“You can be your dreams. You can do anything you set your mind to if you couple that with hard work,” says the brand new KMC CouncillorThe effervescent spirit in her is indomitable, which is perhaps one of the reasons why she has created a perfect niche for herself in the world of entertainment. But a closer look tells you this lady in question perseveres more than she intends to show. Ate Kevichusa once wanted to be a lawyer, but without regret she says “it just never crossed my mind again”. Years later she was in the commercial hub of Mumbai primarily to study but eventually it led her to scale greater heights more than one can hope to achieve.
At one point of time, she was also pursuing an MBA, which she dropped halfway having realised her interest lies elsewhere. She jovially adds “I even took my IAS exam”, which she considers ‘shameful’, but then, the serious side of her shows traist of a hardworking personality which she also credits to all her successful ventures. She has been associated with Television for more than a decade now. It was in the field of advertising that she began her career as a Production Assistant at the Robert J Productions in 1997, which she terms as being a ‘Glorified Slave’. “I had to run and run,” she elaborates, but says it also gave her the opportunity to work with one of the finest filmmakers - Johnny Pinto. She believes in television “anything you do, you are putting yourself to criticism” and opines that television is the most visible profession where “your end credits are running if you have done a stupid show”. She has close connections with Channel V, having worked there for a good many years as Producer and Director for different shows. Subsequently, she briefly worked with CNN-IBN as Senior Producer and Director and also did a documentary feature on Anuradha Sengupta called ‘Being’. She obviously doesn’t regret it, but says the sudden shift from Entertainment to News was ‘too boring’. “It was unbearable, they take themselves very seriously,” she said. Following that, she was engaged with various other productions and was also with the launching of 9X, an Entertainment Channel in Mumbai last year. However, despite the excellence that was hers all along in a booming city that has known her for twenty long years, she decided to quit it all and came back home primarily to be with her parents, as she puts it. But having been in the fast lane for a long time where life’s comparatively very swift, she finds “dealing with complacency very difficult” and explains “we used to work really hard, five days a week. For channel V it was day and night, basically it gets extreme”. But obviously people there still enjoyed weekends to which end she says in a tone of disappointment, “I want to dress up and go out but there’s no reason to do that here.” “I also find people gossiping extremely difficult to cope with,” she regretfully says, but adds that healthy discussions are important for growth as an individual. Being appointed Councillor to KMC becomes a topic and Ate replies without hesitation that for her “it’s like I got so much to learn because my career’s always been in a corporate setup” “I’ve never seen a file before and KMC’s got so many files. Brown coloured, by the way, which were once white.” Still in the process of settling down to her responsibilities, she confesses that she feels a little scared when she hears people telling her “we’re expecting a change”. “Letting people down is one of the worst things that you can do,” she explains, but adds, “I’d like to believe that KMC also hired me for a reason”. When asked about her plans and visions, she says they are more at a dream stage but she doesn’t leave it as vague and talks about her “Little Fire Production” based in Kohima which she says will have TV productions, Music albums, etc. “I do want to do a compilation on my father’s songs,” she declares. She enthusiastically talks about her first film ‘Ashes of our Land’, a documentary film on the conflict situation in Nagaland as something very close to her heart. The film, directed by her, is an interpretation of the art works of Naga artist Iris Chuba and is produced by Panos South Asia. It was also screened in Switzerland in February 2009. Working on the Musical ‘The Prodigal Son’, a masterpiece, is something she says she found great joy in. Although she said “it was very difficult while editing the DVD”, she was clearly happy about the project. “I am proud that it’s all made in Nagaland, everything was by a Naga; it was good I think. I just love it.” The musical was also staged for Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on 5th March, 2009. On the other hand, throwing light on her perception of government jobs, Ate candidly remarks that ‘it’s just complacency. 