When it comes to one's identity, I am a little bit crazy. The other day, two ladies came for a census. They asked me for the name of our tribe. The first name that comes to mind was 'Zomi'. Sadly though, in an official census I cannot register a name which I give myself on purely emotional consideration. So, I have to go with 'Paite'.
Yet another day, few days ago, I was out to the market with a graying retiree. There, at the butcher's outlet we met a certain lady. We have never seen each other before. Yet our eyes greeted naturally. Curiosity broke the ice. The lady spoke first.
"Mizo in ni em?" Are you Mizo?, she said.
"No," I shot back as quick as the poser. "We are Zomis."
"And where do these Zomis come from?"
"Lamka," I said, inwardly proud taking the name of my town.
However, my retiree companion was more practical than I. He added: "We are from Churachandpur."
The lady nodded acknowledgement to the latter.
We immediately built up a conversation. I talked my Paite. Our acquaintance talked her Mizo. We got along. But my partner quickly shifted to Duhlian gear. Actually, I myself had no problem with her language. Only that my Duhlian comes out very funny when I speak. I was out of the league in an instant.
I suddenly got into a morning reverie. The pains I had to take to satisfy the poking noses of mainland colleagues and superiors at Armed Forces HQ, Delhi, in 2000 flashed back to mind. The Kuki-Zomi conflict had just blown over. And the winds seemed to have been felt even in the premises of this defence hub. In fact, I had to dwell at length on the fine lines of differences between the Kukis and the Zomis in the midst of glaring similarities.
Now, it is not a delight to me either to bring out and account for our nearly non-existent dissimilarities. But that was the very trump card each and every tribe seemed to love playing. I mean, even within the Zomi fraternity itself.
To be bluntly honest, at the topsoil, not a soul minded being a Zomi. But the pride is fragile as an egg shell. Prick it and he withdraws into the cave of linguistic groupism which he ironically calls his true identity.
In brief, Zomi is the fig leaf that covers the nakedness and insecurities of several likeminded tribal conglomerates. The leaf is shed at the drop of a hat when it outlives its purpose and charm.
Charm, do I say?
Zomi, in fact, looks quite charming in literature, media, grafiti, webpages, slogans and poems and ballads. But come down to the brass tacks, then, well, you'll read completely different stories.
Students rally behind their respective dialect-based bodies, political parties run for linguistic and clan support, churches worship language-wise, social welfares go on the basis of recognised tribal sections. And every organisation that begins with Zomi, I mean nearly, play second fiddle to all the above. They are more or less subserved, in fact. I myself am loath to think that way. But take away the lingual organs and you will see Zomi plunk like a boneless tiger.
As for the apex Z-Organisation, I must say, it is an authority unto itself. Nobody dislikes it, but nobody loves it.
Zomi, much like the state's general elections, is a seasonal topic. It comes off once in a while, especially some time in February every year. If it hits the headlines otherwise, it is all for the wrong reasons. Speak of its wrongs, and you are wrong. Speak of its truths, and you are wrong all the same. I mean, unless you are the right person, in the right time, in the right place. And everybody cannot be that, can we?
No wonder everybody is skirting the Zomi issue. It's not a surprise that no writer takes it up as a main or constant theme. Yet everybody writes or speaks about it in bursts of emotional moment and seasonal interest. When the charm wears off or in the event of exigencies minus the need for a collective effort, just forget it, revert back to your original, true self. Zomi can come any time later.
I used to hear some people complain that the Z-supremo has no message beyond reunification. In fact, this is the principle Z stands for since its inception in 1993 and still being preached. I too, at times, felt that the term was hackneyed and overused. I too am prone to asking when we shall attain full reunification, if there is anything as such.
However, seeing where Zomi is going today, I think, it is lesson number one that we still have to learn. Otherwise, my friend, we are fighting a lost cause. And there will be no Zomi to bat for Zomi in the next ten years. Indeed, a Paite will fight for Paite, a Vaiphei for Vaiphei, a Zou for Zou, etc. And Zomi will always be the meek sacrificial lamb on the altar of our linguistic egos.
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