Cyber Ethics

Introduction
         Cyber Ethics is a branch of Ethics. It deals with the proper use of a extensive range of telecommunication and data storing devices. It becomes very relevant in our contemporary society. There are different ethical theories like, Utilitarianism, Nature, Virtue, non-consequentialism, etc. and each of these theories has its own unique principles. These theories and principles bring significant characteristics to the decision-making process. Although all of the ethical theories attempt to follow ethical principles in order to be applicable and valid by themselves; yet each theory falls short with complex flaws and failings. For example, utilitarianists may say social networking is ethically moral, for it benefits most people in India. The deontologists would say social networking is morally incorrect because many youth fail to do their duties; instead they are busy with computers. For deontologists, duty is more important than building a good relationship, so social networking is immoral. But where do I stand?

What is Cyber Ethics?

Cyber Ethics is the study of moral, legal and social issues on cyber technology. It examines the impact that cyber technology has for our social, legal, and moral systems. It also evaluates the social policies and laws that have been framed in response to issues generated by the development and use of cyber technology.  Hence, there is a reciprocal relationship here. Cyber ethics is also called as computer ethics. The very words suggest the study of ethical issues limited to computing machines, or to computing professionals. Cyber ethics, therefore, is more precise than Internet ethics, which is limited only to ethical issues affecting Computer Networks. Let us now discuss some cyber issues.

Social networking

A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. Most social network services are web based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Some of the popular Social Networking sites are Facebook, Twitter, Nexopia, Bebo, Kontakte, etc. etc. From Utilitarian view, social networking sites are ethical because it is used to build relationship and create greater good for greater number of people through interaction with email, Facebook, Google talks, etc. Question should be raised as to whether social networking sites give is intense happiness and how long is the happiness received and how does it helps people to prosper for the greatest number? If the happiness is intense, lasting and help others then Jeremy Bentham would say that it is morally right, because the effect is good for the greatest number.

According to Virtue perspective many of the communication involves face to face communications. Yet social networking is not ethical right because using twitter or Facebook etc. could harm moral values, as they don’t allow time for compassion and admiration, etc. and people are not getting help because when they need help the other user might turn of the computer.

Copy Right and Downloading

When something is copyrighted, it means that someone else owns it. It means that you and I cannot copy or distribute it without the owner permission. It is dishonest and illegal to download copyrighted any materials. When you see a symbol-C- it means that the material is copyrighted.

Using resources in any manner that board’s policy, federal state or local law including unauthorized copying or transmission of software are immoral acts. But these acts from the utilitarian perspectives with reference to Indian situation are allowed because it served the greatest happiness for the greatest people.  For the deontology any action which fails to fulfill the four conditions of double effect is considered as immoral act.

Cyber Terrorism

Cyber terrorism is someone who intimidates or coerces a government or an organization to advance one’s political or social objectives by launching computers-based attack against the government.  Parker defines it, as an act of terrorism committed through the use of cyber space or computer resources. It is the use of Internet based attacks in terrorist activities, including acts of deliberate, large scale disruption of computer networks, especially of personal computers attacked to the Internet, by means of tools such as computer virus. All the ethical theories except egoism would consider this act as immoral because it serves only for individual benefits

Pornography

Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction. Initially though people go to such sights out of curiosity. Some researches done say that easy access of pornography in various ways especially through Internet is one of the major reasons for the increase of crimes related to sex. Pornography has often stirred ethical controversy.

 One may ask, what is wrong in watching pros, which give a lot of pleasure and even control rape cases? The addiction of porn leads to action of rape, molestation, etc.  Ethically speaking we have no right to use others to satisfy our hidden desires. If we analyses it according to Kant’s or virtue ethical principles, I must act in such a way that my way of acting could be considered as a universal law. The action of watching porn promotes porn too that is victimizing many innocent who become prey for trafficking and sex trade. It is also against Martin Buber’s I thou relationship because it treats the other as sex object. So it is immoral act.

Hacking

 Hacking is the computer equivalent of breaking and entering. A computer hacker uses one’s skills to gain unauthorized access to another computer or computer network and once a person get inside, can wreak havoc by altering important information, deleting essential files, or just crashing the whole system. Many hackers, who break into commercial web sites, are looking for customers' private financial data (including bank account and credit card numbers). A hacker, who causes a network to crash, can cost a company hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost productivity. Some terrorist plans may be hacked by the government agents resulting benefits for the country and the world. This act of hacking is good for utilitarianism, so it is moral hack. This act is justified. But from virtue, non-consequentialist and nature perspectives, the very act is immoral though it may result greatest benefit for most people.

Analysis

The above we saw that different theories and principles bring significant characteristics to the decision-making process. Although all of the ethical theories attempt to follow the ethical principles in order to be applicable and valid by themselves, each theory falls short with complex flaws and failings. Each theory emphasizes on different aspects of an ethical dilemma which probably lead to the most ethically correct resolution according to the guidelines within the ethical theory itself. So, before making any decision on whether an act is morally right or wrong, one needs to abreast all the theories of general Ethics and knows the situation or circumstances.

Conclusion

What I learn for this Ethics course is that all ethical theories are based on the previously explained ethical principles. Each theory emphasizes different aspects of an ethical dilemma and lead to the most ethically correct resolution according to the guidelines within the ethical theory itself. Each theory has its own uniqueness. One, therefore, needs to necessarily analyze every issue in all the perspectives to make a moral decision reliable. In other words, one needs to combine all the theories.

We are fortunate to have a variety of ethical theories that provide a substantial framework when we try to make any ethically correct answer. When one understands each individual theory, including its strengths and weaknesses, one can make the most informed decision. By analyzing all the theories, one would say that using different ethical theories in combination, one will able to use a variety of ways to analyze a situation in order to reach the most ethically correct decision possible. That would help a person to understand in a more holistic manner.

Heidegger's Philosphy of God

         Heidegger, though by a hair’s breadth dealt about god apart from his criticism of the Metaphysical concept of God, one can find God in his philosophy when we delve into his philosophy in the light of Darridean Deconstruction. To understand his concept of God one needs to know the background of Heidegger. Firstly, Heidegger was born in Christian family and studied Philosophy and Theology, the context and practice of which should be examined. Secondly, He uses speculative and crafted tools that he borrows from the theological tradition; this process of appropriation of Theology needs to be taken into account. Finally, it is to be noted that the link between Theology and philosophy is an active link: "Source means future.” With this short background, I would like to delve into the concept of God in the world of Heidegger. 

