An Amazing Paradox

                     The Least is the Greatest (Luke 9:48)

                "GREAT" is such a hypnotising word that at the mention of it, one can easily lure vulnerable minds and snare them with the assurance of making them GREAT. Serious analysis of the deterioration of human morality and integrity, which ultimately ails the society, reveals the "Crave for Greatness". Every individual wants to become someone great in life. GOOD!, if your vision is Christ-centred and are willing to be a channel of God's blessings. The society has never needed God-fearing leaders more; people who can usher in the much needed CHANGE into our degrading society. Sadly, leaders have got their priorities and their understanding of God entangled in a web of speculation and pretence that however religious they try to be, they only become a menace to the society.

                               A leader is a follower of Christ.A person who does not humble himself before God and man can never truly become a leader.George Washington,the 1st President of the United States of America,had a regular time of prayer. Every night,at 9 O'clock,he would go into a room with a candle in hand,lock the door,kneel down and spend time with God.Needless to say,he would be praying for God's wisdom and guidance to lead the country in a way pleasing to Him and for the entire America.Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a one day fast for the entire America in reverence to the Lord and it is recorded that America sky-rocketed (even) economically thenceforth.That is the kind of leadership the world needs today.They set their priorities right.They had time for God and God took care of their presidency.

              Joseph was a dreamer,David,a shepherd.Esther was a captive in Babylon,Daniel and his three friends were just another four ordinary young men.They seemed to be the least but God exalted them to great heights.Their humility among men with faithfulness towards God made them the greatest.God does not play dice.When He says"The Least among you is the Greatest",He means it indeed.I am reminded of a quotation by Alexander Ledru Rollin,

                                                    "There go the people.

                                I must follow them for I am their Leader"

             Let us look at some characteristics of Leadership that Jesus possessed which many leaders of today fail to execute:

1..Jesus was a Servant King.Jesus was a leader who served people, unlike many leaders who love being served.

He went to the extend of washing His disciples' feet.The world would say "What a humiliation!!" but God says "What a leadership!!"

2..Jesus ‘literally’ led people.He was with them,helping them,caring for them,healing them.This BIG God became small enough to stoop and bend His ear to their cry.

3..Jesus never lost touch with His Father.He maintained His time of prayer.

4..Jesus walked the talk.Whatever He preached,He practised them.

5..Jesus treated everybody equally,with LOve.He showed no favouratism.

6..Jesus loved His enemies and He became obedient to death,even death on the cross.

7.Ultimately,He seeks personal relationship with every individual.

  So we need LEADERS who will

            Lead

Encourage

            And 

Develop 

Eternal 

RelationShip.

Sovereignty! Really?

I am neither a pessimist nor a turncoat but a realist.

I am referring to our demand for Greater Nagaland and our leaders' continuous nudge with the GOI and the subsequent compromise always. Nagaland is strategically too important for India that for the GOI to ignore our interest will be a blunder. Nagaland may be rightly called a 'necessary evil', we do not contribute to nation's economic wealth but GOI needs our land,I repeat again: our land, not the people. China is already strengthening its influence over India, well supported by their "String of Pearls" strategy. I'm not worried about the survival of Nagas after independence because China will take care of us. China will pour in so much wealth that we will be literally enslaved and our land will be used for further expanding their "String of Pearls" circle. And Needless to say, India is aware of that.

I gave myself the liberty of looking into the future assuming Nagaland to be an independent State. Introspecting the areas of governance and administration, the future does look promising but not without a string of hopelessness.

With 99.9% confidence, the form of government will be Communist (we don’t expect China to overlook this opportunity, do we?). One of the leaders then will be made the President, of course a rubber-stamp President who will be an arm of the command from the wealth provider. Military bases will be developed, basic, consumer goods and capital goods industries will spring up, primary sector will be strengthened to source these industries and tertiary activities will be organised. Tycoons will make their entry into the new market provided, ***** hotels will be built to accommodate them, better roads for their sophisticated cars, malls for their children and clubs and pubs for recreation. ‘Economy will bloom’ will only be an understatement.

What I am basically trying to say is Independent Nagaland seem like a distant dream to me. India will throw as much wealth needed and buy Naga leaders but never let go our land because they need Nagaland though they may not care for the Nagas.

But communism will stand on the ideology of communism. People’s voice will not be heard.

So stay with India: Underdeveloped but democratic, or embrace communism and bring in development?

Tradition Vs Doctrine ( Discrimination in the church?)

Often times I have wondered if the churches in Nagaland can be humble enough to come under one roof and sort out the differences hovering over them. I am ‘privileged’ to have had firsthand experiences of many tradition oriented practices plaguing the churches today and the misunderstanding among and within the churches in Nagaland. While some churches see praise and worship as an integral part of worship, it is seen as an “act of entertainment” in many others. Is praise and worship a prelude to the worship services or is it a part of it? I was practically stunned when a ‘theology’ student, during one of the practices confidently pronounced “we have crossed the ‘singspiration level’ but yet to reach praise and worship”. WHAT!!

