Kohima The Heart Of Nagaland

Kohima, the capital of Nagaland is the most popular destination due to her close proximity to Kisama Heritage Village, the venue for Hornbill Festival. Also, Kohima is the base to reach other parts of Nagaland due to her recent infrastructure development. However, this hill station has seen exponential growth in last couple of years and it can get congested as traffic tends to move at snail's speed.

Despite high number of vehicles, the streets are free of traffic jams and gridlocks thanks to the civic sense of the people of Nagaland. They follow lane discipline, patiently give way to other vehicles, pedestrians and do not honk unnecessarily. We only wish this incredible feat could be implemented all over India.

We started our tour in Kohima by visiting one of the most brutal battle grounds where the allied forces stopped the Japanese advancement- "Battle of Kohima." Once sprawling bungalow of the Deputy Commissioner was reduced to rubble after the war. As a reminder of the sacrifices of the war heroes this Battle field has been converted to a cemetery. This is the final resting place of more than 1420 soldiers who laid down their lives defending India during World War II.

The epitaph carved on the memorial:

When You Go Home

Tell Them of Us

And Say

"For Your Tomorrow,

We Gave Our Today."

A Cherry blossom tree is of historic importance here. The original tree was used by the Japanese forces as a sniper post. However, the tree was damaged during the war and the present tree is a shoot from the old stump.

Kohima state museum located in the corner of a busy lane is a perfect place to see art and artifacts belonging to the different tribes of Nagaland. The collectibles are simple and are all made of natural material but excellent when it comes to serving the purpose. The ones that stood out the most were different kinds of indigenous traps for birds and fish. Apart from that, a brush made of jack-fruit and it took us a while to believe that it could even be possible. Another very freaky exhibit that made our jaws drop were the skulls displayed that are real headhunting trophies collected during raids.

Outside the museum is a small open air gallery that houses many centuries old relics. The statues though damaged still have a classic appeal and the most lively one being that of Shiva killing a demon.

Kohima tends to host a lot of interesting football games and next to one of the football fields was a second hand clothing market where goods were being sold at a throwaway price. While on one side we saw a lot of folks work really hard to make money, the other side was the stark reality and one of the biggest challenges our Nation is facing- 'Illegal Gambling.' Illegal gambling happens in the open and on a massive scale, it was disheartening to see a young chap lose around 10 thousand rupees in under two minutes. It reached a point where after losing everything, he yielded to the temptation of borrowing money and ended up losing that as well. This just goes on to prove how addicting and home wrecking gambling could be.

Just for the heck of it we did try our hands at gambling, started with Rs.400 and almost lost all of it but lady luck shined and we made Rs.300. Being a part of the game we soon realized how the dealers work. It is more of a con, a group of men all working together make it look like the dealer is losing and there is easy money to be made. Once unsuspecting players bet big the house ends up winning everything. The greed to get back not just the investment but make profits is the root cause of getting trapped in this vicious cycle. Mind surely plays games. We called it quits after making Rs.300 and all of this happened in just 3 chances.

The best time to visit Kohima would be around Hornbill festival and during this time the entire city is pumped up. There are plenty of competitions organized by the enthusiastic local government and other bodies. A few to mention are photo competition, half marathon, music competitions and football. Many of the events had entry fee with exceptionally good price money and it was open for non locals too.

With abundant growth, pollution also becomes a reality and to curb this, local NGOs have started promoting the message of a cleaner city in a creative way. The graffiti on the walls of Kohima is something that is beautiful and filled with messages to educate people.

We took a stroll around Kohima and walked into one of the busy markets that was selling not just vegetables and fruits but also live frogs, snails, worms and insects. The restaurant Shilloi Lake in Hotel Jafpu serves good food and is reasonable priced. Their hot and sour soup is a must try.

When it comes to small bites, Popular Bakery is a perfect stop. True to their name, they seem to be very popular and have outlets across Kohima. 'Planet Earth' restaurant near Kohima town junction is one of the best cafes in town to dine in. They specialize in Chinese cuisine and is also easy on the pocket. Their red velvet cake is awesome and a must try.

'Ozone Cafe' in the same area gives it a super tough competition. If you are in Kohima this place is a must visit, alongside an awesome menu they have an in-house library. The food tastes awesome and the pricing is very reasonable. Their milkshakes are a must try.

