‘Young Nagas need to generate new thoughts, ideas for the future’

April 8, 2024 14 Views No Comment

PCC Literary & Cultural Fest 2024 Golden Jubilee Edition concludes

DIMAPUR, APRIL 8 (MExN): Dr Aküm Longchari, Editor and Publisher of The Morung Express, called on young students to create and tell new stories. He was speaking on the concluding day of the 2-day ‘Literary & Cultural Fest 2024 Golden Jubilee Edition’ on the theme “Identity and Diversity” at the Patkai Christian College (Autonomous) on Saturday.

In his address, Dr Longchari rued that the Naga identity is no more dynamic and argued that Nagas are stuck in the cycle of inter generational shifts and unable to generate anything new. “We have stopped cultivating – we have stopped cultivating land, we have also stopped cultivating relationships, we have stopped cultivating new thoughts, new ideas, new opportunities,” he said.

As such, he charged the young generation to imagine what a 21st century Naga culture should look like and generate new thoughts and ideas for the future. “New stories must emerge from students so that we are able to continue that cycle; stories that persuade and stimulate new imagination,” he said.

To enable that stimulation, Dr Longchari shared that the younger generation must begin the process by pushing boundaries. “Our spiritual boundaries, intellectual boundaries, knowledge, our understanding of worldview, thought systems. We have to muster that courage to push boundaries to create a new language,” he said.

A performance from the Mizo community during the folk drama competition at the Literary & Cultural Fest of Patkai Christian College (Autonomous) on April 6.

This new language, according to Dr Longchari will be a carrier of our identities and diversities, and connecting the present to the future. “The meeting of future and past informs what you and I need to do in the present,” he said.

Dwelling on the theme “Identity and Diversity,” Dr Longchari demonstrated the uniqueness of each individual through a paper-tearing exercise and stressed that every person possesses a unique way of thinking and interpreting the world around them.

Dr Longchari pointed to the word ‘university’ and said it is a compound word, combining unity and diversity. As such, he insisted that any educational institution “serves as a seat of both unity and diversity.”

Dr Roland Lotha, philanthropist and politician, who was the ‘honored guest’ for the cultural fest on day 2, cautioned the students against losing their cultural identity. “Culture serves as an invisible pole which ties us together,” he said, adding, “If we lose our identity, that is the saddest thing for our tribal being.”

Competitions on folk drama, folk dance, folk songs and indigenous games were the highlight of the day.

On day 1, guest speaker, Mhasino Metha, Principal of Godwin Higher Secretary and an alumnus of the college, spoke on the need to participate in literary activities reasoning that it will teach students skills beyond the four walls of the classroom. “It will also shape you for the future,” she said.

The two-day event witnessed several literary and cultural activities aimed at helping students participate in academic pursuits while at the same time, connecting them to their cultural roots.