Scholars have different views on the concept of God in Heidegger’s world of ‘Being.’ Heinrich Ott accepts the explicit denial of the identity of Being and God, and tries to explain how God can be a being which is not inferior to Being, in which Heidegger himself puts God as being in God’s existence. But Thomas O’Meara contends that the only place for God in relation to Heidegger’s philosophy is “beyond Being.”  With these two different scholars’ view on him, I would like to quote Heidegger’s view about God from “What is Metaphysics?” - “The question of God should [is] not be posed at all.   If He should be mentioned, we might say of Him that He exists, though not in the same way as rock, tree, horse, and angel. Rather does man appear as a being of higher rank, distinguished by Being and it is better to refrain from naming God.”  This reflects the Indian philosophy of God- God is neither that nor this.  This shows that he does not affirm nor deny God’s existence. Yet, the above quote of Heidegger, for me, seems to me that He is more favour to as God is ‘beyond Being’ or reality and I would agree with Thomas O’Meara on Heidegger’s concept of God as being Being.

Heidegger’s reference to God is negative in appearance as you can see from the above quote too. God is neither Being nor a being. If God is neither Being nor a being then God is beyond substance and essence. Though Heidegger considers God as being in existence (god) like any other being and his ambiguity about God does not mean that he is an atheist. This calls us to go beyond Being for an appropriate description of God and this he has indicated in later part of his life on his discussion of the ‘event’ that he does envisage some sort of reality beyond Being. He though, does not speak about God implicitly or explicitly, but one can easily recognize the source, when he describes about the source of Being and time. I call that source of being as God.

I would say the first realization of God in Heidegger is that when we realise that we are contingent being- in Heidegger’s expression, “why is there any being at all and not rather nothing?” This contingency is evident with regard to our own being, when we realize that our own finiteness, that we are going to die. This leads him to have faith in beyond being or reality. In other words, Dasein or Being is always becoming. As man, being-in-the-world realizes that, he is going to die; he becomes aware that he is not the master of his destiny. When we realise that we are not a master or a giver, etc. we naturally begin to search for the master, the real source, the giver; thus the question of the meaning of our human existence necessarily involves a search for the giver of this gift i.e. for the source of our being. I do believe that the ultimate source of our being is beyond the scope of Philosophical investigation. This calls for a faith in which Heidegger would mean living a life as a fully mature conscious being, aware of one’s privilege and responsibility for creating the future, yet confident that our human existence has an ultimately meaning because of the presence of God.

 Being is neither God nor a substituted for God. God is not determined by being, and being is not the fundamental name of God, but rather goodness. This description of Being and its relation to man confirms the fundamental openness of man and points beyond man and Being to the source of all that is. This reality ‘beyond Being’ is none other than God. I called God though; Heidegger does not name this reality and much less describes it. Here he begins to describe about God not in terms of being but meaning. Besides meaning his phenomenological hermeneutic reflects the relation of being with beings and the ultimate reality.  He seems to be deconstructing the traditional metaphysical description of God as absolute in all respects to a sense of relative to Dasein (human) if there is a genuine relation between God and man. This notion becomes clearer when he says being-in-the-world.

In conclusion I would say, though Heidegger’s refusal to deal explicitly with God does not mean that he is an atheist. But if we delve his philosophy in the light of deconstruction we can see his idea of God, which it is of greater significance for religion than he himself barely realizes at the sun setting of his life. Heidegger though, does not give name God - the source, the meaning, the beyond being, etc as God, I would say these are the description about and of God. I would term all of them as God.

Let Me Burry My Excuses

“Ninety nine percent of failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses” states George W. Carver.

Perfection comes to those who learn from their failures and mistakes and not from their excuses for perseverance, brings perfection. Practice makes thing perfect and everyone desires to be perfect in everything. Everybody wants to be a person of wit and wisdom. Many of us would like to be a scientist, a doctor, an engineer, an army officer and so and so forth. To achieve this stage of life we must strive to burry all our lame excuses and alibis. Notwithstanding our failures we should not give up, for success belongs to those who toil hard and judiciously plan ahead. It goes without saying that hard work never goes without reward.

The wild fire is destructive by nature, so does excuse. A celebrated writer John Manson inscribes in his book “The impossible is possible” that “Excuses are the tools a person with no purpose or vision to build great monuments of emptiness.” “I can’t” is the worst excuse and is the foremost enemy of success. Let us, therefore, stop saying “I can’t” and also stop “blaming others”. If we give in easily to excuses then we won’t be good in anything. To quote J. Manson, “You have never failed until you begin to blame somebody else.”

There is always an excuse and alibi saying that, I am perfect, and the others are not so perfect like me. We live in the illusion that we are perfect and this is the beginning of our downfall. We are accustomed to point at others with a finger and tend to justify ourselves as perfect. But ironically while pointing at others with one finger, the rest of the fingers are pointing at us.

Here is a short story. A man drives on a lonely road a midst a heavy rainfall. As he reaches a curve, he sees an old farmer surveying the ruins of his barn. The driver then stops his car and asks him what happened. “Roof fell in” said the farmer. “Leaked so long it finally just rooted through!” “Why in the world didn’t you fix it before it got that bad?” asked the stranger. “Well, sir,” replied the farmer, it just seemed I never did get around to it. When the weather was good, there weren’t need for it, and when it rained, it was too wet to work on!” So if we make endless excuses we too will be caught up in web of problems and troubles. Proverbs: 28:13 reminds us, “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.”

There are generally three types of excuses:

1.The excuse that we use to defend the truth

2.The excuse that we go against the truth

3.The excuse, which we neither defend nor go against it, but just emerge out of our habitual practices.

Those who use excuse to defend the truth are often regarded as perfectionist. They are always willing to learn and understand their failures. They know what Vernon Sanders observes, “Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.” But those belonging to the second and third category are not willing to burry their excuses. They think more about their false egos and capabilities without actually realizing that, the truth has to surface some day and when it emerges; their explanation will have no meaning at all.

Our lives are filled with excuses. The quality of our lives depends on the way we choose to live with the truth. Does the truth actually exist today? Yes it exists. If we wish that, the truth should rise in every situation of our lives then we need to burry our excuses.

Nowadays, we discover that, the truth is buried and the excuses give the opportunity to rise in every situation of our lives. Blames, accusations, corruptions, exploitations, extortions have become the order of the day.

I have come across several people who just keep covering up with one excuse or the other to justify their incompetence and satisfy their egos. This is because we live in a world where everyone wants to be a master and not a leaner. If everybody were to be a master then we will have no learners. Let us not postpone but do things one day a time so that we can transform the world we live in.

St Paul in his letter to the Philippians rightly reiterates that; “In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing, so that no one can speak a word of blame against you (Philippians- 2: 14-15) .” When a winner makes a mistake, he says, “I was wrong” when a loser makes a mistake, he says, “It wasn’t my fault.” Do you admit, “I was wrong,” or do you say, “It wasn’t my fault?” A winner explains; a loser explains away. Proverbs says that “work brings profit; talk brings poverty.”

