February is observed as Black History Month in the United States. The idea is to celebrate the culture and achievements of Black Americans, from the time the first 20 Africans arrived in the “New World” in 1619 as indentured servants, through over two hundred years of slavery and another hundred years of Jim Crow, to the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and to today, with an African American President in the White House. To remind myself of the extraordinary story of African Americans, I put together a month’s worth of inspirational words from the some of the leading figures, which I’d like to share with the readers of Nagablog.com.

February:

1.“… whatever else the true American is, he is also somehow black.”
Ralph Ellison (1914-1995), “What America would be like without blacks” (1970)

2. “Man, if you gotta ask, you’ll never know.”
Louis Armstrong (1901-1971), when asked to define jazz.

3. “The day I no longer go on stage will be the day I die.”
Josephine Baker (1906-1975), a-k-a The Cleopatra of Jazz

4. “We feel the beauty of nature because we are part of nature and because we know that however much in our separate domains we abstract from the unity of Nature, this unity remains. Although we may deal with particulars, we return finally to the whole pattern woven out of these.”
Ernest Everett Just (1883-1914), Biologist.

5. “The Negro is America’s metaphor.”
Richard Wright (1883-1960)

6. “It’s singing with soul that counts.”
Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990), Jazz Singer, nicknamed “The Divine One.”

7. “Lovers have come and gone, but only my mistress stays. She is beautiful and gentle. She waits on me hand and foot. She is a swinger. She has grace. To hear her speak, you can’t believe your ears. She is ten thousand years old. She is as modern as tomorrow, a brand new woman every day, and as endless as time mathematics. Living with her is a labyrinth of ramifications. I look forward to her every gesture. Music is my mistress, and she plays second fiddle to no one.”
Duke Ellington (1899-1971)

8. “I am the product of the sustained indignation of a branded grandfather, the militant protest of my grandmother, the disciplined resentment of my father and mother, and the power of the mass action of the church.”
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (1908-1972), Politician, Preacher, Civil Rights Leader.

9. “Salvation for a race, nation, or class must come from within. Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted. Freedom and justice must be struggled for by the oppressed of all lands and races, and the struggle must be continuous.”
A Philip Randolph (1889-1979), Union Leader, Civil Rights Leader.

10. “I just came here to entertain you. That was what I thought you wanted. I was born here.”
Nat King Cole (1919-1965), after being beaten up on stage by White Citizens Council members, in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 10, 1956.

11. “I was frightened, but I believed we needed help to get us more jobs and better education.”
Rosa Parks (1913-2005).

12. “Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), Minister and Civil Rights Leader.

13. “Brother, brother, there are too many of us dying.”
Marvin Gaye (1939-1984), Musician.

14. “One of the glories of man, the inventiveness of the human mind and the human spirit: Whenever life doesn’t seem to give us vision, we create one.”
Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), Writer-dramatist.

15. “Whatever white people do not know about black people reveals, precisely and inexorably, what they do not know about themselves.”
James Baldwin (1924-1987), Writer and Public Intellectual.

16. “We, the black women of today, must accept the full weight of a legacy wrought in blood by our mothers in chains. . . heirs to a tradition to supreme perseverance and heroic resistance.”
Angela Davis (1944- ____), Professor and Crusader for Justice.

17. “A child born to a black mother in a state like Mississippi – born to the dumbest, poorest sharecropper – by merely drawing its first breath in the democracy has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States. It’s not true, but I challenge anyone to say it’s not a goal worth working for.”
Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993), U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

18. “One of the best and worst things about black people is a willingness to nurse optimism that often has zero basis in fact. Call me crazy.”
Erin Aubrey Kaplan, Journalist, on hoping against hope that Condoleezza Rice would, after all, have “some bit of “sistah” empathy, some meaningful connection to black history and experience.

19. “We try to make our music so loose and hard-hitting that it hits your soul hard enough to make it open. It’s like shock therapy.”
Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970), Guitarist-Gypsy-Civil Rights Activist.

20. “When I liberate myself, I liberate others. If you don’t speak out ain’t nobody going to speak out for you.”
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977), Grassroots Activist.

21. “Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes but the opposition he or she has to overcome to reach his or her goals.”
Dorothy Height (1912-____), Organizer of Clubs, Societies, etc. for Blacks.

