In ordinary discourse we generally relate ‘well-being,’ with health. Yet, it has a much broader usage and amounts to how well a person’s life or society or a nation at large is going. It has a philosophical connotation and the object is to construct it within a communitarian canopy. The paper thus, sets out primarily, at an attempt to do an analytical discourse on the idea of ‘well-being’ giving due warrant to the state of affairs of our state and its people by trying to locate the various sources through which the very idea of ‘well-being’ can be generated. The idea of ‘well-being’ can also be aptly put as a project towards visualising what can possibly be, termed as the ‘highest good’ for our state and its people. Thus the idea of ‘well-being’ can be seen as a culmination of the ‘highest good.’ Secondly, I would also like to juxtapose alongside, a new form of culture which can come within a universal framework.
With flux of time, the old, constantly keeps on dying down and the new gets established. To avoid any unnecessary structural error it would be best to draw a dichotomous line in the period before and after the coming of Christianity though I’ll be dwelling on the latter. So we have the Chungliyimti civilization with the ‘birth’ of consciousness of organized and structured social life which can also be referred to as ‘Naga enlightenment’ and post Christianity era coupled with whatever cultural facets remained. Consequently, the male and female dormitories which formed the major institution of learning, the ethics and norms, structured work culture, belief system, head hunting and so on which gave impetus to the idea of ‘well-being’ of not just the individual, nor the family or a particular group of people but the well being of the whole, bore the brunt of Christianity. As Christianity slowly took roots, various integral aspects of our culture was wiped off the ground and gradually our eyes were opened to newer forms of consciousness and understanding and also different forms of knowledge. Considering this, we can expect a totally different idea of ‘well-being’ in the post Christianity era. I shy away from the usage of the word ‘modernity’ as it is still by and large, a confused and contested concept borrowed from the west. The question here is how modern are we in our own terms within our own parameters and not how modern are we in the context of the west. If I am to use the term modern in our own terms, we became modern with the ‘birth’ of consciousness of organised and structured social life beginning at Chungliyimti. For instance, Morung as a major institution of learning is a very classic example that highlights our own unique modernity. Needless to say but, we didn’t have huge machines and tools or technologies but we had technically sophisticated brains to think about ways and means to build houses and to exploit the available resources in making a life to live. We had our own mathematics to formulate methods for counting. We had our own value oriented culture to define good and bad and also give moral sanction.
With the coming of Christianity in 1872, things have changed. So, in the contemporary turn, how do we define ‘well-being.’? There can be several possible parameters through which the ‘well-being’ of present day Nagaland can be assessed, but I will confine myself to the three most central tenets based on lived experience - Peace, progress and prosperity. I firmly believe, for ‘well-being’ to emerge, we need all these three tenets working hand in hand in a complimentary manner that will give rise to the highest form of ‘well-being.’
Peace can be commonly referred to an absence of aggression, violence or hostility, a state of absence of any war or conflict and any other possible scenarios that disturbs peace. Though, the concept broadens up when located within the domain of world affairs. Reflection on the nature of peace is also bound up with considerations of the causes for its absence or loss. Among these potential causes are: insecurity, social injustice, economic inequality, political and religious radicalism, and extremist nationalism. At the moment, tension is created from various corners. Peace cannot prevail in our state just through a ceasefire among the various warring factions. We need a far more real peace, which, I firmly believe, can only emerge (among various other factors) through a peaceful co-existence among the various tribes and clans. The dreaded ‘isms’ should be wiped off the face of humanity. Unless there is harmony among the various tribes and clans peace cannot prevail. There has been so much of dirty politics and distorted history. So much of civil unrest has been caused through recent developments related to the politics of ‘truth of knowledge’ claims resulting even in the ‘deconstruction of identity.’ Truths related to history cannot be claimed to be true unless it is substantiated by properly documented historical records and evidences. Our state has a large number of unions. Existence of various unions and organizations can keep a particular group of people or a community united. It also provides a platform to voice out certain concerns for a common cause but sometimes too much of it might act as breeding grounds for unhealthy contestations and hatred hugely impairing peaceful co-existence.
