Thatched House

Published in Eastern Mirror as 'We are a dirty people...' Nagas look different, eat different, and behave different from mainland Indians, but if there is a similarity between the two, it is that we are both dirty peoples. A sense of cleanliness does not come with university education. This conclusion I arrived at as I see the PhD scholars’ eating behavior in my hostel mess hall. This was an interesting observation as I was doing my studies in Public Health and had the honor of eating with Masters, Mphil and PhD students from various disciplines at JNU, New Delhi. Some of them would ‘plough’ through their plate like a paddy field while some would eat with both feet ‘perched’ like birds on the benches. No amount of teaching could make them throw used paper cups into the dustbins just 6 feet away. Also a sense of cleanliness does not come with increase in wealth. Many poor families do not have the ‘luxury’ of running taps in their homes while the rich can have surplus to water th...

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. Robert Frost This is one of my favorite poems... studied it for exams in Pre-University days. Then after several years, I revisited it and thoroughly enjoyed discussing it with a friend next door in medical college. That was about 5 years ago. A few days back, I was stopped by in my life's journey to enjoy it again. I still have miles to go before I sleep.

The football ground in one Sema village is so bad that the two goal keepers can't see each other :-).....Yesterday in the office, we were privileged to have our hands on a photocopy of an official correspondence on the matter; written by one IAS officer in the office of the Principal Secretary of the Concerned Department.  It reads: 'The existing playground at Naghutomi (old) Atoizu Sub-division, Zunheboto district has the story of the goal keepers not seeing each other and needs to (be) rectified. In fact a new playground has to be made. Hence it is requested that allocation of fund be made for....'

 Thought of publishing in the local newspapers but I didn't   There was a study conducted by the Faith Research Institute, Notown which showed that tea drinkers are more likely to go to heaven. Tea drinkers have a higher percentage of having ‘Born Again’ experience than the control group which does not drink tea. It is probably because religious people have a higher tendency to meet over a cup of tea and talk, where the gospel is preached and more people experience being ‘Born Again’. The above study is a hypothetical study done with questionable methodology from a non-existent research institute in a non-existent place called Notown. But I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a research done on such a topic showing similar findings.  One must be careful in interpreting the research findings that we see in newspapers and journals almost every day. There is already a study which found that sitting is injurious to health. In health, strictly speaking, every human activity i...

"Walking In The Air" [Intro:] Walking in the air, floating the sky... Floating in the air... We're walking in the air We're floating in the moonlit sky The people far below are sleeping as we fly We're holding very tight I'm riding in the midnight blue I'm finding I can fly so high above with you Far across the world The villages go by like dreams The rivers and the hills The forest and the streams Children gaze open mouthed Taken by surprise Nobody down below believes their eyes We're surfing in the air We're swimming in the frozen sky We're drifting over icy mountains floating by Suddenly swooping low on an ocean deep Arousing of a mighty monster from its sleep We're walking in the air We're dancing in the midnight sky And everyone who sees us greets us as we fly