Saturday, December 31, 2011

One language to unite them all?

To start the new year, I thought I'd focus on a very linguistic issue.

At the wedding I attended a few weeks ago, I had a long conversation with a guy who remained convinced that the Nagas needed both a common 'Naga' language, as well as their own unique script.

-What about Nagamese? People from all different tribes and language backgrounds already speak it.

-But it's not Naga. It's from Assamese.

He was right - the local lingua franca Nagamese is largely based on Assamese, with a fair bit of Hindi and Bengali vocabulary thrown in, and hardly any input from individual 'Naga' languages. But the suggestion that all Nagas needed a common 'Naga' language (and script to boot) seemed to me a tad ridiculous.

From a practical perspective, creating a 'new language' from scratch is a massive feat. Which languages do we draw from? And how much should the new language draw on each existing Naga language? 20% Angami, 20% Sumi, 20% Ao... ? Or should we choose a particular language / dialect and base our new language on that, the way Standard Mandarin was based to some extent on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin, or Bahasa Indonesia was based on a dialect of Malay from Sumatra?

Then, how do we go about implementing the -for what of a better word- imposition of this new language on the inhabitants of the state? China managed to impose Mandarin across the country, while Indonesia did the same with Bahasa. Both required considerable resources and a concerted national effort. Nagaland currently has official and unofficial governments and corruption drains away most of the money being channelled into the state by the Government of India.

Also, how would people feel about having another language imposed on them? Most education is already conducted in English, with compulsory Hindi in most schools. Add that to the home language and Nagamese (if Nagamese isn't already the language of the home). Do we really need another language?


But hang on, we also need to create an indigenous script to accompany this new language too.

-What's wrong with the Latin alphabet?

-It's not ours. It can't represent the sounds of the languages here.

Well the Latin alphabet wasn't made to write English either. But somehow English, and other completely unrelated languages like Swahili and Bahasa Indonesia have managed to adopt the same script to represent their respective sounds. Letters can be added and removed, depending on the language's needs. The same letter may be used in two different writing systems to represent different sounds, like 'x' in English usually represents the sounds [ks], while 'x' in Sumi represents the voiceless velar fricative [x].

As with implementing a new language, introducing a new script would require considerable resources. But again, people already have to learn to read English (and Hindi) - do they really need another script to learn? Furthermore, it'll be used to write a language that no one currently speaks!


Looking at the bigger picture, what is the point of having a common 'Naga' language and a unique script? Undoubtedly, the perceived need for these is motivated largely by political and ideological factors, not practical ones. After all, having a common indigenous language is one way of asserting a 'Naga' identity, in contrast to an 'Indian' one. Similarly, an indigenous script is seen as necessary to being a 'real' language when viewed within a larger 'Indian' discourse, given that individual languages across the subcontinent like Bengali, Kannada and Tamil usually come with their own scripts. (European languages that use the Latin script aren't judged along this criterion though.)

This person I spoke to also believed that speaking one language would help unite the Nagas. There are people around the world who believe that if we all spoke one language, there would be less conflict. China and Indonesia had national language policies designed to create a sense of unity their respective countries.

But does speaking the same language reduce conflict? As important as language is in the creation of identity, it's still just one component - other differences may still arise within the same speech community.

For instance, one thing I've noticed is that there are very few dialectal differences in Sumi (with the exception of speakers from the Pughoboto area), so that people from across Zunheboto district as well as those in Dimapur and Kohima, are able to communicate with each other in Sumi. In contrast, Angami speakers from neighbouring villages sometimes have to converse with each other in Nagamese because they speak such different 'dialects' of Angami. I was told that this was the case for Angami speakers from Bara Bosti in Kohima when they meet people from nearby Jotsoma village.

But despite this 'linguistic unity' of the Sumis, it hasn't prevented the interfactional violence we've seen this past week around Zunheboto town between NSCN (K) and Unification.

