Yangliba T Sangtam
Modern College Kohima
Among the Sangtam tribe, the Mongmong festival is considered to be the most important and the grandest festival.It was normally celebrated for six days during the first week of September as a festival of togetherness and prayer for bountiful harvest.Mongmong is the festival which brings about blessing in all aspects of life such as prosperity and peace among the people. Due to modernization and Christianity, the traditional practices in celebrating the festival seems to be diminishing among the youngsters. Many young intellectuals and organizations are trying hard today to preserve and keep the tradition alive in different ways.
With the sudden outburst of COVID- 19 all over the world, it has become difficult to celebrate any festivals for quite some time. But gradually, things started to function. As I recall in the first week of September 2020, on the first day at around four in the morning as I was having my morning walk, I came across people gathering around, waiting for each other to go collect pigs to slaughter. Although it was early morning and the air was chill, something made me feel warm and that would be the air of festivity which marked the beginning of the 6 days celebration we were to enjoy.
So here I am going to share my experience while celebrating in the midst of pandemic. This year Mongmong was a blessing despite the fact that we are in a pandemic. It has always been important that every one attends the celebration and for years I wasn’t able to attend with my family because I was away for my studies. This hasn’t always been easy because I had to spend this time alone.Although I had friends, they couldn’t fill the void. We celebrate festivals both with our friends and family, but we have real pleasure of celebrating festivals with our family and the blessing it brings.
This pandemic has brought upon a great deal of mental stress upon every individual and I must say this festival was a good excuse to let go of that stress. We were not able to visit our relatives and friends house because of the lockdown and even if there was a little relief in the lockdown, we were not able to visit each other because of the stigma that was brought upon by Corona Virus. However, despite all this we were all able to enjoy the festival to the extent that we didn’t want it to end.
Every family has its own traditions, which we honor and follow over the generations. There are a number of practices that are very meaningful and I must say, it’s very interesting, one of which is dinning together. Unfortunately, the way of life today does not allow our family to gather all together, which I think most people face too because of school, office, meeting and other unwelcomed schedule. But no matter how busy we get on the way there is always a time for gathering and this Mongmong was one of such.
We had a gathering this festival and I met my cousins who I had not seen for a while. During this short and fast hour, we as a young adult sat and discussed upon life as we saw and what might come, encouraged one another, while our parents sitting around the table loudly laughing and telling stories. We had dinner together and had lots of fun, which we never had imagined that this most unpredicted pandemic would bring us so close together.
The pandemic has changed the manner of celebrating festivals all over the world, including our own Nagaland. The excitement and enthusiasm for festivals seem to have been subdued owing to the global pandemic. tests, rising corona cases and identification of hotspots, especially spring and summer season kept the residents in seclusion, taking away the festival mood, which our diverse culture is known for.
Despite the situation, I learnt many things on how love filled the place overwhelmingly. Over the two decades that I have spent Mongmong, this year was the best. It made my heart feel complete unlike other year; this year too we had same food, people, meat etc… but then this year it was different, I learned how to unite with people and fellow beings to come together for the sole purpose of celebrating and happiness which served the purpose of “togetherness of Mongmong”. Moreover, festivals spark joy and give us something to look for and help break the monotony of life. So, during this festival and over the pandemic I have learned that we can celebrate any festival with full of pleasure if we are with our family.
In addition to that, I learnt that festivals fill our lives with joy and enthusiasm, in a new way. It brings us closer and eliminates any feelings of communal hatred. Further, it strengthened the bonds and removes the malice from people’s hearts. Therefore, festivals are quite important and must be celebrated with passion.
