A Take On Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival: A Hit or A Miss?

Like every year, the Hornbill excitement generates a lot of noise – mostly on the frolic side yet there are also several not so appealing remarks from the commentators from being compared to ‘Baal Worship’ as anti Biblical to even being inferred to pertain to ‘human zoo’ or ‘ethnological exposition/exhibition’. After all, human beings tend to be captivated with the art of finding analogy in everything they see or feel which many a times is driven by the innate desire of one’s urge to affirm his/her intellectual prowess and superiority. By virtue of being part of mother nature, maybe, humans have also inherited certain genetic disposition through the epochs of evolution to retort to this obsession with finding recurring themes and patterns as reflected in the Fibonacci series (Read – Da Vinci Code and the likes) or the much revered sacred ‘Golden Ratio’ (with numerical value of 1.618 represented by Greek letter Phi φ). Many philosophers and schools of thought seem to agree that Golden Ratio has been repeated in the sequence of sunflower seeds, seashells, hurricanes and even the galaxies in the sky (termed as golden spiral).

Regardless of all the noises, one will agree that Hornbill has become a brand signature component of Nagaland’s contemporary culture just like Carnival is associated with Brazil that has not only put the country on the world map of tourism but is expected to generate 1.84 billion dollars this year. Friends from Delhi and metros would usually ask me (even though I’m not from Nagaland), “When are you taking us to Nagaland for Hornbill?” And so forth. 

Now coming back to the central question, let me break it down this way:

• Is it Cultural Appropriation or Ethno-Exhibition?

Cultural appropriation is when a non tribal deploys tribal costumes and cultural artefacts as per one’s etic whims and fancy. Similarly, ethno-exhibition connotes a certain notion of oppression and exploitation. None of these aspects seem to be reflected in Hornbill. Here, I want to ask, “why are we so scrupulous with the etymology of tribe?”. We usually fail to fathom the fact that tribals have as much right as the non tribals to glamourize and syncretize their cultural commodities and yet simultaneously, we cannot accept the fact that tribals can be much more entrepreneurial as it upsets our comfort belief that well, tribals equal to just being primitive and that’s it. Is this the reason that when certain tribal communities are able to pull off an international level concert show, LED and neon colour display all over or getting akin to technological expertise that one simply cannot help but in lackadaisical manner connote to nothing but cultural appropriation? But my dear friends, tribes shouldn’t carry the bulk of onus to limit themselves to celebrate only their raw form of harvest festival. They have already done their part, for centuries and millennia, in sustaining the environment and culture. When the rest are willingly, without guilt, succumbing to hyper consumerism more aggressively, why should tribals only bear the burden of all these rhetoric of conservatism? 

In this globalized neo liberal market order today, Hornbill is a reflection of Nagaland’s willingness to redefine their contemporary culture and capitalizing one’s innovative stimuli seemingly inspired by their heritage. Today, if we see Asian giant economy like South Korea taking the world with its soft power strategies like K-Pop (extended to their food chain brands on ramen spicy noodles), Japanese brands like Miniso, etc. all these have been materialized in part because people are willing to garner inspiration from their heritage and culture to create products that they know are going to have certain seducing elements to the masses the world over. 

• What about Rampant Alcoholism as put up by many critics?

Now I’m not supporting any kind of alcohol abuse but it’s time we should be willing to come out of our denial and affirm the pragmatism for which I don’t have to spell it out or elucidate more. Reiterating the “Is it a Hit or Miss”, a lot of us tend to override ‘what is a drinking etiquette’ as distinguished totally from alcohol abuse. My daddy (who once used to be part of several Indo-Japanese projects during his work tenure) once remarked during a family wedding visit to Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh (where the government does heavily promote resort business many of whose USP are the attractive liquor bars, especially in Namsai District where revenues translate to Crores from tourists), the way that the particular tribe there serves alcohol during the wedding reminded him of the Japanese drinking etiquette – the way the younger patriarchs bow their heads, while serving alcohol, to the elder guests with their eyes on point towards the liquor cups affirming certain sense of elderly respect. This, according to him, is something unthinkable back home in my native erstwhile dry state where a dramatic showdown or some glass breaking scene would have been the norm with the quantities of liquor being circulated around. My brother in law from the groom’s side also affirmed his instruction on their arrival to our place that drinking means serious business and everything has to be intricately assembled; so wine means strictly wine glass and a big ‘No’ to disposable glass for serving whiskey as the groomsmen and folks would politely refuse if it’s so. 

The underlying notion is that as the youths come into interface with the global communities more and more during such events as Hornbill, the gala enterprise could even evolve into a properly syncretized drinking etiquettes just as one appreciates a wine connoisseur in 5 star hotels as suave arts and skills or tourists even visiting Japan just to experience matcha tea serving ceremony. Yes, Nagaland deserves a pompous Hornbill celebration. But then, is everything that glitters all glitzy behind the silver lining (acknowledging the fact that many areas and districts in Nagaland speak tales of negligence, one can also agree within the Dimapur-Chümoukedima-Niuland and Kohima UA/urban agglomeration belts, lots still need to be done) but that’s not a reason to refrain from celebrating the icon of societal growth. That’s like saying we should not celebrate the kid’s birthday because our backyard is not yet tamed and as the saying goes, “The Show must go on”, Hornbill will continue to attract the global populace from far and wide.

Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editorial team includes Chubamenla, Asst. Professor, Dept. of English and Rinsit Sareo, Asst. Manager, IT, Media & Communications.

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