ROCKAWARE - Nagaland in Unison: Making music for a noble cause

Rockaware (Nagaland in Unison) is an initiative to promote young Naga talents for a good cause by the Government of Nagaland's Music Task Force and NSACS and a long list of sponsors and supporters. The show aims at spreading awareness of HIV/AIDS through music and young gifted people.

After visiting nine districts non-stop, the Rockaware team finally reached Zunheboto on the 6th of October with the brand ambassador, Renbeni Odyuo, the current reigning Naga Idol.

This was probably my first experience of this type of talent hunts in Nagaland and the show exceeded my expectations. I am totally impressed with how the whole road show is being managed. A truly professional team lead by Theja Meru have been tirelessly traveling the length and breath of Nagaland inspiring young people to realize their talents and live better lives. 

The youth, especially in a place like Zunheboto, needs a platform such as this to understand that they can actually use their true capabilities and achieve their dreams, pursue whatever they wish to be and not be bounded by obligations and pressure to search only for stereotypical government jobs. Looking at the huge crowd of young people enthusiastically responding to the messages and the bands, it made me want to believe that we can now slowly move away from the old, unproductive belief system that requires every student and young person to tailor themselves for a restricted set of roles that our society accepts -- the big government posts. Musicians are not taken seriously here unless you're in sudden need of a wedding singer or a church singer. Artists, writers, designers, hair stylists, cobblers, farmers, plumbers, traders, businesswomen, cooks and carpenters have no place in our society yet.

Young people here as far as my experience goes have never been encouraged to look within themselves to find something they truly love doing irrespective of how 'big' or 'small' the role is, to make use of their true talents and live a productive life, instead the ultimate role that our society has sculpted out for young people for nearly a century  is: Either 1. Doctor 2. Engineer 3. clear the UPSC and NPSC exams to become a highly respected officer with peons surrounding him/her whether he/she likes it or not and perhaps the last 'respectable' resort is to join the church ministry as a church leader. Even right now! It's as though every person was born to fit themselves into these few roles that are 'acceptable' and 'respected'. We are still living in the dark ages.

Naga Idol, Renbeni Odyuo singing

Anti-Trust, the winning band

I hope events like Rockaware will light some dark corners and help break thick shells.

Women in villages and the last-bench seat

In all my visits to villages around here, i've come to learn that our women take the backest last-bench seat or the peep-hole post outside. I remember in one village where we went for one of our oral culture recordings, it was the women group who performed most of the cultural songs and dances but after the performance when we came back from the fields to the Village Council Hall for interviews, discussion and refreshments, there was not a single woman except me! I was a part of this elite meeting only because i was a guest, a stranger to the village. I saw the same women who did all the hard work for our recordings standing outside, looking  through the windows, waiting for the signal from one of the men inside to bring in the food to serve us. In another village, the cultural item we were recording included an enactment of feasting as done in the ancient times so when the time was given for drinking and eating, only the men feasted, after a hard day's work under the harsh sun of toiling in the fields by both men and women. Almost all villages I observed have no women who are important enough to join the guests from outside or are in the group of important people of the village. All posts of Village Council Chairman are obviously occupied by men, all Chiefs of villages are men, all Head Pastors are men and all important personalities who welcome guests are men and i also have to add this... all those who eat the special food prepared for the event first are men.

In the most recent program and one of the biggest events in our team's series of travels to villages, i couldn't help but notice that all the 'big shots' of the event were men who were given the privilege to sit inside the extremely well-decorated traditional house.

Local trees of Nagaland

Took some days out to photograph local trees for my sister's taxonomy project and what I didn't know was that it is not as easy as i imagined...to identify trees, they all look similar to me. Hardly any documentation work has been done on our local plants and trees.

Fortunately, the village people were extremely helpful especially one Apuh who is an encyclopedia of indigenous plants and trees, he knows the local names of almost all plants and even their unique characteristics, he's never been to school but his years of experience farming, living close with nature and his passion for experimenting, keen observance and curiosity equates the knowledge of acclaimed botanists. These are some of the trees he took me to the forest to photograph: 

Mighikhaghathisu

Ayesu

Amilisu

Angothisu

Pughokoisu

Khaghathisu

Shedusu

Shulusu

Achesu

Shekuthibo

Xoneyesu

Harvest Ceremony - Ghile Amutha Kighini

Ghile Amutha Kighini hoho shilu keu. Niyeghi lo tuxa tini, tusu-yezu thwokha kumtsu nibo nileyishi ipeghilukeu ghenguno Alhou skimimithi keu kighini.

"465 kernels in this corncob plus another 465 kernels --  from just one tiny corn seed."

Samples of  harvested crops for the ceremony

Rotomi Village and the Weeding Song (Moza Leh)

Rotomi Village, established in 1586 AD, one of the old Sumi villages.