We have many explanations for failure this is a sheer mechanism of escapism. “Excuses always replace progress.” says R. W. Emerson. We need to decide now about the excuses that we continue. We need to nurture hard work and perseverance if we want progress in society. If we are to strive for perfection then we need to acknowledge our failures and not our excuses.

Excuses should be reduced to ashes, not embalmed. A person, who justifies his or her own delay or excuses, is just uprooting his or her own future. If we deny a responsibility we are denying the very foundation of our own existence.

Death

              The most frightening word, which no one inclines to entertain with, is DEATH. Death is one of the existential questions, which everyone tends to avoid consciously or unconsciously. It is the end of life. It is a universal phenomenon and a law natural. But what is Death? Is death simple an end of life? Is death emptiness and nothingness? Why is death a mystery?

The normal understanidng of death is- if the heart stops breathing and if the temperature of a person slowly drops down to that of its surrounding, we pronounce dead. We have scientific knowledge from the very conception about life, but we are ignorant regarding to the signs of death. “It is when someone ceases to live. Medicine does not know what death is; it can only decipher its signs and apparent causes, but the profound reality of death escapes it. The pathological or natural mechanisms (aging) which result in the fact of death, are more or less explained, but knowledge goes no farther.” (Marc Oraison)

Scientists recognize three types of death that might occur during the life of every organism namely: ‘Necrobiosis death is an ongoing process of death of cell in every organism during life time. Nerosis death is the death of tissues. For instance during the heart attack some blood may clot up and cut the blood circulation some parts of the heart. the affected parts will die but an organism  continue to live. Somatic death is the dead of entire organism.

 “We mortal human die for the same metaphysical reason that our shoes wear out, mountains erode and solid iron bars rust: all material things eventually fall back- or disintegrate- into that out of which they are made.”(Cyril Desbruslais). Whatever existing matters will eventually fall apart or disintegrate- death. “What we call “death” or “corruption” is a breaking down of the being concerned into its elemental or molecular constituents and the recombining of these into other beings or another being.

I have no idea of the movement of my death, but am certain that it will happen.  And it is the only event in my life for which my certitude is reversed, bearing on the fact and not on the date. Death seems to be a personal event “The death of one gives rise to the birth of another that is the law of nature. This rise of one gives in to the fall of another that is the norm of being.” (Kuruvilla Pandikuttu)

The very fact that we are born is we are bound to die. If life could continue to live on without death; life and the society or universe at large would be in utterly chaos. We will never comprehend death. It is a mystery lying before us.

Throughout the history in almost all the religions, gods and goddess have been held responsible for death. But we now know that we are made up of matter and we will return to that matter when all the cells of organism die. Death is a law of nature.  But if I am by chance going to face it tomorrow, I am forced to ask, what is death? My reaction would be very obvious crying to God with a deep anguish, why have you done this to me? But, the very fact that we are born is we are born to die, which gives life for others.

Death is a presencing and absencing phenomena, the co-existence of the opposite like, light and darkness and good and evil.   I can imagine that I no longer exist or am death, but with certainty I cannot imagine that I no longer am. “Death in no way can I apprehend it as a non-being of me,” says, Paul Ricour. This is me a mystery. As a mystery death opens us to ever more depths reality of life and of non-life.

Neo- Headhunting

Headhunting is a practice of beheading, displaying, and in some cases preserving human heads for various reasons. The practice of headhunting originated in some cultures from a belief in the existence of a more or less material soul existing in the head. The headhunter sought, through decapitation of his enemies, to transfer this soul matter to himself and his community. Headhunting is thus sometimes found with certain forms of cannibalism as well as with human sacrifice.

The practice of headhunting was prevalent not only among the various tribes of the Nagas but also in other countries like China, Nigeria, Nuristan, Myanmar, Borneo, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Micronesia, Melanesia, New Zealand etc. It could, therefore, be considered as practiced worldwide. ‘It has been associated (1) with ideas regarding the head as the seat of the soul; (2) with some forms of cannibalism where the body or part of the body is consumed in order to transfer to the eater the soul matter of the victim; (3) with phallic cults and fertility rites intended to imbue the soils with productivity,’ (Britannia Encyclopedia) and (4) with power, prestige, fame and glory. In short, it is associated with mortification of the rival, ritual violence, cosmological balance, displaying of manhood, cannibalism and prestige.

Headhunters were well trained in the field of headhunting. They were not only the bravest and the most courageous persons in the society, but also skillful and specialized in the specific field of headhunting. The specialized headhunters were very difficult to find in a society. Due to their specialization, experience and their prowess, they were crowned with power, highly respected and honoured in a society.

We see in history that every revolution does not burst out suddenly but evolves and takes shape over a long process. The rise or fall, merits or demerits of an event or revolution or reformation lead to a bigger one, a more complex event or happening, complicated yet better. So does headhunting, the old practice of headhunting - beheading the enemies’ heads, having emerged into new complex forms, which I would like to call ‘Neo-Headhunting.’

The complex forms of ‘Neo-Headhunting’ could be examined from two perspectives- the negative and the positive. The former is reflected and explained by the present social conflicts, factional clashes, tribalism, nepotism etc. that exist in our social fabric. The latter is reflected and revealed in our day to day experience of modern society, where human beings stop at nothing enslaved by the spirit of competition, greed for wealth and power, desire for position and status, abduction of person for monetary gains, ‘stealing’ of skilled and professional persons by agencies or corporations to throttle competitors and maintain monopoly etc. The underlying spirit is the same as that displayed by the old custom of headhunting: gain power, status and glory. While the old practice was rooted in social values for the good and protection of the society, the present practice is the reflection of deep-seated human selfishness and unquenched greed leading to gradual destruction of the society.

Gone are the days when our great grandfathers took part actively in beheading the heads of their enemies for countless reasons. With the advancement of modern science and technology, the age-old practice of headhunting is crystallized into neo-headhunting under various forms of seeking highly specialized personnel in every walk of life in the modern society. It has taken the most complex form in the corporate sector with the growth of various companies, associations, organizations, etc - both public and private. An agency or agent specializing in the recruitment of executives or highly skilled personnel in any field or job is neo-headhunting. No effort is spared in grabbing the best through offering of unreasonable salaries and incentives so as to weaken the competitor.

Specialized personnel seek for the highest post of office in any sector making the work easier for the modern ‘headhunters’. In modern world, agents, agencies and even companies become ‘New Headhunters’, seeking for specialized personnel for their growth and sometimes for their survival in the competitive world. This ‘New Headhunting’ has been experienced in every walk of life - education, research, business, industry, arts, games and sports etc. Every company or sector hunts for the highly specialized personnel for effective and smooth functioning, to maintain high status symbol and popularity, and finally make sure that the competitor is either weakened or made to close shutters.

