Witoubou Newmai
Not able to get things across to other kin groups/people or not even making an effort to do it by the Naga groups could be a probable reason for today’s ‘Naga disorder’. Or, it could also be the other way round. Either way, there is a larger factor the Naga society needs to engage with, by way of an honest introspection to identify it and abhor it so that we can “see ourselves as others see us”.
The agenda-driven subterfuge perhaps is inhibiting the collective Naga sense from understanding and recognizing the importance of striving for the return of the Naga pride. Or, we may advance an important argument in this regard to find out the factor beyond the ‘universality of human motives and emotions’ that drives today’s Naga society to such an extent that every group seems to have their respective ‘secretive’ agenda as in Charles Dickens’ ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ where every character seems to have their secrets. Political instability and fluid social situation created by the confrontation between the Revolutionaries and the French Aristocracy during the French Revolution gave birth to doubts and suspicions amongst the people as depicted by Charles Dickens in the book.
Guided by their ‘secretive’ agenda so many groups are helping in creating the ‘Naga ambience’ unpredictable and fluid today, and this could be the probable reason that has given rise to further suspicions and doubts among the Nagas. Furthermore, the outcome of this ‘altered Naga ambience’ is where subterfuge has come to define the standard method that is devised to divert the collective Naga mind from locating the genuine ‘Naga course’ as this rise of suspicions and doubts is taking the role of the inhibitor so that it limits one group in getting across its views to others. Over and above, this trend has made each Naga group not able to see its own self as others see the real shape of it. This reminds us of the poem ‘To A Louse’ written by Robert Burns, Scotland’s national bard—“O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!” (Oh that some power would give us the gift to see ourselves as others see us!).
Now, realizing the importance of learning the ‘art’ of getting things across to others is imperative to assuage today’s ‘Naga disorder’. The whole idea behind this piece is that, as it appears, most of the problems crop up in today’s Naga society is not just because of the idea or line of measures one group embraces. Their unwillingness to engage in the ‘art’ of getting things across becomes an agent of repulsion rather than attraction.
It has become very important to be fully aware that if any group which employs coercion rather than making an effort to get things across to other kin groups or the collective Naga society, or for that matter, if any group refuses to reciprocate to such gestures, then the genuineness of such a group is in question.
