Getting to the Northeast is no joke. A flight, a train, a bus and a Tata Sumo stuffed with nine people later, I reached the middle of the sparsely inhabited Phek district in Nagaland. A stone's throw from both, the Manipur and Myanmarese hills, the village of Chizami at a height of 4,700 ft sticks its neck above a thick of clouds.
There are 16 Naga tribes in the region recognised by the government, and over 150 unrecognised ones. The sheer diversity across the state is mind boggling. Khezha, the tribe I lived with, couldn't understand the dialect spoken just five villages away. Yet, the one thing that binds the Nagas is their pride. Shame is one of their most loathed emotions, and village elders use it to teach people who commit petty crimes a lesson. Every village has a wooden lock-up (which looks like a zoo cage) in the main square. The wood has an itchy quality, so the more one tries to get out of it, the more painful it becomes for them. Village residents say that this has been the most effective way to control the crime-rate in the village -people who steal, lie or insult others are made to spend as much time in the lock up as it takes to make them feel ashamed. There are other effective ways the village deals with offenders. Those who steal chicken are also made to parade around the village with chicken feathers stuck over them; fish stealers must replace the stolen ware, besides wearing a placard announcing what they have done.
The Naga pride also makes them excellent hosts. Guests are offered everything from frog legs, steamed bees and fried bats to barrels of rice beer and wine. Of course, they couldn't understand why I was vegetarian.
I spent three winter months last year at the village, walking through cobbled streets that sometimes, unpredictably, became walls of granite that you need to rappel down. Red poinsettias jewelled the roadsides, and one often had to navigate around chickens and lose the ducklings that followed you everywhere. Three weeks into my stay, I gave into the temptation of heading towards some luxury, and jumped into a share-Sumo on its way to the state capital, Kohima.
The hilly town is slightly more modern, but is still soaked in old-world goodness. The war cemetery, located in the centre of Kohima pays tribute to all the English and Indian soldiers who lost their lives during the World War II Japanese invasion. Located on the slopes of Garrison Hill, it is the perfect spot from which to spy upon the rest of the town, as you soak up the sun.
After a trip to Nagaland, you will never under-appreciate the sun again. The state is thrown into darkness by 4.30 pm in the winter and that takes some getting used to. Shutters go down with the sun and by 5 pm, all the townsfolk close the doors and get ready for dinner. During festivals like the Hornbill though, the night comes to life. The otherwise-imposing shutters are rolled up, decorated with fluorescent fairy lights, and the main bazaar road turns into a riot of colours. Houses situated in gullies transform into grungy bars that serve locallybrewed rice beer and wine and burst at the seams with young boys and girls, who alternate between traditional chants and loud Korean pop from their smart phones.
Back in the village, I shared my little cottage with a cricket, a palmsized stick insect and a praying mantis, all with different sleep cycles. Just when the four of us began to co-exist peacefully and I felt in total communion with nature, I met Medowelo, who they said, was the best young hunter in the village. Hunting still plays a very important in their lives, and the best hunters are still revered as the bravest men, who get a bigger say in the goings-on of the village. Buffalo and mithun (a kind of domesticated bison) skulls hang in rows under morungs (a structure above their doors), and the bigger houses have many more skulls than smaller ones. At some point during my visit, I began to understand their intense relationship with nature and how deeply they respect it. Three months in this alien land left me craving for more.
Getting there
The closest railway station and airport is at Dimapur, Nagaland. Take a share cab to Phek district. Chizami is five hours from Dimapur, three hours from Kohima. Buses towards Phek leave Dimapur every evening if you want to slum it out.
Accommodation
Many villages in Nagaland have a community guest house, and Chizami town inaugurated theirs in November, a modest, welcoming lodge. Government and tourist bungalows are also available in Phek town and Pfutsero town. Visit resorts.tourismnagaland.com
Travel tips
Food in Chizami and its surrounding towns is simple and traditional. Pork and rice hotels dot the highway, and are normally willing to customise. A good pair of shoes (gum boots in the rainy season) and a sturdy travel bag are essential. Chizami has a magnificent range of birds and butterflies, so carry a bird/butterfly identification book and follow the trail along the river that runs below the town. Children in the village have also compiled a book of butterflies in the area, available at North East Network's resource centre at Chizami.
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