So would one language unite all Nagas? I seriously doubt it.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christmas 2011 in Nagaland - Vishepu (II)

On the day of the Christmas feast, the whole (or most of the) village gathered in front of I.'s parents' home (well technically the house owned by her father's brother - I think). I noticed that most of the people sitting in this area were kids. They brought their own plates - you can some of them just brought the usual asükhu, the wood plate with its own stand.
Christmas Feast 2011, Vishepu

As with the Christmas feast I attended last year, the morning's festivities began with the cake ceremony, after a prayer or two of course. The cake here was brought all the way from Dimapur.
Christmas cake, Vishepu

The entertainment programme began with ashi kimiki, where one (or two) guys(s) holds a large piece of pork meat and fat and other men try to bite off chunks of meat / fat. There's also some stylised jumping involved, but I'm not 100% certain what the rules are. Also, even though the name of the game contains the word ashi 'meat', most of it is really fat - maybe some people call it atha kimiki? The word kimiki is the deverbal noun derived from the verb miki 'to bite'.
Fat catching / eating competition, Christmas Feast 2011, Vishepu

Fat catching / eating competition, Christmas Feast 2011, Vishepu

There was also a comedy act - if you think people from villages don't have a sense of humour, you're sadly mistaken! The main guy was dressed like a tourist, while the other guys were... well one of them reminded me of George Michael. They danced to a Hindi song I didn't recognise. I'd post a video, but it already took hours just to get these photos up.
Comedy show, Christmas Feast 2011, Vishepu

Comedy show, Christmas Feast 2011, Vishepu

And after lunch was the bamboo climbing competition. Climbers took part in teams of 3 to 4, with no special climbing equipment allowed except for some ash which they can use to clean off the pork fat from the pole.
Bamboo climbing competition, Christmas Feast 2011, Vishepu

Bamboo climbing competition, Christmas Feast 2011, Vishepu

The happy winners and their bounty - a chunk of meat and 1000 Rs!
Bamboo climb winners, Christmas Feast 2011, Vishepu

Alright, Christmas is over. Onward to 2012!

Christmas 2011 in Nagaland - Vishepu (I)

Everyone will tell you that Christmas time in Nagaland is best spent in a village. The towns and cities tend to empty out. It's just as well I wasn't in Zunheboto town because there was a situation involving two UG factions, so people weren't even setting off fireworks on Christmas Eve, which is the usual thing to do.

You might remember that last year I was in the village of Natha New, which is actually just next to Zunheboto town. This year I spent Christmas in Vishepu, since my friends I. and N. had come back from Australia to throw a Christmas feast for the village.

Vishepu village at Christmas time 2011

As with all Christmas feasts, preparations start weeks, if not months, ahead. But it's in the week before the feast that most of the village is mobilised for the feast. One important thing is pounding rice into rice flour.

Rice pounding, Vishepu

Here, two kinds of rice flour (normal and glutinous) are mixed and water (and some salt and sugar) is added to make a a kind of dough. This is then wrapped in banana leaves and boiled or steamed (though some are baked in a fire). The result is Sümi sho or 'Sumi bread'. Personally, I like it when they fry it, although I've had some very good steamed Sümi sho.

Mixing rice flour to make Sumi sho, Vishepu

What's a feast without the meat? And a real feast in Nagaland involves the slaughter of at least one mithun. The fellow here got a bullet through his skull on Christmas Eve morning. I got to witness the killing only because the person knocked on my door at 5.30am looking for ammunition (he was looking for the guy who was supposed to be sharing my room because he apparently knew where the ammo was kept.)
Mithun for Christmas feast 2011, Vishepu

And being Nagaland, there's lots of pork.
Cutting up pork for Christmas feast

This wasn't all the pork, because a few pigs were slaughtered a few days earlier and the meat distributed all over - I.'s sister even came to where I'm staying in Zunheboto to deliver a portion.
Pork for Christmas feast, Vishepu

Finally, with the food all ready for the feast, there's the entertainment as well. Here the guys were setting up bamboo poles with meat and money hanging from the top. Teams then compete to climb up the pole to get the prizes. It's a game I saw last year in Natha New. Also, the poles are greased with pork fat, since watching the guys slide down the pole as they try to climb up is probably the main highlight of the game.
Setting up the bamboo poles before Christmas feast, Vishepu

Monday, December 26, 2011

Nagaland village focus: Vishepu

Given the number of villages I've managed to visit in Nagaland, I thought I'd do a 'village focus' post for specific ones. This first one has a special place in my heart, because in a sense it's where my relationship with Nagaland started. My friend I., who now lives in Melbourne hails from this village, and it's thanks to her that I started learning Sumi.

A few months ago, Vishepu made it into the local news because some white smoke was seen coming from the top of Mt Vishepu, which is right next to the village. Reports of a new volcano proved unfounded, although no one's quite certain what the cause of the smoke was - some reckon it was just steam being released.

