Of late, a word of Pindar[1], “Shall I by justice mount the higher, or by deceit?” keeps ringing in my head, which I came across while reading Plato’s ‘Republic’.
I cannot, at all, comprehend its true connotation as I am not a philosopher neither am I a scribe nor no amorist. Yet, its implication draws out intense conclusions even from the perceptive of a layman like me and all who have their gaze and ears on the happenings of this age.
You can’t deny the intrusion of injustice and its allies en masse into every part of lives… (put on your glasses or your hearing kit if the scene seems blurry or faint to you!). Every institution – social, political, financial, educational, religious et al – is replete with viruses & bugs alien in the Naga environs just a few decades back.
Wrong is the new right... welcome to Nagaland (post-1960)!
Yeah!
The advent of a degraded rendition of Aristotle’s ‘worst form of government’ ushered into our land by some of our own brothers (uncles?!) facilitated the infection of the Naga populace with ‘love for carrots’ (money-flavored). The love for money and sleep has turned us into vampiric-bats much to the pleasure of what they call ‘The Rain Man’. Our minds are corrupted; our ways are evil and our destiny bleak. We are living in, and under a dark regime – a shaded one – for us, by us and of us. It’s dark and gloomy. I bet you, mate, if you can name me two of our mantris who doesn’t love wearing shades, rain or shine. I know one. By the way, this puzzles me. Do they pretend that it’s always shaded by sporting a pair of shades or is it shaded because they always put on shades? I can’t make out which is which! Rumour has it that the chief owns over 1378 pairs of tinted lenses. He treasures just one, though.
Light gives them the creep, I
suppose. True, the Greeks say it
encourages bad/weak leadership.
Again,
The rise of euphemism in our land such as donation, national-workers, fair-play, aid and the like has made our miniature world a little more perplexed. It confuses me a lot! (N.B. – DONATION is the baptism name for both extortion & bribery; FAIR-PLAY is to be at par with others in respect of being corrupt, proxy voting too; NATIONAL-WORKERS, a saccharine moniker for...umm, there are too many of them, it leaves me baffled; and nepotism is amiably christened as AID.)
What about ‘Road Shows’ and ‘Land of Festivals’?
If Smith were still alive and had he been a Naga, he’d call Road Shows ‘Drain of Wealth’; and Land of Festivals is plainly related to ‘deficit-budgeting’.
I have even heard suspensions of vehicles singing [creaking] ‘land of festivals ¯lah ¯lah ¯lah…’ every time they bump on our dirt-topped roads. And behold! Heaven marvels at the art made by Nagaland’s dusts – they sketch ‘land of festivals’ in the air as they rise when an engine hops by, falling back to the ground waiting for their next piece...
…maybe ‘dry state’
Our state professes to remain DRY keeping the pockets of our warden ‘gate-keepers’ wet throughout the month, or year. Maybe a pro-social (?) act of mahila alliances across our dry state will cease. [The destruction of IMFL and its cousins, a regular in our local dailies with pictures attached.] With exceptions, I presume, it’s no justice when you destroy one’s source of bread. There are, for sure, humane ways of countering them. But, if they really love the aroma of spirit tuned in with the music of smashing bottles, why can’t they raid hotels & bars that go scot-free doing business round the clock in our warped towns. Is it because they’re run by big wheels or because they’re the haunt of the influentials and their offsprings? Only if I knew why! This policy is also a democratic (huh!) strategy of bracing bonds between the clergy & politicians... Politics! The devil’s modus operandi! “The prohibition law…has divided the nation… into three parts - wets, drys, and hypocrites.”[2] (I am not pro-alcoholism, FYI)
What’s your say on 33% reservation for women?
I am no sexist. I stand for equality, not prejudice.
Okay, a say on that! In the legislature…ahem…In the last session, I heard, 4 lakhs INR (only) was spent on flowers. Beauty! I foresee the figure burgeon if our darling amazons flood law-making & executing soiled seats. I even anticipate the slice increase up to 67%. The leftovers are [already] booked for our forwarding brethren. And I fear >murmurs< the masculine gender of ‘mistress’ might get frequent.