While clapping is a form of worship echoing the Word of God (as told by a well-known preacher), some churches completely disapprove them. In fact some of them even try to convince the congregation into refraining from it.

The pastor suddenly paused his talking in the middle of a devotional Sunday service and I was laterally taken aback when, instead of continuing with his ‘shepherding’ the pastor ‘suddenly’ started WELCOMING someone into the church. Turning back I saw one of our ‘ministers’ making his heroic entry into ‘D church’, apparently very proud at the needless approval of the pastor. Are not churches supposed to be an institution of justice and moral voice of the people? Are not we justified in calling it ‘discrimination in the church’? Many churches in Nagaland bluntly refuse to be an epitome of equality.

Can the church give a proper guidance to the already disturbed and confused youth? The society confuses us, the media confuses us, the internet confuses us, music confuses us, the government confuses us, politics confuse us, and corruption confuses us. The youth today are entangled in a web of confusion. We want and need to be rescued. The more we try to set ourselves free, the more confused we become. Please don’t confuse us even more O! Anointed Church.

  

Are women really to be blamed for rape?

The remark of Andhra Pradesh DGP, V Dinesh Reddy is highly uncalled for and a mockery of uniform. Such a derogatory remark from the Head of Law & Order maintaining agency is serious breach of social conduct and a portrayal of one’s mindset on the stature of women in the society. How can one possibly blame the victim and appraise the accused?

Chidambaram made a very rational and a sarcastic statement, and earned another admirer. “.......as long as he or she has regards to the occasion, the place and the context. Obviously, you don’t wear a whole lot of clothes to play football or tennis and you don’t wear swimwear and go to a cocktail party”, a statement worth everybody’s respect.

What made the DGP’s remark abstruse was justifying the stand of the police against increase in rape. Police cannot be faulted for rise in rape? What! Who is he fucking with!! And women to be blamed for provoking men with fashionable clothing?. Let me make this clear to the DGP: Rape is definitely not one of the ways in which a woman would want satisfaction, and does he think that all women are sluts?. I am not a lady, but being another human being, I do identify.

Quoting Dinesh Reddy, “Rise in rape cases cannot be attributed to failure of the police. One of the factors (for rape cases) is that the accused are getting provoked as women are getting more fashionable, even in rural areas.......and if one studies the crime pattern....it is one of the factors provoking the accused.”

Just because the rapist blamed the girl while convicted, doesn’t mean the girl lured him with her dress. Why on earth would a woman ever wear a dress just to be raped! It makes no sense.

God has given us intelligence, not instinct, and with it comes conscience. If you are an animal, blaming the woman’s dress makes all the sense. I am with you, dear rapist.

And with his ‘unresearched ’ remark, Dinesh Reddy has marred his image, and  career beyond repair.

And I thought the government’s decision (to stall vote) was a blunder...;)

                                                                                                                                                                      

Lokpal Debate in Rajya Sabha: UPA-II's blunder?

 My View

“Power corrupts, but the prospect of losing power corrupts absolutely”- Ram Jethmalani (BJP)

I took the liberty of deciphering his statement, and my conclusion made sense (at least to me). UPA-II govt., apprehensive of the mounting pressure from the public and the feasibility of losing public support, drafted a Bill that created uproar in the Upper House making Shivanand Tiwari term it as “a disease worse than cancer”. And finally the decision to stall vote, in the backdrop of losing support, even from its alliances, was seen as murder of democracy (Trinamool) and a sad day for Parliamentary Democracy.

Called THE LOKPAL AND LOKAYUKTAS BILL, 2011, it created more obscurity and opposition than applause (over it being passed advocating public opinion, or rather Anna’s hegemony). While there were many points of discord, like violating the federal structure of the Constitution, the autonomy of the CBI, the appointment and removal of the Lokpal and bringing the lower bureaucracy under the ambit of the Lokpal, I am more intrigued by the Government’s decision to stall vote in the Upper House.

Arun Jaitley (AJ), perhaps made the best statement of the session, when he said “It is ironical that I am the leader of opposition but I am speaking for the majority”. Given the fact that the extended time period of the Winter Session expired at 12 midnight, AJ’s use of the word “choreographed” seem legitimate. The Parliament decides whether a Bill becomes an Act or not, it is the people’s representatives that decide what is best for the public. The Bill would have either been passed or killed, but the incident that unfolded in the Rajya Sabha is indeed a mockery of democracy, prompting political analyst Yogendra Yadav to describe the abrupt end as “match-fixing of the worst kind”

After all the drama, the fate of the anti-corruption bill can only be speculated. With all the considerations for, and against the bill debated in the floor of the House, what had happened was uncalled for, and presumably a blunder my UPA-II govt.. Going forth with the voting, despite the certainty of losing, would have given the govt. the much needed favor of the public, but its decision has marred the govt., and rebuilding its image before the next election will be a challenge, more so with Anna campaigning against them.

