Veroli Zhimo
‘It is what it is’ is an expression used to characterize a frustrating or challenging situation that a person believes cannot be changed and must just be accepted.
According to the New York Times, the phrase appeared as early as a 1949 article by JE Lawrence in The Nebraska State Journal, where Lawrence used the phrase to describe the difficulty faced during frontier-era life in Nebraska: “New land is harsh, and vigorous, and sturdy. It scorns evidence of weakness. There is nothing of sham or hypocrisy in it. It is what it is, without apology.”
Since then, the usage of the phrase has gained popularity—athletes and coaches often use it to talk about a bad call or lost game and move. Even former US President George W Bush, back in 2004, is said to have responded to an aide- telling him his opponent John Kerry was leading the polls- with “It is what it is.” There is nothing wrong with applying the mindset of ‘It is what it is’ to temporary situations in which one has no control or influence.
However, in recent times, the phrase has come to represent a defeatist mindset; one that’s widespread among people who think the real solution is too difficult or time-consuming.
This mindset becomes problematic when one does have a choice or a course of action yet fails to take advantage of them. That’s when it becomes a cop-out — an excuse to remain complacent.
Take the case of Nagaland. The general attitude towards various issues including corruption, nepotism, violence and abuse against people, as well as environmental concerns etc., is more or less, defeatist in nature.
Over the years, several organizations and individuals have underlined these issues, calling for greater cooperation and support among the masses to tackle the matter at hand. Various pertinent reports have also published by media houses and people on various social media platforms, but the response is mostly lukewarm. In this scenario, there is very little that journalists or activists can actually do without proactive citizenry.
While there are several mechanisms to redress the aforementioned problems, the Nagamese counterpart of ‘It is what it is’— Ki kobo na, inika hi ase — is a common refrain that Naga people fall back on.
In our personal lives, when a person does not like their job, relationship, the city they live in or what they have been eating for lunch every day but does nothing to change their situation; It is what they chose. The same applies in the larger socio-economic or political sphere of life.
For Nagaland to emerge out of this conundrum and sustain itself, an immediate shift of mindset is most urgent. Complacency breeds corruption, and so long as we continue to say ‘Ki kobo na, inika hi ase,’ well, it is what it is — a situation we chose for ourself.
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