Kohima, November 3
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Rick
03 November 2012 | India, Kohīma
Kohima, the cool yet dusty capital of Nagaland, perched on top of a mountain ridge, is a good place to stay. Its superb location makes it not quite the dusty, dirty rathole of most provincial cities in this part of the world. The locals are an amusing bunch. They speak a language related to Burmese and most of them are Christians. And quite convincedly so. Posters of Jesus Our Lord adorn the walls and His Word can be found in busstations, written on trucks, or above public buildings and gateways.
They form a nice contrast to the slogans of the Border Roads Agency, that can be found along every major road. This institute is almost as much a world wonder as the Indian Railways. Having built some of the most incredulous roads in the world, they do not intend to leave travellers without advice. I quote some of the most memorable signs:
'If you want to stay married, divorce speed.'
'It is not rally, enjoy the valley.'
'Speed is a word of five letters. So is death.'
'When you drive, think of your life.'
'On the bend, go slow friend.'
'Drink and drive, you won't survive.'
'Time is money, but life is precious'
All very enheartening and optimistic. As if, scrammed together with 18 people inside a jeep, looking out of the window into ravines hundreds of meters deep and having to cross another landslide every 10 km, you need such texts to remind you that driving the BRO highway is not a safe undertaking. The drivers naturally do not read, or drive as if they do not read. Wreckages of cars or trucks below the road are more effective, it sometimes slows them down a bit. For about half an hour.
About the Nagas. Even though civilisation has reached this far corner of India, in the form of the Lord and the Road, their recent ancestors were still real tribal people. When not fighting off invasions by the Burmese, Moghuls or British, these gentlemen kept themselves busy fighting each other. The favorite local sport was headhunting. Every village had its trophee tree where the severed heads could be admired dangling. I saw some of the heads, turned into skulls and now on display in the local museum. The animosity between villages was such, that they developed separate languages. After Indian independence this posed some sort of a problem, since nobody understood each other. A new language (Nagamese) was invented to overcome the language barrier. This had the additional effect that a 'national' Naga conciousness evolved, and soon the brave warriors of different places were fighting together as brothers in several guerilla armies. In those periods when the Indian army did not think the fight worth the effort, they fell back into a familiar pattern of fighting bloody 'turf wars' with each other.
So much for history. It was worth visiting some local Naga villages. People are as friendly here as they are everywhere in the Northeast. However, little traces of the tribal past are visible. New churches adorn the hill tops and more are under construction. Some still have a beautiful ceremonial entree gate and some houses have traditionally decorated fronts, that look a bit like Zulu art. Interesting that tribal art in such different places in the world can look so similar.
They form a nice contrast to the slogans of the Border Roads Agency, that can be found along every major road. This institute is almost as much a world wonder as the Indian Railways. Having built some of the most incredulous roads in the world, they do not intend to leave travellers without advice. I quote some of the most memorable signs:
'If you want to stay married, divorce speed.'
'It is not rally, enjoy the valley.'
'Speed is a word of five letters. So is death.'
'When you drive, think of your life.'
'On the bend, go slow friend.'
'Drink and drive, you won't survive.'
'Time is money, but life is precious'
All very enheartening and optimistic. As if, scrammed together with 18 people inside a jeep, looking out of the window into ravines hundreds of meters deep and having to cross another landslide every 10 km, you need such texts to remind you that driving the BRO highway is not a safe undertaking. The drivers naturally do not read, or drive as if they do not read. Wreckages of cars or trucks below the road are more effective, it sometimes slows them down a bit. For about half an hour.
About the Nagas. Even though civilisation has reached this far corner of India, in the form of the Lord and the Road, their recent ancestors were still real tribal people. When not fighting off invasions by the Burmese, Moghuls or British, these gentlemen kept themselves busy fighting each other. The favorite local sport was headhunting. Every village had its trophee tree where the severed heads could be admired dangling. I saw some of the heads, turned into skulls and now on display in the local museum. The animosity between villages was such, that they developed separate languages. After Indian independence this posed some sort of a problem, since nobody understood each other. A new language (Nagamese) was invented to overcome the language barrier. This had the additional effect that a 'national' Naga conciousness evolved, and soon the brave warriors of different places were fighting together as brothers in several guerilla armies. In those periods when the Indian army did not think the fight worth the effort, they fell back into a familiar pattern of fighting bloody 'turf wars' with each other.
So much for history. It was worth visiting some local Naga villages. People are as friendly here as they are everywhere in the Northeast. However, little traces of the tribal past are visible. New churches adorn the hill tops and more are under construction. Some still have a beautiful ceremonial entree gate and some houses have traditionally decorated fronts, that look a bit like Zulu art. Interesting that tribal art in such different places in the world can look so similar.
-
03 November 2012 - 21:23
Edö De Röö:
Drive home slow, it is the best way to go! -
03 November 2012 - 23:49
Minny:
groeten uit rotjeknor!
you seem so far away!
oma luistert nu naar klassieke muziek op de tv.
ik ga zo naar huis, de -inmiddels- drie poezen van de buurvrouw verzorgen.
hanny gaat ook reageren straks.
wintertijd is hier aangebroken. -
04 November 2012 - 00:03
Hanny:
He,he ik ben thuis, net voor de klok van 12ven. Wilde naar bed gaan, maar hoorde van min dat je weer een blogentry had gepost, dus toch nog even gekeken: nu ga ik lachend naar bed: heerlijk, daar knap ik helemaal van op, zo'n droogkomisch stukje! Ga zo voort!
Wat goed dat je Nagaland toch hebt ingepland nog. Van Nederland naar Nagaland, remember?
gr en liefs, mamma -
04 November 2012 - 00:03
Hanny:
He,he ik ben thuis, net voor de klok van 12ven. Wilde naar bed gaan, maar hoorde van min dat je weer een blogentry had gepost, dus toch nog even gekeken: nu ga ik lachend naar bed: heerlijk, daar knap ik helemaal van op, zo'n droogkomisch stukje! Ga zo voort!
Wat goed dat je Nagaland toch hebt ingepland nog. Van Nederland naar Nagaland, remember?
gr en liefs, mamma -
05 November 2012 - 15:16
Vera:
hey rikje,
wat leuk weer een stukje van jou! Blij dat ze nu geen hoofden meer hebben boven de poorten!
(beetje game of thrones idee) :)
Doe maar rustig aan en geniet van alle indrukken. Wanneer ging je ookalweer vliegen?
In februari ga ik naar nieuw zeeland en ben ik dus dichter bij je in de buurt dan ik een hele tijd ben geweest!
Nu maar weer snel aan het werk.
Dikke knuf,
Vera
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