22. “Future leaders, those who lead the nation, must know that the flag is red, white and blue, but the nation is not red, white and blue. It is red and yellow and brown and black and white.”
Jesse Jackson (1941- ___), Preacher and, Civil Rights Leader.

23. “I don’t like to preach too much. I like to get quiet, and then I attack through my work.”
Denzel Washington (1954- __), Actor.

24. “We can’t rely on anyone but ourselves to define our existence, to shape the image of ourselves.”
Spike Lee (1957- ___), Actor & Director.

25. “If the house is to be set in order, one cannot begin with the present; we must begin with the past.”
John Hope Franklin (1915- ), Scholar-Professor of History.

26. “Freedom is heavy. You got to put your shoulder into it and hope your back hold up.”
August Wilson (1945-2007), Writer-Dramatist.

27. “For me, black women are the most fascinating creations in the world.”
Alice Walker (1944- ), Writer-Novelist.

28. “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do have language. That may be the measure of our lives.”
Toni Morrison (1931- ), Writer-Novelist, Nobel Laureate.

29. “This time, we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.”
Barack Obama (1961 – ), President of the United States of America. “A More Perfect Union (2008).

For those who came in late…

What are Timelines?
Timelines are Facebook’s attempt to tell the story of your life, based on your social networking activity. Presented in reverse chronological order, your Timeline shows status updates, photos, life events and new friends.

Timelines also summarize your activity from Facebook apps. For instance, if you’ve allowed Spotify to automatically tell Facebook what songs you’re listening to, a summary of your tastes in music will appear in the Timeline. Or if you’ve been using Nike+ GPS, your friends will be able to see where you’ve been running.

By Khrieketouzo Pongener
During the recent & first bandh called suddenly on Jan 17th in Nagaland, our ongoing work had to be postponed causing multiple inconveniences for us & our customers.

After experiencing first hand the miseries & inconveniences of the bandh culture, the long suffering people & State Governments of Manipur, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh have been raising their voices and now plan to do away with the bandh through legislative, law, & other means. Finance & economy are wasted due to loss of working hours, wasting time, loss of agri & food products [eg Dimapur loss of several crores in transaction - Nagaland Post, Jan 18], many people become lazier, & develop a negative mentality. Thereby putting ourselves & our slow progress / development in the backward direction instead of forward.

Should the involuntary bandh culture from India & neighboring States hamper & delay our work, cripple our people & economy? This alien culture which has caused untold miseries to innocent public of neighboring States seems to be taking hold even in this State. Hard working citizens and Christians of our land need to have a voice and debate whether this bandh culture has any positive impact for the public at large. A fair society needs freedom to express opinions, & show transparency. Because once this culture takes root in our democratic Naga society, any organization could now claim the right to declare a bandh any time.

Thankfully, we have a modern & forward thinking public in Nagaland, and groups/organizations may lose public support & sympathy if bandhs are being imposed involuntarily. Surely there ought to be better & ‘public friendly’ ways to protest one’s democratic & God given rights other than bandhs?

By Vasundhara Sirnate and Rahul Verma
“Last year, Ibobi and his cabinet decided that they will not allow the Naga Chief Minister to enter the State, but now that the elections have been announced, he no longer has the power to prevent me from coming here and meeting you … But if you let him win again I will not be able to come to Manipur to meet all of you.” That was Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, speaking at an election rally in Manipur’s Tamenglong district on January 19. He was addressing a gathering of Manipuri Nagas while campaigning for candidates of the Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) that is contesting the Assembly elections for the first time in Manipur.

This public shot at the Manipur Chief Minister, Okram Ibobi Singh, has much history. Mr. Rio and Mr. Ibobi are both equally dynamic leaders and have forged serious political reputations. Mr. Rio has been engaged in galvanising support of the Naga population in Manipur and Mr. Ibobi has acquired a reputation for being hard on insurgent groups. Both have become political leaders in their States in challenging times. Nagaland and Manipur are insurgency-hit States and the levels and type of insurgency in both States are deeply connected.

How do we explain Mr. Rio’s curious political commentary that has involved calling Mr. Ibobi, a Manipuri Meitei, “an enemy of the Nagas?” And how do we analyse what the electoral consequences of such polarising speech might be.

