{"id":2758,"date":"2019-02-04T18:21:34","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T12:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=2758"},"modified":"2019-02-04T18:24:30","modified_gmt":"2019-02-04T12:54:30","slug":"how-a-naga-tribe-is-challenging-cliched-notions-of-advancement-backwardness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/how-a-naga-tribe-is-challenging-cliched-notions-of-advancement-backwardness\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Naga tribe is challenging clich\u00e9d notions of advancement, backwardness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_68 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >What's Inside this Blog!<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/how-a-naga-tribe-is-challenging-cliched-notions-of-advancement-backwardness\/#Relevant_for_Sociology_Essay\" title=\"Relevant for Sociology &amp; Essay.\">Relevant for Sociology &amp; Essay.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/how-a-naga-tribe-is-challenging-cliched-notions-of-advancement-backwardness\/#UPSC-CSE_2019-20_FOUNDATION_TEST_BATCHES_WILL_START_JUNE_2016\" title=\"UPSC-CSE 2019-20 FOUNDATION &amp; TEST BATCHES WILL START JUNE 2016\">UPSC-CSE 2019-20 FOUNDATION &amp; TEST BATCHES WILL START JUNE 2016<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Relevant_for_Sociology_Essay\"><\/span>Relevant for Sociology &amp; Essay.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"UPSC-CSE_2019-20_FOUNDATION_TEST_BATCHES_WILL_START_JUNE_2016\"><\/span>UPSC-CSE 2019-20 FOUNDATION &amp; TEST BATCHES WILL START JUNE 2016<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>This new year, let\u2019s embrace advancement by looking beyond the constructed narrative, shrugging off generalisations, and learning from one another\u2019s transformative ideas and cultural wisdom, even those in faraway corners.<\/li><li> Mon. The name will not ring a bell for most of us. The land of the last legendary head-hunters, this picturesque district of Nagaland, running along the Myanmar border, is one of the remotest in the country. Mon is also typically considered one of the most \u201cbackward\u201d districts. In my one year of work and stay at Mon, I, however, have often felt compelled to contemplate on what it really means to be backward. Having grown up in one of the most prosperous and well-administered parts of India \u2014 in and around Chandigarh \u2014 and having lived in two megalopolises \u2014 Boston and London \u2014 I thought I knew what it means to not be backward. The people of Mon, belonging to the Konyak Naga tribe, continuously challenge my hitherto held clich\u00e9d notions of advancement and backwardness. I share the story of one such subversion. <\/li><li> One of the grandest annual celebrations in Mon is the \u201cLao-Ong Mo\u201d, a post-harvest festival of the Konyaks. I too was invited to express gratitude to the divine spirits for the bountiful harvest by way of praying, singing, dancing and feasting. It was a spectacular affair, attended, inter alia, by a posse of political leaders, senior government officials, heads of village councils and local unions. The feast was a gastronomical delight \u2014 tables groaning under the weight of an endless array of dishes, prepared from the freshly harvested produce. But more than the colourful cuisine, it was the unique dining experience that struck a real chord. As I walked into the dining hall, a bearer, decked in her traditional finery, handed me a beautifully woven bamboo food tray. The tray was shaped quite like a North Indian thaal\/thaali, sturdy yet light to hold. It was lined with fresh green leaves. After I had finished eating, another equally charming bearer swiftly cleared away my tray. I followed my gentle helper, out of curiosity, to the room meant for disposal. I saw her upturn the tray into a large waste bin, also made of bamboo. The leaves had been lined on the trays with such skill that they fell into the bin as a neat little packet with all the waste food secured inside, without any of it soiling the tray, and without the cleaner having to touch any leftovers. The trays were being collected for sunning and reuse. <\/li><li> As per the Konyak tradition, an anti-oxidant rich black tea, called \u201cphika\u201d is served after food. I was again thrilled to find my steaming phika cha poured into a disposable glass, carved out of bamboo stem. Such a seamlessly biodegradable pattern of food consumption was a first-of-its-kind experience. I was also one of the luckier guests, who received a gift hamper of local produce. Recently harvested millets, spices and vegetables were meticulously packed in firm packets made of palm leaf, and all the packets were tucked inside a beautiful sturdy bamboo basket. Not a speck of plastic was used in the otherwise usual guzzlers \u2014 feasting and packaging. <\/li><li> Generally, public events of such scale, both in India and abroad, would generate an abominable quantity of non-biodegradable waste. Material prosperity, associated with high-end retail and luxurious lifestyles, but built on toxic and unsustainable consumption patterns, may not quite be a sign of advancement. For instance, Starbucks\u2019 reported consumption of plastic, of which the straws alone annually contribute 2,000 tonnes of plastic to the world\u2019s oceans, is exacerbating global menaces like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and threatening the marine ecosystem. <\/li><li> At the end of the festival, I scanned the vast ground and the massive dining hall and found not a trace of refuse. I stood there for a while, immensely satisfied to have had my stereotypes about \u201cbackwardness\u201d take a beating, yet again. It was a powerful reminder that true advancement must encompass the good sense to clean up after ourselves and the thoughtfulness to adopt consumption patterns generating as little waste as possible. <\/li><li> My experiences in Mon regularly reveal to me that there is more to every story and so much to learn in places one might little expect. This new year, let\u2019s embrace advancement by looking beyond the constructed narrative, shrugging off generalisations, and learning from one another\u2019s transformative ideas and cultural wisdom, even those in faraway corners. <\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Relevant for Sociology &amp; Essay. UPSC-CSE 2019-20 FOUNDATION &amp; TEST BATCHES WILL START JUNE 2016 This new year, let\u2019s embrace<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,114],"tags":[535,540],"class_list":["post-2758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","category-sociology-optional","tag-essay","tag-sociology"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2758"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2760,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758\/revisions\/2760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}