Today’s world is a world of competition. Competition, whether healthy or unhealthy, constructive or destructive, has come to stay. One competes with the others for one’s own benefit, fame, glory, power and popularity. Various forms of competitions, especially the unhealthy and destructive ones, are nothing but the residual of the past practice of headhunting. Today, with headhunting firms are focusing on the domain of specialization and expertise in a particular field that increases one’s market value. One company tries its best to over power the other, or weaken the other or tries to become more popular than the other through new techniques and innovation, thus displaying the strains of the old headhunting. Today’s competition is rightly called ‘cut-throat’ competition where one tries to put the other out of business, just like finishing off the person by cutting one’s throat. Definitely, headhunting in the modern world!

The enemies’ heads are replaced by getting or grabbing of high position or posts, seeking money and power, wean away professional persons from competitor etc. In the olden days headhunters were crowned with respect, glory, honor and fame. Today’s ‘new headhunters’ are too crowned with money, power and position. The more a person specialized, the more he is crowned with and is sought by associations, companies, organizations etc. Such persons literally become a ‘prey’ to be ‘captured’.

Examining the present world will show us how the ‘New Headhunters’ hunt for the heads - for professional persons in every field. Football star C. Ronaldo is hunted by almost all the world’s biggest football clubs or associations; M. Dhoni in cricket, Angelina Jolie in Hollywood, Sharuk Khan in Bollywood are some of the examples of persons in great demand or persons who are ‘hunted’. Companies and agencies or clubs hire professionals and highly trained persons to hunt for talent and skill, just like the olden days warriors who were trained to be headhunters.

Despite the recession, the world keeps moving and companies are all still hiring, especially for the top positions. In a tough competitive economy, companies still need quality head-hunters. If you run a big company and need someone to do the high level work, say, a CEO, how would you go about recruiting for that person? You go searching, seeking, scheming. Exactly what the headhunters in olden days used to do! We have evolved from headhunting stage to that of ‘Neo-Headhunting’ stage. When rural illiterate people are ‘hunted’ to work in urban areas for a meager salary and living in inhuman conditions to satisfy the greed of the rich, truly the body is broken and the spirit crushed, as used to happen in the practice of headhunting of olden days. Belief in an ideal dies hard but takes new forms with the passage of time with new meanings attached. I am of the firm belief in this new web of headhunting that has become a part and parcel of our way of life.

What Makes a Virtual Family Possible?

In a letter to the editor of the “Time of India” recently I read “new system will soon make a virtual family possible.” It said that modern ‘technology abolishes emotional distance. But this fantastic idea has other implications, about which I have serious reservations. There is an axiom that, ‘No man can live as an island.’ There is no substitution for the human touch.

Almost everything we enjoy today seemed impossible yesterday. So what transforms the impossible into the possible, the possible into the probable, and the probable into the real?

When we look at the world, how mean it is! When we look at it negatively, how desolate, dull, selfish, and empty it is! But when you look at it in a positive way, how rich, interesting, beautiful and full of meaning it is! “Eyes that look are common. Eyes that see are rare,” says J. Oswald Sanders. How we position ourselves to receive the world makes all the difference. We can never see the sunrise by looking to the west. The choice is up to us. If we look at life the wrong way there is always cause for alarm. What we see depends mainly on what we look for. Some people complain because roses have thorns. Instead, ‘be thankful that thorns have roses.’

Looking at the modern global world, many people say that the new system will soon make Virtual Family Dinners possible. It is modern technology, which abolishes emotional distances. It’s a small world these days. Global markets, cheap and frequent flights, the internet and fast-paced lifestyles, have changed families and extended the boundaries of what one calls home. Living on the other side of the globe away from parents, siblings, friends and people could make themselves islands. But human beings cannot survive in isolation, “no man is an island,” and it is modern communication technology that makes emotional closeness possible.

Preventing people from studying abroad or taking jobs in other parts of the world due to deep craving for familial fostering, is not only impractical but even undesirable. Children do leave the warm nest of their sweet home some day. Physical distance no longer implies emotional distance. Nowadays, communication has become easy through e-mail, mobile phone, visual internet phone calls, and courier services. Staying in touch no longer means letter writing. Parents in India know exactly what their child in New York have had for lunch that day. Grandparents can listen to their baby grandchildren gurgle their first words on the internet.

Technology is developed to further human needs. Emotional closeness is a vital need and technology caters to it. It isn’t always possible to forge close links in one’s immediate physical environment, especially if one is hopping from one country to another on a regular basis. Strong relationships are built over time. It is almost true to say that globetrotters do not leave their dear ones behind any more. Where you are physically now is just incidental to where your heart is.

The family meal is a wonderful institution. It is an occasion to communicate, share, reflect, love and be loved. It is an auspicious moment, where one feels the physical warmth of being together. But today coming together for a family dinner is not possible in a world where parents and children are busy with their activities in different parts of the world. Modern technology may make a virtual family dinner possible. The imaginary scenario is that members of a family living in different parts of the world- one in Jakhama, another in Bangalore, a third one in New York and a fourth one in Tokyo- can, by prior arrangement sit for a meal at the same time, in fact even eat the same favorite dishes and be connected by image and voice to carry on a family conversation.

So far so good! But, I ask, is that all there is to a family dinner? Just the same kind of dishes and the conversation in which you share your thoughts and feelings with the people you love – all at a physical distance? Is not being able to the salt important? Can anything substitute human warmth and touch, which everybody thirst for?

But, does this great distance can only be good if you can only share your thoughts and live with the people you love? Is not being able to pass the salt hardly important? Is anything can substitute human warmness and touch, which every body thirsts for?

Neo- Headhunting

Headhunting is a practice of beheading, displaying, and in some cases preserving human heads for various reasons. The practice of headhunting originated in some cultures from a belief in the existence of a more or less material soul existing in the head. The headhunter sought, through decapitation of his enemies, to transfer this soul matter to himself and his community. Headhunting is thus sometimes found with certain forms of cannibalism as well as with human sacrifice.

The practice of headhunting was prevalent not only among the various tribes of the Nagas but other countries like China, Nigeria, Nuristan, Myanmar, Borneo, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Micronesia, Melanesia, New Zealand etc. It has been, therefore, practiced worldwide. ‘It has been associated (1) with ideas regarding the head as the seat of the soul; (2) with some forms of cannibalism where the body or part of the body is consumed in order to transfer to the eater the soul matter of the victim; (3) with phallic cults and fertility rites intended to imbue the soils with productivity; and (4) with power, prestige, fame and glory. In short it is associated with mortification of the rival, ritual violence, cosmological balance, and the displaying of manhood, cannibalism, and prestige.

