By Dr. Asangba Tzüdir So, out of 70,422 ‘educated unemployed’ youth registered in the state, 13,593 applicants appeared for this year’s NPSC prelims which will finally narrow down to a meagre 73 applicants getting a lifeline. Beyond statistical interest, it also reminds us of the question of survival. Today, it seems to have taken precedence over the meaning of life, what it means to have a life, and what it means to live. The Greeks used two terms to define life - ‘zoē’ and ‘bios.’ ‘Zoē’ expressed the simple fact of living common to all living beings, and ‘bios’ indicated the form or a way of living that is proper to an individual or a group. The former, talks of existence while the latter implies living. There is also a latin verb ‘vivire’ meaning ‘to live.’ Contextually, the question confronting us is – Beyond mere existence and living, are we even trying to survive? Look at our work culture and where do we stand? Our ancestors travelled a path of hard working culture which has tragically shifted towards a culture of ‘undeserved eating’ without working. This culture is self-explanatory in nature and does not require further explanation. Why do we depend on others to get our job done? Is it laziness or absence of skills or is it so much beyond one’s dignity to work? We talk about unemployment but there is enough evidence to the naked eyes. Look around building construction job work and looking at those who are hired to get the job done there is a lesson for us. Like a symbolic representation of our traditional work culture, once a while, we come together as a community to do social works under some organisation’s name but at the end of the day, it is the ‘non-nagas’ at the construction site that gets paid. A reflection on our society can be aptly drawn from Bee Gees disco’s heyday song - ‘Staying Alive’ meaning survival where ‘fit’ becomes opposed to ‘unfit’ or that which cannot ‘fit in’; and who gets to eat or who gets eaten. It only presents a tragic reality that we are traversing a path of not only the struggle for ‘survival’ to stay alive but bluntly put – Nagas are being hijacked and ‘reduced’ because of our apathetic attitude towards work culture, ignoring and ‘despising’ our rights and thereby our life and living. Thus, we find ourselves struggling to survive without struggling. What is the state of our economy? With due respect to the efforts, but in Naga terminology, the word entrepreneur can be labelled on someone who generally does cloth business and the like. Are these the only means of our survival? Also, the understanding of ‘Naga Business’ needs to be switched on to ‘perfect competition’ mode so also doing things differently and not ‘trying to become rich overnight.’ On another level, we fully know who runs the economy in our dear Nagaland. Should we feel happy or sad to see our own people working as salespersons in shops and stores of Non-nagas? These trends and many more serves as a reminder of how our economic spaces are encroached and we are fine about it towards the dissolution of Naga economic livelihood and Naga identity. A change in our mindsets from our easy life attitude and of ‘undeserved eating’ only can serve as a prologue to carry forward our struggle in reclaiming our ‘rights’ and of our struggle in the quest for ‘survival.’ It remains a central component of not only in ‘theory’ but a foundational aspect of our everyday life and living. But so long as we fail to evolve and change the sickening Naga mentality, we will only continue to ‘exist’ and ‘struggle to survive without struggling.’ Time is now ripe to really start struggling.
(Dr. Asangba Tzüdir is Editor of Heritage Publishing House. He contributes a weekly guest editorial to Morung Express. Comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