To Progress means to advance towards higher or better stage or better still, we even need to start for progress to take place. Progress can be in the areas of administration and ‘governmentality’, economy, Socio-cultural, infrastructure, games and sports, environmental, health care systems, various forms of media and education including research. First and foremost, each and every area starting from the most basic unit - family till the highest level of governance should act as responsible agents and not be a liability. The system of administration and ‘governmentality’ should be built on a model of power that works from bottom to the top, that power originates from the subjects and as such the ‘ruler’ or those people in ‘power’ derives power from the ruled or the subjects. The praxis of the former is pragmatics of lived experience while the latter is hypothetical assumption or a sort of philosophical propaganda. Though, both the lines of thought encompass politics of human relationship which revolves around two popular closely related terms – power and control. It should also be based on the belief that the exercise of power is legitimate only if it is determined by reasonable consensus among citizens. In this sense, reasonable consensus among citizens eliminates the autonomy of the exercise of power, provided conditions are ideal. Keeping in mind that freedom can only operate within limits, a Substantive freedom is pertinent for people’s participation in the government. It should also be reminded that the government is of the people, by the people and for the people and not a government for a selected ‘few.’ There is also an urgent necessity to construct new social models that would guarantee equality and justice for all. The law and order too, needs to be water tight and the law enforcing agencies should be vigilant against the temptation of creating ‘exceptional situation’ or ‘exceptions to the norm’ through the ‘extra-legal’ dimension of law itself which can act as easy passage for corruption to creep in.
Now how do we prepare for a booming economy? First and foremost, the economy of our state is crippled by problems of unemployment and poor economic opportunities which is also due to lack of large scale industries. Among various other indicators which can improve economy, I will point out couple of them. Firstly, a good number of our people are engaged in agriculture. Nothing can encourage this than to involve better technology to enhance agriculture and also provide ample avenues and spaces to make the agricultural produce marketable. Secondly, as far as possible, capital outflow from the state needs to be curtailed. We need at least couple of very good civil services coaching institute to check the outflow of capital. Every year a lot of students come to Delhi for taking up coaching which results in huge outflow of money. On the flip side, it is not just the bank rolls or bank savings that defines how healthy the economy is. It also involves being economical and using the resources at our disposal judiciously with a sense to preserve and renew. It is also pertinent to differentiate between needs and wants. It seems like we are still trapped in a moral dilemma over needs and wants. It is not what makes the world ‘rotate’ but what keeps the world going.
To further excel in games and sports, we need better infrastructure. By now we should have the infrastructural capacity to host at least the National games. Adequate Sports equipments should be provided in schools and colleges. Also, conducting coaching camps will go a long way in honing the technical skills and prepare sportspersons to compete in the international arena.
In view of global environmental concerns, preventive measures should not just exist but needs to be enforced to stop deforestation and the killing of wild birds and animals. Fakim wildlife sanctuary is the lone sanctuary of our state. The village councils can play an authorative role by banning killings especially the endangered species. Tourism also needs further promotion not just for commercialization but also to promote peace and harmony and also create opportunities to exchange knowledge of cultures with people from different countries.
On the medical front, fully functioning dispensaries, especially in the villages should be there. Technologically advanced machineries and equipments are required to tackle dreaded disease like AIDS, cancer and other globally alarming epidemics like bird flu and swine flu. On the information and broadcasting front, media houses, especially the print, should try to disseminate news with the objective of providing ‘knowledge for all.’ It is also quite unfortunate that due warrant has not been given to research studies. I fear, but our people still have a long way to go in understanding the value of education, specially, research. I don’t need to tell, how ‘sick’ our only university is, at the moment. It is high time that the state comes up with more encouraging measures to promote research studies. Written materials are vital tools to any historical records and research studies can develop skills to preserve our history and our rich legacy of oral literature and various analytical studies, which can be of historical importance or value oriented, in written form.
We are fortunate enough to have creative minds. It needs to be properly exploited and more sense of beauty should be developed. One should be averse to being affront to aesthetics. We should appreciate and try to inculcate the finer points of creative sense of aesthetics. In the field of music too, we are again fortunate to have talented singers but we also lack good songwriters and musicians who can create a different genre of Naga music which can find space in the music world.
