Akuonuo Khezhie: Life on....beyond the ramps & catwalks

She has featured in many prestigious ramps and won several titles before she set foot into one of the fashion capitals of the world: New York; and eventually walked the prestigious New York Couture Week, the New York Fashion Week and the Chocolate Runway Show, New York among several others.

But Akuonuo Khezhie, who turned a supermodel despite the fact that she professionally joined modeling only during the later part of 2006, confesses that she was probably the most unlikely candidate for the profession due to her tomboyish attitude. However, she says that participating in Miss India taught her the necessary skills needed to pursue a career in modeling.

She did Nagaland proud by winning the Femina Fresh Face of 2007, after having deservingly won beauty contest titles such as Miss Kohima, Miss Nagaland and Miss North East India respectively. The political science graduate from Delhi University however recalls that modeling was never part of her plan. Looking back however, she says with conviction, “I know for certain there isn’t a profession that I would rather have chosen. My journey to where I am today was a struggle but it has also given me the strength to be independent, responsibility to choose what I believe in and most importantly, it gave me financial independence.”

While she was modeling in India, she admits, “there were times I wondered if life would have been better had I chosen to follow my father’s dream of life in the IAS but after I got the contract in New York, I knew I did the right thing.” Speaking of which, the latest adventure in her career had unmistakably been New York where she lived her contract with the Ikon Model Management.

Well, having gained enriching experiences from the city of fashion, she is back to where she grew up to further promote what she truly believes in. The Northeast India

Academy of Performing Arts (NIAPA), which also put up an impressive fashion night during the Hornbill Festival is her brainchild even as she talks about the beginning and goes on to say, “Northeast India has always been a hub for creative thinking and talent, however, due to various reasons, have not been able to generate enough interest among the youth to follow their dreams and choose entertainment as a career.

NIAPA was started to act as a platform for these talented people to enhance their skills and to offer them an opportunity to showcase their creativity.”

Expressing that, “we also plan to inculcate in the youth, qualities of integrity, compassion and discipline”, she further adds that “NIAPA aspires to promote entertainment as an art and to encourage youth to live up to their creativity.”

She had also showcased a wedding collection at the NIAPA Fashion Night. This collection, she says was an experiment. “We felt the need to display a wedding collection only because it has a big market here so a career in designing may not be in the cards at the moment but I still intend to continue my profession as a model”, she enlightens when asked about venturing into designing.

Understandably, it’s a little disappointing for her to know that there are just a handful of shows that are organized every year even as she explains that, it becomes impossible for the local models to earn a livelihood that is dependent solely on modeling.

But the hope in her illuminates as she expresses that ‘however, over the years we are seeing some changes’ and goes on to observe that “the standards have definitely gone up with so many talented designers now doing well nationally and internationally.”

“I see this trend only getting better with time. It’s come a long way but there’s still a long way to go….” She puts across even as she strongly feels that one area they could move into is ‘Production houses’. “Then designers who cannot afford their own manufacturing unit can start working there and it could also be a hub for models to find work”, she shares.

One could say she is highly successful, but for her, the word ‘successful’ differs for each individual. So, what according to her is success? She believes “success is all about having the right mindset and in that regard I’d say I’m doing alright. I’ve had the privilege of traveling extensively around India and the world, met and interacted with some of the most successful people of this industry. I don’t excel in anything but I’ve learned a lot so I consider myself successful enough.”

She also feels that “the ingredients for being successful would involve careful planning and strong determination. Once we put our minds to it, the sky’s the limit. Or as Mark Twain rightly puts it, “To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.””

How much of beauty is essential for a profession like hers? And she is quick to say that “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” even as she goes on to explain, “Like a good friend of mine once said, ‘there are many variants to beauty... nature is beautiful but not everyone can appreciate it’ rightly describes it. Beauty is confidence too. You can’t have outer beauty without that inner confidence. Beauty is essential but more importantly, I feel confidence and professionalism are more important in this career.”

Well, all she hopes for the future is to be helping our youth in finding their place in the world and realizing their dreams. “I struggled a lot to get to where I am today and I want to give to people what I never had, insight and experiences. Just to have someone tell you what to expect and share various experiences goes a long way and would have made my initial experience in the industry much easier”, she says.

Then, with gratefulness, she goes back to recalling how it all started for her and profoundly states, “if there was a beginning I’d say it all started with my participation in beauty pageants, in particular, the Miss India. It gave me a platform and exposure to the industry for me to start my career in modeling.”

One may see all glitz and glamour in the world of a supermodel but when asked to describe a typical day, she expresses, “Beyond all the ‘glamor’ my work may take me, I’d enjoy a day off like any other person would, which I’d spend in the quiet confines of home or spending the day with family or friends.”

She wanted to be everything and anything under the sun as a child- “From an engineer, like my father, to a doctor or a teacher and for sometime, even a nun like the nuns in my school” but she has eventually found her destination and if there is any advice she would give it to the youth, it can be no better put than what comes from the heart- “You are what you stand up for. Follow your heart and dream big.”

Yirmiyan Arthur Yhome: Speaking her heart in images

She comes across as a charming and friendly person whose zeal for living strikes you in the first impression. Moving beyond that, you find a very successful woman who has gone places both as a filmmaker and a photo editor of the world’s oldest and largest newsgathering organisation - Associated Press.