Manipur has nine districts and 60 Assembly constituencies. Thirty-nine constituencies lie in the Meitei dominated valley, which forms the heart of the Congress’ electoral calculus in the State. In the last two decades, forging a majority in the Assembly has proved tough for any political party. And Mr. Ibobi’s two terms as Chief Minister have provided some political stability in the State that saw seven governments between 1990 and 2002. Mr. Rio’s provocative speeches are intended to break Mr. Ibobi’s popularity by polarising the Meitei and Naga voters. His calculation rests on attempting to position some of the 12 NPF candidates in the Manipur Assembly, in a bid to further the demand for Greater Nagalim within the Manipur Assembly. However, the Meiteis who live in the small Manipur Valley are 60 per cent of the population. The Manipuri Nagas cohabit with Kuki tribes in four hill districts of Manipur — Tamenglong, Ukhrul, Senapati and Chandel.

The divide between hill tribes (Kuki, Naga) and the Valley people (Meitei) has been a prominent political division in Manipur. Within the hill districts, Kuki and Naga militia have been at loggerheads since the 1990s, with Kuki groups asking for the establishment of an Autonomous District Council (ADC) in Senapati, and Naga groups, backed by the NPF and the Naga Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN I-M), demanding that large chunks of the four hill districts be part of Greater Nagalim since these areas were inhabited by Tangkhul Nagas.

When the Centre decided to hold ADC elections in Manipur, the All Naga Students Association of Manipur and the Naga Students Federation began a blockade of NH-39 in April 2010 to protest the decision. In May 2010, the crisis took a bitter turn when the State government disallowed NSCN (I-M) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah from visiting his village in Ukhrul. During the four-month long blockade, Manipur was strapped for severely needed resources like petrol, LPG and basic food commodities.

As Kuki-Naga tensions worsened, the NSCN (I-M) was accused of trying to stall the democratic process in Manipur where nearly 200,000 voters would vote. A year later, in 2011, Kuki groups from Manipur started a 122-day blockade to draw attention to their demand — declare Sarda in Senapati district an autonomous district for Kukis. Both blockades crippled the State economically and losses ran to the tune of Rs. 250 crore.

The upcoming Assembly elections are of key significance because they have the potential to mainstream the demands by the NPF and the Kuki groups and bring them under the purview of political discussion conducted by elected representatives. However, Manipuri Nagas have often resisted attempts by the NSCN (I-M) to incorporate them. For the Central government, negotiating with the Naga insurgent leadership has become a standard policy, evinced by two ceasefires. With the Naga insurgency in its 65th year, Kuki groups fear that Greater Nagalim may come about sooner than expected, if only to put an end to the persistent NSCN (I-M) demand and their insurgent activities.

Regardless of the political outcome in Manipur, Mr. Rio’s speech allows him to appear committed to the Nagalim cause, especially to voters in Nagaland. This will help him politically in the 2013 Assembly elections in Nagaland. For the NPF, Mr. Rio’s speeches could help forge electoral coalitions that benefit the party in Manipur. However, a Congress leader has noted that Mr. Rio’s efforts will only consolidate the non-Naga voters, which include the Meiteis and the Kukis. Mr. Ibobi has also expressed the doubt that Manipuri Nagas will be drawn in by Mr. Rio’s rhetoric. This boomerang effect may end up favouring Mr. Ibobi and the Congress (I).

Before this, Mr. Ibobi was contesting a tough election as five Opposition parties had united under the banner of People’s Democratic Front. The Front currently includes the Manipur’s People Party (MPP), the Nationalist Congress Party, the CPI (M), the Janata Dal (United), and the Rashtriya Janta Dal. Mr. Rio’s speech has unintentionally made Mr. Ibobi appear the one person who can effectively block the demand for Greater Nagalim.

Naga leaders have claimed that Greater Nagalim includes Naga-inhabited territories in Myanmar, China and India. Nagaland was created in 1963. Yet, in what seemed to be a politically motivated strategy to divide and disable the Naga insurgency, many Naga inhabited areas were placed in the State of Manipur when it was created in 1971. Today, Nagalim in theory comprises the Nagaland state, adjoining areas of Assam (Karbi Anglong, North Cachar), areas of Arunachal Pradesh (Tirap and Changlang), and significant parts of the hill districts of Manipur. With the NSCN (I-M) leadership in Tangkhul hands, the commitment to wrest the four Manipuri hill districts has become stronger.

