‘Dreams & Chaos’ season 2 sheds light on sad state of education systems & unemployment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | February 2

Taking another step to highlight the concerns of the education system and unemployment problem in the country, the popular web series, ‘Dreams & Chaos’ team is back with season 2. The Episode One premiered on January 28 in the YouTube channel of Dimapur Ao Baptist Church Youth Ministry and since then it has garnered over 13,000 views. The series is an adaptation of the novel ‘Dreams & Chaos’ written by Sentilong Ozukum. It is shot in Ao Naga language with English subtitles. 

‘Dreams & Chaos’ is a project of the Dimapur Ao Baptist Church (DABA) Youth Ministry Drama Club and directed by Bendang Walling. It may be noted that since 2011, DABA YM has been conducting workshops on stage performances, and in 2018, Drama Club was established as a ‘solid ministry.’

Youth Director of DABA, Jongshimanen Jamir in a conversation with The Morung Express responded to the query on why the church decided to do another season. 

Jamir reveals that the overwhelming positive response, the anticipation and eagerness of the viewers for another season actually encouraged the Church to take up this responsibility. “We took time to process our thoughts and to take it as an opportunity to bring out the social issues through this medium,” he said. “If we were to talk/preach about social concerns, hardly 1000 or 2000 that comes to the church will hear about it. But through this, we are able to reach out to lakh of people beyond boundary,” he puts across. 

With the understanding that Church should play a more active role in the holistic growth of her members, the project was undertaken with ‘some specific intentions.’ “We would like to put some efforts to bring out the flaws in the education system. How can we produce thousands and thousands of students who are unemployable? We need to seriously look into the educational system here in Nagaland,” Jamir said. 

He pointed out that the education system emphasizes too much on mugging up textbook and so those who are good in memorizing stood up, but in terms of skills they are very poor.

Jamir maintains that when it comes to profession, there is always a tussle between parents and children. “The older generations are still holding on to the idea of government jobs and economic security. They don’t care about the productivity, job satisfaction etc. This could be one of the factors that is leading to corruption and downfall of our people,” he articulated. “But today, times are different. The younger generations are seeking job satisfaction, exploring new possibilities and wants to contribute to the people,” Jamir added. 

Issues of family and alcoholism are also depicted in the series through the characters of Moluti and his father who play the role of an alcoholic policeman. “There are different opinions around NLTP Act and its impact on economy; it is a personal choice but let us also not overlook that alcoholism is one of the evils that is breaking up families. There is no denying that it contributes to producing educated unemployed youths,” Jamir stated. 

Talking about the challenges of working for project undertaken by a church, award-winning stage actor, director and producer, Bendang Walling, who is also a graduate of the National School of Drama and founder of Hill Theatre says, “Film making needs money. The only challenge is the finance.” He said that though viewers loved the story telling, “In season 1, we have failed a lot in the technical aspects. The whole technical team has tried our best to focus, improve, and upgrade the aspects of camera, light, sound.” 

“It is not a sudden project. It took some years for all of us involved in this project to reach this point. Most of them are members of the DABA YM who have attended workshops and trainings and so when the crew came to the set, they know what to do and what not to do. Everyone has tried to maintain the professionalism,” Walling notes in appreciation of the entire team. 

On a general note, Walling observes that ‘it is high time Naga people in the film making industry try to reach the bar of others. The picture and visual might be good, but if the sound is below standard, it will be a failure.’ “We should try to be technically equipped,” he said. 

The director discloses that the target viewership for season 2 is mostly the secondary and college level students. “For those who have graduated or are working youths, it will be mostly nostalgic. For us the target is the current students and to make them aware of the loopholes in the education system. But we hope that everyone will take a lesson from this series,” he expressed.