Elder, storyteller and community leader, Kevipele Iheilung seen with members of Writers Collective, Principal & faculty of St Xavier College Jalukie, students and others during the 2nd edition of Unscripted held at the college on March 31.
Morung Express News
Jalukie | April 2
Bringing old stories of the Naga community to life, elder, storyteller & community leader, Kevipele Iheilung on Tuesday transported a keen audience to a historic past of the Nagas as seen in the fifties and sixties.
Delivering a talk as part of the second edition of Unscripted, organised by Writers Collective in collaboration with St Xavier College Jalukie, he particularly dwelt on the Zeliang culture and history.
A native of Benreu village, Kevipele Iheilung was born in 1949, and grew up witnessing history in the making, absorbing life as it was lived in the 40’s and 50’s before the formation of Peren district.
Currently, he serves as the President of Benreu Lui Baudi, and as a community leader, he has closely observed the social transitions in Naga society and is committed to preserving the history and cultural values of his people. He is also currently working on an independent project documenting Zeliang folk songs.
Reflecting on the Storytelling session, Keheusamyile, a 6th semester a student of St Xavier College, Jalukie said, “Listening to his real - life stories about war, bombing, the establishment of the villages and about how people struggled and sacrificed just to get salt. All of these felt very powerful because this are not just stories, but events he had personally experienced and lived through it. I was really inspired by his courage of sharing his personal experiences so honestly. It made me realize the importance of history, memory, and culture and tradition.”
Another student commented that, “it offered a fresh lens to view my own heritage. I was particularly struck by the nuanced perspectives on war how it was felt by the community and even perceived as a form of ‘adventure’ through the eyes of children.”
Kevipele Iheilung had also urged the gathering to ask more questions to elders before these stories fade or are lost altogether.
‘Many stories stored in the living memories of our people’
Highlighting about Unscripted, General Secretary of Writers Collective, Vizovono Elizabeth said that Unscripted is a recent initiative of the Writers to promote and create a platform for storytelling, conversations and creative dialogues. While the group has been organising Nagaland Literature Festival for the last 5 years, she said that the new initiative has been conceptualized to reach out to more storytellers considering that the bulk of the literature in Nagaland still exists in oral form.
“There are so many stories stored in the living memories of our people”, she underlined.
She further stated that it has been named Unscripted to include the other forms of storytelling and not just the written literature while stating that “when we look at our culture and traditions, there are so many stories that are expressed through different art forms.”
She also exuded hope that the initiative would enrich Naga literature and also make it more inclusive.
In her closing remarks, President of Writers Collective, Vishü Rita Krocha said that the storytelling session with Kevipele Iheilung reminded her of her younger years when she made use of every opportunity to sit down with her paternal grandmother who lived to be 104 to listen to stories of her life, how she witnessed both the second world war and the indo-Naga conflict and lived to see many technological inventions unfold.
“From living a barefooted life to travelling in cars and buses to witnessing aeroplanes fly, she also saw quite a life”, she noted while further highlighting that her grandmother also narrated about her native village, Zhavame being burnt thrice during the Indo-Naga conflict and how they fled to the jungles and survived on nature’s goodness for months.
Drawing similarities on the stories of these two individuals, she commented, “what really struck me today, after listening to the storyteller is that, although they both lived through the same period of turbulence, their experiences are both so beautifully different, making every individual story of the past, unique and important.”
She also thanked St Xavier College Jalukie for opening their hearts to Writers Collective’s heartfelt initiative of Unscripted and stated hope that it would open many more doors for their future editions.
Highlights of the event included welcome note by Dr Fr Francis S Cheerangal, Principal of St Xavier College Jalukie, poetry readings by students from the Department of English, including Kewiphui, Kewiphui Namdau and Gaanchuilu, while Namgwangheile Assistant Professor, Department of History, St Xavier College, Jalukie chaired the programme.