50% are not attending work’. “It amuses me in a bad way. We talk about people stealing money, about corruption but I think not going to work and drawing your salary is also corruption,” she says. Going on to happier thoughts, she says she’s glad about the alternative careers that are coming up. And yet she declares “the corporate world is so powerful outside” and emphasises on the need for private sectors to compete with government jobs. She thinks Nagas are just being lazy. “They have this complacent behaviour and not because they don’t have common sense,” she puts across and also adds “whatever you do should be with the mentality of generating employment”.On the state of affairs in the State …“I look at the buildings coming up, they are touching the road,” she pensively remarks and continues “my job and my work identify me but it’s just my job at the end of the day.” “What’s become of Nagaland today, including me, is that everybody does the wrong thing,” she laments. “I really look at the dirt, garbage, filth, you know, the fact that people are so comfortable in the actual filth and garbage shows that we’re spiritually unclean,” she says but then she also adds, “I see so many young people worshipping God and it makes me hopeful; there’s this generation which is so in tune with God and I’d like to see that generation take over”. Confidence, she also feels, is lacking in the Naga society to which end, she says “lack of proper employment has perhaps made our people less confident” while expressing that confidence also comes from one’s job. But an ardent believer of ‘hard-work’ as a sure success tool, she says “you can be your dreams. You can do anything you set your mind to if you couple that with hard work”. “Naga people are very gifted, it’s impossible to go wrong with hard work,” Ate adds. What worked for her in life, she puts it in plain words, was ‘mixing with other people that helped me grow so much’. “It helped my knowledge to expand,” she explains and says “mix around with people, you can learn so much. Stop looking at Indians as Indians. I know we’re Nagas but look at where they are, they are so advanced, learn from them.” At the end of the day, she says “they are also humans and God loves them just the same.” It may also be of interest to many that the lady can sing. She was the Lead Vocalist of a Mumbai based band called “Orphean Revival” with renowned Music Director Ashutosh Pathak, who is now the proprietor of Blue Frog, Mumbai. Even with all these laudable feathers in her cap, she still isn’t ready to rest on her laurels. The vivacious person in her still insists “the more I sit and not work, I feel more scared”. For someone as talented as her and ready to use her gifts as God meant her to, winning an Oscar someday, which is also one of the biggest dreams she has, does not look bleak at all.
At one point of time, she was also pursuing an MBA, which she dropped halfway having realised her interest lies elsewhere. She jovially adds “I even took my IAS exam”, which she considers ‘shameful’, but then, the serious side of her shows traist of a hardworking personality which she also credits to all her successful ventures. She has been associated with Television for more than a decade now. It was in the field of advertising that she began her career as a Production Assistant at the Robert J Productions in 1997, which she terms as being a ‘Glorified Slave’. “I had to run and run,” she elaborates, but says it also gave her the opportunity to work with one of the finest filmmakers - Johnny Pinto. She believes in television “anything you do, you are putting yourself to criticism” and opines that television is the most visible profession where “your end credits are running if you have done a stupid show”. She has close connections with Channel V, having worked there for a good many years as Producer and Director for different shows. Subsequently, she briefly worked with CNN-IBN as Senior Producer and Director and also did a documentary feature on Anuradha Sengupta called ‘Being’. She obviously doesn’t regret it, but says the sudden shift from Entertainment to News was ‘too boring’. “It was unbearable, they take themselves very seriously,” she said. Following that, she was engaged with various other productions and was also with the launching of 9X, an Entertainment Channel in Mumbai last year. However, despite the excellence that was hers all along in a booming city that has known her for twenty long years, she decided to quit it all and came back home primarily to be with her parents, as she puts it. But having been in the fast lane for a long time where life’s comparatively very swift, she finds “dealing with complacency very difficult” and explains “we used to work really hard, five days a week. For channel V it was day and night, basically it gets extreme”. But obviously people there still enjoyed weekends to which end she says in a tone of disappointment, “I want to dress up and go out but there’s no reason