How have we fared in terms of culture? The coming of Christianity eliminated the integral facets of our culture and also our rich legacy of oral tradition is fast disappearing as the raconteurs of oral literature are fast dying out. So, what is our present culture? How do we identify ourselves as a cultural group? How much do we garner values, ethics and morality through our culture? Our culture is slowly getting reduced to cultural costumes, folk songs and dances which is also mostly presented to satisfy commercial ends. Our prevailing culture has become so dislocated mainly due to hybridization. There is an urgent necessity to redefine our culture – our way of life within a universal framework, which the whole world can accept.
The Church too, has a large role to play in contributing to progress towards the ‘well-being.’ It should keep doing the good work of reviving the Christian teachings, rather than involve in politics. Our people need to inculcate civic sensibility, sense of belonging and should care for not just private properties but public properties as well. This begins with a small step towards caring for the ‘other.’ Nonetheless, all progress begins with a progressive mind.
Prosperity can be said to be a state of health, happiness, being successful, absence of poverty, insecurity etc. Most of us think that being prosperous means having plenty of money. It is not just material possessions, but rather a fulfilled heart and soul. We must go beyond the idea of ‘wealth’ and seek the values that will surmount to the general happiness. Most, regardless of the wealth, feel a serious lacking in our overall sense of well-being. On the individual level, we need a fresh approach and examine honestly what we really long for by separating from false desires or addictions. We need to create true prosperity in satisfying relationships and the kind of happiness not dependent ‘solely’ on possessions or circumstances. Such an attitude is paramount to live a happy contented life.
Coming to our culture, we have so far been quietly nestled comfortably in the idea that we have a unique culture not knowing exactly what makes our culture unique even in the face of changes, in time and cultural shifts. Of late we have been witnessing the emergence of totally different forms of culture. It seems to have taken a totally different direction - a faulty transition and sad to say, we have already lived out of our culture and identity. Lately there has been a huge infiltration of Korean culture into our society through Korean movies. One immediate effect is replicating their fashion and also whole new ideas on love and romance. I am just scared. We never know it might become our reference point, rather than our culture, of even defining what is good and bad. Here I introduce my idea of culture which can come within a universal framework. I feel that our culture–the Naga way of life, should be built on love, peace and most importantly truth. My romanticism of Naga culture being ‘love, peace and truth personified’ emerges out of this, that, in contemporary times, it may be more relevant and sensible to locate the uniqueness of our culture on love, peace and truth. It neither consists in unhealthy cultural contestations nor hybridization but rather a point of merger and unified emergence. This is where the Nagas can come together and not as fragments of a larger whole. I don’t want to commit a serious blunder by claiming ‘truth’ and objectifying my idea of uniqueness. There can also be looming Skepticism and skeptics might dismiss this thesis, seeing it as a possibility only in the noumenal world (The intellectual conception of a thing as it is in itself) or an impossible utopia.
Nagaland is ‘famine stricken’ and starving for Peace, progress and prosperity for long. At the moment, we are sailing in troubled water of crisis, social unrest, problems of unemployment, and the infiltration of anti-social elements into our society. Worst of all, the practice of corruption has reached a level, unimaginable even in the wildest dreams, the shameful culture of ‘palm greasing’ and the ‘juice is worth the squeeze’ attitude. The care for the ‘other’ no longer seems to exist as if everyone is engaged in their own race to beat the rest in the race for the survival of the fittest. We are not being-in-itself but being-for-others. But we also know that the process of nation building is not the absence of crisis, but the willingness to push on in the face of it, which calls for a very sincere and honest approach from each and every individual. A new generation of leaders will very soon take the mantle of leadership and we shall live as dignified people, as equals, where everyone shall be free to exploit their full potential. Let us also awaken from our dogmatic slumber and develop a sense of belonging and be proud of who we are and feel and act as responsible citizens, revive our work ethics and shed the attitudinal trend of ostentatiously ‘riding off into the sunset wearing ten-gallon hats’ towards an urgent resurgence of our sense and sensibilities.
