Morung Express News
Pughoboto | November 14
The 3rd edition of ‘Thuwu-Ni’ coinciding with the Sumi festival ‘Ahuna’ kicked off with traditional pageantry here at Pughoboto public ground on Monday. This year the three-day (November 14-16) post harvest festival is celebrated on the theme ‘Celebrating Indigenous Life.’
Nagaland Home Minister, Y Patton, who inaugurated the festival in his address said the theme of the festival is befitting and relevant to the celebration as the objective of the festival is to bring all citizens of Pughoboto area as well as people from other parts of Nagaland to celebrate Naga way of life as indigenous people.
“We must remember that our culture and traditions are our identity and therefore we should continue to preserve and promote our culture in all possible manners lest our identity will vanish and we will become an extinct race”, Patton said.
The Home Minister said villagers and farmers of Pughoboto area are fortunate as they are not very far from the state capital in terms of distance and so they can go to Kohima, sell their agriculture products and other eatables and return to their villages the same day.
“What I am trying to convey to the farmers and villagers here is, if only you are hardworking, even your perishable goods will not go wasted as there is availability of market for you unlike other villagers who are living in remote areas”, Patton said.
He said since the festival is basically organized in order to help the villagers to exhibit and dispose their products, the villagers should strive to be more productive as Thuwu-Ni festival gives them an opportunity not only to enjoy the festive occasion but also to earn. “Your yearlong labour and sweat has not gone in vain but it has brought dividends”, he added.
On the occasion, the Home Minister also said that the present NPF-led DAN government under the leadership of Chief Minister TR Zeliang has taken various initiatives for economic uplift of villagers. The minister also inaugurated the stalls of all 24 participating villages.
Earlier, Executive Secretary, NCRC (Sumi), Rev. Tokheho Swu, invoked God’s blessings and president of Sumi Aphuyemi Hoho, Inavi Swu, spoked on the significane of Ahuna. Highlights of the first day of the festival included ‘Ami Kukula’ (traditional fire making), ‘Akhetsu’ (top spinning), ‘Kakapo kuluxu’ (bamboo stilt race), ‘Amuto ghokuxu’ (bamboo basket making), ‘Aqhedu kimli (greased bamboo climbing), badminton tourney, flower show and the fame ‘Akikiti’ (Sumi kick fight).
The evening entertainment event ‘Ahuna nite’, which extended well into the night, featured ‘guest artists’ Guru Mashangva (folk singer) and popular Naga comedian Purniken aka ‘Born Again’, ‘showstopper’ finalist of India Next Top Model, Gloria Tep and supermodel Ketholeno Kense as ‘guest appearance.’
Thuwu-Ni, a unique festival introduced in 2014 is a conscious initiative by a group of people to make a collective effort towards enhanced economic outcomes and improved social conditions by optimizing production capacity and fully realizing the potentials and skills of the local people in all fields.
The definitive purpose of the festival is to eradicate the chronic economic dependence on external dynamics, facilitate the prospective and alternative avenues of employment for the youth and ultimately, to build a productive, progressive and conscientious society rooted in diligence and industriousness.
The festival celebrated in the form of a fair, was a veritable showcase of finished products, both agriculture and otherwise, to a broad spectrum of prospective consumers and visitors from both within and outside the state.
