Al Ngullie
Dimapur, May 17
The story of Tovali Zhimomi Vitsu’s foray into business is ‘fishy,’ to say the least. The young entrepreneur and her family share a profound passion for angling. That was where it all started for this new member of Dimapur’s business community.
‘Outdoor’, and adventure equipment and camping sports store in Dimapur, has been generating noticeable buzz among outdoor-and-adventure lovers of Dimapur, Kohima and Mokokchung.
Sitting quietly near Little Star School in PWD, the cozy little store is one of the most novel facility outlets in the state yet – it peddles purely in adventure sports equipments and rough-out kits. The equipments range from angling bits to camping rigs, trekking kits to boat floats. For a state that has no adventure tourism support sector worth its name, Tovali Vitsu was more than brave when she decided to wade into an area that promised an uncertain ‘commercial future’ only.
After completing her education, Vitsu started business, about 6 months ago. Fishing was the inspiration: “My family and my brothers are so interested in it. But I found that even if we wanted to go (for outdoor activities), we always have had to go out outside, like Guwahati to buy the kits,” she explained. Her joining the unique line of services was her upbringing in an environment. Her environment was one that appreciated outdoor activities. That the Nagas share affinity with outdoor life and nature was a natural contribution to her decision to open Outdoor, the store she mans now. According to her, a Naga person’s association with nature is relative in both the context of livelihood and adventure. “It is not only for camping or trekking, but it is in our blood. So I thought why not make the facility available in one roof?”
Another reason for which she decided to opt for business was that there was too much of “big rush” in the government employment sector. After she completed her education from Shillong and Guwahati, her family responded with the ‘natural’ option for her: get a government job, and get busy with some competitive examinations. She decided otherwise.
“It is a big rush there,” she said, in that everyone and everybody was adding to the rush for government jobs. “These days you can afford to be choosy.”
Her aspiration for now is modest. Having started just several months ago, Vitsu isn’t complaining about Outdoor. “It is OKAY for now. Adventure is not for every people. It is not like fashion; fashion is totally different. For In adventure, not many people many know the brands or the quality that differentiates one gear from the other. People who use them (in rough-outs) regularly know the difference but most people don’t,” she said, referring to the nascent but growing interest in adventure tourism in Nagaland.
The young businesswoman hopes to engage in competitive quality and economic ranges to enable the offering of the store to people who love adventure and outdoor life. She cited an instance that some people in the state were selling gears at exorbitant prices when the same items could be had at a much more affordable price elsewhere. For instance, angling kits that were being sold in Nagaland in the price range of Rs. 8, 000 to Rs. 10, 000 when the same gear were being sold for Rs. 3, 000 elsewhere. “Why should that be? There should b a limit,” an annoyed Vitsu said.
“What I think, is that the Naga people are really getting into business these days – they are opening restaurants, electronics shops etc. It is a good thing because these days you can’t afford to be choosy; you have to find whatever you can have and do whatever you can (to make the best out of it,” Vitsu said. “And you have to do what you are good at.”
To put the Naga business community into context, the well-spoken and smart entrepreneur had no doubt that the local economy was now being controlled entirely by non-local membership. She felt that the Nagas must now learn from the ‘others’ and use the same knowledge to take back the fort.
“They (non-locals) are controlling the economy. There are many Nagas too in business but I see that most of them are in partnerships. We Nagas should get some ideas from them, start learning from them, and control our own local economy,” Vitsu said. She felt that the locals have been dominated “from the beginning till now.”
Tovali Vitsu is the eldest of 6 children – one younger sister and two brothers. She has modest goals for Outdoor, her enterprise, for now. However, for the community she has joined newly – the Naga business community – she hopes that the Naga entrepreneurs would one day come up in business to take control of their own resources, assets and economy.
