Recent conditions have unmasked the glaring numbness which is eating away the spirit of Naga society. It seems like the Nagas have come to a time where they have just stopped living, have become indifferent to the world around them; and just too damn busy to care anymore. It is no wonder that cynical complacency laced with a deep yearning for self-worth is feeding into the frailties of human conviction. Indeed, prevailing conditions indicate that Nagas are at a time where the need for realization to recover its conscious spirit has become inevitably imperative. Not to do so could have frightening consequences.
Somehow, Nagas must discern within itself the vision to ensure that it does not lose its humanity while struggling to restore its own humanity. The numbness is depriving the vibrancy and dynamism of a society; reducing it to an object of history in which the people no longer define themselves. The stench of numbness is suffocating and deceptive and robs the human soul of its spirit. Numbness alters human behavior and makes people think they are never required to take responsibility for themselves. Subsequently, the lack of responsibility keeps a people in a state of permanent immaturity where it is quite easy to be convinced of the idea that the status quo is the norm.
These are compelling times and it has caused urgency to critically analyze the present and to evolve an antithesis which provides reasons to have hope. It implies the willingness to begin with a refusal to accept the existing situation that aims at destroying the moral imagination to live a full life. Consequently, it means addressing the issues that caused and led to the numbness of a people in the first place. It entails a journey towards truth, with the realization that it is a process of learning from each other because from the human point of view, no-one has the absolute truth by itself.
Human life is much more than the different boxes and walls that one creates around itself. It’s the numbness that makes a people embrace and love their boxes without any question and without being aware that it is preventing them a richer life. The boxes that induce emotional imprisonment can and must be shattered with the consciousness that defies the power of numbness. Therefore at some point of time, the numbness has to be challenged with the understanding that unless one transcends from the boxes, one will not have a fuller life.
Nagas are in need of leaders; leaders who can rally a people together around a vision that includes breaking out of the numbness into a dignified conscious spirit. It requires a vision which embraces the idea that people who are different from you are also fellow travelers in the journey towards truth. It’s true that many wish to make the world of their dreams for their own kind, but since it’s a world without walls, it will have to be a home for all of the world’s people. But for now, one must resist the idea which is confining them to their numb boxes, and discern reasons to have hope!