In any case, Vishepu was the first village I visited in Nagaland, back in early 2009 (so it's almost been 3 years since I first came here). I posted some photos on Flickr a while back. One of I.'s sisters was amazed that when she recently googled 'Vishepu', she didn't just find images of her village, but also one of her parents' home!

Vishepu is a Sumi village in Zunheboto district just south of Satakha. It's one of the last villages before you enter Phek district to the south, which is predominantly Chakhesang. It was founded by two brothers, Zükiye and Vishepu. Although Zükiye was the elder brother, he let the village be named after Vishepu. Today the village has four chiefs, two from the Zükiye side of the family, and two from the Vishepu side.

To get to Vishepu from Satakha, you head south along the Chazuba Road, then turn left up the road that leads to the village of Xüivi at the top of the range. You pass Xüivi, then continue down the other side of the range.

This is Vishepu as viewed from the road between Xüivi and Vishepu.
On the road to Vishepu

And this is Vishepu as viewed from the top of the church tower and from in front of the church.
Vishepu

Vishepu

I took this shot a few days ago - the light on the surrounding hills was so pretty that day.
Vishepu village

This is I.'s parents' house, as seen in Feb 2009. He's one of the village chiefs and you can a few mithun skulls on the front of the house, as well as what I think is a deer skull. This Christmas they're adding another mithun skull, since one was killed for the Christmas feast thrown by I. and her husband.
Vishepu

In Zunheboto district, Vishepu is famous for its woodwork and is reputed to be the first village to start crafting wood plates (asükhu). Here, I.'s father Kiviho explains to H S Rotokha about the history of woodworking in the village. (These photos were taken a few days ago.)
Vishepu chief Kiviho with Rotokha explaining woodwork

A new asükhu being made from a single piece of wood - I should've bought one of them from the village instead of getting one at the Hornbill Festival!
Asükhu being carved in Vishepu

I've got Christmas feast photos too, but given how slow the internet is, uploading photos might take some time. Hope everyone had a good Christmas!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The road to Zunheboto

Most people coming from Kohima to Zunheboto take the Chozuba road (which most people pronounce as 'Chazuba') which passes through the town of Chozuba in Phek district. Technically, it's a state highway, but you wouldn't know from the condition of the year. However, this year they've started work on widening the road. As a result, most of the sumos are avoiding the road and opting for the 'shortcut' which takes the Wokha Road and involves fording the Langki River. So this time I haven't a chance to see the condition of the Chozuba road.

On Monday, we went down to the village of Chishilimi to watch a rain invocation ceremony (sorry guys, still no rain). To get there, we needed to take the Chozuba road past Satakha, up till the village of M Tsügho (aka M6 - the name of this village could be another blog post) which is the last Sumi village before one enters Chakhesang land / Phek district. This gave me the chance to see what work was being done.

You can see excavators have torn into the side of the hill to make way for the new road. In some parts, it looked like they were making the road as a wide as 4 lanes, which seems ridiculous given that the most travelled road in Nagaland between Dimapur and Kohima is still only 2 lanes wide.
Chozuba - Zunheboto highway under construction

As you can see, the dust from passing traffic is terrible.
Chozuba-Zunheboto highway under construction

But the view is still pretty awesome. The town on the ridge should be Satakha, although to the left, on the same ridge, I think you can almost make out the villages of Khukiye and Lukhai.
Satakha viewed from the Chozuba-Zunheboto Road

Tomorrow I'm off to the village of Vishepu for a Christmas feast thrown by friends who've come back from Australia. Not sure when I'll post again - maybe just before New Year's.

Happy holidays everyone!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

'Tis the season to get married (II)

In Nagaland, November to January really is the season for weddings here. Just ask my friend Cana who's been singing / planning / attending weddings for the past few weeks almost non-stop. I'd be interested to see what the official statistics are for the state (like the average no. of weddings per day in the month of December). Last year I ended up at a Rengma wedding, then a Lotha wedding in Kohima on the same day. I was also invited to an Angami wedding on Wednesday in Bara Bosti in Kohima, but my friend managed to organise a ride back to Zunheboto for me that morning.

All the major local papers have also reported on Friday's 'mass wedding' at the Ao Baptist church in Dimapur as a means of keeping wedding costs low, and Yan Murry at the Naga Blog has written a post calling for more 'mass weddings' in the state: Mass Weddings need to be encouraged in Naga society.

