Thatched House

A local and a tourist may be both interested in a place but it may be for very different reasons. A case in point is a commentary that this newspaper carried ‘Hornbill: The Grand Illusion’ written by a local, and a response called ‘A reader’s response’ by a tourist. One difference between a local and a tourist is that if the later does not like the place, he can pack and leave and never come again. But a local does not have that liberty because the place is his home and that is where he belongs. A tourist does not need to have any connection to the place. But not so for the local, everything that happens in the place affects him.    The tourist here was not interested in the context. He was only interested in what he experienced during the 10 days festival period. It doesn’t concern him what lies behind or beneath the spectacle of Hornbill festival. But for the local, context matters and he spoke in the context of lived reality. He had the ability to connect the dots an...

The title seems like a no-brainer that the existence of gender inequality in Nagaland should be put into question. But surprisingly many males including educated people in leadership positions hold the view that there is no gender discrimination in Nagaland. Therefore, before going into enumerating or highlighting the degree of gender discrimination, it may be worth looking at the debate on the existence of gender inequality itself. We hear it from the pulpit or elsewhere which goes something like this: Once upon a time, there was gender inequality when Nagas practiced headhunting. There were battles between villages/tribes and therefore male warriors and boys were regarded over women and girls. Due to customary practices and the traditional way of life, men occupied all the leadership positions. But with the coming of Christianity and modern education, there is no more gender inequality. Girls are doing really well in studies and are beating boys in exams. Women are becoming ...

The severest criticism of Hornbill Festival is perhaps not in the things which happen during the 10 days festival period but in what ‘does not happen’ during the remaining 355 days of the year. Nagas celebrate many festivals and many of them are related to work. For example, there are sowing and harvest festivals. Sowing festival is celebrated because there is sowing, and harvest festival is celebrated for harvest. But if sowing or harvest festival is celebrated without sowing or harvesting, something is wrong. If the State carries out cosmetic works on the eve of Hornbill Festival, it is unlikely that people who suffer throughout the year for its inactions will suddenly cheer up on December 1, forget everything and join in the festivities. Nagaland needs to work much harder to deserve to celebrate the festival of festivals. We do not want to travel in roads painted black or splashed with water to avoid dust during Hornbill, we want the real stuff and we want it all through the ...

You must have experienced being assigned to do tasks and your name being put into committees without your consent. When making a program, many times we do not approach people before printing their names in the program. When organizing an event, we do not request people first before assigning them as in-charge of this or that. And when you see your name being printed and distributed, you feel ‘socially obligated’ to carry out the assignment. This is the way things work. If we ask people beforehand, they may refuse, so we first print their names.     If you feel socially obligated and carry out the work well, chances are that you will be assigned more and more in the days and years to come. We ought to do our best whatever assignment we are given to do. But when such assignments become unlimited and uncontrolled, things can go wrong. We see people hopping from one meeting to the other. One can be so occupied with attending meetings, organizing programs and events, involvi...

 This newspaper carried a news article last month saying that Nagaland State figures among the highest per capita health expenditure by the government. That was surprising when one considers the amount of resources which are actually available for service delivery. Therefore, it is important to do some analysis so that we can arrive at some sense of the prevailing reality of the health budget. For the financial year 2015-16, there was slashing of the union health budget by 15%. The Lancet reported that as many as 15 national health programs were put under the National Health Mission umbrella during the year without allocation of even a rupee. The main reason for the cut was said be the rising fiscal deficit. Another justification given was that the States were allocated more shares in central taxes (from 32% to 42%). It was expected that the State will use its discretion and invest this money on healthcare. The ball for increasing health budget was thrown into the State’s cour...

November 14 is World Diabetes Day and this year, the focus is on ‘healthy eating as a key factor in the fight against diabetes and a cornerstone of global health and sustainable development’. Healthy eating helps to prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus, the more common form of diabetes. In those who already have diabetes, healthy eating is important for keeping blood sugar under control and prevention of complications. Diabetes is a serious disease condition where the body cannot produce insulin or cannot use the insulin which is produced. Insulin is a hormone which regulates blood sugar. So, when this ‘regulator’ doesn’t work as it should, the excess sugar accumulated in the body over time leads to serious damage of the body, especially the blood vessels and nerves. One of the main factors which lead to this condition is unhealthy diet, besides lack of physical activity, tobacco use, etc. By ‘unhealthy diet’ here we mainly think of the calorie-rich, fatty, fast foods which are chea...