Yirmiyan Arthur Yhome is globally known for her award winning documentary film called ‘The Test’ which won the best film award at the First Red Ribbon International Film Festival held in Accra, Ghana, during 2011. The film, which highlights the story of HIV-positive women survivors, mostly widows, socially feared and surviving in loneliness, is unmistakably a product of an issue close to her heart even as she recalls that the main challenge for her in the process of making the film was understanding the reality of stigma. She explains, “I have relatives who are HIV-positive and we’ve never discriminated against them” although she is also quick to add, ‘Of course, both sides know the preventive care we need to take, but it was no different as taking prevention against TB or other infectious diseases’.

Baring her heart on this, she goes on to express, “They say education and awareness will help remove stigma and discrimination against HIV-positive people. Manipur and Nagaland boast of very high literacy rates. Bihar measures poor in scale. From what I saw during my travels in these states, there was less stigmatisation in Bihar as compared to Manipur and Nagaland. The AIDS awareness and sensitisation campaigns seem to have worked in the reverse in the North East, especially because of the projection of it being a disease of the sexually promiscuous. The Naga areas, especially, where religion (Christianity) plays such a major role, stigma is widespread because HIV is considered a disease of the morally ill! I was of the opinion that people know better now but yet hide behind the convenience of stigma rather than care for a sick relative. I foolishly thought stigma was just an excuse to justify the selfish nature of humans! And then I realised stigma was as real as my very existence!”

Well, she therefore ‘read and read and researched and read some more, going through dozens of reports from dozens of organisations who had dedicated years into combating the virus, printing more material than I could absorb’, as she puts it, but also says, “It was a very fruitful yet very exhausting journey...exhausting because I felt inadequate in expressing their lives on screen. Truth was that I was emotionally drained…”

However, deservingly, “The Test” secured the most online votes for best film beating ‘Tac Taking Haart’ (South Africa) and ‘Intersexion’ (South Africa) at the Red Ribbon International Film Festival.

So, how did filmmaking happen? She would tell you that next to her first childhood dream, which was to be a doctor, was the electronic media and confesses further that “because I am more of a Jack of Many Trades and being with a regular job, I haven’t had the luxury of time to make films.”

And yet, Yirmiyan has made quite a number of them such as “Phalee: the Good Land” that typifies any Naga village – the realities of memory and modern Naga – widows enduring with life and interpreting survival in the background the oldest armed-conflict in South/East Asia. This film was earlier premiered at the Museum der Kulturen, Basel, and at the Völkerkundemuseumder Universität, Zürich, Switzerland in 2009.

Another film she made is “A Sackful of Ganja” which is a short 2-min livelihood related film on the growing of marijuana as a source of income in a village in Ukhrul district. “My Lament, My Plea” was the final film she made while at the Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC), which also won the Best Film award at the New Delhi Video Forum and was further screened at the Human Rights Film Festival, Panchgani, India 2001.

Talk of her experience in filmmaking and she considers travelling with renowned documentary filmmaker Amar Kanwar in the Naga areas in two of his documentaries as valuable, even as she insists, “Though my role was minimal, I learnt by watching him work, the importance of respecting the private space of those projected in the film, the importance of voluntary consent of all involved.”

Delve deeper into what she does and she says without hesitation that “more than anything, I love, love, love editing – both still and moving images. I even love editing sound and used to stay for extended hours in the sound studio while doing my Masters. I love how stories evolve while editing. If I couldn’t tell human-interest stories with the work I do, I’d call it a day and start hunting for something else I might be good in.”

This also explains why she has been in the field for nine long years even as she speaks of her involvement with the Associated Press as a Photo Editor, South Asia Bureau, in that period but insists that it has not been long enough to be bored or feel the monotony of the job yet.

The highlight of her time with AP, she shares, is understandably the Olympics as she goes back to remembering the year 1984 in Kohima when television had just arrived and they were glued onto gymnastics in particular. Coincidentally, she says, “I was assigned to cover gymnastics, the dream sport of my childhood, partly because I could do splits and cartwheels. It has been the most thrilling part of my career so far, for sure.”

Well, she was also part of the edit team when Michael Phelps won his first gold in the 2012 Olympics. Recalling this period, she says, “Growing up with a brother who was part of a rock band, I didn’t know what ‘deafening’ meant until that night at the aquatics stadium. I wish I had the mastery of language, enough to explain the energy of those few seconds!”Some fun time with colleagues and firiends

“Then to be able to get exactly that time off to go and watch Mary Kom in her semi-final bout! Or to be watching the New Zealand All Blacks’ rugby team do the Haka with much pride, in their very own soil! These first-hand experiences are unparalleled and I have collected each with much pride, passing on stories to my little daughter, just like I remember my father passing on stories of his travels around the world…” she nostalgically puts across.

A glimpse into a day of a photo editor and you’d picture communication with their main photographers posted across South Asia and answering emails that might have arrived the night before. “The region being very diverse, quiet days with little happening are hard to find,” she enlightens. Post lunch, she says, is maddening most days where “images from all points start to land and we start our juggling act – decisions on which stories are more important than the others and need to be sent out soonest or catering to images according to time zones.”

In general, she says, ‘We keep 5 time zones in mind- Australia and New Zealand, South East Asia, South Asia, Europe and then the US’ while adding that this is not so

critical in day-to-day functioning, but when one travels on big sports assignments ‘this can be very crucial’.

She, however, emphasises that the greatest challenge is the time factor, while putting across, “Working with a news agency, time matters. This coupled with speed and accuracy increases stress at work. We are all perpetually looking up international competitors to make sure we’re in the lead or that we aren’t missing out on anything in the region. Also, dealing with dozens of photographers can be tough, some with inflated egos, having to deal with various sorts of characters and building trust. It is vital that the photographer trusts you enough to know his work is in able hands.”

