There once lived a colony of frogs in a well. One frog was the largest of them all. The other frogs would hear no end of the big frog boasting of his size and strength. One day, a new frog entered the well; naturally, the big frog cornered the new frog and started boasting about his size and strength. After hearing out the big frog, the new frog calmly said, “You are the largest frog I’ve ever seen, but you’re not as big as a cow.”Upon hearing this, the big frog got angry, puffed himself up and asked the new frog “Is a cow as large as I am now?” The new frog calmly replied, “No.”The large frog kept puffing himself up further and further, and every time he puffed himself up, he’d ask the new frog the same question, and every time, he got the same answer. This carried on until the large frog puffed himself up so much that he blew himself out of existence.
We Nagas have the same mentality of the large frog. Whether it concerns our village, range, clan, tribe, state or our knowledge; we just can’t seem to see beyond the narrow wells we live in. Within our village, we boast that our family is the richest or largest or has the most boys. Within our range, we boast that our village is the largest or has the most government servants. Within our tribe, we boast that our clan is the largest or has the most officers or most legislators. Within the state, we boast that our tribe is the most advanced, with the most civil service officers or doctors or engineers or legislators. And God help us when we gain some semblance of knowledge on something. We refuse to see beyond what we know. Everyone and everything has to be judged within the ambit of our narrow, one-track minds. We fail to see beyond the wells to the rivers, lakes, seas and oceans that exist outside our wells.
We build our palatial homes, fill it with all the gee-gaws and what-have-yous, purchase our luxury vehicles and strut around in designer clothes, while the rest of India looks upon us as the Beggar State of India. Every time we run short of money, we leave all our fancy trappings behind and go running to Delhi, with begging bowls in hand; knocking on the doors of the various Ministries, pleading for a handout. And they see us for who we really are; a caricature of a State and a People; living on borrowed money and borrowed time.
I paint this picture of us, not to derive any perverse sense of pleasure from it, but to bring awareness of how we are perceived by others, and what I feel we should do about it. With the upcoming Assembly Polls, we have another opportunity to try to bring some sort of change.
1. We have the staples in the N.P.F. Party and the Congress (I) Party, sort of the rice and dal of the Naga Political Meal. The B.J.P. Party is the chutney which is either going to flavour the meal or burn our mouths and a***s in the long run.
2. The recognition by The Election Commission of India of the Nagaland Congress adds a new twist; for though they taste of the Congress (I) party, the stink of sycophancy for the Gandhi family is missing and they could end up tasting better than they did before.
3. The formation of the Nagaland Chapter/Wing of the Aam Aadmi Party, with its Anti-Corruption Plank is interesting; for anti-corruption is a sorely needed ingredient in the Naga Political Meal; for just as iodine is added to salt to promote healthy mental development and prevent idiocy, absence of corruption is needed in Nagaland to promote the natural and healthy growth of our State, and to rescue us from the state of idiocy we seem to have fallen into.
4. The formation of the Liberal Democratic Party brings a new twist. Whether it is a fish or fowl remains to be seen; but the fact that it is comprised of young men who are sick and tired of the same meal of “Dal-bhat” should be a welcome change of taste.
I fear that the ultimate meal is going to be some combination with the B.J.P. Chutney. For if not, who is going to fill our Begging Bowls? But the very diversity gives me hope that the seeds are being sown for a better future. I am not for or against any one party; because, for all my sarcasm, I know that there are good and capable people in all parties. In an earlier letter, I had stated that we should vote for the individual candidate, not the party; I reiterate it again. Each of us knows the candidates that will be contesting from our respective constituencies. Vote for the person you believe will be willing to give a sympathetic ear to common grievances.
These are the wheat among the chaff. The chaff will be blown away in the goodness of time, and the wheat, across political affiliations, will make a wholesome meal for Nagas to grow on. Look for those that see beyond our wells to the seas and oceans of possibilities that await us.
