Rev Dr Imchayanger speaking at the silver jubilee of the Borlengri Ao Students’ Union, on December 16, at the Borlengri Ao Community ground. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | December 16
The Borlengri Ao Students’ Union (BASU) commemorated its 25th founding anniversary on December 16 at the Borlengri Ao Community ground. The silver jubilee was held under the theme: Tebenjem with Rev Dr Imchayanger as the main speaker, who spoke on the topic: Liromedem terenlok (balanced growth/development).
An educator and a preacher, Dr Imchayanger called for living by truth, honesty and hard work wherever one resides. He said that the Aos were fortunate to have been among the earliest Nagas to have had exposure to modern education brought by the American Christian missionaries, which enabled the Ao community to develop intellectually and link up with the wider world, to becoming the frontrunners in the Naga social context.
Growth and development, he said, is often equated with economic progress. However, he reminded that growth can happen only when there is human development and balanced distribution of resources. According to him, human development is a prerequisite, without which there can be no societal or economic progress. “Remember, human development is the most important of them all. Without human growth there can be no material growth. If the pursuit of material growth precedes human growth, there can be no development.”
The pursuit of economic development has to be balanced, too, he said, while adding that it is not advancement when “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. "
In the education front, he said that parental guidance should go hand in hand with schoolroom learning. While terming education and the tools of learning as dynamic, he said, “As parents, we have to be aware and be at pace with how the standard of learning is evolving.”
In a nutshell, he said that balanced development is about “finding a balance in all aspects of life, be it in education and economic pursuit or the spiritual.”
Language and religion defines identity and in the Ao worldview, truthfulness and honesty is also an embedded trait. “The values as professed and lived by our ancestors must be protected, practiced and sustained,” he said, while adding, “Culture is not only about singing and dancing, it is a conglomeration of values and beliefs,” he said.