The miscellaneous tribes of Nagas were a home to many headhunting people. The entire life of the Nagas revolved around headhunting. It was not only the cause and effect of war; it was also the inscription for the Naga works of art. The primary purpose and function of the practice of headhunting was a part of the process of structuring, reinforcing, and defending hierarchical relationships between tribes, communities and individuals through fighting for dominance, glory and prestige. Inter-village wars, culminating in the taking of the enemies’ heads, were part and parcel of every day life among the Nagas.

Regardless of the arrival of Christianity into the soil of the Naga and the Nagas calling Nagaland a Christian State, the age-old practice of headhunting still carries on in our State. But it has taken the most complex form with the advance of modern sophisticated means and scientific techniques. Gone are the days when our great grandfathers took part in active headhunting for countless reasons. Now we feel proud that such practices do not exist any more in our social fabric.

But still it is very much in our veins and blood. Headhunting is seen very much in our day to day social conflicts. A variety of conflicts existing in our societies is nothing but the residual of the past practice of headhunting, which is now crystallized in various forms of factional clashes. Headhunting continues but the automatic Kalashnikovs and firepower have replaced daos and spears. These weapons or Kalashnikovs are much more powerful in taking away ‘heads’ than traditional doas. These clashes are a sign of lack of solidarity and integration. Obviously, all the Nagas are not aware of the new factional headhunting.

Urbanization and scientific technology have furthered headhunting in the new complex form of factional group clashes and conflicts in our society. In order to reinforce its identity each group is fighting for its preeminence and domination. Each one is fighting for power and supremacy creating havoc in the state of Nagaland. What else can we call these clashes and conflicts in our social fabric except a new form of headhunting?

In the old form of headhunting, innocent women and children were not spared, nor does today’s neo-headhunting. The innocent are the worst victims from primordial time. We ruin ourselves by killing our innocent brothers and sisters. Are we, you and I, aware of it?

Tribalism is the feeling of superiority of one tribe over the other tribes. This superiority complex leads to enmity between persons or groups. Headhunting could be closely connected with the tribalism. Tribalism breeds clashes and conflicts, so does the practice of headhunting. Tribalism is an intricate form of headhunting where effort is made to crush the spirit of other tribes. This tribalism is becoming more and more complex in our state. Nepotism is a new form of tribalism, which is very much prevalent in our society. Favouritism, by acting of kindness to one’s own kindred or tribe or party, breeds enmity between the pubic and the government, the politicians and the bureaucrats.

Looking at our own college, we see and experience tribalism practiced in every activity. A capable person, who could lead the group ably but belonging to a minority tribe, is not give an opportunity to do so due to the practice of tribalism. We forget to stand on moral ground and also forget to use our reasoning power. We become slaves of our feelings and emotions. Tribalism has not changed with Christianity but has taken a new form that co-exists with Naga Christianity. Our religion becomes secondary when there is an ethnic conflict or clash. We are all enslaved by this tribalism. Why don’t we learn from our own history? Why don’t we learn from others? For instance, by looking at the ethnic conflicts between the two tribes Tutsi and Hutu in Africa, we see clearly that the Christians themselves were found killing each other ruthlessly and cruelly. If the Nagas do not learn from history, the ethnic conflicts or clashes between various groups could grow to be worse than those between the Tutsi and Hutu.

Fortunately we have our common enemy “Indian,” under whom we are fighting for freedom, without whom the spirit of tribalism and factionalism or of ‘headhunting’ that is very much present in our blood would have burst, creating chaos in our State. We claim to be a Christian State and take pride in “Nagaland for Christ”. But we are now caught up in the crossfire, in the neo headhunting web which is extremely difficult to give up. But, if we all dare together and collectively voice our concerns, perhaps we can stop this menace of neo-headhunting which is eating away our society. But who will bell the cat? One group clashes with the other creating havoc in our state. Can’t Nagaland be the epitome of tribes, cultures, dialects/ languages of the world- a state that celebrates diversity instead of allowing factionalism and tribalism to breed conflicts and clashes? Can the rainbow of Naga culture continue to shine in the Milky Way? When will the honey of peace and reconciliation reign in our land vanquishing the conflicts, factional clashes, brutality and displacement of the people for good? The choice is ours. Our tomorrow depends on what we decide to do today. Let us choose peace, progress and prosperity. Let go of ‘headhunting’ and start hunting for peace and unity. What do you say?

“They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. But in modern war that is nothing neither sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason,” says Ernest Hemingway.

Seven Reasons Why a Scientist Believes in God

WE ARE STILL IN THE DAWN of the scientific age, and every increase of light reveals more brightly the handiwork of an intelligent Creator. We have made stupendous discoveries; with a spirit of scientific humility and of faith grounded in knowledge we are approaching ever nearer to an awareness of God.

For myself, I count seven reasons for my faith:

First: By unwavering mathematical law we can prove that our universe was designed and executed by a great engineering intelligence.

Suppose you put ten pennies, marked from one to ten, into your pocket and give them a good shuffle. Now try to take them out in sequence from one to ten, putting back the coin each time and shaking them all again. Mathematically we know that your chance of first drawing number one is one in ten; of drawing one and two in succession, one in 100; of drawing one, two and three in succession, one in 1000, and so on; your chance of drawing them all, from number one to number ten in succession, would reach the unbelievable figure of one in ten billion.

By the same reasoning, so many exacting conditions are necessary for life on the earth that they could not possibly exist in proper relationship by chance. The earth rotates on its axis 1000 miles an hour at the equator; if it turned at 100 miles an hour, our days and nights would be ten times as long as now, and the hot sun would likely burn up our vegetation each long day while in the long night any surviving sprout might well freeze.

Again the sun, source of our life, has a surface temperature of 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and our earth is just far enough away so that this "eternal life" warms us just enough and not too much ! If the sun gave off only one half its present radiation, we would freeze, and if it gave as much more, we would roast.

The slant of the earth, tilted at an angle of 23 degrees, gives us our seasons; if the earth had not been so tilted, vapours from the ocean would move north and south, piling up for us continents of ice. If our moon were, say, only 50,000 miles away instead of its actual distance, our tides might be so enormous that twice a day all continents would be submerged; even the mountains could soon be eroded away. If the crust of the earth had only been ten feet thicker, there would be no oxygen, without which animal life must die. Had the ocean been a few feet deeper, carbon dioxide and oxygen would have been absorbed and no vegetable life could exist.

It is apparent from these and a host of other examples that there is not one chance in billions that life on our planet is an accident.

Second: The resourcefulness of life to accomplish its purpose is a manifestation of an all-pervading Intelligence.