But if people want to have their big Western style weddings and have the money to afford them, who's going to stop them? It's a massive industry all over the world. My friends in Melbourne even run an online magazine dedicated to weddings (around the world) called Little Wed Hen. (Sorry guys, I didn't feel like I knew the couple well enough to cover their wedding for your website.)

Anyway, on Thursday I had the privilege of attending a special wedding here in Zunheboto. Well, I didn't know the bride or the groom until the day before the ceremony, but I did know the wedding planner, the wedding celebrant, and friends from Australia had come back to attend the wedding (being the first cousin of the bride). I also met the wedding singer, who was in the car I was in coming to Zunheboto. I didn't realise he was a bit of a celebrity in these parts. (Sorry Alobo, if you're reading this.)

For the couple's privacy, I've decided not to post any photos of them or the ceremony itself. I've just added a few photos to give a sense of the place, and to show off the suit I bought recently in Dimapur. It still needs some tailoring, but it looked very decent for the price I paid. Also, it's a pain to upload photos at my current internet speed.

Back to the wedding: the bride is Sumi, which is why the wedding was held in Zunheboto. Her husband is Zeme, another Naga tribe. His home village is in Tamenglong District in Manipur. Such 'mixed' marriages aren't uncommon these days - one wedding I attended last year was a mixed one too. (I use scare quotes here because most outsiders / Indians from the mainland would probablu consider all Nagas to be the same anyway.) Mixed marriages is another interesting topic that people have spoken to me about (like 'why Sumi girls don't want to date Sumi guys'). Maybe in another blog post.

The wedding itself took place in North Point, Zunheboto, behind the government college and very close to where I usually stay when I'm here. It was a sunny afternoon and quite warm. The wedding tent was set up the day before in the bride's father's house.

Wedding in Zunheboto

I arrived with the wedding celebrant (whose house I'm staying in), his wife and daughter. (I've already said sorry to her if people thought I was the boyfriend.) For the record, it's nice to arrive with the wedding celebrant, because there's no chance of you missing the ceremony.

Wedding in Zunheboto

During such ceremonies, it's usually customary for all 'international' guests to be introduced to the entire congregation. Thankfully, I was spared the embarrassment this time, (since I barely knew the bride and groom), because the reverend didn't think of me as an outsider anymore.

There were the usual wedding vows. Alobo Naga, who's a friend of the bride, sang two songs and after the ceremony there was the usual feasting. I took some photos with the team in charge of the wedding decorations. They were busy most of the previous day and evening, as well as the morning of the wedding itself. (The night before, I had simply sat by the fire looking bored while they toiled away.)

Wedding in Zunheboto

Finally, you might have noticed I've apologised quite a bit in this blog post. I suppose the last thing I should apologise for is the fact that because I live in Australia, I've missed most of my Singaporean friends' weddings over the past few years. Doesn't seem fair for me to attend the weddings of relative strangers, does it?

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Organic Nagaland

I was actually going to promote my friend Abokali's new business, but I ended up promoting her brother's art exhibition in Kohima first.

In any case, Abokali recently started her own business called Organic Nagaland. As you can guess, they specialise in organic produce from Nagaland - given that artificial fertilisers and pesticides are practically non-existent in most parts of the state, it's not hard to find quality 'organic' produce here. However, it is difficult to transport and store the produce given the lack of infrastructure (such as good roads and constant electricity). Yet somehow she's managed to source local produce like oranges and kiwi fruit (which don't require refrigeration) and market it at recent agriculture expos in Bangalore, Delhi and now Guwahati. In the process, she's also rallied together local farmers, particularly women, and given them a source of income.

The main shop (I'm calling it her flagship store) is in Project Colony, Zunheboto. (Incidentally, her brother also designed the logo for her company.)
Organic Nagaland shop, Zunheboto

It really stands out when compared with other fruit and veg shops in Zunheboto, in that it actually looks nice and the produce isn't covered in dust.
Organic Nagaland shop, Zunheboto

Organic Nagaland shop, Zunheboto

Most of the products are already neatly packaged. The shelves are lined with local soya beans (ayikhu in Sumi).
Organic Nagaland shop, Zunheboto

And the prices are quite reasonable compared to other fruit and veg shops in town. The store also sells local spices, including angothi 'Chinese peppercorns' that are related to Sichuan peppercorns (they also give that 麻辣 málà effect) - don't forget that Nagaland is closer to Southern China than it is to the Ganges floodplain.
Angothi on sale at Organic Nagaland, Zunheboto

Organic Nagaland shop, Zunheboto

And the store also sells axone the fermented soya bean dish that the Sumis are famous for. During the Hornbill Festival, I met a person from America who asked me what 'axe-on' was. I had to explain that it was pronounced 'ah-cho-nie', where the 'ch' is like the 'ch' in German ach or Scottish loch. Given that the sound (a velar fricative) isn't found in any other major Naga language, most people know the dish as akhuni.