Forgive me, me lady for playing you the bait.
Nagaland is, arguably, home to the largest number of organisations, groups, unions, committees, societies, hohos, forums et cetera relative to its size in the world. An individual will at least be a member of 9 leagues out of these fraternities (?). Maybe a faction is being created as I am telling you this. I fail to grasp the efficacy of all these bodies equating them to the works done for the welfare of the public.
I wonder why we leave our creed right at our pews when we go out of the church after devotionals. Our pews overflow with Christianity, we need to let them out even in the streets. In the name of religion we have created barriers & divisions instead of building bridges, and we’ve framed artificial codes of conduct – phoney! We don’t need only religion… we need God, more. We ‘worship the devil in the name of religion’ [3] more or less! Are we redeemed?
I also pray we would stop mocking the name of Christ Jesus by calling Nagaland a Christian State.
Umhum! Why?
It’s not blasphemy, boy. Just look around. Besides, you can’t brand a state Christian just because major portion of its population call themselves Christians. It’s not christian when you hurt others’ sentiments or brag about making a name of yourself. Furthermore, most of us aren’t Christians at all. Atheists, or even Satanists, are more christian than 97.12% Naga Christians(?). Heaven help us!
What about them?
Ah, yes! The Shylocks! Boa-Constrictors! The population of Shylock & his kin has grown incessantly in recent times. Lucky are those whose fleet hit the dock before the trial. Woe unto those who fall victim to this peril for it captivates one with its kisses but death is its produce. This family feeds Mammon! They deform the local economy and meander around harvesting blood and tears of the wounded. Moreover, they feast, make merry and dances on the ‘tomb of somebody else’s hopes & dreams’ [4] on christmas day. (If you are a money-lender, I’m talking about you here. Leech! )
The wind whispers that even ten-tithes are doled out for this purpose by some churches.
Oh dear! Please end this, most-revered pastors, deacons, chaplains, priests, padres, clerics… Mammon’s cup already brims over.
Hey, do you know what’s the newest/ hottest sport in our beloved land?
Yes! Land-grabbing.
Correct. Land-encroachment is another term for it. It differs a little, though. I veil my face in guilt every time I see ‘shame-boards’ which read, “Private Property, Do Not Encroach” or, “Government Land, Do Not Encroach”.
>sighs! <
Why have they gone so corrupted?
Oi! It’s WE not THEY. We’re all to be blamed. I (including your ‘I’) am responsible for the madness, for all the things that have gone wrong. No good thing comes out of a blame-game. I am the reason why our society has gone so corrupt. I sided with injustice and its allies in some cases & in some I just stood still letting those things pass by right before me as though I were a cripple. It’s all because of me. I (your ‘I’ included again) need to change!
Our rich values which took hundreds of years for our ancestors to refine and, in time, imbibe them into our culture have all been besmirched and annihilated in just a matter of 50 years. Woe unto us! Our forefathers, on the other side of the ‘gate’, will be lamenting for the state of life we are in… what have become of us and what we have made of ourselves.
Maybe we will, again, someday live out right that we will hear their ‘victory cries & yodels’ on the other side.
One last thing…
Ha! Coup de grâce?
I wish they’d stop calling themselves educated; no educated remains unemployed. Either they are uneducated or they are employed but they think they’re not as they’re not some sarkar-ka-naukri. The term repels me – ‘Educated-Unemployed’!
As the brief soliloquy concluded, I asked myself again…
But, how do I weigh right when the scale itself is crooked & distorted?
To which he replied, (again)
You need more than just the scale and the stones; you need more than what you got!
Money?
Ufff! There you go again.
1. Pindar is a 5th century B.C. Greek lyricist/ poet.
2. “The prohibition law, written for weaklings and derelicts, has divided the nation, like Gaul, into three parts -- wets, drys, and hypocrites.” - Florence Sabin
3. “Worship the devil… religion.” - An excerpt from a verse by a writer anonymous to my head.
4. “…tomb of your hopes & dreams…” - Funeral of Hearts (HIM)
Rokosiezo Terhüja
ajuhret@gmail.com