So when Manipur goes to the polls on January 28, there is much for mainland Indians to pay attention to. The State has the largest number of active insurgent groups over time, 39 , operating in an area the size of Silicon Valley (8000 sq. miles). It also has an average voter turnout of 85 per cent in spite of insurgent group threats (higher than most other Indian States). Anna Hazare’s hunger strike pales in comparison with that of a lone Manipuri woman, Irom Sharmila, which is now in its 11th year. Her fast is against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act which has been used in Manipur, almost uninterrupted, since 1980.

This election is a testing ground to assess the payoffs involved in trying to mobilise the Naga votes outside Nagaland, with Arunachal Pradesh being the NPF’s next electoral target. The NPF is clearly interested in becoming a true regional player in the northeast and Mr. Rio’s current campaign is part of a new history of Greater Nagalim, where the demand is articulated through an over ground party driven political process.

(Vasundhara Sirnate and Rahul Verma are Ph.D students at the Travers Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley.)

For those who are yet to explore Twitter – www.twitter.com is a popular website where one can let people know what they are up to. It was started in the year 2006 by an American named Jack Dorsey. It is called a micro-blogging tool because a person cannot write more than 140 alphabets at one time. Each time someone writes – the message is called a “Tweet”.

On Twitter, you can follow some of the world’s most respected persons and know about their thoughts and day-to-day activities. You can also follow Newspapers and keep yourself updated. Twitter had 300 million users in 2011 and the number is ever increasing.

Around the world, people and politicians have used Twitter to express their views. Recently, U.S president Barack Obama appealed to the public to support the American Job bill through Twitter. In India, personalities like politician Sashi Tharoor and actor Amitabh Bachchan use Twitter on a daily basis.

Twitter is yet to make its impact in Nagaland but the number of users is growing slowly. Media houses like Nagaland Post updates news daily on Twitter. Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) tweets about Job and exam information. Hornbillfestival.com gives latest updates on the popular Hornbill festival to tourists.

Nagas with Most Number of Followers on Twitter.com:
Casuyi Lohe (862), Dr. Yan Murry (655), Ayicha Muivah (469) Aola Longkumer (425), Lesly Lobeni (365). Source: Twitter.com; as on January 18 , 2012.

If utilized by the Government departments properly, Twitter can be very useful for the general public. Local organizations can make an impact by using the micro-blogging website. It just takes 2 minutes to start a Twitter account and it is Free. A person just needs to spend 5 minutes daily to update their activities on Twitter.

Written by K. Zeliang

Atsen Murry releases his second music video ‘O love that will not let me go’ – a duet with his friend Heather. Atsen is a music student at Moody, Chicago.

Lyrics:
O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

1. O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

2. O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

3. O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

4. O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be

I was made to go through some unpleasant experiences in Kolkata. After having being assured a room from January 12 to 15 at Nagaland House, the receptionist told me “There is no room”. An IAS officer in the Govt of Nagaland had informed the Joint Resident Commissioner’s office verbally as well and through fax about my arrival. Thereafter, I was asked by the senior officer to check-in at Nagaland House.

Reasons for my disappointment are:
- It is very difficult to get rooms instantly in a metro like Kolkata. If rooms were not available, Nagaland House should have informed me at least 1 day in advance so that I can make alternative arrangements.

- My meetings were planned nearby Nagaland House on Jan 12. I had to take my baggage to those meetings.
I was quietly told by a Nagaland House employee that “People come with chits from ministers, and it is very difficult to refuse them rooms”.

- Some well-known Nagas (Sr. Citizens) from England also got the same treatment. Dear government, please give well known Naga NRIs good treatment, especially when they are senior citizens.

- Lastly, my emails to Nagaland House Kolkata’s official email nhkolkata@gmail.com were unanswered. I had read news report that anyone seeking rooms should email to them.

Thankfully, my local contacts in Kolkata were quick to make alternative arrangements but due to last minute reservation, I could only get a room at a Salt Lake hotel which is 1 and a half hours drive from Nagaland House.

