HORNBILL-" THE FESTIVAL OF CULTURAL GALORE"

Nagaland is a pleasing mountanious state in the northeast of India . No doubt that Nagaland is the " land of festivities" and is one of the major tourist attractions  located in the northeast .Nagaland certainly has everything to offer for every genre , but, if by any chance, you decide to come here or pop up here in the month of december , you are in for one of the greatest and  most pleasurable cultural festive experience of your lifetime. I am talking about the utterly prominent Hornbill festival.

Hornbill festival is one of the biggest festivals of Nagaland and is  certainly one of the most eagerly awaited festival of the state. Initiated in 2000, this festive event has become a principal festival in India's cultural calendar. 

It is a 10 day event celebrated every year in the first week of december and is profoundly regarded as the " festival of festivals." The aim of the event is to showcase the diverse cultures and traditions of Nagaland and protect them .

What makes the Hornbill festival so peculiar?

The festival showcases food fairs , craft exhibitions , local  tribal exhibitions and much more......so much that it cannot be expressed in words. 

The festival gets it's name from the Indian hornbill. However , the state's bird is Blyth's tragopan , but, Indian hornbill is a part of the folklore of almost all tribes of Nagaland.

While many people stay confused as Kohima being the exact venue of the hornbill festival , let me clear the bubble of confusion here , as the main venue of the festival is not kohima , but , naga heritage village, kisama which is about 12 kms south of kohima. Kisama is an open air musuem which showcases various aspects of Naga life. It offers a fascinating insight into the life and cultures of various naga tribes. 

An interesting part is that the 16 gates of the venue represent the 16 major tribes , which form the majority of nagaland's population. Each entry gate is distinct from the other and individualized with motifs of the respective tribes , so, a different kind of entry awaits for you at each entry.

Might come as a surprise to most, but , Naga is a dry state. and thus, expect no alcoholic consumption there since alcohol sale is prohibited. Still, if you want to go ahead with the idea, the only way left is to illegally arrange it and that is not a good idea at all. So, forget alcohol for some days and enjoy with an attentive mind this culturally enhancing festival.

The venue is a no plastic zone too.

What are the special things the festival  holds for us?

Though the festival extends for a long duration of a week , with continous activities to engage and impact you , the best of the best activities cannot be missed. 

Participants at the chilly eating competition

One of the most prominent and alluring competitions of the hornbill festival is the " chilly eating competition." Well, it is a one of a kind competition , and if you do participate , be ready for some running nose and spicy mouth.

Another famous competition is the pork eating competition and no prizes for guessing , participants take great pleasure in outperforming one - another.

Major highlight is definitely the Hornbill International rock festival. Expect the International bands to set the stage on fire. Since, it is one of the most celebrated festivals, expect music and dance to be on its peak. Some bands to have performed in the past are -

• Smokie- the british band
• Slain from bengaluru
• Jester from delhi.....

and many more.......

If music and dance does not inspire and entertain you or just basically not your cup of tea , Naga wrestling competition is another option. It is for people who love fights and wrestling. Do not anticipate or imagine  rash street fightings. With well planned ideas , fightings are done for entertainment purposes only . 

These i believe are enough reasons to be part of a one of a kind festival, and some would have already made up their mind for a visit to the prestigious hornbill festival. Therefore, Some things to be kept in mind before being a part of the epic cultural event are-

Expect crowd ,and by crowd i mean loads and loads of them because just like us , thousands and thousands want to relish this festival and be a part. Though, traffic jams are a part of everyday life in kohima but, heavy traffic jams are expected during the course or duration of the festival. 

Although , bookings are not necessary but advised to avoid any last minute hustle and bustle. 

Do bargain at the food stalls and souveneir shops to fetch the best deal since high prices are charged for services.

For every detailed information, an Information center near the venue location helps you out with ideal brochures listing the schedule , timings of events . Also, it details various other major attractions in Nagaland.

Pack your bags for the next early december and be a part of something you will cheish for life.

NORTH EAST INDIA - THE PREJUDICE THEY FACE

Youth of north east India

North East India , it wouldn't be wrong if we contemplate it as the most beautiful part of our nation. This part of India has given us nothing short of abundant reasons to be proud of. It is long due now that the north east Indians get the deserved respect and equality from the rest of the Indians in every each way. 

The big question is that when will all of India start accepting the fact that north east people are our very own people and they must be given the significance they should not even ask for in the first place. 