What life itself is, no man has fathomed. It has neither weight nor dimensions, but it does have force; a growing root will crack a rock. Life has conquered water, land and air, mastering the elements, compelling them to dissolve and reform their combinations.

Life, the sculptor, shapes all living things; an artist, it designs every leaf of every tree, and colours every flower. Life is a musician and has taught each bird to sing its love song, the insects to call one another in the music of their multitudinous sounds. Life is a sublime chemist, giving taste to fruits and spices, and perfume to the rose, changing water and carbonic acid into sugar and wood, and, in so doing, releasing oxygen that animals may have the breath of life.

Behold an almost invisible drop of protoplasm, transparent, jellylike, capable of motion, drawing energy from the sun. This single cell, this transparent mist-like droplet, holds within itself the germ of life, and has power to distribute this life to every living thing, great and small. The powers of this droplet are greater than our vegetation and animals and people, for all life came from it. Nature did not create life; fire-blistered rocks and a saltless sea could not meet the necessary requirements.

Who, then, has put it here?

Third: Animal wisdom speaks irresistibly of a good Creator who infused instinct into otherwise helpless little creatures.

The young salmon spends years at sea, then comes back to his own river, and travels up the very side of the river into which flows the tributary where he was born. What brings him back so precisely? If you transfer him to another tributary he will know at once that he is off his course and he will fight his way down and back to the main stream and then turn up against the current to finish his destiny accurately.

Even more difficult to solve is the mystery of eels. These amazing creatures migrate at maturity from ponds and rivers everywhere - those from Europe across thousands of miles of ocean - all bound for the same abysmal deeps near Bermuda. There they breed and die. The little ones, with no apparent means of knowing anything except that they are in a wilderness of water, nevertheless start back and find their way not only to the very shore from which their parents came but thence to the selfsame rivers, lakes or little ponds. No American eel has ever been caught in Europe, no European eel in American waters. Nature has even delayed the maturity of the European eel by a year or more to make up for its longer journey. Where does the directional impulse originate?

Fourth: Man has something more than animal instinct - the power of reason.

No other animal has ever left a record of its ability to count ten, or even to understand the meaning of ten. Where instinct is like a single note of a flute, beautiful but limited, the human brain contains all the notes of all the instruments in the orchestra. No need to belabor this fourth point; thanks to human reason we can contemplate the possibility that we are what we are only because we have received a spark of Universal Intelligence.

Fifth: Provision for all living is revealed in such phenomena as the wonders of genes.

So tiny are these genes that, if all of them responsible for all living people in the world could be put in one place, there would be less than a thimbleful. Yet these genes inhabit every living cell and are the keys to all human, animal and vegetable characteristics. A thimble is a small place to hold all the individual characteristics of almost three billion human beings. However, the facts are beyond question.

Here evolution really begins - at the cell, the entity which holds and carries the genes. That the ultra-microscopic gene can absolutely rule all life on earth is an example of profound cunning and provision that could emanate only from a Creative Intelligence; no other hypothesis will serve.

Sixth: By the economy of nature, we are forced to realize that only infinite wisdom could have foreseen and prepared with such astute husbandry.

Many years ago a species of cactus was planted in Australia as a protective fence. Having no insect enemies in Australia, the cactus soon began a prodigious growth; the alarming abundance persisted until the plants covered an area as long and wide as England, crowding inhabitants out of the towns and villages, and destroying their farms. Seeking a defense, entomologists scoured the world; finally they turned up an insect which lived exclusively on cactus, and would eat nothing else. It would breed freely, too; and it had no enemies in Australia. So animal soon conquered vegetable, and today the cactus pest has retreated - and with it all but a small protective residue of the insects, enough to hold the cactus in check forever.

Such checks and balances have been universally provided. Why have not fast-breeding insects dominated the earth? Because they have no lungs such as man possesses; they breathe through tubes. But when insects grow large, their tubes do not grow in ratio to the increasing size of the body. Hence there never has been an insect of great size; this limitation on growth has held them all in check. If this physical check had not been provided, man could not exist. Imagine meeting a hornet as big as a lion !

Seventh: The fact that man can conceive the idea of God is in itself a unique proof.

The conception of God rises from a divine faculty of man, unshared with the rest of our world - the faculty we call imagination. By its power, man and man alone can find the evidence of things unseen. The vista that power opens up is unbounded; indeed, as man's perfected imagination becomes a spiritual reality, he may discern in all the evidence of design and purpose the great truth that heaven is wherever and whatever; that God is everywhere and in everything that nowhere so close as in our hearts.

It is scientifically as well as imaginatively true, as the Psalmist said: The heavens declare the Glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.

A. CRESSY MORRISON,

Former President of the New York Academy of Sciences

Manipur- "Little Hell on Earth"

Manipur, one of the tiny states of the Indian Union, a picturesque dreamland with colourful people belonging to different tribes, is at the crossroad of tradition and modernity. Every community has a unique culture and ethnic consciousness and a fierce love of freedom and independence. It has been aesthetically described by many as ‘the land of gems’, a flower on lofty heights’ and the jewel of India’ a term used by Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. It has also merited the name the ‘little paradise on earth.’

Resplendent with nature’s pristine glory, Manipur lies in a melting pot of culture as one of the world’s most beautiful spots. It is a mosaic of traditions and cultural patterns. Every tribe has its own unique culture, dialect etc having the true spirit of patriotism. The lyrical Ras Lila dance and the various spear dances are gifts to the Indian panorama. The people of Manipur love war games. 

There are some burning issues which trouble the State of Manipur, but no one has dared to speak out or to challenge them for fear of bullets. This leads to rampant corruption, bribery, nepotism, violence and a breakdown of law and order. Small minorities have got the lion’s share of government jobs, but the majorities get only the scraps.

To get a job of an assistant teacher in a government school you need to bribe at least two lakh rupees. Due to rampant practices of nepotism and bribery, above all violence, corruption and subjugation prevalent in the State, each community begins to form its own groups- insurgent groups, fighting to better their own community in narrow selfishness. Each group fights for power and supremacy, creating havoc in the State. The chance of development, progress and prosperity seems an impossible dream. The ‘the land of gems’ becomes a ‘land of violence and corruption.’

This ‘Little Paradise on Earth’ becomes the Sodom and Gomorrah of the modern world. Almost everyday there is a strike or bandh or shooting or killing. Innocent people are most often the helpless victims. The internal problems are so acute and complex. Problems in Manipur are far worse than in Jammu and Kashmir. Unlike the issues of Jammu and Kashmir the complex problems in the North-East in general, Manipur in particular, are problems within the state. The Central Government is aware of them, looks down from its comfort table chair but does nothing. It washes its hand of its responsibility to solve the problems of Manipur. This leads to the formation of more insurgent groups fighting for succession from the Indian Union.