I think Naga travelers deserve better treatment.

Read at Nagaland Post: click
Twitter: Follow @DrYanMurry

I had in mind to blog on this topic, but now that it’s in the news, it makes my job easier.

“Mass weddings are a sign of good society” endorsed the Grand Mufti (the highest religious official) of Saudi Arabia while attending the mass wedding of 300 couples sponsored by the Saudi Government earlier this year. Their main motive for mass weddings is to reduce the costs incurred by the couples as well as encourage young people to get married so that crime is reduced. The Saudi Govt. believes that a proper marriage will make young people more disciplined.

Well, my point is – if Muslims, who are considered to be very strict when it comes to religious matters can be flexible when it comes to Mass weddings, can the more liberal Christians follow suit?

I have come across many couples who have started families without proper weddings. In many such cases, couples simply can’t afford to organize a proper ‘Naga wedding’. They don’t want to put financial pressure on their parents…and their folks quietly agree.

No wonder, the concept of ‘Home marriage’ rather than ‘Church marriage’ is becoming quiet acceptable these days.

Now just give this a thought – why should a couple not have church marriage just because they can’t afford it? Can’t our churches make weddings a much simpler and a less costly affair?

In this regard, the Dimapur Ao Baptist Arogo (DABA) should be congratulated for their ‘Mass wedding’ concept. This initiative will give many couples the opportunity to have a proper wedding which they always dreamt of.

“The church programme, decorations and refreshment were all sponsored by DABA” read some news reports. This is impressive but may not be applicable to many churches. If other churches wish to organize mass weddings, may be the couples can contribute and share the expenses.

Many people have pointed out that the gap between ‘the haves’ and ‘the have nots’ is ever increasing in Naga society. This gap refers not only to the difference in wealth but also to the difference in social status attributed to wealth.
Many ‘have nots’ wish to emulate the lifestyle of ‘the haves’ and resort to unlawful means to amass their wealth.
If ‘the haves’ promote the idea of mass wedding, they will set a good example. Mass wedding is a good concept which can help make the gap smaller.

Follow Dr. Yan Murry @ Twitter

India has launched the world’s cheapest tablet computer Aakash priced at Rs 1700.

After launching the world’s cheapest car Tata Nano, Indians have one more reason to be proud of – it has created the world’s cheapest tablet computer priced at just Rs 1700.

Named Aakash (meaning sky) the device will be sold to students at a subsidized price of Rs 1700 ($35). Initially, 1,00,000 devices will be given away to students before rolling out to millions of students in the coming months.

The tablet was developed by a small British company Datawind (their website is inaccessible as of today due to high traffic) but will be assembled in India. IIT Rajasthan is also said to be a part of the project in which India’s HRD minister Kipal Sibal has taken keen interest.

The Government hopes the device will improve the quality of learning of children in schools. India lags behind China and Brazil when it comes to using internet. The Govt hopes the device will help to ‘connect’ the nation.

Specifications:
- Runs on Google’s Android.
- It has a virtual keyboard.
- Camera.
- Full video capability.
- Wi-Fi.
- e-reader.
- 2GB RAM.

Pros: Cheap.
Cons: May be slow. Touch screen quality may be poor.

The feeling of guilt is further enhanced when Glancey holds up a mirror to the political questions behind the insurgency in Nagaland. Two attributes make Glancey’s efforts praiseworthy in this context. Unlike Indian readers and armchair analysts, he has a far deeper understanding of the complexities that have undermined efforts to find a political solution to the conflict. Yet his tone is never preachy. Second, he resists the temptation to offer yet another myopic solution to a seemingly intractable problem.

