Those who voted for Hollywood had this to say:
• Hollywood influence the most, Hollywood together with Bollywood and MTV conspire to influence and drag the Naga youths away from Naga cultural heritage and tradition.
• Hollywood, even Bollywood is greatly influenced by Hollywood
• Hollywood, Naga youths are very confused. They live in an imaginary world that is made up of Hollywood and MTV. The confusion is so much that today’s Naga youths don’t even know where they belong. They wear their pants on their bums and speak like Yankees. They have missed out on what life is about. Not that Naga tradition is all good, there are so many things that is not good. Naga tradition has to change so that Naga youths feel that there is something for them too, otherwise, the youths will lose their tradition.
• From the way the Naga youth dress and even the way they act! It’s simply overwhelming. Maybe I’ am also one of them but beneath those changes lies a true Naga who truly cherish his culture.
• Since hollywood rule the world, the Nagas are also influenced by Hollywood. When one looks at the Naga youth they are exactly like those hollywood star. At the same time the recent Naga idol was also an influence of the western American idol.
Those who voted for Bollywood had this to say:
• Ever since the cable television came, Naga youths have gone wild and crazy, all the think, eat and breathe are bollywood. Naga youngsters are becoming like any of those youths in Indian cities.
• The early and continuous impact made by the bollywood through various mass media devices is still highly influencing the present Naga youths more than any other major factors.
Those who did not vote for any of the 3 options had this to say:
• None actually! Bollywood to some extent but the youth are actually not having any ideals to look up to. Bollywood and Hollywood are accessed mainly through TV channels and Pirated CDs. Naga Tradition has become too difficult to imbibe as even after so many years we don’t have a curriculum which brings down the fundamentals of Naga tradition. Tradition and culture have been divided greatly on tribal lines as isms govern the way we interact with fellow Nagas. All of us are an Ao or Angami or Sema, Lotha, Konyak etc first and then a Naga. This greatly confuses the youth. Many of the so called traditions don’t gel well with the free democratic spirit that we learn about when we go for our studies outside Nagaland. The Youths are at crossroads. Confused? No clear cut influence.
• With the media freedom we can explore the world and be influenced by what we see, whether it be reality or otherwise. Seeing the same theme we find it hard to know what is really true. And what bollywood shows us is not real at all but we see enough of it and we become like them. Fake and unreal, the youths are influenced by such fake dreams of holly/bollywood. Ask them who their heroes are it will be the play actors, since we as Nagas do not have real heroes of our own, no ideal to look up to; no man and woman of character to influence us, in the Church or out side. The Naga youths find heroes in the fake world of movies and play actors
• Westernization and acculturation of modern ethics and Christianization has become part of the Naga culture. Obviously hollywood too.
• Sadly, all that Naga youths want today is to copy the hollywood style which is destroying the Nagas.
• I don’t know why some of them love putting American accent when they’ve never been out of the country
• It’s because we are very much influenced by the western missionaries and we have forgotten our traditions and values.