In sum, this paper was not an (empirical) attempt to give an ultimate ‘truth,’ but a framework through which one can think and envisage various possibilities through which our people and our land will become more and more peaceful, progress more and become more and more prosperous that, we will always travel along the road towards becoming more and more well - The ‘well-being’ of our state and our people which can be said to be the ‘highest good.’
With flux of time, the old, constantly keeps on dying down and the new gets established. To avoid any unnecessary structural error it would be best to draw a dichotomous line in the period before and after the coming of Christianity though I’ll be dwelling on the latter. So we have the Chungliyimti civilization with the ‘birth’ of consciousness of organized and structured social life which can also be referred to as ‘Naga enlightenment’ and post Christianity era coupled with whatever cultural facets remained. Consequently, the male and female dormitories which formed the major institution of learning, the ethics and norms, structured work culture, belief system, head hunting and so on which gave impetus to the idea of ‘well-being’ of not just the individual, nor the family or a particular group of people but the well being of the whole, bore the brunt of Christianity. As Christianity slowly took roots, various integral aspects of our culture was wiped off the ground and gradually our eyes were opened to newer forms of consciousness and understanding and also different forms of knowledge. Considering this, we can expect a totally different idea of ‘well-being’ in the post Christianity era. I shy away from the usage of the word ‘modernity’ as it is still by and large, a confused and contested concept borrowed from the west. The question here is how modern are we in our own terms within our own parameters and not how modern are we in the context of the west. If I am to use the term modern in our own terms, we became modern with the ‘birth’ of consciousness of organised and structured social life beginning at Chungliyimti. For instance, Morung as a major institution of learning is a very classic example that highlights our own unique modernity. Needless to say but, we didn’t have huge machines and tools or technologies but we had technically sophisticated brains to think about ways and means to build houses and to exploit the available resources in making a life to live. We had our own mathematics to formulate methods for counting. We had our own value oriented culture to define good and bad and also give moral sanction.
With the coming of Christianity in 1872, things have changed. So, in the contemporary turn, how do we define ‘well-being.’? There can be several possible parameters through which the ‘well-being’ of present day Nagaland can be assessed, but I will confine myself to the three most central tenets based on lived experience - Peace, progress and prosperity. I firmly believe, for ‘well-being’ to emerge, we need all these three tenets working hand in hand in a complimentary manner that will give rise to the highest form of ‘well-being.’
Peace can be commonly referred to an absence of aggression, violence or hostility, a state of absence of any war or conflict and any other possible scenarios that disturbs peace. Though, the concept broadens up when located within the domain of world affairs. Reflection on the nature of peace is also bound up with considerations of the causes for its absence or loss. Among these potential causes are: insecurity, social injustice, economic inequality, political and religious radicalism, and extremist nationalism. At the moment, tension is created from various corners. Peace cannot prevail in our state just through a ceasefire among the various warring factions. We need a far more real peace, which, I firmly believe, can only emerge (among various other factors) through a peaceful co-existence among the various tribes and clans. The dreaded ‘isms’ should be wiped off the face of humanity. Unless there is harmony among the various tribes and clans peace cannot prevail. There has been so much of dirty politics and distorted history. So much of civil unrest has been caused through recent developments related to the politics of ‘truth of knowledge’ claims resulting even in the ‘deconstruction of identity.’ Truths related to history cannot be claimed to be true unless it is substantiated by properly documented historical records and evidences. Our state has a large number of unions. Existence of various unions and organizations can keep a particular group of people or a community united. It also provides a platform to voice out certain concerns for a common cause but sometimes too much of it might act as breeding grounds for unhealthy contestations and hatred hugely impairing peaceful co-existence.
