Thatched House

American cultural critic Chris Hedges said, “Cultures that endure carve out a protected space for those who question and challenge national myths. Artist, writers, poets, activists, philosophers, dancers, musicians, actors, directors and renegades must be tolerated if a culture is to be pulled back from disaster.” When Belarusian writer and journalist Svetlana Alexievich won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature, she started her Nobel Lecture at the Stockolm City Hall with the words: “I do not stand alone at this podium…there are voices around me, hundreds of voices.” Likewise, intellectuals in every society carry the voices of the people. Our own Naga writer, Easterine Kire who won The Hindu Literary Prize 2015 in her acceptance speech said, ‘This is not my book, but our book, because of the number that embrace it’.  Our society like any other society is going through a transition which is anything but a smooth ride. We see failed institutions and weak leadership which ar...

The other word for a government job is ‘security’ because of which many seek for it. Times are changing; the old pension scheme is gone and it is being said that firing from government job for non-performance may become more common in the future. Some people speculate that government jobs in the future won’t be ‘regular’ anymore and every job will be ‘contractual’. In extreme cases (although not rare in Nagaland), government job means that one can get pay without work. I had a neighbor who I always see throughout the year. After several years, I came to know that he is a colleague in the same department posted in his village. When you travel to the small towns in the sub divisions, you see government offices being locked for most part of the year. Search for government job plays a huge role in our electoral politics. We vote for candidates so that they can give us government jobs. When elected, the assistants (chamchas) of the elected representatives hunt in the department...

What I am about to describe here may be offensive to some, simply common knowledge not worth writing about to some, or disagreeable to some who may argue that it is only my private individual perception. How do we describe the generation of today? It is not easy because no two people are the same and we all have our own experiences which inform how we would generalize a generation. But as I look at the people around me and assess how people speak, behave, or think, I think a kind of pattern emerges which marks our generation. Although our interactions are limited to the people we come in contact with, the internet has provided a good platform where we can observe the behaviour of people that we don’t even know. What people post in facebook are not all true about them, but they surely tell something about the type of people they are.  I think one emerging trend which is a matter of concern is that there is a group of young people who are very difficult to deal with. With ...

Nagaland woke up to the year 2015 with the news of its elected representatives being divided into 2 camps, one group based at Sovima and the other at de Oriental Grand Hotel. As a result, 7 NPF ministers and parliamentary secretaries were suspended and the crisis led to the ultimate showdown of the floor test on February 5. But it didn’t live up to the suspense as all the 59 legislators voted in support of the incumbent Chief Minister. Fast forward, in November the 8 congress legislators were merged into NPF and Nagaland created history by having the first ‘oppositionless’ government. The winter session of NLA as a result was finished in 30 minutes as there were no questions to discuss.   Exactly a month after the tame floor test, Nagaland was shocked by the lynching incident in Dimapur which made news headline across the world. Neither the problem of illegal immigrants nor the morality angle of the issue could justify the horror of evil which unfolded. It was a testimon...