Besides her love for images, Yirmiyan is a fierce crusader for children and education. “It may seem very insignificant but I like to spend time with parents of young children talking about the benefits of reading, about the importance of the home environment,” she says even as she professes, “Children’s education is something I hold very close to my heart and I hope in the years to come I can significantly contribute to it.”

Another issue she thinks she will inevitably find herself in someday is waste disposal. To this, she expresses, “I find myself appalled when I travel through Kohima town. It is everybody’s headache in Kohima but nobody’s responsibility. Just a month ago, I had this conversation with a government officer in Nagaland on this very subject. He said he was passionate about it but that he didn’t know where to start and that his not being in the municipal corporation department left him handicapped. I said my thoughts out aloud to him - If someone in his position and who feels about this could do nothing, how can we expect anything from lay people?”

Her dreams for Nagaland are plenty, and could not be possibly better expressed than the way she puts it – “A time when we don’t have to call any area ‘remote’, a time when education is real and not just statistics, a time when women are respected not just for their maternal roles but treated as an equal, a time when we can genuinely ‘vote’ in change or ‘vote’ out change, and because religion plays such a big role in our society, a time when ‘moral science’ is not just a subject in school and when faith is not superficial, and several, several more.”

While her one advice to the youth is, “Be proud of where you come from”, she shares her thoughts further saying, “We lose ourselves when we shirk from our roots. Our sense of pride is kind of warped, I feel. It is wrongly placed. If you respect where you come from, others will slowly be forced to see the good in it. If you’re ashamed of yourself, your culture, your people, it is easier for others to raise their finger at you or look upon you with contempt because you allow them the space to do so.”

The Photo Editor of Associated Press, South Asia Bureau, who also sings, would judge success by the bridges one builds wherever one is, whatever one does, and strongly holds that, “Like joy being best when shared, success is the feeling at the end of an assignment/work/day where you can celebrate with friends, where your contribution has mattered.”

“I don’t believe a person’s success is only measured over years. I believe it is at most times measured over shorter periods, over days, over assignments, over events…” she expresses.

She definitely fits in among those who have accomplished more than one fine thing in life and yet she finds it strange when asked what it takes to be where she is even as she responds with, “It almost embarrasses me.”

“Where am I? The day I am master of my own time, the day I can chalk out my routine according to exactly how I want my day to be is the day I might want to tell you what it takes to get there. For the moment, yes, I enjoy my work but I enjoy my family more and I wish I could spend more time with them. And yes, I’ve had my share of disappointments but I’ve always managed to dust myself and carry on…” she says.

She sees five years from now not very different from today, “….In my own little home, entertaining my daughter’s friends and extended family. The music of Astrud Gilberto gently wafting out the windows of my home. And yes, learning some Tenyidie,” she delightfully states.

Education and work have taken her to several places around the world. She did her studies in reputed institutes like the Maharani Gayatri Devi School in Jaipur, Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) in New Delhi, and Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC), Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. But her take on life is simple because in spite of it all, she says, “What I learnt best was the gift of friendship and human relations. Relationships fuel me.”

Headhunters Entertainment: They’re the ‘reel’ stuff

While the film culture, in terms of directing and producing, still has a long way to go in the State, a few passionate filmmakers have made their marks, set their goals and are definitely moving on towards promoting the film industry. 

What started as a one-roomed tiny studio, which was certainly not enough, has now been upgraded to a more viable one at AG colony Kohima, and that’s where their ‘crazy’ ideas take off. All of them are in their twenties and felt no need to pursue the ‘Essential BA’, which is considered mandatory in a society like ours, except for Lanso Yanthan, who later on studied 3D Animation. The rest are happy with crash courses on filmmaking after their 12th.

headhunters-Team 

Headhunters Entertainment is a name closely associated with the reel life, and a group famously known for films like F-A-K-E, The Reborn, Liquidators, The Naga Jedi, Azure Delusion - Apocalypse (music video), OFF- Save me (music video), The Debt (short film), Doolally commercial, and several other video clips it has produced over the years.

Liyo Kikon, the man behind the formation of the group along with Ponen Longchar some eight years back, recalls picking up filmmaking as a hobby even as he confesses how he was so entirely fascinated by Star Wars during his school days. But it was not until the year 2008 that they seriously thought about making films as a career. Although Ponen Longchar left for the UK in the process, in pursuance of a higher goal, four other young film enthusiasts - namely Kele Yhoshü, Lanso Yanthan, Ashemo Ezung and Aben Ngullie - were added to the fold, making Headhunters Entertainment a team of five who don’t mind talking films, watching films, and making films. 

A group that has also proven that passion can definitely lead people somewhere, Headhunters Films have been screened in several places across the world including Delhi, Mumbai, Kohima, Dimapur, New York and elsewhere in Europe. It also has the distinction of being awarded the Best Director/Producer, which Liyo Kikon bagged during 2011 at the Nagaland Video Music Award while Headhunters Entertainment further received the award for the Video of the Year for “Azure Delusion”, which was also shown in popular channels like VH1 and MTV.

Their love for filmmaking is evident even as they say in one voice: “We make money to make movies.” If one wonders how they make money since they do not sell the many films they have already made, the Headhunters Group take in clients’ jobs, which range from local to national, from private clients to government projects and goes beyond borders at the international level. The latest being a Canadian film titled, “Crossroads” which they took up for refining the visual effects and has just been completed. 

In the recent past, they have also made an animated movie on ‘Puliebadze’ from Easterine Kire’s Naga Folktales retold. 

