaborations, these dialects of dissent can be very useful. They remain the most basic verbal forms of resistance for women and other invisible non-male genders to defend their violent oppression in any private or public sphere. The transformation of the experiences, trustworthiness and integrity rooted in mutual dignity and equity might have shifted responses. Till then let’s keep our shields of negation alive through Nalage, Najane, Nahobo, Napare, Nadibo.