North east India comprises of Sikkim along with the profoundly famous seven sisters namely Assam , Mizoram , Manipur , Arunachal pradesh , Meghalaya , Nagaland and Tripura.

The people from north east India are very gifted and talented in some way or the other. They have produced gems for our country in every field such as sports , music , arts , dance and the count continues. Naming some of the prominent personalities to have made north east India proud are -

Mary Kom [ Woman Boxer]

Baichung bhutia [ footballer]

Angaraag Mahanta [ singer ]

Arnab Goswami [ journalist]

Somdev devvarman [ Tennis player]

Alobo Naga and the band 

And many more........

When it comes to Racism against north east Indians, even the most famous personalities claim to have experienced it.

Mary Kom accused the Indian referees and judges to have discriminated her on the basis of her race.

She Quoted - 

" Sometimes i feel very upset. Some of the referees and judges do not favour me but i don't mind. Okay,i am from north east, no problem, but, i am still an indian."

From left: Mary Kom and Pinky Jangra

The whole issue here was that the manipuri boxer lost to a fairly young Pinky jangra in the national women boxing championship held in haryana which seemed to be an easy route for her. Being rational to the whole situation, we must realise the fact that she had trailed her opponent for three of the four rounds. So, commenting everything in her favour would be an unfair deal.

In recent times, bigotry has reached to a different level against north east Indians. 

Why is it that many Indians still do not know or even if they know do not consider our very own people with the same dignity and respect ?

It has become so common in recent times that people especially in north India call foul names to people from north east India who have come here either for studies, work, earn a living and much more......

Delhi tops the list. Racism is done in various manners which are not acceptable or justifiable by any means or standards. People call names such as " chinki", " bahadur", "nepali", "momos", "chinese",......it is never ending......

Do we ever feel when we harasse them in any manner that it could put a worse and ever lasting impression of the rest of India on them ?

On what terms is it justifiable that we are racist to such innocent people ?

Just because tthey look different and practice different culture , does that give us the rights to be uncooperative and be rude to them ?

The biggest dilemma which i feel has created a barrier between northeast Indians and the rest of India is our mentality and not their looks. There are always some ill minded elements who treat the girls of northeast only as a sex symbol. Sexploitation is a huge no no for any girl facing it, does not matter from where you belong. 

Some futile minds believe that just because they wear short clothes or are much more comfortable in western ideas and clothings, thus, gives them an indication that they are easily approachable and would be interested in sex. 

In our country where women are given the position next to goddesses, does what we wear determine how we should be treated ?

If every northeast girl starts wearing full clothes from neck to toe , does that guarantee us no harassements ?


No. That does not . The fault is in our minds and thoughts.

My personal experience has also been quite disappointing where i have experienced people ill treat the north east youth.

I have a sweet and lovely friend from manipur and if u believe me she is nothing short of the cutest piece on earth. When she had first come to Delhi, and in college, she had this group project in the class. So , she was talking to this guy in her group about some project related thing and was finding it difficult to use the correct hindi word and pronounce it accordingly.After a while, this guy became completely irritated and very abruptly and in a rude tone of manner asked her to shut up and first learn hindi and then talk to him otherwise he will kick her out of the group.

She felt so bad about it. I asked her to leave that group and confronting that guy i asked him -

"OK! her hindi is weak ,but, she is trying right ...you are a well educated young guy " Can't you guys converse in english ?"

His reply was shocking for me - he said- " Aajate hain kahan kahan se yahan prr padhne "

What makes me so upset is the fact that the youth utters such words from their mouth.

Also, a recent case of racism took place when monika khangembam of manipur was harrased by a delhi officer at the airport after repeatedly questioning her nationality. 

MONIKA KHANGEMBAM

The officer looked at her passport and said you do no not look indian and continued to ask her stupid questions such as number of states in the country and states that border manipur. She posted this on facebook and drew attention and support of the nation. 

In a youtube video " The other Indians ", northeast students studying in delhi university stated - 

" If northeast India is all about small eyes , then, India is all about small minds."

Time has come and let us all join our hands to create an India which in it's true sense can be 
described as a united nation. 

To conclude , only coordinating some cultural events { now and then} and performing some theatre arts would not make a huge difference in the long run , but, our willingness to accept the northeast Indians as our Indian family and giving them the respect which has been long due would bring the change . The purpose of equality will only be assured the day every northeast Indian starts to feel at home in any part of the nation. 

LET US ALL PLEDGE TO CREATE ONE HAPPY AND PEACEFUL INDIA !