A shooting day in a filmmaker’s life is made of waking up really early to make sure that the rising sun is not missed….”shoot, shoot and after shooting, edit, edit…” “Shooting part is great, we have a good time shooting. Editing is more like testing our patience,” they say, as they dwell on what goes around in the day of one who makes films even as they all agree that filmmaking has its own share of challenges. 

“You have the script, the plan…but on the day of making it, something else comes up and everything needs to be changed”, one of them expresses. Liyo Kikon goes on to add, “As a filmmaker, you need to have the guts to say that a particular shot is not working, and if it does not, you have to let it go…you can’t be emotional about it and that’s the hardest part.”

The crazy passionate bunch of filmmakers, who do not mind skipping their sleep especially when they have to edit, are also multi-talented because sometimes they themselves are the actors. And when they are not making films, they are all musicians, who sing, play and make music. 

But it is certain that their hearts rest on filmmaking even as they commit to saying, “We will keep making films and in some 5-10 years from now, the film culture would have caught up….it needs a lot of patience but hopefully, we will also have our own production unit with a full film crew, make up artistes, and all that is required to complete the picture.”

Also observing that there is a lack of people who can do art performances, they also wish that there were screen writers, script writers, and more people who knew how film works. But their hopes are definitely not broken as they work towards achieving these dreams someday. They consider themselves still in the process of being successful, but adds, “We still got time”. For them, the mantra to life seems to lie in the quote - “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” 

While the group has a great following, they are flattered that a kid fan in Chandmari has his room filled with posters of Headhunters. Regardless of the fact that Kohima is the only state capital in the country without a film theatre, the scope for filmmaking is not limited, and although they admit it sounds clichéd to say something like ‘if you like something, just keep pursuing……”, they do strongly believe that passion gets you somewhere. And that’s what they are – passionate and truly loving what they do, which is filmmaking.

Colo Mero: Transforming lives through football

Colo Mero is most likely to be spotted at a football match cheering for the game he so intensely loves, although he confesses that playing wise he is on the average. And yet, he has taken the game to such a level in the State that he has added a whole new dimension to sports (particularly football).

He established Life Sports under Life Ministries during August 2008, which is also the first club in the State to have AFC and AIFF-qualified regular coaches and contract players.

Colo’s deep passion for football is crystal clear. Anything sports, especially football, wins the heart of this gentleman and his name is already so well known in the football circle. In fact, his is a household name, specifically amongst the youth, having worked with young people for about 20 years now.

He may consider himself an average football player; somebody who has not played at the high level (in his words), except a little bit in school and one or two years in college. But one can clearly see how deeply he is taken in by the game. He has been everywhere, wherever football is, and so, the line that follows does not come as very surprising but is revealing of the heart he has put into it.

“I read football, I talk football, I watch football - live or on television, and anything football, we want to be part of it,” Colo professes. ‘But my focus, first of all, is not football’, he goes on to say, even as he enlightens how football for him is a mission to reach out to people.

And you just to spend some time with him to discover that his heart beats for the youth. He has dedicated his life to the vision of his ministry, to seeing young people realise their potential through the mission that he passionately believes in.

If there is one thing that his decades of experience with young people in colleges and university has taught him, then it is the need to transform lives through instruments such as Music and Sports given the interest, the talent and passion that young people have for these two arenas.

He chose the latter because he felt that there was already enough space given for music in the church or other social events. That was really when ‘football as a mission’ began in 2008. It is also because he feels that in one way or the other, everyone is connected to it even as he puts across his belief that the following for football is big, towards which end, he also envisions how it can be tremendously used in transforming the youth.

Life Sports organises 1st AIFF D License Course for football coachesThe Director of Life Sports Football Club (LSFC), Colo Mero, who is also the Recipient of the Young Indian (YI) ‘Young Achiever Award’, Nagaland Chapter, 2012 is the brainchild behind Chizami Cup, an annual tournament that started in the year 2010, and has to its credit one of the highest prize money in the State.

Life Sports School Football is one of his most recent initiatives that have been instituted to give professional football training to school children in schools which are interested in grooming students in this aspect. About 40 boys in Kohima, aged between 6 and 13, in Northfield School are being trained while training is also being extended to rural kids aged between 8 and 14 at Chizami.

The youngest player is a 6-year-old boy, Colo says, while emphasising that it is important to instil discipline in the players right from the start. He adds that most of the players in Life Sports are raw talent. But in spite of this weight, he has gone on to build one of the best football clubs in the State.

Given the right support, especially from the government in terms of facilities, he strongly affirms that our young players, who are blessed with immense talent and potential, can go not only national but international.

Colo’s mission is truly youth and football. “I raise support and run social businesses to pay expenses,” he discloses.

But more than providing opportunities for footballers, he sees it as a BIG mission opportunity for young people to come and join. Towards this end, he also states sensibly that the privilege to do mission work may not necessarily extend to places like Arunachal Pradesh, Cambodia, China, Bhutan, etc because the same need is extensive right here at home.

For this alumnus of Patkai Christian College, he is vigorously pursuing his vision to foster a holistic development of footballers with emphasis on professional training, Christian discipline, relationship and vocation so as to enrich their own lives and the lives of others.

Although there’s still a long, long way to go as far as facilities are concerned - “we don’t have that kind of facilities which established professional clubs have…..” - but the heart he has for young people seems enough to sustain Colo’s passion one day at a time, one week at a time and one year at a time.

Mijito Chishi: Rising diplomat star

FOR MIJITO CHISHI, every government service is unique and special in its own way even as he strongly asserts, “The chance to serve the people through the government is a huge responsibility that one cannot take for granted.”

