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Chapter Twenty-seven. Return to Nagaland |
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arrival to stay with Additional Deputy Commisioner |
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We drove to the bungalow of the Additional Deputy Commissioner which occupied the top of one of the highest hillocks. T.C. Kikon Lhota, the administrative head of Mon division, and his attractive and well-educated wife received me with great cordiality, and I realized that my various publications on the Nagas were sufficient introduction to assure me of a warm welcome by all the local officials. Kikon Lhota was a member of the Indian Administrative Service, and although a Naga he had been allocated to the cadre of Uttar Pradesh and was at the time on loan to Nagaland. I was accommodated in a pleasant well-furnished guest annexe with electricity and modern plumbing. As I unpacked my bags, I wondered what further surprises were in store for me. Casting my mind back to the bamboo huts the people of Longkhai and Oting had built for me, I could hardly believe that little more than three decades had sufficed to bring so many of the trappings of modern civilization to this remote corner of India. Like most educated Nagas, my charming hosts were devout Christians and before every meal there were impromptu prayers in the Baptist style. The furnishing of their house was modern, and only in the ample meal was there some concession to Naga taste. |
