FLY ON THE ‘MEANINGLESS WINGS.

“Air India has imprinted the picture of Ao Naga shawl in its aircraft.” Now, how does one look and also react to this at the prospect of seeing ‘Tsungkotepsu’ – The Ao Naga traditional shawl flying atop the wings of Air India Aircraft? Its good, its bad… But I’ll leave it open-ended, for you to say. My question goes beyond the yes-no domain and raises certain issues related to epistemological trespassing which demands due warrant. Firstly, the Ao Naga traditional Shawl have been imprinted on the body of the Air India aircraft without the permission of the Nagaland Government, as reported in the Nagaland Post, dated 29th March 2010. On concerns about permission and channel… since the Shawl belongs to the Ao Naga tribe, what about the consent of the Aos and for that matter, the highest governing body of the Ao’s – The Ao Senden? I think, there has to be a proper consensus between the Government of Nagaland and the Ao senden and concerned unions and units (possibly) on this issue of legitimate permission. This is a serious case of hijacking of our culture on the part of the Air India. At the moment, the word ‘hijacking’ might sound synonymous with a cannonball but what if some larger integral aspect of our culture is hijacked in the near future…Shall we wait for a larger scale hijack?

The paper further carried, “We are glad that they are popularising our culture, and it is the pride of the Nagas that the picture of Ao Naga shawl has been used on the body of the aircraft” Rio said. This disturbing statement triggers my second concern. In this context, I have certain reservations on the idea and issue of ‘popularising’ culture. I won’t call it popularising unless it is properly represented. Even in terms of gaining popularity, how can anyone other than our people know just through the design that is a Ao Naga traditional shawl? As of now, it stands nothing more than a misrepresented design for cheap publicity. The world knows Taj Mahal as a monumental Architectural marvel and Peacock as the National bird of India. But what about our shawl? Can the Air India “accommodate” the essence of the rich cultural heritage inherent in the ‘Tsüngkotepsü’ or even write something on the design as a marker of the identity of the shawl. They are just interested in the ‘eye catching’ design rather than representation of the traditional essence of the shawl. Pray, it does not happen but we never know, what if the Air India patents the design of the shawl? We won’t be able to use or put on even our own shawl. Our culture was never a showpiece culture. It was fully embedded with rich values – moral as well as aesthetics.

Contemporary times and trends have opened up various forms of commersialisation and commodification devoid of a human face, without any consideration for the moral and cultural values. A serious reflection is thus pertinent.

- Asangba Tzudir
JNU

Community and Resurgence of moral values in an age of globalization.

In this era of the so called globalization, materiality has taken precedence over moral values. The very idea of being good, goodness, goodwill, responsibility, care and concern for the other has been thrown into the dustbin of history. As the title suggests, the intent of this paper is an attempt to regenerate community and moral values in an age of globalization. Wendell Berry in his book “Conservation and local economy” gives a strong claim that the end to disintegration of community can be made possible through the resurgence of local economy. I am skeptical about local economy bringing an end to disintegration of community, which is quite romantic. So my contention is that the problem lies in culture and I bring in the allegory of marriage as understood and seen in the contemporary times. Nonetheless, I do, subscribe to his definition of community as it includes both people and place which is characterized by responsibility towards one another and also responsibility to the land. This sense of community is threatened by globalization, which is dangerous because it exalts the individual over community and exploits the land. I would like to trace back to liberal teaching coupled with some basic Christian perspectives so as to preserve community as well as to regenerate Good in an era of globalisation.

According to Berry, community is a “neighborhood of humans in a place, plus the place itself.” It is noteworthy that Berry uses the term neighborhood to describe a community, because neighborhoods imply the belonging - to people and to place - of members who not only know each other, but depend upon each other. Virtues like cooperation and responsibility are vital to being neighbors; the community is not merely a geographical region, but a participation in the very act of neighboring itself. In this sense there is some kind of a harmonious existence among the members of the community.

Globalization poses many threats to the community. The global worldview conflicts with the kind of intimate and neighborly relationships of people to each other and to the land as it gives priority and exalts the individual over the community. This has become the mantra of modernity. The global worldview detaches us from responsibility and living as a community. This is highlighted in John Milton’s ‘paradise lost’ and the fall of man, when Eve, in order to “achieve what might lead to happier life,” breaks communion with God, her husband, and the whole purpose of creation. Milton accounts that God made eve superior and Adam inferior. Eve proposes that the garden being too big, they should work in different parts of the garden. This can be aptly translated as the emergence of ‘I’ the ‘self,’ ego and pride. The idea here is not just the ethics of working together but what emerges out of working together. The world today prioritizes utility over responsibility with the empty promise of achieving personal happiness by material means, thereby negating human dignity and moral responsibilities.

The capitalist framework concerns production and consumption and not the growth or even the preservation of community. Thus, Community cannot survive in an age of globalization. For Berry, the only thing that can save community is this local economy – an effectual end of globalization. This is largely because, for Berry, economy is community. But globalization, I presume, is not going anywhere. I am now concerned with how communities can resist the disintegrating forces of globalization, and how the ingredients of community i.e. responsibility towards each other and land can be preserved. I am convinced that the problem facing the survival of community warrants a different approach rather than economic solution and so liberal education and certain Christian perspectives might offer some solution.

People must relearn the meaning of “good,” and consequently, the significance of community character. It seems to me that this task falls to liberal education and certain Christian teachings. People have lost sight of the dignity and calling of community which is clearly illustrated by the modern approach to marriage, which has fallen prey to utility and not love. Marriage has become another global gimmick to satisfy personal desires and to meet personal needs. In a way, the individual is exalted instead of the community and thus in most cases it becomes a contract of ‘mutual exploitation.’

So how are liberal education and certain Christian perspectives, a solution to the disintegration of community? Firstly, liberal education teaches us to embrace value, and make us capable of empathy and also awaken to the realm of human dignity. Secondly, Christian perspectives like, love your neighbor as yourself can create a kind of community bonding. The former can teach us the good and the latter can teach us to embrace it. In sum, the problem threatening community is not entirely economic, but cultural, which I suppose, stems from our detachment from our being as humans to be responsible for each other and for the land we belong to. The task then is to invoke the intellect and recognize the good of the community in providing dignity and meaning to human life which can inspire a desire for the good. Community will only survive in an age of globalization if people are taught how to value it and why to strive for it.