Currently based in South Korea as Third Secretary in the Embassy of India, Seoul, Mijito finds it hard to believe that over two years have gone by since the exam (UPSC) which propelled him to where he is today. “I have vivid memories of the dingy ground floor one room I had in Rajinder Nagar when I first came to Delhi in 2006,” he confesses as he goes on to recall fond memories associated with that time of his life. 

Then, he remembers the many random people he met as an aspirant, with strangers ever willing to dish out advice on the exams at every opportunity.

“The more I listened, the more confused I became so I eventually stuck to a few friends with whom I could study, share and learn from. It took three years and three attempts. Yes, it was discouraging to fail twice at the Mains second stage but I took away lessons from every failure. I could modify my answers and strengthen my basics. Preaching perseverance is easier but the reality was that I could get by only by prayer and at my end, attempts at discipline. To focus on this exam meant giving up other things,” says Mijito.

This, more or less, sums up his attempts at the most prestigious civil exam in the country, which, of course, he eventually earned with a lot of hard work, determination and faith. He stayed honest to the coaching class, to himself when he was in his room and asked God for help daily. “At the end, I realised that I cannot do this on my own and that God had to intervene” is his final say to the rigorous times of dedicating himself to what he honestly believed in. 

Asked if there was any particular turning point in his life, Mijito says, “To be honest, failure was a major turning point.” 

Explaining this, he adds, “I dropped a year in college for a variety of reasons and my own lack of resolve. I had been an above average student in school with a pretty decent academic record, so I didn’t think much of college. But failure brought down my pride. I had to go back home for my masters eventually because my scores were not good enough for DU anymore. Failure has many lessons – academics is just one of them.”

Talking about the younger days, Mijito recalls that a frequent answer to the million-dollar question - ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ was to become a doctor like his father. “I vacillated later and wanted to be an IAS officer. My answers were largely set answers which came out of the mouth of every young dreamer at that time viz. doctor, engineer or IAS.” 

Eventually, the fact that Civil Services was there somewhere in his mind made him consider the option later in life. “After wavering here and there a bit, I came back to this option and decided to write it seriously. I am grateful for God’s blessing. It is far beyond any dream I’d had,” the young achiever says.

If one were to take a brief journey into what his experience as an IFS Officer has been like so far, one would have to go back to Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie where he spent 3 months for a Foundation Course in August 2010 and trained with officers from the IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service. He feels it was a privilege to see things from a broad perspective and to learn to appreciate all kinds of viewpoints. 

Sharing more of his stay there, Mijito says, “Meeting people from each unique state removed the tunnel vision that I had on many things. My roommate was an IPS officer who is now serving in Maharashtra; two very good friends serve in the Assam-Meghalaya cadre of the IAS and one friend is serving in Nagaland cadre! I also met four amazing Naga officers from the Forest Service.”

After the Foundation course, he came to Delhi and joined the Foreign Service Institute for roughly 18 months. To represent the country, he states, you cannot not know about the country. To this end, he explains that the training built his awareness about the country on all fronts, whether it is history, politics, culture, economics, demography etc.

“In the Bharat Darshan (India Study Tour), I saw the cold deserts of Ladakh, the sandy deserts and fortresses of Rajashthan, the boundless civilization that was Hampi, the French colony that was Pondicherry, the beautiful Andamans and the silence of the Sunderbans. How can one not sell an India as beautiful, diverse and varied as this? How can I be ungrateful?” is what he has to say. 

Well, he adds, the Indian Foreign Service gives an opportunity to work for the country by serving fellow citizens in other countries. Along this line, he also says the IFS gives a lot of exposure and perhaps complements his other interests too as one gets to travel, live in another country and learn about other cultures whose importance, he says, cannot be overemphasized. 

“You get to see things from someone else’s perspective - sometimes a different one entirely - and ultimately you have to use these lessons to serve your country in the best way possible. There are so many people one gets to meet and interact with all the time, so it helps in keeping you sharp and always alert. In a sense, you’re always working.”

Also, because in the IFS one has to specialize in at least one foreign language, he is currently learning Korean while his batch mates are spread around the world, from Mexico to Moscow to Tokyo learning their respective languages. 

The young foreign officer further emphasises that nothing worthwhile comes easy.

And if there is something that he’d like to tell young people, it is this: “Take on challenging tasks. The more challenging the task, the harder you’ll work and the quicker you’ll realise that it’s not just about yourself. You learn to know the value of others and, most of all, you learn to depend on God. If we are a Naga society that always wants the easy way to get something, then we have no foundation at all. We have no lesson to impart to the younger generation because we lack experience and we can convince no one. Ironically, sustained self-confidence comes from confidence others have in you and not from a misplaced sense of knowing-it-all. My uncle Ahu Sakhrie used to tell me, to know you have to learn to say ‘I don’t know’.”

As for him, he says that the UPSC taught him how important basics were in life even as he expresses, “As embarrassing as it was, I had to go back to the most basic books from Class 11/12 and college purely because I finally had to accept that I didn’t know. It is true even today. I have basic books within reach so that I can keep reminding myself.”

The bottom line, he emphasises, is to “strengthen your basics”. “Learn to ask questions and admit your ignorance. There are two outcomes at the end – ‘you either learn or you don’t’, he says, and further adds, “I also want to remind young people that there is no substitute for education. As my pastor used to say, student life is short, make the best of it. If you don’t read, you can’t write and if you can’t write, it’s quite likely you can’t speak well. So pick up a book or newspaper, or read articles on the internet.”

In the meantime, Mijito notes, “Nagas have been known to be warriors. But sometimes I worry if that part is just limited to fighting – which really is reacting in a ‘my way or the highway’ kind of immature behaviour. We must be warriors even in other things, like work, study or just being honest and true to the task given to you. It’s not about punching someone in the face.” 