To Progress means to advance towards higher or better stage or better still, we even need to start for progress to take place. Progress can be in the areas of administration and ‘governmentality’, economy, Socio-cultural, infrastructure, games and sports, environmental, health care systems, various forms of media and education including research. First and foremost, each and every area starting from the most basic unit - family till the highest level of governance should act as responsible agents and not be a liability. The system of administration and ‘governmentality’ should be built on a model of power that works from bottom to the top, that power originates from the subjects and as such the ‘ruler’ or those people in ‘power’ derives power from the ruled or the subjects. The praxis of the former is pragmatics of lived experience while the latter is hypothetical assumption or a sort of philosophical propaganda. Though, both the lines of thought encompass politics of human relationship which revolves around two popular closely related terms – power and control. It should also be based on the belief that the exercise of power is legitimate only if it is determined by reasonable consensus among citizens. In this sense, reasonable consensus among citizens eliminates the autonomy of the exercise of power, provided conditions are ideal. Keeping in mind that freedom can only operate within limits, a Substantive freedom is pertinent for people’s participation in the government. It should also be reminded that the government is of the people, by the people and for the people and not a government for a selected ‘few.’ There is also an urgent necessity to construct new social models that would guarantee equality and justice for all. The law and order too, needs to be water tight and the law enforcing agencies should be vigilant against the temptation of creating ‘exceptional situation’ or ‘exceptions to the norm’ through the ‘extra-legal’ dimension of law itself which can act as easy passage for corruption to creep in.
Now how do we prepare for a booming economy? First and foremost, the economy of our state is crippled by problems of unemployment and poor economic opportunities which is also due to lack of large scale industries. Among various other indicators which can improve economy, I will point out couple of them. Firstly, a good number of our people are engaged in agriculture. Nothing can encourage this than to involve better technology to enhance agriculture and also provide ample avenues and spaces to make the agricultural produce marketable. Secondly, as far as possible, capital outflow from the state needs to be curtailed. We need at least couple of very good civil services coaching institute to check the outflow of capital. Every year a lot of students come to Delhi for taking up coaching which results in huge outflow of money. On the flip side, it is not just the bank rolls or bank savings that defines how healthy the economy is. It also involves being economical and using the resources at our disposal judiciously with a sense to preserve and renew. It is also pertinent to differentiate between needs and wants. It seems like we are still trapped in a moral dilemma over needs and wants. It is not what makes the world ‘rotate’ but what keeps the world going.
To further excel in games and sports, we need better infrastructure. By now we should have the infrastructural capacity to host at least the National games. Adequate Sports equipments should be provided in schools and colleges. Also, conducting coaching camps will go a long way in honing the technical skills and prepare sportspersons to compete in the international arena.
In view of global environmental concerns, preventive measures should not just exist but needs to be enforced to stop deforestation and the killing of wild birds and animals. Fakim wildlife sanctuary is the lone sanctuary of our state. The village councils can play an authorative role by banning killings especially the endangered species. Tourism also needs further promotion not just for commercialization but also to promote peace and harmony and also create opportunities to exchange knowledge of cultures with people from different countries.
On the medical front, fully functioning dispensaries, especially in the villages should be there. Technologically advanced machineries and equipments are required to tackle dreaded disease like AIDS, cancer and other globally alarming epidemics like bird flu and swine flu. On the information and broadcasting front, media houses, especially the print, should try to disseminate news with the objective of providing ‘knowledge for all.’ It is also quite unfortunate that due warrant has not been given to research studies. I fear, but our people still have a long way to go in understanding the value of education, specially, research. I don’t need to tell, how ‘sick’ our only university is, at the moment. It is high time that the state comes up with more encouraging measures to promote research studies. Written materials are vital tools to any historical records and research studies can develop skills to preserve our history and our rich legacy of oral literature and various analytical studies, which can be of historical importance or value oriented, in written form.
We are fortunate enough to have creative minds. It needs to be properly exploited and more sense of beauty should be developed. One should be averse to being affront to aesthetics. We should appreciate and try to inculcate the finer points of creative sense of aesthetics. In the field of music too, we are again fortunate to have talented singers but we also lack good songwriters and musicians who can create a different genre of Naga music which can find space in the music world.
How have we fared in terms of culture? The coming of Christianity eliminated the integral facets of our culture and also our rich legacy of oral tradition is fast disappearing as the raconteurs of oral literature are fast dying out. So, what is our present culture? How do we identify ourselves as a cultural group? How much do we garner values, ethics and morality through our culture? Our culture is slowly getting reduced to cultural costumes, folk songs and dances which is also mostly presented to satisfy commercial ends. Our prevailing culture has become so dislocated mainly due to hybridization. There is an urgent necessity to redefine our culture – our way of life within a universal framework, which the whole world can accept.
