my notion of
CHANGE
Kezhazer Angami, Former Student Activist The word ‘Change’ has become the catch phrase for any proposer who dares to alter the dynamics that constitutes the existing situation in a given time. Every generation have their privileges and challenges, fears and hopes. Every generation attempts to influence and alter the underlying principles that cause the situation and constitute the structure existing in that period/era. This attempt to better the privileges, overcome the challenges, allay its fears and fulfill the hopes happens through advocating for change. The present Naga Society and generation enjoy the privileges of a Landmark Change with the advent of Christianity and Modern education, as the Naga Society was ushered into the modern era from a primitive civilization. This quantum leap in Naga civilization was a quick shortcut journey through a wormhole in social evolution from a level to another bringing it face to face with more advanced and overbearing cultures such as Western and Sanskrit cultures. The exposure and transition period of about 139 years put to peril the social, political, cultural, economic and religious aspect of the Nagas. As Western and Sanskrit ways of life became the moulding principles for Naga society and the younger generation. The present generation living in the midpoint at the confluence of these three cultures has become confused and dazed regarding which culture to adopt. The titillating influence of the alien culture on the younger Naga generation had ensnared them to its trap resulting in the gradual depletion of Naganess among the youth. The Nagas, known for their virtues of honesty, simplicity, diligence, selflessness, hospitality, self-reliance, in short a Unique Culture, had become corrupted, arrogant, lazy, greedy, conceited and dependent. The conflicts created when these cultures collided combined with being overwhelmed by alien cultures have blotted the Naga Image and loss of Identity which needs serious pondering and deliberation. A mass movement is needed to reverse the trend through the call for change to revive the Naga Customs and Tradition. We need a Change which is a Cultural Revolution of sorts that is suitable to the Nagas in the modern context. Change cannot happen through mere propagation of thoughts and ideas. These thoughts and ideas need to be translated into action through a mass movement where each and everyone should take the task as an obligation, as a duty to re-establish the Naga Identity. Every Naga needs to become a catalyst of Change where we become the change to see the change. Only then, the erosion of Naga virtues can be contained and restored, the adulterated traits by alien cultures and characters can made to become pure Naga. Let us not dilute our Naga way and life with illusions of better life by adopting alien culture. Let us bring about a change to the Naga society beginning with you and me. KUKNALIM………
T
Broken but not defeated: “You can’t CHANGE what’s happened in your past, so before you let it destroy your future; learn to live with it” Imcha Jamir
On Revolution and Equilibrium Barbara Deming Do you want to remain pure? Is that it?” a black man asked me, during an argument about nonviolence. It is not possible to act at all and to remain pure; and that is not what I want, when I commit myself to the nonviolent discipline. I stand with all who say of present conditions that they do not allow men and women to be fully human and so they must be changed - all who not only say this but are ready to act. When one is confronted with what Russell Johnson calls accurately “The violence of the status quo” - conditions which are damaging, even murder-
D
ous, to very many who must live within them - it is degrading for all to allow such conditions to persist. And if the individuals who can find the courage to bring about change see no way in which it can be done without employing violence on their part - a very much lesser violence, they feel, than the violence to which they will put an end - I do not feel that I can judge them. The judgements I make are not judgements upon men and women but upon the means open to us - upon the promise these means of action hold or withhold. The living question is: What are the best means for changing our lives - for really changing them?
“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once” Albert Einstein
Can We Practice What We Preach?
That is the change we want!! BD Bapao, Class- XII, Sainik School Punglwa At some point of time in our life, we wish to pontificate our ideas and views, but the still small voice inside hampers our actions to do so. Last month, when I saw the Opinion tabloid, I decided that I will definitely write in the next publication. However, as I made my pen to jot down on a piece of paper, a dilemma swept over me as to if I should write or not. The little still voice kept on striking me, till it created a space in my subconscious to realize that my conscience was telling me something that really made sense. It said, “Write if you can practice all that you write otherwise put your pen down.” I thought it over a couple of times keeping in mind that I’m doomed if I do not put my proclamations into actions. My mind kept racing from plot to plot and finally I found myself writing this. If we wish to see changes, we must be able to carry out what we speak, talk and write. And that is the Change we want today. It is easy for anyone to write or speak pages of tedious lines drawing close to the topic Change. But I don’t find any point in writing these words if we do not practice them. I could have written thousands of lines on the topic change just for the sake of my publications. However, my conscience stopped me from writing those odds and ends. This is the message I bring forth to all the preeminent writers here.
A
Night Queen: Under a luminous moon, Kohima is enveloped in clouds and mist. When we talk about ‘Change’ we can only think of negative things and do not hesitate to give disheartening criticisms. I believe change can come by loving our own land and appreciating the better side of life. This photo is an inspiration that came from the need to ‘Change’. I named my shot ‘Night Queen’ for Kohima truly looks beautiful at night, in day…at all times. - Megozeto Punyü
CAN WE ALL PRACTICE WHAT WE WRITE?? It appears as an easy question, but I find the answer so intimately close and yet difficult. Maybe the same goes for you. I deliberately asked this question to all the writers in this tabloid, for I believe that people writing a masterpiece on the topic Change here understand the changes society requires. You are the one who is going to change the fate of the society. You are the most valuable article which contains the changes we want and the changes we need to make, which is enough to direct the change in our society and humankind as a whole only if you and I can tread on the heels the words we speak and write. I believe that the change you are talking of is all that we need today because your article has not been a product of a day or two. You have spent and used your best thoughts and intelligence in writing it. Maybe no one has ever thought the way you did. So if we consistently follow and practice the preaching, the outcome will be just watching and seeing how things change because of you and me. Believe in yourself and follow your dreams because there are no impossibilities to stop you from becoming a dynamic leader someday. Every change we wish to see lies within you and me. The change will be decided by how much we make our words into actions and not by the number of pages we scribble. HAPPY CHANGING!!!!
7