What the store sells is the dried version, which lasts quite a bit longer.
Axone on sale at Organic Nagaland, Zunheboto

All the best with the business Abokali! I'm definitely going to take some stuff with me when I go. Definitely some dried wild apple (soooo good) and a bit of dried axone to bring back to Singapore. I doubt Australian customs would let any of this stuff in.

(Also, if you want to contact her, she has a blog here. I'd put up her email address, but it'll just attract spam.)

Monday, December 12, 2011

How to post a wood plate (the saga continues)

Last year at the Hornbill Festival I bought a wood plate (asükhu in Sumi) and tried to send it to Singapore.

The parcel was never delivered, even though I paid for registered mail at the India Post office here in Kohima. Why? They didn't give me the customs forms to fill in, and it didn't occur to me at the time either (you expect post offices to know this sort of stuff).

And this was the state in which the parcel was sent back to my friend's address. The packaging had never been good to begin with, but the cloth looked filthy and the box was bulging more than when I sent it off.

On opening the parcel, I found the sides of the plate had chipped.

So I bought a new, slightly smaller, wood plate at this year's Hornbill Festival. It was nicer than the one I bought last year but this is more ornamental because the top surface is polished, as opposed to last year's one which one could still eat out of.

I then walked around NST Road looking for cellophone, banner cloth and red sealing wax. I also got a box from Cana's stall that day and with the help of my friends spent a hours that evening packaging the new wood plate. We used lots of styrofoam and newspaper, but the sewing bit and melting the sealing wax took ages. I find the concept of sending cloth-wrapped and wax-sealed parcels in India slightly outdated - what's wrong with a cardboard box and cellotape?

In any case, voilà, this was what the finished parcel looked like (before I'd written down the destination and return-to-sender addresses all over the box.)

So the next morning, which happened to be the final day of the Hornbill Festival, I got to the post office, happy with the packaging and ready to send it off.

The lady at the counter gave it one look and said I couldn't the parcel, because of the cloth packaging.

I was confused and indignant - since I started visiting India, I've been told me every time at the post office to go through the whole tedious process of getting my parcels wrapped and stitched up. And now that I'd gone through the effort to do it, this lady was telling me they wouldn't accept. What's more, everyone around me was still sending their parcels cloth-wrapped and wax-sealed.

According to her, it was a recent directive that all international parcels had to be in 'carton boxes' without cloth packaging. She then pointed at a sign somewhere in the office that apparently stated this, but my eyes never found it. She then said I needed to remove the cloth covering, write the address on a piece of paper and paste it on the box.

It sounds simple enough, except: (a) I had no stationery on me so I would have had to go down the hill to look for a shop, while carrying the parcel; (b) it would have taken me at least an hour to get everything done and the line at the post office was only getting longer (and I really wanted to get back to Kisama that day); and (c) I had gone through the bloody effort of packaging the box according to what are the usual requirements in India! I'm not even sure that another office in a different city would even be following these new directives.

So what did I do? I put on my 'most pathetic foreigner' (I'm not proud of it, but sometimes it's the only way to get what you want.) Eventually, some kind lady directed me to the back office to speak with the 'Ma'am' on duty. I explained the situation to her and she said kindly that the problem was foreign countries didn't like the cloth packaging (quelle surprise) because they were worried about the spread of infections! However, since I'd gone through the effort of packaging it, they would accept my parcel this time. However, in future I should just package it in a carton box with cellotape (mais avec plaisir Madame).

Triumphant, I returned to the first counter I went to, and after 25 minutes of waiting around again, managed to send it off, customs forms filled in and all.

So now, Singapore Post, you better bloody well accept the parcel!

On the road: Nagaland (II)

So I'm stranded in Kohima for the foreseeable future. My ride from Zunheboto never materialised, but at least I'm not in a hurry anymore. I was originally meant to go to a village called Chishilimi tomorrow to watch them perform a traditional rain invocation ceremony (although it's an odd time of year to do it). Also, getting around the state in hired vehicles at this time of year is an absolute nightmare because everyone's going home for Christmas, including people living outside the state as well as people finishing their Christmas shopping in Dimapur.

