Agono Iralu
A few days ago I went to visit my village on Christmas day. I've not felt very Christmas-y this season and at the same time I had a deep longing to visit my village on Christmas day. The afternoon sun was high but things were relatively quiet and dreary too; as they usually are afternoons in the village. Yet I still liked it like that too. Whichever way there's a part of root and belonging and I sometimes feel the place seem to ask whether I'd would like to belong or not. But I was slowly struck by one thought as the afternoon rolled on and the evening camp fire was organized for the children including a variety show, where are we headed? That question seemed to keep popping into my head every time. I just wondered what my village would be like ten years from now, even.
Increasing populations
The village has grown, it is still growing. A lot of the young population are not in the village as they studying elsewhere, whether that is in Kohima or the cities in India. Not just that, say even from my father's generations a good lot of them have migrated to the towns for better jobs, better living conditions or connectivity too. As for me my great grandfather had moved to Kohima to study and later on became a doctor traveling to all the remote places of Nagaland hardly returning back to his village. My grandfather did not grow up in the village but in Kohima, and also having converted to Christianity remained in Kohima at Mission Compound. My grandfather then moved to Medziphema in the 60's to teach at the government school and settled there with his wife and 11 children. All through my childhood Ghaspani, or Medziphema has been 'our village' or rather grandfather's village and we spent all our holidays there. Then during the Indo-Naga conflict the village experienced a diaspora and established Sochünoma village plus Medziphema A and Nagarjan A in Dimapur.
The village is about 500 houses and its population is about 3000 (within the village). Has Khonoma not grown since the 20th century? It has, but its population has proliferated elsewhere to Dimapur, Kohima etc. Part of the reason being the Indo-Naga conflict but by the end of the 20th century and now the 21st century many of our village-men had moved on and out of the village for studies, better jobs etc., some not returning back again at all. Sometimes I've felt the deep contrast between someone who has lived in his village and one who has moved on and for people like me with mixed parentage and a scattered childhood the feeling of belonging is even less. A friend informing me about the population statistics of my village told me that the bulk/majority of the population is outside the village.
Where does culture/tradition fit in?
What do we take with us from the village when we go out? Or what do we bring to the village from outside? These are questions that will need to addressed sooner or later, the sooner the better. Are there contrasts, contradictions or inconsistencies? What are we going to become now? I have felt a very deep need, if not necessity, to understand that myself so I may know where or how I should stand. Perhaps these aspects of changes come almost unconsciously among us and we adapt because of need or necessity. But change will definitely come, it will affect how we look, absorb or comprehend our surrounding whether that is with a bigger audience or within ourselves too. My brother and I were talking this morning and he mentioned how important culture or identity is to a person, that with just a religious identity we are sort of rootless or somewhat confused about exactly who we are. He mentioned that in context to people inculcating only a religious identity and when they do that they feel 'obliged' to prove themselves or their religious identity (which might be opposing the cultural identity). This has also been a characteristic of Naga converts who may have not sufficiently assimilated the religion (for example to associate Christianity with only the missionaries) or rather take a religious identity as a result. Am I opposed to the acquired religion, or Christianity? I don't believe I do so but cultural identity is as important, if not more than religious identity because I sincerely feel that religious identity can also be well understood by understanding the cultural identity, or our roots first.
A religious identity can enhance, modify or bring positive changes to the cultural identity and traditions that have been followed. So instead of always being begrudged by Christianity's presence we can instead facilitate it in a positive which follows culture, identity and at the same time a new outlook and perspective. For isn't culture something inconsistent and always changing, influencing, being influenced both by outside and inside factors? Why do I see stagnancy in the culture, traditions, norms (in regard to the changing environments around it)? Why do I not see a connection between the old and the present, or between those who have left the village and those who stay behind to keep our legacy and heritage? There is something inconsistent because it is not human nature to be stagnant, nor is it to utterly detach oneself.
Bridging the two
Today I want to talk about culture, about our heritage; what we will eventually become tomorrow and that example comes from somewhere very close to my home. Is it important to carry culture with you? Your identity, your sense of belonging or just who you are? Can it solve some of our problems that we see in society today? Anti-social behaviors, modern influences, western influences (here, I'd like to distinguish modern from western influence), problematic youth or lethargic youth for that matter, complacency all around us. Where do we start, who do we look to? Are some answers to your questions left behind in your villages? And if we have migrated from our villages, I've always asked, why can't we imbibe a community lifestyle in Dimapur, Kohima or Tuensang? Surely that's not too hard to imbibe, Kohima's just 16 kilometres from Khonoma.