Well, anyway having come this far, does the young officer have a role model? He responds with, “It’s hard to say specifically who was or is my role model, but I’ve been drawn by a variety of people. When I was preparing for the exams it would be the honest and efficient Civil Servants I’d read about in the papers. I’d be drawn not only by honesty and sincerity but by simplicity and officers who did it well.” But, yes, he expresses, with pride, “I’ve also always held my parents high for who they are and I’d like to continue their legacy and what they’ve taught me.”

The eldest son of Dr Vinito Chishi and Mrs Bano Sakhrie Vinito, Mjito has four siblings – three brothers and one sister. He went to Wynberg-Allen School in Mussoorie where he finished Class 12 and graduated from Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi University and went on to earn an M.Com post graduate degree from Nagaland University in 2006. He confesses he is a movie buff and also likes singing, reading, travelling and writing too! More of an outdoors person, he enjoys hiking as well. 

Ask him his future plans and the lines that follow are that of profound gratitude. “I am thankful for where God has brought me and the privilege He has given me. I just want to be fruitful and be true to my task at hand. Day by day, I want to give it my best. My future is in the hands of my Lord Jesus”, are Mijito’s heartfelt words.

Khiwamo Kath: Nothing works like hard work

WHAT WOULD you say of a young man who got bored of government service because there was actually nothing to do where he was posted? That, he quit because he didn’t like the idea of not having to go to the office, except to turn up after 2 months only to collect the salary?

Khiwamo Kath had already defined his future the moment he realised the importance of actually earning the money you receive.

He is a graduate of Kohima College and was exposed to our version of government ‘service’ at a young age as a student, whereby he concluded that being paid for no work done was certainly not his cup of tea and in the least fulfilling.

One could say an interview for Aamby Valley (a township developed by the Sahara India Pariwar in Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra) held at Kohima changed his course of direction. From what started as a 6-month recruitment at Aamby Valley has now stretched to over 10 years for Khiwamo Kath, who explored and struggled but, more importantly, weathered the storm to be where he is now.

He recalls with keenness the first project he was part of after finishing 6 months as a trainee. The project – ‘Lake Front Development’ - is close to his heart because it paved the way for him to show his worth. Although he did not have any formal training on the technical aspects, his home experiences of handling electrical lightings such as fixtures, putting up Christmas stars, etc, certainly came handy in helping him execute the interior and exterior electrical lightings as part of the project.

In the process, he was trained on lifeguard, food and beverages and front office sections, which equipped him further. For the one and a half year project, he normally worked from 9 am until 3 am next morning, a cycle that continued for days to the extent that it even affected his health to an extent. But without a tinge of regret, he says it was fulfilling. His hard work earned him a reward incentive of Rs.1.5 lakhs as a trainee, something that even many of his seniors could not reach but settled for Rs.50-60,000.

“I was shocked, everybody was shocked,” he says. However, he is happy that it has contributed towards people starting to recognise the potential of Naga people and their capabilities even without technical know-how.

Khiwamo’s promotion thereafter is not much of a surprise because it is so well-deserving. Today, since he joined ten years back, he has had 6 promotions from being a trainee to Assistant Junior Worker (which is equivalent to LDA), to Officer, Senior Officer, Junior Executive, Senior Executive and currently the Relationship Manager (Public Relations) of Aamby Valley in Mumbai.

It is not only him but four Nagas altogether who proved their worth at Aamby Valley, even as he makes mention of the several responsibilities they are all assigned with such as Event Management, Celebrities Management and Naga Village at Aamby Valley. “Many people have come and many have left, but the four of us have stayed around,” he expresses. Clearly, he is proud of his Naga counterparts who are also doing exceptionally well.

Well, he confesses that he is emotionally attached with Sahara India Pariwar even as he delves into its different branches including media, infrastructure, housing, finance, tourism and sports, wherein Aamby Valley is one of the major properties for Sahara India Pariwar. His challenging job profile consists of brand promotion, organising events, business tours, etc.

By now, he has learnt how people do business or simply, how people manage time while emphasising still that ‘the time factor is very important for us’. He goes on to share that although one could not undergo technical studies, ‘when you are interested, you can do it’.

“There are lot of people like me back home in Nagaland who know how to do things because of experience and not necessarily formal training or qualification. Out here in the private firms, they do not consider technical qualification so long as you have the experience” he says.

An interesting event in Khiwamo’s life goes back to a Karaoke night where he stood up and sang “To be with you” by Mr. Big while he was out for a little leisure time. Whether by luck or destiny, his performance attracted the attention of the Porsche Manager who came up to congratulate him on his performance and they exchanged their cards. It so happened that Porsche Road Shows are held around the world every year and Khiwamo Kath was instrumental in bringing the Porsche Road Show to India, the first ever that happened in the country fulfilling the wish of the Manager to organise one in India.

During that 14-day period, he generated some 3 crores for the company, which, understandably is a great achievement for him.

Though the demands of his job are challenging, Khiwamo says he enjoys the rather fast life of Mumbai, the working atmosphere and, obviously, it’s his interest and commitment to his job that has taken him this far.

His future plans consist of more and more businesses like opening a PR agency in Nagaland even as he admits that home is where the heart is. “No matter what or however well you are doing outside, you still want to come back home someday and work for your people”, he states as a true blue Naga.

Khiwamo also has a warm heart drawn to helping people. He is known for extending a helping hand to Nagas and others from Nagaland coming to Mumbai for various purposes even if it means he has to miss work for a day, notwithstanding the fact that his day’s salary gets cut too! He says, “At one point of time I thought I should be a social worker”. Well, he likes photography and enjoys socialising with people, which is clearly manifested in the bigger sense of the word.

