On CHIZAMI
Dr. Syeda Hameed
Member Planning Commission.
I had never seen the shades of green that unraveled before my eyes as the car
revved up the winding mountain road. It was a verdant world of greenest of
green and bluest of blue. Pillows of white fluff were thrown here and there for
cloud which ran along with me all the way from Kohima to Chizami.
Nagaland. A small state tucked away in the North East which is too far, too
remote too unconnected. Ask anyone, your neighbour, your chemist, your
mechanic. Chances are it has never crossed their mind. Only exception is when
momentarily the eye glides over news headlines; NSCN, ceasefires, protests,
demands for Nagalim. On the cultural front there is greater recall; Naga
costumes in brilliant colours, dances, war hoops and war cries. This
essentially is all we urbanites know about Nagas.But I was more fortunate. Not
only Kohima and Dimapur I had the good fortune of visiting Chizami.
It is situated ninety kilometers from Kohima through a winding mountain road.
I dont like mountain roads; have never enjoyed car journeys to hill stations.
But had I gone on a chopper I would never have seen the slender bamboos rising
through dense forest cover and the plethora of colours splashed on green
foliage; poinsettias, hibiscus, bougainvilleas, and scores of varieties of
orchids. I recall when I was a small girl my brother in law, a brigadier in
Indian army, was posted in a place which I could hardly locate on the map. My
sister wrote inland letters to Kohima. Fifty years later I was to travel to
that very place. Visit to Nagaland completed my parikrama around the North East.
My friend Monisha Behal had been regaling me with stories about Chizami for
two years. She had started working in Nagaland with women and youth on issues
of health. She had a small core group of women Chizami Womens Society, women
who dreamed of improving the lot of their people. They worked from homes. Then
someone gifted them a piece of land. A resident of Chizami, N. Lohe had watched
them working for two years. Their dedication and commitment won his trust. He
had a piece of land on the hillside. North East Network Resource Centre,
Chizami thus came into being. Villagers of Chizami donated materials and
labour. Seno a woman from the village became the focal point and moving spirit.
The building came up like a crest rising from the mountainsinspiring,
promising.
Its sight is pleasing. With sloping roof and cheerful façade it is an emblem
of communitization a new concept of community ownership which has taken root
in Nagaland. The careful arrangement of rows of marigolds lining the various
paths which led up to the main building is a visual feast. The place was
buzzing as if it was the centre of the universe. Momentarily, that universe was
also mine!
Chizami is all about the President of Indias theory of PURA (Provision of
Urban facilities in Rural Areas). Bringing urban facilities to rural
hinterlands is to give youth a level playing field and incentive to stay on
instead of flocking to cities like Kohima and Dimapur. It is a centre for
village youth where they can work and play; where they can get involved with
village developmentfrom health and education to handlooms and handicrafts. No
magic mantra, just simple common sense of engaging young men and women in
development, giving them a sense of ownership and responsibility. This is what
I saw as the spirit of Chizami. I saw many 12 to 14 year olds called green
volunteers rushing around. These were kids from the village who had come to
the centre to offer their services and be part of the grand endeavor.
I learnt that villagers had to cut 139 trees to construct the centre but had
already started planting tree for tree. 43 had been planted already and the
rest will be planted soon, all fruit trees. The building has been carefully
designed by a young woman architect; she designed a structure which would
include many existing trees and plants. We sat on a platform built entirely of
green bamboo. Our audience, villagers of Chizami, sat on the mountain slopes, a
unique natural amphitheatre. Boys and girls appeared in their Chakkesang
regalia. Music and dance seemed to flow down the slopes. A Naga skit told the
story of a dying mother with three sons, each wanting to be her heir. The dying
woman was Earth and her three sons were Tiger, Devil and Man. She did not want
her inheritance for her tiger son who would eat everything in sight, or her
devil son who would trick, mislead and spread canard. It was only her man-son
who could preserve the heritage and save the earth. So man
inherited the earth. What he did with it was beyond the scope of the skit. The
point of the play was respect for environment and ecological consciousness of
Naga youth.
Members of the Village Development Board accosted me. In November we are
going to commission our very own hydro electric project which will generate 200
kvs. After our needs are met there will be surplus. Will you help us to set up
a mini industrial park for the youth of Chizami? It will give them skill
development. We can teach them woodwork, food processing, granite, even gems
Big plans were unfolding before me. I looked at the young girls and boys
rushing around the campus, bright faces full of laughter and fun. Just the
right age to learn and benefit from these schemes being devised by their
elders!
At lunch I was served the best Black Forest cake I had tasted anywhere in the
world. There was no oven. So we used hot sand to bake. Athsole confided. I
marveled at their innovativeness.I left Chizami, laden with jams, preserves,
juices made by young women and men from local pineapples, guavas, passion
fruit, amlas, with help of Zinobia Schroff of Mumbai. It was 4 PM. In the east
the sun sets early. Mountains wear a different look. Happy faces lined the
hillside to wave goodbye. I left with regret which stems from being wrenched
away too soon when you are having a good time! I decided then to remain linked
with these people, women and men who aspire to bring development to their
village without disturbing their equation with their natural surroundings.
Partha Gogoi < @yahoo.com> wrote: Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 20:28:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Partha Gogoi < @yahoo.com>
Subject: Fwd: Something on Nagaland
To: Network <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Friends <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Umesh Sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Friends,
This is positive stuff about Nagaland. There are too many stereotypes existing
- it is
refreshing to see reports like this.
Note: forwarded message attached.
Partha Gogoi
Fairfax, VA
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do
than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe
harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover
-Mark Twain
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.phpDate: Sat, 31 Mar
2007 18:57:39 +0530
From: "Monisha Behal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Partha Gogoi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
"Ankur Bora" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Something on Nagaland
Dear Partha and Ankur
Attached is an article of Dr. Syeda Hameed, Member of the Planning Commission
of India on her first visit to Chizami in Nagland. She witnessed the
inauguration of the NEN Resource Centre in October 2005. The chief guest was
Shri Shyamal Dutta, Gov of Nagaland. I first met Dr. Hameed when she came to
Tezpur to conduct a public hearing through Tezpur Mahila Samiti in 1999.
Eversince then she has been a great supporter of the NEN and its women too. I
hope you can circulate this article to your friends who might be interested to
see something on Nagaland.
Best
Monisha B.
--
Chairperson
North East Network
J.N Borooah Lane,Jorpukhuri
Guwahati,Assam
PIN 781001,India
Telephone:(91-361) 2603833, Telefax:(91-361) 2631582
Website: www.northeastnetwork.org
Umesh Sharma
Washington D.C.
1-202-215-4328 [Cell]
Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
---------------------------------
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