Another awesome aspect about Nagaland in December is the Christmas celebrations. Christmas is jubilantly celebrated in Nagaland and it was in Ozone Cafe we saw the best of snowman made out of plastic cups.

We got a taste of the festive spirit when on our way to Kohima we got down from the bus at a wrong stop and lost our route to the hotel. We were stranded in a dark street with maps not functioning and loaded with our rucksacks we were speculating our next steps. A kind gentleman who was with his family, spotted us looking totally lost and confused, offered to drop us to our hotel in his car. This generous offer to complete strangers touched us no bounds. It is definitely difficult to trust complete strangers and offer them lift especially when one is travelling with family but this man and his family changed our thought process completely.

The next day they dropped by to check if we were comfortable at the hotel and even invited us to their home and prepared a feast like dinner for us to enjoy their cuisine. This beautiful family turned out to be our Angels spreading the joy of giving and we truly got an insight into Naga lives, their cuisine and also their lifestyle. They even treated us to amazing rice beers.

We checked into Hotel Aurora at Traders road. A budget hotel with excellent and quick service, it had clean rooms and was total value for money. The best part is their restaurant that serves amazing food at a very reasonable price. Their continental breakfast is amazing and so is their Indian and Chinese cuisine. They offer free WiFi and is centrally located with buses and taxis easily available.

Football Tournament in Honor Of Martyred Captain Kenguruse

Love for football in North East India is at a different level altogether. It is for this love that the Assam Rifles decided to organize an annual football tournament in honor of the Martyred Captain Kenguruse who made the supreme sacrifice to the Nation in Operation Vijay- Kargil. Serving the Nation in itself is Heroic but what these guys have done is a different level of Heroism. The Captain was leading a platoon and his mission was to neutralize well entrenched enemy on a cliff and capture the Area "Black Rock." It was one of the toughest missions. The Platoon came under intense enemy fire and Captain Kenguruse was hit and was bleeding profusely. The easiest thing would have been to retreat and get medical help but being the hero he was, Captain Kenguruse continued to climb the cliff to finish his mission.

To ensure that his platoon was able to climb and reach the top of the cliff he secured a rope for his men but his feet started slipping. In freezing temperature of -10 degrees, he kicked off his boots, secured the rope and launched himself in the line of fire, armed with a RPG. He fired it at enemy bunker and took out the gunner.

He engaged in hand to hand combat with the enemy and killed two enemies with his rifle and two enemies with his commando knife and finally a hail of bullets took him down. By then, he had done enough damage to the enemy troops. In the end, he successfully neutralized the enemy single handedly- 'Mission Accomplished' and his platoon managed to capture the Lone Hill. The son of the soil who was about to get married, scarified his life and future for us. He was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra.

It is high time we idolize and respect men and women serving the Nation selflessly rather than going crazy about silver screen heroes.

This tournament encourages the love for football and helps provide a platform for sportsman interested in pursuing a professional career. The total cash prize was for Rs 5 lakhs with 1.5 lakhs for the winners, 70 thousand for the runners up and 40 thousand each for the teams who qualified for the semi finals. The remaining 2 lakhs was set aside for individual performers.

We were lucky to witness the semi finals and the finals of this tournament. The second semi final was played between teams 'Head hunters' vs 'Naga FC.' Naga FC won quite comfortably and went on to face the other finalist 'Naga Police.' The semi finals was a cakewalk but the finals which was held on November 30th was a very interesting game with both the teams putting in their best and eyeing the champions title. The who is who of the Assam rifles had come to attend the tournament and the Chief Guest was the CM of Nagaland.

During half time, the army band put up a beautiful and chilling performance. The crowd went berserk and applause and whistles of encouragement was all the we could hear in the ground. The ground was packed to it's full capacity and the best part was there were no tickets required to watch the game. Locals had gathered in full swing to cheer for their favorite team and in the end it was the Naga FC team who were the winners.

It was awesome to see the state take so much effort to promote football. This initiative is a brilliant effort as it brings together the Army and the locals and we hope that it helps in bridging the gap between them for a better future and better India.

Maha Vir Chakra Citation.