to do that here.” “I also find people gossiping extremely difficult to cope with,” she regretfully says, but adds that healthy discussions are important for growth as an individual. Being appointed Councillor to KMC becomes a topic and Ate replies without hesitation that for her “it’s like I got so much to learn because my career’s always been in a corporate setup” “I’ve never seen a file before and KMC’s got so many files. Brown coloured, by the way, which were once white.” Still in the process of settling down to her responsibilities, she confesses that she feels a little scared when she hears people telling her “we’re expecting a change”. “Letting people down is one of the worst things that you can do,” she explains, but adds, “I’d like to believe that KMC also hired me for a reason”. When asked about her plans and visions, she says they are more at a dream stage but she doesn’t leave it as vague and talks about her “Little Fire Production” based in Kohima which she says will have TV productions, Music albums, etc. “I do want to do a compilation on my father’s songs,” she declares. She enthusiastically talks about her first film ‘Ashes of our Land’, a documentary film on the conflict situation in Nagaland as something very close to her heart. The film, directed by her, is an interpretation of the art works of Naga artist Iris Chuba and is produced by Panos South Asia. It was also screened in Switzerland in February 2009. Working on the Musical ‘The Prodigal Son’, a masterpiece, is something she says she found great joy in. Although she said “it was very difficult while editing the DVD”, she was clearly happy about the project. “I am proud that it’s all made in Nagaland, everything was by a Naga; it was good I think. I just love it.” The musical was also staged for Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on 5th March, 2009. On the other hand, throwing light on her perception of government jobs, Ate candidly remarks that ‘it’s just complacency. 50% are not attending work’. “It amuses me in a bad way. We talk about people stealing money, about corruption but I think not going to work and drawing your salary is also corruption,” she says. Going on to happier thoughts, she says she’s glad about the alternative careers that are coming up. And yet she declares “the corporate world is so powerful outside” and emphasises on the need for private sectors to compete with government jobs. She thinks Nagas are just being lazy. “They have this complacent behaviour and not because they don’t have common sense,” she puts across and also adds “whatever you do should be with the mentality of generating employment”.On the state of affairs in the State …“I look at the buildings coming up, they are touching the road,” she pensively remarks and continues “my job and my work identify me but it’s just my job at the end of the day.” “What’s become of Nagaland today, including me, is that everybody does the wrong thing,” she laments. “I really look at the dirt, garbage, filth, you know, the fact that people are so comfortable in the actual filth and garbage shows that we’re spiritually unclean,” she says but then she also adds, “I see so many young people worshipping God and it makes me hopeful; there’s this generation which is so in tune with God and I’d like to see that generation take over”. Confidence, she also feels, is lacking in the Naga society to which end, she says “lack of proper employment has perhaps made our people less confident” while expressing that confidence also comes from one’s job. But an ardent believer of ‘hard-work’ as a sure success tool, she says “you can be your dreams. You can do anything you set your mind to if you couple that with hard work”. “Naga people are very gifted, it’s impossible to go wrong with hard work,” Ate adds. What worked for her in life, she puts it in plain words, was ‘mixing with other people that helped me grow so much’. “It helped my knowledge to expand,” she explains and says “mix around with people, you can learn so much. Stop looking at Indians as Indians. I know we’re Nagas but look at where they are, they are so advanced, learn from them.” At the end of the day, she says “they are also humans and God loves them just the same.” It may also be of interest to many that the lady can sing. She was the Lead Vocalist of a Mumbai based band called “Orphean Revival” with renowned Music Director Ashutosh Pathak, who is now the proprietor of Blue Frog, Mumbai. Even with all these laudable feathers in her cap, she still isn’t ready to rest on her laurels. The vivacious person in her still insists “the more I sit and not work, I feel more scared”. For someone as talented as her and ready to use her gifts as God meant her to, winning an Oscar someday, which is also one of the biggest dreams she has, does not look bleak at all.
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