Message in music: Naga GenNext yearns for peace

Tribal divisions, endemic corruption and unending insurgency have made Nagaland's GenerationNext restless. They want to heal the divisions. They want peace with honour. They want to Rattle and Hum.

Over the past years, many agreements have been signed and forgotten and many promises broken over Asia's longest insurgency. Yet slowly but surely, Nagaland is hearing voices it never heard before: music that resonates across the world a yearning for peace from Generation 2008. Welcome to Nagaland.

Eximious is a popular band in Nagaland and their practice pad is a clothes shop, where they compose and plan their gigs.

Kohima's Dream Café, a popular hangout for the young, is where they jam, sing about their lives and promise themselves a future very different from the past and the present.

"Guns are bad, they should be banned," says Tali, the lead vocalist with the band.

He says a lot has changed for his generation. "Every day we see something is changing. Something is different. When you get out of the house, oh this is different. Specially for our youth, there are lots of opportunity everywhere — be it music, work or business. There is a lot of difference."

Tali and his band are not afraid of thinking big. "First and foremost, we would be cutting an album. We are also coming up with the videos to be seen on MTV and all the music channels to win awards. After that we will be like OK we are done, go back and retire," he reveals his heart.

For a lot of Naga youngstars, success in music means locally producing a DVD. But Theja Meru, a musician himself, has set up the Rattle and Hum Music Society to promote Naga talent in India and beyond.

"We have got nowhere. There has been no breakthrough except for doing 2-3 shows a year in Nagaland. We have an identity in our music. So bring them together. Use folk to create the fusion for a better future. So folk, fusion and future — that's what Rattle and Hum intends to do in the next few months and years," Theja Meru says about his dream.

Senti Toy, a Naga student in New York, is quietly making her presence felt. Her debut album, How Many Stories Do You Read On My Face, was selected by the Wall Street Journal in its Best of 2007 music list. Many feel it's just a start.

"For many reasons, Nagas feel that we are the centre of the world, which we are not. There is a world outside of us, which we are missing in terms of development. I feel music being one of our strengths, it can let people know about us and help us get to know them. This could be an incredible bridge," Theja Meru feels.

Things have changed slowly in Nagaland over the last 10-15 years. Life here still follows a 9am-to-4pm routine And India and Nagaland are often in different time zones.

Yet there is a promise of a younger generation, plugged to global aspirations. And they are willing to find a beat that's going to turn the clock for Nagaland.

In Kohima, a petite designer waits for the world to embrace her. "I went to Delhi to polish my skills, gain new experiences and learn new things. I became smarter, street smart," fashion designer Kuku says of her journey.

Kuku is from a new generation of Nagas who don't feel at all alienated from the mainstream. "Our outlook on life has changed compared to 5-10 years back. There's a big difference now," she says. "No matter where you are, it depends on the individual whether you open yourself to new people when you meet somebody. You always have something to learn about them,"

In a far corner of India, held hostage by an insurgent movement gone stale and an indifferent government, the young Nagas are best described as GLOCAL — or rooted in Naga identity — in terms of aspirations, but global in vision.

"We are adventurous. We want to learn many new things, but we have this strong desire to keep our identity intact," Kuku says matter-of-factly

Vincent Belho is a roving health activist. He talks about issues like hygiene and HIV/AIDS in villages like Kiegwema. Vincent believes that division among the tribals are Nagaland's biggest handicap.

"We are not heading anywhere. There are many media reports on progress in the peace process. Media reports say that the Naga issue will have a solution very soon. But how soon is soon? It's taking such a long time," Vincent says with a sense of desperation.

There are 16 major tribes in Nagaland, each fiercely protective of its identity. Even the insurgent groups are divided on tribal lines.

The failure to forge a common Naga identity has handicapped the militant Naga nationalist movement. So now, young Nagas like Vincent are trying to make a difference.

"To contribute to my people, I don't need to take arms, that's my belief. I don't need to take a pistol, or an AK47. What I can contribute to my people is go to my village and see what my village needs," he says.

Vincent typifies the modern Naga youth — mainstream, optimistic and keen to leave the guns behind. He is running out of patience with the so-called peace process.

"Today we have NSCN (IM), NSCN (K) and we have a new unification group which many people don't know. Now, if Unification is a group that brings unity among different factions, it is a good thing. But what if it turns out to be just another faction? What is the use?" he asks.

KK Newmai is a teacher in a small school in Dimapur. This young teacher now feels let down by the insurgency movement. "Yes, I feel betrayed. My own brothers have betrayed me, betrayed my hopes and dreams. And somehow the government has also played a part in it," he says

Nagas, he feels, still need to learn a lot about each other. "You ask me about Akbar, you ask about Aurangzeb and I will be able to tell you. You ask me about another Naga tribe, I don't have the details. I think probably we have lived too close to know each other and remember each other," Newmai explains.

GenNext in Nagaland supports a meaningful peace process — a negotiated and dignified settlement. Nagaland, they say, must leave the past behind.

Change is finally ringing in for little Nagaland, as Naga youth start thinking out of the box to end the peace process stalemate.

"Somehow it has to come to an end in a manner that it is not a disgrace for those people who have started when it was relevant," Newmai suggests.

(With Mukut Medhi and Arijit Sen)

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