[dropcap]A[/dropcap]S expected, Dimapur has the largest registration of 15 bands, so far, for NSACS Zero. As with the previous years, the Dimapur auditions yet again saw many amazing bands, talented musicians and diverse styles and a mammoth crowd cheering their favorite band. Before the auditions began, Brand Ambassadors, ‘Clueless Attention’ performed some of their originals for the enthusiastic audience. Paper Sky emerged the winners while Four Fields and Placid Pinch came in second and third, respectively.A special announcement was made by Ms Ayieno Kechu, Deputy Director NSACS, that, with Dimapur having the largest number of participants over the past five years, it will select the first runner-up of the Dimapur audition to also go through to the finale.
This she said, was to encourage the music fraternity for their enthusiastic support and participation over the years, and made a request to them to continue to partner with NSACS in the days to come to achieve the vision of ‘Getting to Zero’; zero new infection, zero AIDS related deaths and zero stigma and discrimination.
She also gave a brief talk about the scenario of HIV/AIDS in the district of Dimapur. She mentioned that more than 50% of HIV infection, in Nagaland, was from Dimapur district and encouraged the audience to ‘talk about HIV/AIDS and the issues related to it, because there is a lot of stigma attached, even to the topic.
Stressing on the point that there is no cure for HIV, she cautioned the audience to “be safe, be careful and make the right choices” because one wrong move or bad decision could scar their lives forever.