The Church too, has a large role to play in contributing to progress towards the ‘well-being.’ It should keep doing the good work of reviving the Christian teachings, rather than involve in politics. Our people need to inculcate civic sensibility, sense of belonging and should care for not just private properties but public properties as well. This begins with a small step towards caring for the ‘other.’ Nonetheless, all progress begins with a progressive mind.
Prosperity can be said to be a state of health, happiness, being successful, absence of poverty, insecurity etc. Most of us think that being prosperous means having plenty of money. It is not just material possessions, but rather a fulfilled heart and soul. We must go beyond the idea of ‘wealth’ and seek the values that will surmount to the general happiness. Most, regardless of the wealth, feel a serious lacking in our overall sense of well-being. On the individual level, we need a fresh approach and examine honestly what we really long for by separating from false desires or addictions. We need to create true prosperity in satisfying relationships and the kind of happiness not dependent ‘solely’ on possessions or circumstances. Such an attitude is paramount to live a happy contented life.
Coming to our culture, we have so far been quietly nestled comfortably in the idea that we have a unique culture not knowing exactly what makes our culture unique even in the face of changes, in time and cultural shifts. Of late we have been witnessing the emergence of totally different forms of culture. It seems to have taken a totally different direction - a faulty transition and sad to say, we have already lived out of our culture and identity. Lately there has been a huge infiltration of Korean culture into our society through Korean movies. One immediate effect is replicating their fashion and also whole new ideas on love and romance. I am just scared. We never know it might become our reference point, rather than our culture, of even defining what is good and bad. Here I introduce my idea of culture which can come within a universal framework. I feel that our culture–the Naga way of life, should be built on love, peace and most importantly truth. My romanticism of Naga culture being ‘love, peace and truth personified’ emerges out of this, that, in contemporary times, it may be more relevant and sensible to locate the uniqueness of our culture on love, peace and truth. It neither consists in unhealthy cultural contestations nor hybridization but rather a point of merger and unified emergence. This is where the Nagas can come together and not as fragments of a larger whole. I don’t want to commit a serious blunder by claiming ‘truth’ and objectifying my idea of uniqueness. There can also be looming Skepticism and skeptics might dismiss this thesis, seeing it as a possibility only in the noumenal world (The intellectual conception of a thing as it is in itself) or an impossible utopia.
Nagaland is ‘famine stricken’ and starving for Peace, progress and prosperity for long. At the moment, we are sailing in troubled water of crisis, social unrest, problems of unemployment, and the infiltration of anti-social elements into our society. Worst of all, the practice of corruption has reached a level, unimaginable even in the wildest dreams, the shameful culture of ‘palm greasing’ and the ‘juice is worth the squeeze’ attitude. The care for the ‘other’ no longer seems to exist as if everyone is engaged in their own race to beat the rest in the race for the survival of the fittest. We are not being-in-itself but being-for-others. But we also know that the process of nation building is not the absence of crisis, but the willingness to push on in the face of it, which calls for a very sincere and honest approach from each and every individual. A new generation of leaders will very soon take the mantle of leadership and we shall live as dignified people, as equals, where everyone shall be free to exploit their full potential. Let us also awaken from our dogmatic slumber and develop a sense of belonging and be proud of who we are and feel and act as responsible citizens, revive our work ethics and shed the attitudinal trend of ostentatiously ‘riding off into the sunset wearing ten-gallon hats’ towards an urgent resurgence of our sense and sensibilities.
In sum, this paper was not an (empirical) attempt to give an ultimate ‘truth,’ but a framework through which one can think and envisage various possibilities through which our people and our land will become more and more peaceful, progress more and become more and more prosperous that, we will always travel along the road towards becoming more and more well - The ‘well-being’ of our state and our people which can be said to be the ‘highest good.’
Asangba Tzudir
JNU, New Delhi
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