And yes, Khiwamo’s got his passion for higher goals firmly planted and once he decides he would do something, he does it.

Passion, commitment, hard work………..ingredients that can take you far and Khiwamo has clearly got the recipe right.

Bethel Tsuzu: It’s all about the Music!

It seems natural for even accomplished musicians in the State to have their foundations in the Sunday School and Church, even as Bethel Tsuzu confesses that these are the first reasons for music in her life. Actually, she belongs to a family - sisters – of established singers and musicians, to which end, she also says, “My childhood was all about music at home; singing, playing the piano or guitar. Thus, we had competition at home between sisters in regard to our individual musical talents.”

Considering the environment she grew up in, it does not come as very surprising when she says, “After my 12th standard, I could think of no other course but to pursue music as a career option. So, I went on to do my Bachelor’s in Church Music from Singapore Bible College, with a Major in Piano.” Describing this as the alpha of her musical journey, she, however insists, “But never to forget, it all began because of an inspirational, talented loving and caring American missionary, our dearest Ma’am Margaret Shishak”, who, she bears witness, also brought western classical music into many of their lives.

Adding still that she and her sisters were very lucky and blessed to have grown up in an environment where there were real acoustic pianos to play on at a time in Nagaland where piano was unheard of, she further enlightens, “This was in Patkai Christian college and I owe this all to Ma’am Margaret Shishak, who was like a second mother to us when we were young. She took the pain and commitment to make sure we practiced in her home piano every single day and take lessons without fail every week. And most importantly, I would get the opportunity to get up on stage as a young girl and play and sing for hundreds of college students all through my younger days. So I practically had stage and performance exposure in my growing years.”

Along the way,Bethel has achieved extraordinary feats in her career as a musician. Bethel is the recipient of the Young Musicians Award by NEZCC in 2008, besides scoring the highest marks in Licentiate of Trinity College London (LTCL) in Bangalore 2011; she is also the recipient of the Edgar Fewekes Memorial Trophy for outstanding Musician in Bangalore and yes, understandably, she was elated to hear the entire Asian Baptist Women Convention participants singing her composition of the theme song in 2009. She has also gone on tour with the likes of Dr. L Subramaniam and his wife Kavitha Krishnamurthy and played with other acclaimed Carnatic musicians. It is also worth mentioning that she has gone on extensive performance tours across the world such as Nigeria,USA, most of South East Asia, and cities across India.

Currently based in Bangalore, she presently works with over 100 underprivileged HIV children by way of bringing music education into their lives. This job, she says, has given her great satisfaction deep down even as she expresses, “I think I like this the most in all the many musical journeys I have undertaken.”

She is also very excited about Musica Nova, a musical group she formed with her sister Deborah (who currently lives in the US in Phoenix,Arizona) and some other excellent musicians from around the world.

For those who do not know,Bethel, along with her other sister Nituo, was instrumental in bringing Furtados Music Showroom (part of Furtados Music India Pvt Ltd) to Nagaland, precisely in Dimapur during 2009, for easier accessibility to our folks at home. It is also a platform for many local musicians to have access to musical workshops, small recitals and performances, interactions with musicians, and a place to access numerous books and materials on music. This, of course, also came out of the struggle they both went through as young musicians with no access to instruments and materials.

Looking back on her journey through life so far,Bethel says, “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon where everything was available at the snap of a finger; I am grateful for that period in my life as it inculcated good values in me.”

She goes on to add: “In my musical journey, I realised the world was not so pretty and every move was tough to navigate. I went through my share of struggles, fought my way through, made mistakes and learned from them, and continued to play on. Today, I can confidently say that I have worked hard to reach where I am now. As a girl, it was never easy as there were lots of hurdles whether on the home front or the society. Hence, our explorations of the inner being and music around us were limited and curbed. Our church music is a great foundation that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. That made me a versatile musician, with stronger ears to the harmony and melody. These were the various phases in the metamorphosis of evolving into a seasoned musician.”

When asked to share her observations on the state of music in Nagaland, she is quick to respond that the young upcoming musicians are much more aware of the competition they have around them, aware of the many different kinds of music, musically much wiser and meticulous than when they were younger.

She also holds that media is ‘so powerful that the world has become much smaller than our days, so also the world of music’.

“The State has now (thankfully) realised where we score on and is much more supportive and I am very glad and relieved to see the manner in which young people do not hesitate to follow the musical path. I always felt (I was a victim too) the youth have nothing or too little healthy entertainment in their lives in Nagaland. It’s very limited that boredom sets in very fast, and hence they take to drugs and drinking. But I can see things are changing and it better be. Because we are just as good and smart as anyone out there (or better), and we need our leaders to be aware of this and support the deserving musicians from our homeland.”

“If music is what keeps the youth busy, then let it be. We need proper concert halls at prime locations for western classical and traditional folk music. We also need greater appreciation of art, we need many more qualified teachers, and a lot of international mutual exchange musical programs”, she emphasises.

Music and business, for Bethel, are like two ends of a pole even as she explains, ‘My job with Bangalore Furtados Music Pvt India ltd, created a bridge between my musical talents and business skills’, and further adds that the challenge was to convert music into numbers as their senior piano consultant, spearheading the Bangalore retail branch, and heading the music school.” “I had to apply my entrepreneurial skills to be successful in the business of music industry”, she enlightens.