To Rotomi Village, 13th August 2011

Apuh Rotokha and Apuh Pukhazhe enjoying a brief break from the bumpy road ride under a banyan tree.

Rotomi Village gate

The elders at the Chief's house with the Village Chief in his ceremonial red coat

A village elder at the entrance of the field ready to show us how the Weeding Song is performed

Rotomi villagers singing the lively Moza leh 

Rice field - almost ready for harvest

A monolith erected in honour of those 60 Rotomi Villager killed during British Expedition on June 22, 1883. "On 22.06.1883, a punitive expedition led by Naga Hills D.C, Mr. R.B. McCabe and S.D.O. Mr. Broderick, with 100 sepoys and 300 Coolies marched against Rotomi village and brunt down 400 houses and granaries. Cattle carried off, and killed 60 Rotomi. Thus, this village was subdued to British Administration.

DEATH DIVIDES BUT MEMORY CLINGS"

Also in memory of those Rotomi who went to France and Germany to help in the war under D.C, Mr.H.C. Barnes who was their Commander. The names of those who safely returned to the village on March 9, 1917 have been inscribed on the stone.

Aggressive cute little ants that managed to bite my legs and almost killed me...not.:-p

Red Weaver Ants on a mango tree in the middle of the rice field

and their lovely silken round nest of mango leaves!

A modern granary at Rotomi 

The Village Council Hall

Rev. Dr. Najekhu Yepthomi's memorial

A view of Matez, the place where most of the Sumi villages migrated from. 

View of Mountain of the Dead hidden by the clouds. It's so close to Rotomi! The villagers told me that some hundred years ago their ancestors used to hear war cries and voices of dead souls and animals who journeyed to the netherworld to those mountains. They no longer hear them now.

On the way back - gigantic Colocasia leaves and flooded, muddy, useless road at Khitakisa

Viktor E. Frankl no pi keu tsa qo hami ni tsaw no phi ju ni

Ti khikhi no aküvu tsu ani keno shukuthu pithiqhi keu ghi pulu ani ke.

Timi kümtsu pututa makho eno pututa küxü kimiji anie. Timi kümtsu pututaw kuchou kümlapu saje kiu keno pekupulu masae. Milakhi küxü no timi kütami lakhi küxü kili vemla momu timi lakhi küxü hipau ye itaghi akiniu xü kide mulaie, kughengu timi kümtsu pututa kümlapu saje ye kütuta ke eno tipau shi kupuluni keu ghi aghola eno alaghi kütuta ke.

Küghono ninguno ayeghi lo aküxü hipau kimiji kuchou cheju eno kümsu thonei ju ghi xü ni keno ti no aküxü xü pivi lu akeu kuchou ke.

Ningu küxü lo sholu chekeu eno ninguno kiu toi khochile cheni keno ti kuma dolo kumüsuktoju lu kepu do anie. Eno ado hipau lo ningu ye kiu toi aküxü no saghi tsu akeu akivi momu akusa suchedoqo  kiu toi khochile kepu keno aküka ninguw lo anie. Ike ninguw khokichile kiqhi lono ninguno thuwu lu kepu eno ningu tsughape akeu lono khaqhiphe lu kepu ithulu nani.

Ningu ye aküxü vilo aküxü kimiji ye kiu kea ipi iniju akepu do kumo vae ikemu ninguno kumsulu masa keu ye aküxü no ningu vilo tsala kipe tsü asüche do kumtsulo hipau iniju ani ke ipi ithi masai. Ninguw khokichile ye asta eno akükümsu likhi no kumoe ikemu achipiu kumla eno achipiu ghushoghili no ke. Aküxü kimiji kiqhi kuchou ye  bemakho ikhilu no aküxü hipau wu aküküpuna eno aghime jeliqo kiu toi puqhe lu masa keno kuchou khokichile phuni keu ke eno pututa no pututa kumlapu saje shikupulu ani keu ke.

Music of the day

Nagaland Wild Bird-Eating Market

1800: Lots of birds and no guns, traditional traps

1900: Lots of birds and few guns, catapults, traditional traps

1970: Some birds and more guns, catapults, traditional traps

2011: Hardly any birds and all types of guns, chemicals, bird-poisons

2015: No birds, only guns and chemicals

Just visit a local bazaar and you're sure to be greeted with this type of spectacle:

Dead birds waiting for customers at Dimapur Supermarket. March 2011.

Nagaland: Summer rain and more rain everyday

Angry rain, yesterday.

and soaked villages and hills.

                                                                                    

Last local plums of the season

and  the scariest, fattest worm ever !!

some illegal plants and banana trees ...

and perfectly legal and healthy organic summer vegetables from villages. :) 

Today's rain

approaching Zunheboto

looking at the rain from the kitchen window.

                                 

Sunset, a few days ago