Glancey does a thorough job of untangling Nagaland’s complex political history. The British had subjugated parts of the state after the decisive battle at Khonoma. Skirmishes continued sporadically, although many Nagas had sided with the British to keep Japanese intruders at bay during the epic siege of Kohima. On the eve of Indian independence, Jawaharlal Nehru demanded imperiously that the state be handed over to India. He was rebuffed by the Naga National Council, which declared independence a day before India was free. (The Naga Club, a body that pioneered nationalist, and not tribal, demands, had informed the Simon Commission way back in 1929 that the Nagas would like to retain the independence they had lost in a revised political map of the subcontinent.) Nehru’s failure to break the deadlock during his Kohima visit, coupled with the provocative tactics adopted by the NNC, resulted in another armed intrusion, this time by the Indian army. It is estimated that about 100,000 to 200,000 Nagas lost their lives in the conflict between 1952 and 1997. Brutalities such as the one in Oinam village in 1987, where the Assam Rifles went on rampage for four months, killing the village chief, forcing women to give birth in front of jeering soldiers, burying men alive and then smashing their heads to pulp with heavy army boots have also been inflicted on several occasions. Significantly, as is the case in other parts of the Northeast, draconian legal aids, the Assam Disturbed Areas Act in this instance, have been pressed into service, handing the marauding forces a legal shield behind which to commit the atrocities. Peace accords have been ineffective; hence the promise of peace remains fleeting. The Shillong Accord inked by the NNC was contested by a crop of leaders who went on to form the “Christian-Maoist” National Socialist Council of Nagaland. Eight years later, the NSCN split into two rival groups. Today, blood continues to be spilt among the various splinter groups under the watchful eyes of the Indian army. The international community, including conscientious Britain, chooses to highlight the plight of Nagas only when it suits its interests.

Glancey makes us ponder three critical questions. Given Nagaland’s strategic importance, demonstrated by a key battle fought during the Second World War, as well as by India’s eagerness to use the state as a buffer between ambitious neighbours, such as China, and the heartland, it is obvious that the Indian State would be unsympathetic to Naga assertions of self-determination. But it is important for the rest of democratic India to participate in this debate to decide, peacefully, the fate of the Naga people. For that, they would need to remain informed of the ground realities. Glancey’s instructive book — and not colourful tourist brochures — could be of some use to forge views that are independent of State propaganda. Second, can efforts to transform a society based on a complex network of tribal identities and ties into a modern democratic entity ever bear fruit? The missionaries may have given the Nagas a common language. Their experiences of the World War may have also stoked in the Naga people a desire to attain nationhood. But the fluid nature of the Naga identity has foiled attempts made by Britain, India and even the fractious Naga leadership to resolve the issue permanently. Finally, Glancey reminds us that the violence in Nagaland has depleted the state’s once-abundant natural resources. Tigers are rare, wild dogs have become extinct and virgin forests continue to fall with each passing year. Is it not the duty of the State, which has no qualms about calling Nagaland its own turf, to protect and replenish what is left for the future?

We also come across several endearing characters in these pages. Two of them — Gaidinliu, the 16-year-old girl who led a year-long rebellion against the British and Ursula Graham Bower, the “pert, pretty” archaeologist, believed to be an incarnation of Gaidinliu by some Nagas, who set up defence and intelligence units during the Great War — are particularly memorable. The legendary A.Z. Phizo, whom Glancey met in London, also leaves a mark with his quiet dignity and fortitude. It is surprising to find a hard-nosed journalist such as Glancey going dewy-eyed upon discovering relics of the raj in Calcutta and Kohima. But then, ancestral ties — Glancey is the third in his family to have been bewitched by Nagaland — are difficult to ignore.

It is not just the internecine warfare that Nagaland has to contend with. Patchy development, the result of money lining the cavernous pockets of officials, and a rocky relationship with modernity have accentuated the complexities in a society undergoing a slow, painful transformation. Perhaps redemption lies in the hands of a young and ambitious generation, but the burdens of history can be surprisingly tenacious.

The dream of Nagalim, Glancey admits, may remain just that: a dream. But the iron curtain that obscures Nagaland will have to be lifted as a result of India’s domestic compulsions, for the contours of the Look East policy pass through this land-locked, strife-torn state. The discovery of oil in Wokha would also tickle the interests of New Delhi, Washington and London and, in all probability, hasten Nagaland’s grudging integration into the grid of India’s mental map.

Tourists are flocking to Kohima, Naga men and women are travelling to the mainland in search of an education and jobs, and the jungle is giving way to highways. But the stories of the Naga people — such as the ones chronicled by Glancey — and the lessons that ought to be drawn from them need to be rescued lest they get lost forever under the debris of development.