Within the hour of Rev. Dr. I Ben Wati’s death in Dimapur, Nagaland, on the morning of June 14, the Overseas Naga Association came to know their beloved Gaonbura had passed away. An email from England to the ONA Executive Board announced: “It is with deep sadness I have to inform you that OUR GAONBURA, Uncle Ben, died today at 10:00 IST. He knew that his wife’s (Aunty Nima) funeral is today and it appears that he wanted to join her today itself.” Minutes later, another email from a member in India read: “Uncle Ben is no more. No words to express now.” Soon other messages followed from members in countries in four continents, from America to Australia, Nagaland to Norway, Mokokchung to Japan, and places in between.
The messages are a small indicator of Uncle Ben Wati’s extraordinary life that spanned Impur 1920 to Oxford 2012. He was a loyal Naga with local commitments and global sensibilities. He loved Nagas, but he was no stranger to the countries and the people he encountered -- and there were many. He went far and did much, farther and more than was thought possible for a Naga of his generation. So his association with the Overseas Naga Association as Gaonbura in the last three years of his life seems like a logical culmination. For ONA, he was a timely gift. We could not have weathered the challenges of the first year without the respect and influence he brought to ONA as its First Gaonbura. He filled the position with exemplary dedication, guiding us with wisdom acquired over a long life. He was unfailingly genial, often humorous, always well-spoken, naturally modest in disposition, but ever sharp of mind. His was in many ways an incomparable Naga life.
I. Ben Wati was born into a different world than ours, the decade of the landmark Naga memorandum to the Simon Commission. He lived through the Naga independence plebiscite, creation of Nagaland State, Shillong Accord. He looked on in pain at the decades of Naga divisions and fratricide. He prayed constantly for peace and spiritual depth in the homeland. Then at age 92, he returned to Nagaland (as he put it) “to die.” He now lies buried in the land of his birth which is still haunted by the unresolved Simon Commission memorandum, the plebiscite, irreconcilable factions, and the ever-illusive peace between India and the Naga people.
Ninety-two years are a long time for a people and a long life for any individual. On December 18, 2010, when Uncle Ben turned 90, ONA celebrated his birthday with a Celebratory Poem and One-minute candle-lit Prayer wave by members from around the world, starting with Australia and working westward to the United States, for his good health, strength, and intentions. The Birthday Card read: "Today, the world is your Birthday Cake, Uncle Ben, lit up just for you, The Donald (World Chief) of Impur and of ONA." Uncle Ben explains in his autobiography, My Early Years, that he was named Donald at the suggestion of missionary Mrs. Muriel M. Dowd, and was told the name means “World Chief”/world gaonbura” (p.158). How fitting and co-incidental then that he would die as the Naga global Gaonbura! Hence the “red blanket” over his coffin. He had a mind for things that mattered to the smallest detail.
Most Nagas knew Rev. I Ben Wati by reputation. For those who had the good fortune of knowing him well and coming under his influence, thinking of him evokes the image of what a model human being might be. For ONA, Uncle Ben is irreplaceable. We thank God for the gift of his life and work among us; we thank his family for sharing his time and goodness with us. What remains is, for all who knew him, to follow as best we can his legacy of personal integrity and good neighborliness. May he rest in perfect peace.
Visier Sanyü, President &
Paul Pimomo, Secretary General
On behalf of the Overseas Naga Association
