Mother Earth’s DNA | Monalisa Changkija

A relative had very decided food preferences and she wouldn’t allow anyone in her family to bring home and eat the food she didn’t like. She had equally categorical likes and dislikes of people. So as far as she was concerned, everybody should abide by her food choices ~ her pets and peeves ~ or people and pretty much everything else. However, people don’t eat only at home and in Naga society there is always space and food in everyone’s dining table; then there are increasing numbers of eateries all over the place offering the yummiest of Naga and all kinds of food. So, while members of her family eat their favourite food elsewhere, in her queendom they would strictly abide by her dicta ~ the matriarch that she was ~ simply not to disturb the peace at home.

Another relative detested the colour Green ~ so much so that she inculcated ~ nay indoctrinated ~ her detestation in her daughter right from a tender age, to the point the latter believed that she too hated the colour Green. So both mother and daughter never wore Green or had anything in Green in the house. But Time turns its own tricks and as the daughter reached the age when she outgrew looking at life through her mother’s eyes ~ the age of independent thinking, as it were ~ she discovered the numerous shades of Green and saw their beauty. Her perfect example was the forest and the different shades of Green each season brings. She not only loved all shades of Green but also discovered that she must look at life, at people, at situations, through her own eyes ~ not anybody else’s.

Sometime in 2020-2021, some animal lovers of mainland India made a huge noise about Nagas eating dog meat and in what it imagined to be a political correct thing to do, the Nagaland Government banned the sale and consumption of dog meat. Now, Nagas having been dog meat eaters for centuries naturally there was much hullabaloo against this ban. Finally the matter reached the Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court, which deemed the ban unconstitutional hence had it lifted. Fact is not all Nagas eat dog meat ~ it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea; we also have great animal lovers. The interesting thing is that even those who don’t eat dog meat protested against the now lifted ban on the grounds of personal freedom and cultural practices.

Nagas eat everything including creepy crawlies, which have now been scientifically proven to be the best source of protein but not all Nagas consume them. Interestingly, there are also Nagas who do not like mutton, fish, buff and so many other food that are favourites in some cultures. It’s ultimately a matter of personal choice.

Circa 1990s, some student and women organizations at Dimapur that claim to represent students or women respectively banned Naga girls and women from wearing salwars/churidars suits, which of course never took off. Perhaps initially these organizations may have imposed fines on a few unfortunate girls/women but no organization can go to every home and/or strip women in public. Our women merrily wore their dresses of choice and went about their lives. Ironically, it was also around that time salwar suits become the uniform in some schools and colleges and it is so till today. Salwar suits are, after all, decent, comfortable, pocket and climate-friendly.

Beef is banned in several States and there is this movement to “protect” the cow. This was of course much protested in Nagaland when some leaders of this movement planned to come to Nagaland and propagate the need to “protect” the cow because they were of the opinion that the cow is their mother. Well, for Nagas the cow is an animal and beef is a delicious source of protein ~ it’s cultural. Thankfully, this time, our State Government did not even allow these “sons of the cow” to alight from their chartered flight at Dimapur ~ having burnt their finger with dog meat. Ditto Meghalaya and Mizoram did not even allow their flight to land in the State. There is much to say on this “cow is mother”/beef issue but suffice it to say that democracy and secularism also means not imposing one’s beliefs and prejudices on another.

It is always people with and in power that impose their beliefs and prejudices on powerless and defenseless people at both the individual or collective levels. Banning beef is a prime example. In this county we simplistically reduce this to a majority-minority political issue but it is much more than that. It is more the individual/groups of individuals in power that appear to have some psychological disorder/issues ~ indicating the absence of logic, reason, sensitivity, empathy and humanity that dictate their social, cultural, political and economic thoughts words and deeds. Examples abound of the nature of political, economic, social and cultural suppression and oppression of numerous communities, races, religions and cultures through the ages till now. The deadly combination of power and prejudices, especially when it manifests in state power is inimical for the human race and nothing justifies the consequences of the thoughts words and deeds of people with such psychological disorder/issues. Such people direly need specialized treatment.

There are a large number of people, not least in Assam, who have been put behind bars because their religious beliefs, faith and practices have been criminalized under laws that should never have been enacted in a democratic and secular country. For centuries, religious beliefs, faith and practices have been the reasons for killing, murdering, maiming, raping, imprisoning and exterminating people ~ the root of which are the deadly combination of power and prejudices and not necessarily in that order. Does this make any sense in today’s day and age? Have we not learnt anything from history? The thing is nobody’s race, religious beliefs, faith, practices, culture, skin colour and accent, whatever, is perfect therefore nobody has the right to dehumanize, suppress, oppress, exterminate and cancel another human being. This is a gross abuse of power and history will not be kind.

As the number of people there are across the globe, so are that many preferences in food, clothes, music, beliefs, everything under the Sun. The problem arises when the freedom to one’s preferences is violated and a person is forced to like/dislike another’s preferences or live according to somebody’s dicta. We don’t live in a liberal and tolerant world so extreme measures have been adopted to stop people from smoking, imbibing alcohol, beef, etc., in public places. Inarguably, such habits, especially substance abuse, are unhealthy and adversely impact lives, families, communities, society, states, nations and the economy but there are other preferences best left to the individual. However, because we live in a multi-polar world, those who aspire to create a kind of “unity” and “one” everything that negates human, political, ideological, philosophical, economic, social, cultural, geographical and religious diversities are building castles and blowing bubbles in the air because these diversities are the primary components of Mother Earth’s DNA.

May the days ahead bring peace and goodwill to the human race.

(The Columnist, a journalist and poet, is Founder-Editor, Nagaland Page. Published in Assam Tribune issue of December 28, 2024)