There is no respect for human life. It is worse than that of a street dog. Violence and corruption are in their very blood, whether it be army or various insurgent groups. The brain is the central office of all human activities. Just as a machine works smoothly when it is kept well oiled and is not left idle or unused, so too the brain remains active with work. The young hot-blooded school and college drop-outs and even educated people, are left idle forcing themselves to join the various groups for one’s own narrow selfish reasons. Some others join them to fulfil their ideal of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, considering it to be fair play, and none can be blamed if one wishes to take revenge. The government tries to build a tourism centre in the State. There is not a shadow of doubt that the government alone cannot solve the problems of unemployment. Private sectors will have to come up. But setting private sector calls for a work culture, peaceful political conditions, etc. Despite the practical problems the government tries its best to create more job opportunities to solve some problems.

Every day one sees the reality in the newspapers or T.V news, which cover not even a quarter of what is actually happening in the State. One cannot travel or roam the ‘little paradise on earth’ safely for sight-seeing without an ID Card. Even if you have your ID card, you will be caught for suspicion of being a member of the insurgent groups, detained you in the Thaana for at least a night. A few years ago I happened to witness a terrible tragedy. An innocent youth, my neighbour, was brutally tortured to death without any reason like a cat mercilessly torturing a rat to death in a playful manner, by so called “friends of the hill people” who stayed at Mao Gate. He was, after being mercilessly tortured to death, tied on a tree and shot with some bullets on the dead body. They put some AK47 bullets in his pocket. They cooked up a story, saying that he was a smuggler of weapons and bullets. This is the situation where we the people of Manipur live in the beautiful state so called ‘A Paradise on Earth’. These things are happening not only in the Imphal valley but even in the hilly areas, especially where the army, who ironically claim to be “friends of the hill people”, but in reality they too create havoc in the State.

Those who visit the ‘Jewel of India’ will experience the reality of the State. No one knows when and where one will be getting stuck. No one knows when and where one will be given a tablet for eternal rest. Has Manipur become worse than Iraq? If you were killed you were to be blamed, the incident of your killing would be declared a fake encounter by putting some bullets and even a pistol in your pocket by the army. Don’t be scared, this is the reality.

Every now and then, schools and colleges are forced to close down. Due to strikes, bans etc. the price of commodities shoot rocket high. To construct a house or building, at least a quarter of the budget for the construction will be demanded by various groups at gun point. To install a factory or industry or to repair a road or highway, a quarter of the money will be demanded by various groups and another quarter will be in the pocket of the few bureaucrats. No privates company will come to invest in the State due to complex problems:- political problems, work culture, situation, etc. Besides, the salaries of the government employees usually are delayed for months and months. In this situation, can development and progress be possible?

The legend says that the discovery of Manipur is the result of the delight the gods took in dancing, but the reality says that the present condition/ situation of Manipur is the result of the delight ‘Satan/Evil’ takes in dancing. It is this awful image that gives Manipur its present, unenviable identity “A Little Hell on Earth.”

Despite being ‘A Little Hell on Earth’ the ordinary people are still good at heart, dreaming that they will be able to feed the various insurgent groups and the army with the purest milk of reconciliation, understanding and thoughtfulness, through mutual dialogue, to restore the name ‘Manipur, ‘A Little Paradise on Earth’. 

The Kingship System of the Mao Naga

The Mao Naga tribe inhabits the northern part of the Manipur State- Senapati district bounded by the Angami and Chakhesang Naga tribes in the north, the Maram and Zemi Naga tribes in the west, the Tangkhul Naga in the east and the meiteis in the south. Like any other ancient tribe the history relating to Naga in general and to Mao in particular is steeped in both oral history and legends. There is no authentic written document or any historical record as to the habitation, language and script. The Mao Naga tribe is very peculiar comparing with the other Naga tribes regarding ‘the institution of the kingship’.

We learn from history that ‘might is right’ and that the strongest man would become a leader or a king. But in the history of the Mao Naga’s kingship, it is not the same. In Mao society, kingship began with three brothers namely Pfoneo, Robve-o and Pfose-o. They all vied with each other to settle in Mofuzhu, presently Pudunamei village. The mother, however, was very fond of her youngest son, Pfose-o and she wanted him by any means to settle down in Mofuzhu. She, therefore, thought out a plan. It is this: - the one who returns first after giving a cut mark on a particular tree will have the right to settle down in the Mofuzhu. Accordingly, the race began on the appointed day at a particular hour. The youngest son, as instructed by his mother, cut Chunghosii (its colour turns into light-dark when it is cut) and the other two brothers cut Rhus javanica (omosii, its colour turns into white when it is cut). They adjudged the youngest as the first and then he was allowed to settle in Mofuzhu. The youngest son came into prominence and became the king of the village and other villages as well.

It is important to note that in every Mao village there is a king or chief, who is the supreme authority in the administration and in religion, and who generally manages arbitration between litigants. The king is respected by everyone and is considered only next to God, His representative on earth. It is also believed that God has given more wisdom to him than anyone else and his will is considered as law. He is a man well-known for his personal prowess in war; in diplomatic affairs, in powers of oratory, religious life, etc and his commands are obeyed by the people, in so far they accord with the wishes of the community. In case of dispute or crime, the village chairman, who is the right hand of the king, and the village authorities decide the seriousness of the crime and accordingly, punishment is imposed to the one who commits a crime. The village chairman and village authorities are appointed by the people with the consent of the king.

It is said that the Mao Naga has some settled form of government from the time Ememei or Mao began to settle as a village. They have their own distinctive system of government compared to the other tribes of Nagas. The Kingship system is the most important institution in every Mao village.

The dignity of a king or chief, Movuo in Mao language, is hereditary. In practice, it has been seen from the very beginning that the successor is normally chosen from the incumbent chief’s family. The eldest son succeeds his father. If he (king) has no progeny, his younger brother’s sons- the one with greater quality and ability, personal appearance, religious purity and reputation of valour- can assume the rank. Again, if the sons of his younger brother are not capable to be a king, then any person (usually from the same clan) could be chosen who is known for his bravery, skill in diplomacy, power of oratory, health, good in domestic chores, etc. A king remains in his post till his death. If he is too old to rule his people, he selects a person, usually his own clan, to rule under his charge. It is important to note that in Mao Nagas society no woman can become a chief in the village.

