Yievinyii Naga
Stop for a moment. Look around you. Your phone, your notifications, your playlists they are loud. But can you hear the quietest voices in your life? The ones that built you? The voices of your grandmothers, your elders, the people who carried the culture of Nagaland through wars, hardships, and generations?
These voices are living libraries, full of songs, dances, festivals, and stories that textbooks never taught you. Every wrinkle, every story, every trembling hand holds a lesson: how to survive, how to love, how to fight for what matters. And yet… how many of us actually ask? How many of us take the time to listen, to record, to learn, to remember?
Swipe up. Scroll past. That’s what the world wants you to do. But heritage doesn’t swipe. Tradition doesn’t scroll. Our languages, our rituals, our songs they are slipping through our fingers, disappearing one story at a time. And when they vanish, so does a part of us.
So here’s the challenge: stop scrolling for just one hour. Sit beside your grandmother. Ask her to tell you about the festivals she celebrated, the stories she grew up hearing, the struggles her parents faced. Listen without distraction. Record it if you can. Share it with your friends. Let her words become your voice.
Your culture is not “old.” It is your superpower. Every story you save, every song you learn, every tradition you carry forward, you are connecting the past to the future. You are saying: “I see you. I hear you. I will not let you fade.”
So, Gen Z, are you going to let these voices vanish… or are you going to rise and become the bridge between our past and our future? The mountains and rivers will remember. Will you?
The challenge is yours. Don’t scroll past this one. Listen. Learn. Remember. Act.
Hiekha + NagaNext Educational Initiatives: two young educators reimagining education with roots in Naga heritage and eyes on the future.