Talking of which, she says, “The HIV positive children I am working with currently is another big challenge I am blessed with. The challenge to be fruitful, and to make sure their lives are enriched with the music in return.”

Musically, she says that she is always challenged with the Indian beats and rhythm and continue to admire and be awed by it; as well as our tribal indigenous music as it is quite limited in harmony and melody, which she is keen on continually working on. She feels that the vocal technic involved is beautiful even as she states great respect for those who have so far taken the challenge to bring it to an international platform.

When she was in college, Bethel recalls being part of a band called Spindrift, and today she realises how that small window also made her a much more fearless musician as she also learnt to play styles other than classical. Still, she owes much of it to her music teachers in Nagaland, (Margaret Shishak, Vivee Peseyie and Ren Merry) who, she says, have been instrumental in shaping her to be a better musician. “I have also spent a lot of time in my university years in Singapore conducting adult choirs and working with children voices which has greatly honed my listening skills and taught me people/personality management. Bur above all, I always thank God, because it is He who gave me this talent and I believe I just cannot let it rest”, she passionately puts across.

Nothing, however, separates the special bond that binds family as she remembers… “My parents are not great musicians to the world but in my eyes they are. Both are quite musical and love to sing. Recently, my dad and some of us sisters got together and sang just hymns and I was so elated to hear my dad sing beautifully at the age of 75. My mom at 68 still continues to lead the women group at church in their singing and she loves to compose tunes as and when possible.”

People have often toldBethelthat she is very ambitious. But she feels, “I don’t see why not, when you have one life and the capacity to do good for a better society.”

She may not be based in Nagaland currently, but she definitely has her heart planted here even as she expresses her desire for so many things to be done. ‘I just hope one day I can achieve some, if not all of it’, she expresses.

And she would like to be a finer musician and also play a pivotal role in taking our Naga folk music to the rest of the world while creating a launching platform for young talented, disciplined, hardworking dedicated musicians from Nagaland to excel in the field of art and music across the world; and further take Musica Nova, which is a cultural blend of traditional Naga music and western and Indian classical music to an international platform.

All her life, Bethel Tsuzu wanted to be a performer, travel around the world and meet other musicians…well, it looks like most of her dreams have already come true. And she is giving herself time to do more music, perform, teach, travel, love her family and be more mature in music and life as well.

“And I think this maturity is beautiful as I learn to accept certain things and make the most of what I have in me. I never really decided to take a turn with ambition…it was always there”, the outstanding and gifted pianist, who has also tried her hands at the cello and handbells, puts across.

Ruokuoneilie Kesiezie: A visionary entrepreneur

Born to a business oriented family, the concept of entrepreneurship was not a new idea to Ruokuoneilie Kesiezie. He vividly remembers how he spent hours at a family run bookstore after school and got associated with business right from his teenage years. He recalls company representatives who introduced him to the very term “MBA” and was so fascinated with it that he dreamt of pursuing the degree one day.
True to that childhood call, he pursued MBA from Shinawatra International University Bangkok after he graduated in commerce from University of Calcutta. The University inThailandthat equipped him with skills and knowledge about management however required work experience for enrolment, which he, fortunately earned through his family line of business.

Interestingly, he also earned much of the expenses he needed for his studies while pursuing his MBA in Bangkok. Although he concentrated more in his studies for the initial year, he engaged himself in some part-time ventures and in the process, also gained much experience in business, which comes handy now.

He has experienced trading while he was in Bangkok; he even came face to face with gangsters- something that is more often associated with movies than reality for the majority lot; he has done business over e-Bay, the popular online site. He sold belts online, specifically belts with buckles with the free time he held in his hands, which also served as a means to sustain himself.

In a day, he sold about 5-6 belts, each one costing about 300 Baht which comes to Rs. 600 INR. With these experiences in hand, he expresses that doing things practically really enabled him to see business from a wider perspective even as he goes on to confess that the international exposure that he got immensely helps him in what he currently does now.

Ruokuoneilie today manages IT World, Aircel and Lozi Hyundai with over 80 employees under these business establishments. He does see changes even in the society’s perception for business over the years. Ten years back, he recalls, our own people were reluctant to enter the shops owned by Nagas or even hesitated to step into finely established showrooms, but today, he says that, that sight has taken a positive stride even as people are progressing in their mindsets and looking for modern amenities or the so called, more fashionable items.

One thing that, however, grieves him is the fact that there isn’t much local productions in the State even as he points out that everything we get here is a product that comes from outside. ‘Outside, there is so much self production, here, it is not like that….whether stationery, computers….no local production”, he laments.

He is aware that the infrastructure here is weak but it is his dream that one day, there would be production of local products from the State, which, he believes would significantly contribute to the growth of business and economy in Nagaland. He also hopes that more and more young people would venture into management courses, explore and learn, and move a step higher from traditional business.

One of the prospects that he sees is also the use of terrace fields during dry seasons by planting vegetables and producing products for our own use rather than getting everything from outside the state.

In the meantime, he is concerned that a lot of people from outside venturing into several businesses in Nagaland are taking total advantage of the State, which is exempted from tax. He hopes that the government would also keep a check on this issue for the benefit of the business community in Nagaland.

He does his best to employ local people, but it is also a known fact that Nagas are often lacking discipline, and holding little value for experience. Yet, a good number of his employees are Nagas and when asked how it feels to be able to reach out to our own people, he simply states, “It feels good.”

“Patience and Honesty”, he emphasises are virtues that a businessman must possess.

As for him, he aspires to keep on exploring more business opportunities. The unassuming young man has his heart set for business, although he would rather listen than talk. He loves painting, which is also a hobby that has long been inherent in him since his boyish days.