Kohima: Life and society
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
The evolution of Kohima: 1980s vs. 2013
The Times of Kewhira
Khrietuonyil Noudi
‘Kewhira’ is a term used by the Angami and Tenyiemia people while referring to Kohima. The people of Kohima village are called Kewhimia and Kewhira simply means ‘the land where the Kewhimia people live’.
Vehicles 1992: New Market colony. In those days Aambassador cars used to ply as taxis between Kohima and Dimapur.
Cost of living 1980s: 2 kg of pork cost just Rs.120.
2013: Rs.120 cannot even fetch 1 kg of pork.
Rs.2 would bring 8 tamul pieces.
2013: Even Rs.10 cannot fetch 8 pieces of tamul.
School fee: Rs.60 per month. 2013: school fees can be anywhere between Rs.600 and Rs.1000 per month.
Radio: One work of wonder that never abandoned t youth was the radio. The radio was there right from the start. Some of these radios were abandoned by the Japanese soldiers during the Kohima battle of 1944.
Listening to the Angami dialect program at 6:05 pm in the evening was a regular part of the evening routine. And it was always a special treat whenever songs of Thekelie, Pfulhoutsü, Ruth Belho, the Jütakhrieko, the Living Quartet etc were aired in this Angami dialect program. Likewise, listening to the western music at 7:30 pm was also always a cherished moment.
Television. TV sets (Orson TV was a brand in the late 1980s) were purchased from Dimapur, as were VCPs (Video Cassette Player). With the arrival of the TV and the VCP, the radio took a backstage. There was only Doordarshan channel but that was enough. Watching the Hindi feature films on Saturday and Sunday evenings became an indispensable part of lives in Kohima. Moreover, the Chitrahaar which came every Wednesday and Friday at 8:10 pm was also never to be missed.
The VCP: renting video cassettes from the video libraries in Super Market also became a regular and much sought after activity, often with relatives and sometimes even people whom the hosts had never known in their entire lives would come with movie cassettes to view at their home.
Football 1986: Something happened faraway in Mexico and a name invaded football-loving Kohima. It was the FIFA world cup played in Mexico that year. By the time the world cup ended the name of Maradona was on the lips of everybody. This was the case with me even though Maradona did not shine much in the 1990 tournament.
Kohimaites would often hear about a football match that was played at the Kohima local ground. The match was played between the Nagaland team and the Mohan Bagan (the No. 1 football team in India at that time). It was an exhibition match and the Nagaland team was represented that day by the Nagaland Police team. Thousands of people thronged the Kohima local ground to witness the match and history was created when the Nagaland team defeated their illustrious rivals by a solitary goal.
Naga-style wrestling There would be wrestling tournaments at the Kohima local ground. It was the times when Kikrusolie and Khriesakhotuo Suokhrie were ruling the wrestling arena (in the Angami circle) and they were Angami heroes and idols.
Movies at video parlours In the 1980s and even in the 1990s, when one reached the junction below the Kohima north police station, one could easily notice and spot all the big colorful posters put up on the sides of the streets. These posters were movie posters put up to advertise the many movies that were being shown in the many video parlours run in Kohima town. The stretch of these video parlors started from right below the Kohima north police station through the heart of Kohima town up to the TCP gate. All kinds of movies including Hindi movies, Hollywood movies, Chinese martial art movies and the very undesirable X-Rated movies were available in plenty for viewing. Some video parlors were also stationed in places like the Tinpati junction, the high school junction and the BOC junction. The video parlors situated deep inside the Super market complex were notorious for showing the X-Rated pornographic movies from morning till late in the evening. These parlors were a hot den for criminals, drug addicts, school dropouts and rebellious teenagers and young adults.
During the 1986 FIFA world cup, many of these video parlors in Kohima did booming business by showing live matches to the soccer-crazy citizens of Kohima on payment. Since all the live matches used to come at night, youths used to go to the parlors deep in the night, book their tickets and enjoy the matches. Even though the matches were shown at night, the parlors were always packed to the full with no empty seats.
But with the advent of Cable television, personal computers and the internet, these video parlors made a slow but obvious exit from the face of Kohima town. Thankfully now, movie posters do not adorn the streets of Kohima town anymore.
In the 1980s, school children were often made to draw pictures on themes like ‘a rainy day’, ‘a picnic’, ‘A Day at the Super-Market’, ‘A railway station’, ‘An Airport’ and ‘Traffic Jam’. Whenever they were made to draw pictures on Traffic Jam, their teachers had to take a lot of time in explaining what a traffic jam was. This was so because during those early years, traffic jams were yet to be experienced by the citizens of Kohima. However now, all the school going kids witness one or the other form of traffic jam almost everyday.
Religion 1972: a historic event which took place in Kohima. This was the Billy Graham crusade which took place at the Kohima local ground in November 1972. The visit and the preaching of this world-renowned evangelist in Kohima is even in the 21st century an unforgettable episode and an inspiration for many.
Cinema There used to be a very popular cinema hall in Kohima town at the site of the new NST bus station. This cinema hall was called ‘Ruby’ cinema hall and all kinds of movies were screened here where hundreds of viewers turned up everyday to view. In the 1960s and 1970s, this Ruby cinema hall was probably one of the most happening places in the whole of Kohima. Even a bomb blast took place inside the hall during a film show which obviously resulted in casualties. However, even after the blast, the screening of movies in this hall continued for some more years before it was finally shut down. This Ruby cinema hall is long gone and now even the new NST bus station which was constructed at this site was, in the second decade of the 20th century, dismantled to build a car parking spot in its place.
Cable television invaded the homes of Kohima in the later part of 1991. With this new connection, doordarshan became the most boring thing in the world. With the cable connection, the entire world of television viewing got revolutionized and much more enriching and gratifying. It opened doors to worlds which had never been parts of Naga lives in the past. Some of the programs which became an instant hit with the viewers were Santa Barbara, Riviera, Baywatch, The Bold and the Beautiful, Donahue Show and a few others.
After the conquest of Naga homes by the cable TV, the next invasion was done by the Internet as more and more people with their own personal computers got connected to the Net. Consequently, cyber cafes started to adorn many nooks and corners of Kohima town. And as it stands now, Internet has now become a part and parcel of Naga lives with its many effects – both good and evil.
Eating out In the 1970s and 80s people would visit hotels having momo and chow in their menus. It was always a cherished moment to have a plate of momo or chow along with tea whenever such opportunity offered itself.
‘booze joints ‘ In the 1990s, the Keziekie colony of Kohima was famous for booze joints. Mr Khrietuonyil Noudi writes: But now, it is really relieving and gratifying to see that a big church called the Koinonia Baptist church had been constructed at this very site where booze joints once abounded. The manner in which this church came to be built at this very site is really a story of good triumphing over evil.
Nicknames of places Along with the passage of time, many of the words and names that were a regular feature of our vocabulary also got relegated. For instance, words like ‘Peracüzie’ and ‘Pezielietsie’. Peracüzie refers to the high school colony in present-day Kohima and likewise, Pezielietsie means the Tinpati junction in present Kohima. However, these names are hardly heard today and the upcoming generation would be totally alien to these terms and names.