In the meantime, to mark the fact that I'm not moving out of Kohima, I thought I'd post some photos from when we drove from Zunheboto to the village of Khetoi and few weeks back to watch some of the villagers rehearse for the Hornbill Festival.

We had to descend into the Tizu River valley, then come up again towards the town of Aghunato, following the road to Kiphire, which is the main town of the district (of the same name) to the east of Zunheboto district.
Tizü River valley

Tizü River valley

The Tizu flows south and then east, eventually ending up in the Chindwin which flows into the Irrawaddy. The first major river to the west of Zunheboto town is the Doyang which flows north into the Brahmaputra. That means that most of Zunheboto district is actually part of the watershed between these two major river systems.
Tizü River

Tizü River

A picnic by the river would be nice. If only there was time.

And transport.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Dilai Gate Sunday Market out of Dimapur

I'm meant to be going down to Dimapur at some point today, if my ride from Zunheboto actually comes to pick me up from Kohima. (We're meant to be picking up some people in Dimapur before heading back to Zunheboto tomorrow.) Anyway, to mark my potential arrival in Dimapur on a Sunday, I thought I'd share some pictures that I took 2 weeks ago when I was in Dimapur. (It's pretty photo-heavy, so apologies to people with a slow internet connection.)

The friend I was staying with in Dimapur brought me to the Sunday market just outside Dilai Gate on the road to Diphu, which technically means it's in Assam, not Nagaland. There's a sign that says 'A K Market' but most of my friends (even the ones in Kohima) know it as the Dilai Gate Market.

Dilai Gate Sunday market

It's pretty much strewn next to the side of the road, which happens to be a national highway...
Dilai Gate Sunday market

At the market, you can find your usual vegetables.
Chillis and tomatoes, Dilai Gate Sunday market

Gourds.
Gourds, Dilai Gate Sunday market

Local varieties of ginger and garlic.
Ginger and garlic, Dilai Gate Sunday market

And little chillis - these are more like bird's eye chillis, they aren't bhut jolokia / Naga King chillis.
Chillis, Dilai Gate Sunday market

Lots of spices
Spices, Dilai Gate Sunday market

And other dried stuff. I noticed a lot of dried fish especially.
Dried fish and shrimp, Dilai Gate Sunday market

Dried fish, Dilai Gate Sunday market

People were frying up sweets and selling them, alongside different kinds of bhujia.
Fried and dried stuff, Dilai Gate Sunday market

They also had baskets for sale.
Baskets, Dilai Gate Sunday market

There was a somewhat carnival atmosphere, with one man selling balloons.
Dilai Gate Sunday market

And another one selling cotton candy. (Note the massive truck on the right - did I mention this was on a national highway?)
Dilai Gate Sunday market

Some ladies were making pithas (made from rice flour and coconut) as well. Maybe someone can tell me the name for this type of pitha.
Making pithas, Dilai Gate Sunday market

Then of course, there were the more exotic 'meats'. My friend reckons these are silk worms, but they look slightly different to the ones I ate when I was in Diphu.
Larvae, Dilai Gate Sunday market

There were beecombs, filled with tasty grubs (I imagine).
Beecombs, Dilai Gate Sunday market

And some jungle spiders - I have tried spider before, when I was in Zunheboto last year, but I don't know if they were the same variety as these. There were also grasshoppers, but I can't seem to find photos of those...
Dried insects, Dilai Gate Sunday market

The less exotic meats were much more popular. There was fresh fish from the many rivers and lakes of Assam.
Fish, Dilai Gate Sunday market

There were live chickens for sale.
Live chickens, Dilai Gate Sunday market

As well as dead ones.
Chickens, Dilai Gate Sunday market

Almost all the butchery was done on site. I saw a few goats having their throats slit.
Live goats, Dilai Gate Sunday market

We had goat curry for lunch that day.
Butchered goat, Dilai Gate Sunday market

The most popular meat was (surprise, surprise) pork. Here, unlike with the chickens and goats, there were mini-barricades set up to keep customers out of the pig butchering area. I was told that the reason for this was that previously, people would rush in and grab the choicest parts so the barricades were set up to keep pushy (we'd say kiasu in Singapore) customers out.
Buying pork, Dilai Gate Sunday market

So there you have it. A typical Sunday morning in Dimapur.

Except, well, without going to church...