According to the Mao traditions, Pfoseo has to perform all types of religious functions for the good of the Mao villages. Whenever any village performs religious function, Pfosemei or Podunamei king sends his delegate as a representative in their function. However, this practice nowadays has faded away with the coming of Christianity. As a supreme head in religion, he observes gennas as the days of prayer for the economic prosperity and social welfare of his people. In some important gennas if the people fail to observe or obey what they are supposed to, he will impose the same genna again on the following day. Every Genna, therefore, which is proclaimed by the chief, ought to be observed obediently by the people. Whenever the genna is going to be observed on the following day, the chief proclaims at the top of his voice late in the evening on a particular stone at the place called Mani Kasa fii especially in Pfosemei village (Mani-genna, Kasa-proclaim, fii place).

When Genna is observed, the chief prays and performs rituals for his subjects to keep them away from all kinds of sickness, death, poverty etc. There are fifteen important monthly gennas (Ochre lei thin koru) which are to be observed. They are:

1. Ora (means god) mani- on this day, egg is offered to God at the village gate. This is observed in order to free the people from sickness and from death.

2. Tokho Mani- is observed for the good crops, fruits and domestic animals.

3. Pforeshii Mani- is observed that people may be freed from greed and their goods may also last long.

4. Omikazhii Mani- that people may not set fire to other’s house which may cause loss of property and lives.

5. Khehrukashii Mani- that storm may not destroy their houses and properties.

6. Pirii Mani- that the hailstones may not destroy their crops…

7. Ochiikozii Mani- that people may come out of their lethargies and sluggishness and may become prompt and dynamic in society.

8. Ojii (earth) kathi (death) Mani- that the parched- creviced and sterile land becomes fertile and also prays for good rain.

9. Okheshii Mani- that the wild creatures may not destroy the crops (on this day no one is allowed to kill any creature nor even allowed to cut a leaf or grass);

10. Odziikokho Mani- that the rainy season may come on time so that people can cultivate their crops;

11. Omopra koso Mani- that the crops or vegetables may grow fast;

12. Osiira koso Mani- that trees may grow well and bear good fruits (on this day no one is allowed to set fire in fields or forest);

13. Ochiikazhii Mani- that the good weather may overcome the bad monsoon;

14. Molukosii mani- that the earthquake may not destroy property and life;

15.Phehri Mani- that they can defeat their enemies, succeed in hunting and be freed from sickness…

16.

The king observes some more obligations for the intention of his subjects’ welfare. He always sets aside the following days in a Lunar Year for prayer and fasting, so that his beloved people may receive God’s blessings and live a peaceful and harmonious life: 26th January; 11th to 14thth February; 12th to 15th March; 28th July; 25th to 29 November. In addition, the chief also observes a number of taboos. They are: the chief has to abstain from sleeping with his wife on the Genna day; has to leave the house door open; has to abstain from eating sacrificial meat; has to avoid eating food with others; can’t stay in warring village; can’t eat nor rear female pig or bitch; can’t curse others; can’t beat others; can’t marry women accused of theft; can’t steal etc.

There is a myth about the king which says that he should not shit in any other village. Even if he happens to go to a far off place, he has to come back and shit in his village. The significance of this myth is that the king is expected to take care of the village properly by performing his duties well. If he goes away to other places he would not be able to discharge his duties well in his village. There is also a belief that if the king becomes rich, his people will become poor. So, for the prosperity of the village, he must remain poor. The reason for this is that the king, being the most powerful man, could manipulate the people for his advantage and the fact that he becomes rich will be a sign that he is exploiting the people. Another reason for this could be that the king is expected to observe gennas and perform many rituals which requires a lot of time. The fact that he is rich would mean that he works only for him to get rich but does not perform other duties well.

The chief loves his people and treats them as his own children. The people too love him and consider him as their own father next only to God. They show due respect to him. This mutual love and concern which exist between them can be best understood from the following: -

1. The chief is always given an honourable place on all the important occasions, particularly during the time of ‘merit feast’ and other sacrificial feasts (Oraso, Nuvevii ye Ottuzhe kocho). On these auspicious days he receives the right foreleg of a cow killed for a feast.

2. Every household under his kingship gives him a basket full of paddy at the time of inception of the sowing season or after the harvest. It is called Movuo Matikoth. He always initiates the annual seeds sowing.

3. On the feast day of Chiivii kovii, meat is distributed to every household by the host. And also whenever any villager dies, the deceased family distributes meat to every household. On these two occasions, the king always receives a double share of meat.

4. No new village can be established or settled unless the Pfosemei king erects and blesses the first hearth at the proposed village

5. The rich family at times provides a grand feast for the whole village after which a stone is erected to symbolize that he is a rich man in the village.

6. Under the Pfosemei King no village can wage war against any other village without the blessings and proclamation of war genna by him.

7. Whenever any family or individual from the village performs ceremony or sacrificial feast, he is always invited to grace the occasion. He serves the first cup of rice bear (ohaye) and in a conventionally manner, offers a few drops to the mother earth and invokes blessings for the congregation. The chief celebration and the other formalities of the ceremonies begin with his blessings. It is believed that whoever receives the chief’s blessings is said to be always lucky and lives a healthy peaceful life in the future.

8.Even today, on some special occasions especially during the festivals, the king hangs a skull on his neck. The skull signifies that his forefathers were great warriors or he himself was once a great warrior.

In a recent incident (2004), the present Pfosemei Chief’s back was cut with a dao by one of the villagers leaving a big wound on it. According to Mao Nagas customary law the village chief should not have any wound or big scar on his body. He should be physically, mentally and spiritually fit as a fiddle as he has been considered only next to God. So, the village leaders of various Mao villages demanded the resignation of his kingship. But unfortunately there was not non-Christian who was found capable for this post (except a few families, the whole village have embraced Christianity).

The king cannot become a Christian. If he becomes a Christian, he will lose his kingship and he cannot perform rituals and sacrifices according to the customary laws of the Mao Naga. He must hold on to his traditional religion and faithfully perform his duties for the welfare of his subjects. If he becomes a Christian he may forget his duties and even begin to hoard wealth for himself and give to others as gifts or sell his properties to others which cannot be given to anybody except to his successors.

By means of conclusion it can be said that the Mao Naga king and his followers are not Christians by faith but they practice Christian values. They are peace loving people, e.g., before the coming of the British, Pfosemei village made a peace treaty with their neighbouring villages. The first written document of peace treaty was recorded in 1800 between Pfosemei and Khonoma village. They have the spirit of forgiveness, e.g. if a person steals other’s properties or goes against the law, that person can be forgiven if his relatives come and apologies on his behalf. They are very generous especially towards the poor e.g. after the harvest, people keep some paddy in their fields for the poor people to collect them. They always stand for truth and their lives are exemplary. The Mao Naga, therefore, must revive and imbibe the virtues of the ancient and age old traditions and live them out in our daily life. The process of modernization, no doubt, has brought about great changes in the society. But the fact that the king still cannot change his religion is a clear indication that tradition is still very strong in Mao-Naga society.