Help preserve our legacies
By: Kuldip Nayar
Article published on 1/31/2009 1:16:36 AM IST	Font Size:
After almost twenty years, I visited Tuli town this Christmas to be with my ailing father who now lives there. Tuli is a small town where I spent all of my childhood days with my family. The winter holidays were famous because Tuli seemed to be a warmer place those days than the rest of the places we knew at that time. There were not many people living in Tuli when we were there, (our family being one of the early settlers), so everyone seemed to know everyone and every neighbour happened to be some kind of a relative. The loving-living atmosphere was heavenly and life seemed to be a never ending party through out the whole winter holidays. We lived there amongst nature and everything that she had to offer and whenever it was time for us to pack-up, bid adieu and go back to wherever my father was posted at that point of time till the next winter holiday, it was always a sad ordeal. As I approached Tuli Town, I felt an overpowering sense of dejavü when I started breathing in the air around me, smelling of the same sweet earth that I once knew so well. Later in the evening, as I sat in the balcony by the fire-place as we always do while in Tuli, I could not believe my eyes. Tuli was no more the small back in the bush town that I once knew, Tuli had evolved and had become beautiful. The town was litted-up to its full glory .It was simply magic. It was Christmas time and Tuli was all geared up for the great celebration. Through out the night the revelers filled the decorated streets of Tuli and Tuli became a” town that never sleeps”. It was simply wonderful – Tuli was transformed into a mini New York Times Square. It was simply awesome. But the grand finale of the Christmas celebration was yet to be unveiled. Come 25th morning, and at the break of dawn, the revelers came out marching to the streets to the tune of their own brass bands, all dressed in wonderful uniforms and costumes. This was a competition march where every “Ward” participated. Children, Youth, parents, elders – everyone living in Tuli town came out to the streets to celebrate. This was truly something out of this world – totally mind blowing. This was indeed a Christmas Carnival that could easily measure up to all the carnivals of Goa or even to all of those world famous Latin American Carnivals that people talk about. If only the Tourism Dept. of Nagaland could promote this Christmas celebration of Tuli as a Christmas Carnival and include it in their calendar of events,I am convinced that it will be one of the biggest steps that the Government will have ever taken towards the promotion of tourism in Nagaland as a State which celebrates Christmas. I have no intention to malign or criticize anyone but like every Naga, I also grew up learning the right from wrong by the corrections and remarks made by friends and parents and I was also taught to do the same and I believe that is how we grow up to be better persons, therefore in the same spirit I wish to relate a very sad incident which I witnessed during my stay at Tuli which left a very bad taste in my mouth. Just a few days before Christmas, the river flowing through Tuli and all the adjoining villages which is the main water-source for all the inhabitants of that area – the people, the animals, the crops and the vast vegetation, was totally poisoned because of the fact that all living creatures living in the waters started dying for no rhyme or reason. Every time we walked passed the river, we saw fishes, crabs and all tiny water insects, all dying and floating all over the river. Initially I was quiet alarmed by such a sad sight and thought of calling up some of my nature loving friends who are very much into promoting eco- tourism and the beauty of Nagaland but the villagers told me that it was not an epidemic nor some un-natural phenomenon, they said that the chief minister of Nagaland and his party had come on a fishing/camping trip. It was the aftermath of the picnic that we were experiencing. The reason why I chose to stand up and write about this incident is to bring home the fact that the people of Tuli have on their own come up a long way on the road to social and cultural enlightenment. The parents may have been un-educated but their children are at par with children of the more fortunate of our society. You only have to see to believe that the people of Tuli” have arrived”. Therefore at such a crucial time of learning, if the elite, educated leaders of our society while on a flying visit to this small town display such irrational acts for all to see, perhaps someone like you and I will have the presence of mind to realize that they are revealing their own true colours and feel disappointed and betrayed but for most of the innocent villagers who look up to their ministers like their mentors /leaders/teachers; – do you think they are going to see their leaders in their true colours or are they going to imitate and carry on with what they learnt during their Chief Minister’s Picnic Party? In conclusion, I will really appreciate if like-minded people would come forward in support of stopping the poisoning of our rivers and our waters in the name of fishing which we all know that we can always fish in a more rational way. May our conscience speak to us and help us in guiding our hearts and our minds.
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