Still i write...

This is a short story i wrote for my Creative writing assignment in class.        The rooster crows. It’s 5.30 in the morning and the sun is yet to rise. I look out of my window to see the far-stretched mountains half-hidden by clouds. It is the same beautiful view I see every morning. But nothing is the same today. Papa is gone. If he were here, he would have come straight to my bed, woke me up and wished me a good morning. But Papa is gone.       It’s a cold morning and it feels good to snuggle up in my warm blanket but I am feeling lonely. I just cannot bear to stay in my room any longer. I arranged my bed like Papa had always told me and headed straight to the kitchen. Mama and Ayo are already up and preparing breakfast. There is silence except for the crackling sound of the freshly burned wood, which is supposed to be welcoming on such a cold morning but it isn’t today. Papa is gone. If he were here, he would have sat ...

OK, i recently gave a speech in my college. And i have been requested to put it up online. So here it is...Its about Nagaland, the Nagaland i see at the moment, the Nagaland  i so love yet the Nagaland  i am so confused about.... “The single story creates stereotypes and the problem with stereotypes  is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete, they make one story become the only story….Stories matter, many stories matter, stories have been used to dispossess and to malign but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize, stories can break the dignity of a people but stories can also repair that broken dignity…..”-Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi-  The Danger of a Single Story. People, especially mainland Indians, have only a single story of Nagaland. No, in fact they have different single stories. They associate the Nagas with headhunting, Hornbill festival, Rock music, fashion and yes, Conflict. Nagaland the land of myths, where life is one long...

A few days ago, Dana Sangma-a student of the renowned Amity International- killed herself. She had been sent out of the exam hall after the invigilator caught her with a cell phone. That is what i have heard so far, I don't know Dana and i don't know why she brought her cell phone in the exam hall but i feel there was something more. And there was the case of Richard Loitam who was killed by his hostel mates in Bengaluru.Their deaths is an outcome of what most of us -'chinkis', 'aliens-in-our-own-land'- faces everyday in Delhi, Bengaluru or any metro cities.        RACISM  is a blot to the famous 'Unity in Diversity' tag, a blot to the world's largest Democracy- government of the people, by the people and for the people- where there is a clear inequality among its citizens. For many of us, the 'chinkis', who lives in metro cities each day we have to walk out of our house braving ourselves knowing that someone for sure is going to pass som...

  Spring, my favorite season, just arrived and here are a few things that i am loving. The Buddhist Bauharia Orchid tree, the flowers of plums and peaches, are in full bloom all over Nagaland, that too in pure pink and white hue. My cousins' cute Guinea pigs (2 of them) gave birth to 8 little baby guinea pigs and the 10 eggs of the hen in their backyard just got hatched and out came 10 little brownish yellowish chicks...Perfect timing i say!! So every morning as soon as i wake up, i go straight to my cousins' backyard and watch these little bundles of joy. Its an interesting observation, you see. The mother hen has already started taking her chickens for daily morning walks and guiding them how and where to get food. And about the guinea pigs, i find them very stupid and clumsy (esp the mothers) and irresponsible.While the pups try to suck the mothers' milk, my observation till now shows that the mother either shies away or does not care or rather they are scared of me.Anyh...