Masala Foie Gras: December 2015

I cannot repeat it more often. This country of ours makes me fall in love. Over and over and over again.

And she didn’t disappoint this time around either. When we got the call from the great hornbill and headed to Nagaland for a feast, culturally and gastronomically.

You only realize how vast India is when you have the fabulously daunting task of planning a trip from one corner to another. It took us one full day to reach the Hornbill Festival from Mumbai which included a flight to Guwahati, a train to Dimapur, night stop there and then a cab to Kisama Heritage village. But two days at the festival was worth every minute of the hassle.

We stayed with this wonderful lady, Mezhii Bieo who has a homestay right at the foot of the festival grounds. It was wonderful to go from 30 degrees of Mumbai to 10 degrees of Kisama and to be welcomed by steaming hot cups of tea, boiled eggs, rollicking kittens and cuddling puppies, a nice big coal heater in the centre of the hall and to be surrounded by travelers from all of the country and soaking up their experiences and stories

Only when one travels to such seemingly mysterious destinations (or maybe it’s just me) one realizes the gross insufficiency of our knowledge about our own country and culture. Of course we were all taught in school text books about the Seven Sisters, the wettest place on the planet being Mawsynram, about the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia hills but never quite about the absolutely vibrant people, zealously guarding their culture, the dancers, the farmers, the warriors, the head-hunters and their distinct tattoos. It was nothing short of an educational and eye opening experience to be a part of the Hornbill Festival and kudos to Nagaland for this magnificent showcase or rather a glimpse of their culture and etching its mark on the tourist / travel map.

There are about 16 major tribes across the state, each with its own distinct festivals, traditional outfits, food and culture. Over the 10 days of the festival each tribe showcases different aspects of their lives, tradition, sacrifices and rituals and heritage to the rest of the world and it is a delight for the eyes! With septuagenarian members of the tribes coaching the youngsters how to spar correctly or how fierce the war cries need to be. It feels nothing like how the average daily Indian life usually does.

It won’t do enough justice to speak about their culture, especially since I’m not an expert at that, however the best we can do would be to visit them, not as a tourist, but as fellow Indians and stay with them and speak with them. I had the most wonderful conversations with the old men of a few tribes and its only nice to see a heartfelt smile on their wrinkled faces rather than the stoic expressions they put on while posing for dozens of “photographers” (considering anyone who has a DSLR calls him / herself one)!

It was an overwhelming feeling to see the kind of rich diverse culture that exists in this country.

It was a feeling of shame to think I never knew about it for the longest time and still don't know about so many cultures.

It was a feeling of disgust to see fellow Indians disrespect other Indians and literally treat them as pieces in a museum, kept only for the benefit of posing and photographs to show people back in the cities.

Here’s to hoping the Hornbill in subsequent years catches hearts and minds more than in gets caught on camera lenses.