But why was the Chairman, Hamid Ansari not conclusive when asked whether the business of the House would remain in continuity post 12?

North Easterners not respected in Delhi.Rational?

Being exposed to print media hardened me, enough to make a pro-North East activist out of me. The infamous “chinkies” tag associated with the North Easterners reached my ears before I reached Delhi, making it all the more easy and logical for me to brand the Indians ‘racists’. While the contravention cannot be justified, credibility lies in looking over the other side of the hedge. Coming to Delhi enabled me to decipher the “made to believe” one-sided argument.

Never been good at it, but let me try to reconstruct the event.
Apparently, it started as a Christmas Eve “get-together”, with a little modification though, Bible out, liquor in.  And with alcamahol rapidly finding its way into their breadbaskets, floodgates of insanity were thrown open and it was just going to be a matter of time before mayhem overran them.  

It was 3:30 in the morning, 25^th December when the “fun” actually began. All I could hear was ‘’WHAT THE HELL” and “FUCK”. Curiosity got the better of me, making me master the cold, and what I saw knocked the breath out of me. Naga women screaming, and hurling abuses at one another, men unsuccessfully trying to conclude peace, rampant Nagamese being flung at one another. As I shamefully studied the surroundings, all I saw was sea of faces hooked on to the scene from their balconies. If I were to raise a tower with words, “FUCK” alone would have easily challenged the Tower of Babel. Were they seriously fucked up that they literally fucked Nagaland on the street of Delhi?

I am talking about the incident that occurred at a locality mostly inhabited by IAS aspirants, a place where more than half of the Indian states find their representations. Previously, I had tried to understand the reason for the attitude of the Indians towards the North Easterners. A reply from a friend from Uttar Pradesh disarmed me against any good comeback. Co-habitation or the infamous “live-in relationship” which is prevalent among the North Easterners(in Delhi) is seen by the others as being inherent in our very society. 

However the most humiliating part of the already humiliating assembly of boorish Nagas, was the “MERRY CHRISTMAS” wish, as they departed. It would be more reasonable to say the sun revolves round the earth than to explain the true meaning of Christmas to the hundreds of Indians who, by now, will have heard of the “Christmas” of the Christians.

For the record, even if no Nagamese was spoken, any Naga would know they were Nagas.


Come what may, we are never letting our accent go, are we?...HAHAHA...

The Naga phonetics:Serenity in turbulence

 A layman's observation

One doesn’t have to be a professor in English (not even a graduate in fact) to notice the injustice that is being done to the language.  English is not our mother tongue and apparently, Nagas speak better English than more than 4 billion people on earth, but the variety in speech that is being offered is perhaps native to Nagaland.

“His pro-NOUN-ciation is so bad” A ‘well-educated’ Naga, with a touch of sarcasm, whispers to me. Self-control stopped me from screaming “ cme’n dude, at least learn to criticize others. You can’t be that dumb that you end up criticizing yourself in trying to gossip. That’s obsolete“. We pro-NOUNce, but his pro-NUN-ciation is bad, not his pro-NOUN-ciation.

It literally took me 19 years to realize the ‘tag’ that had been associated with me, being born and brought up in a Konyak influenced society. But being exposed to the diversity of languages made me sensitive to the same problem faced by fellow Nagas. Constructive criticism is never an aversion and more so because I belong to the same community, my critiques may be forgiven. My observation is based on deduction, rather than induction. 

More than 90% of the Konyaks still do not know that “WE” and “V” are phonetically different. While Zunheboto is proud of being the source of “h”, Mon is unhappy over being devoid of its share, because while it is “shorom” (shame) for the Zunhebotoeans, it is “worsip” (worship) for the Monites. We go to “college” Monites, not “collese” and “message” is preached, not “messase”. My “non-Konyak” friend had to come to my rescue seeing me struggling for words, after being asked “Do you know any music sop in kohima?”And while some eat “moomoo”, others wear “fascrack” sun glasses. If “sossess” identifies with Kohima, “pRRRRogRRRess” definitely is for wokha.

I think English has never been subjected to modifications of such a degree in any other part of the world, than in Nagaland. But we have always been excellent modifiers right? People come to conquer but whoever invaded Nagaland had been victimised always, if not physically, culturally.

But can the English speak any of the Naga dialects? NO!! They can never. Be proud fellas, we did what others could have never done.

We deserve a BARDY for that, I mean PARTY.