Questioning the "Limbo" Existence: A Northeasterner's Contrapuntal Vision for the Self

Omila Thounaojam *

When the world today is celebrating the idea of turning 'Global' and the spaces between multiple world cultures growing closer, there are also tales of marginalization still unsung and unwritten existing in the most democratic of societies. Ironically claims of liberty, unity in diversity, brotherhood and many such notions are continuously challenged everyday in our country by the rising rate of traumatic experience certain communities have to witness just because they happen to belong to certain race, caste, class, sex, etc. Initially though many remained silent and were made silent— through a series of silencing implicit and explicit mechanisms— nowadays many people are voicing out their grievances and in turn are questioning their sense of being an authentic citizen of this country.

We don't live in a world based upon a set of fixed geometric relationship with our surroundings but in a world invested with rich meanings that are motivated by myriads of social, cultural, economic and political fabrics of a time and place. And as such, every place is not just a human-less geography or rather an empty container that contains void spaces but in fact, are subjectively defined spaces to a larger extend, encompassing human elements to it that makes it one of the most crucial factors in our understanding of identity. Looking at the dynamic schemes in which spaces and places become a determinative factor in the way one understands oneself, defines oneself in relation to it and in turn, gets defined by them- drive one to the point that the process of identity formation is inextricably related to our sense impression of our immediate reality. If this is the case then the notion of identification of one's identity or the representation of it depends upon the world an individual belongs to that is responsible mostly in shaping up the way one reads one's surroundings and injects meanings into it. Relph reviews the relationship between space and place and states that spaces should not be viewed as an isometric plane that holds places and instead delineates a heuristic structure of spatial experience grounded in a continuum that has direct experience at one extreme and abstract thought at the other… (Relph 1976. 9).

"Home" and the idea of "feeling at home" have become a major preoccupation for every Northeastern individual today. Even though we certainly feel the sense of belonging in our home ground nevertheless, once we step out and try to explore sights and sounds of other regions of our country beyond the boundary of our immediate locale, we feel and are made to feel Foreign in every possible way. The constant call and the urgency to establish a condition that would be acceptable to the majority and which would make us feel welcomed have driven every Northeasterner bear with an extra burden in life. It's not just the question of establishing a good and proficient career graph but a kind of sacrifice one must go through to be an acceptable member of India. As for instance, one negotiates at times and at other times even do away completely with one's indigenous fashions of living life in order to be finally considered a 'normal' individual of the Indian society. The way one talks, the food culture one follows, the dressing pattern and many others that seem to be not going so well in accordance with the trend of the metropolitan space are constantly conditioned to be revised. This in turn, confuse every people of the Northeastern when their identification modes and channels are looked at critically and investigated throughout just because of the basic fact that they are unique and mainly are of different "Race".

Even though such a situation could be witnessed explicitly during colonial time and even ironically now when we are talking grandly of the Postcolonial timeframe, we do not clearly understand the working logic of the "Majority" citizens of India who seem still so unfamiliar with the existence of a community rich with its customs and traditions in the corner of Northeast India. The fact that this region celebrates its uniqueness in terms of the racial feature it bore, the food habit it nurtures, the serenity of its natural landscape and many other features that show the simplicity of the mindset of its people are totally negated by many. Idea of a unified nation in spite of its diversity finds no relevance when each day, many people from this region are molested, abused physically and psychologically and many such cases owing to the fact that we look simply different from the 'Majority'. May be during colonial time, the colonizers were white and thought fair enough when they exploited the land and people of India just because they were dark or brown colored people. May be they justified their exploitative colonial processes and actions by stating proudly that they were superior race and aimed at 'civilizing' the 'white man's burden' with English education and the light of Christianity. But what about now, when a kind of Neo-colonial process is exploiting Northeasterners under the guise of a liberal democratic system but fails to materialize its constitutional promises that state that every citizen of India are equal before the eye of law.

The question in every Northeasterners' (Mongoloid in particular) mind is— where exactly do we belong? Talks of freedom makes us feel free but at the same time bind us and make us feel the weight of the invisible chain because we all know that we are considered "foreign" every now and then. The sense of feeling like an Outsider and living with a sense of 'exile' at one's home preoccupies our thought. In a true sense, this strange feeling may be the resultant of the kind of social existence we are part of and will always be a part of. It's like we dwell in an in-between space, somewhat like a "limbo" wherein, life is like a twilight zone. We belong neither here nor there but at the same time, are made to feel like a momentary insider, a member of this big Home called India but treated like a wrong guest at a house's party not meant for outsiders at most of the time and situation.

The notion of place and placelessness, insideness and outsideness as Edward Relph prescribe in his classic text Place and Placelessness (1976) is applicable here when Northeastern men and women are exposed to a series of strange behavioral patterns based upon the temperament and luxury of the mental state of the people from the metropolis. It is crucial to highlight here the importance of the relationship between place, space and identity formation particularly when the treatment to a Northeasterner depends upon stereotypically guided definitions born and nurtured at different places of the country. Preconceived negative blind ideas about the northeast region and its socio-cultural space instigate many to be unreasonably hostile towards people from this small region. So much so that they are made to feel threatened every time with a haunting sense of locating themselves in the midst of unknown faces and culture and this feeling subsequently, driving many young Northeasterners to lead a kind of isolated withdrawn life. The psychological development of such youths takes place in an irregular fashion constantly motivated by fear and anger and as a result, ghetto-ization is a common scenario evident mostly among Northeastern students in many colleges and social spaces outside their native regions.

The knowledge that we accumulate and gain through a series of learning processes in years of time make us all the more enlightened about the complicated nature in which we involve ourselves with the process of self-identification. According to Bill Ashcroft, no identity is outside representation and as such, the process of identifying with an authentic sense of self for a Northeastern becomes far more challenging when he or she has been blindly misrepresented in a derogatory line by many. The mental pull that results out of such circumstances reinforces the sense of dislocation and consequently such an individual uncertain of who is the exact enemy, quest for a cultural identity that would make one feel more self-fulfilled and authentic.

Another important facet that requires a brief highlight here is the way a woman from this region feels twice removed or rather doubly marginalized when it comes to fair treatment from the society in the metropolis. Even though her region and immediate locale celebrate the power of womanhood with an exclusive honor and respect, the moment she steps out of her region, she is bombarded with Stares of all kinds and mouths that only talk of disrespectful line all because to Them, she comes from a hilly region deemed unfit to be respected. Each day stay away from her native familiar space is an uphill task in itself because she has to fight a double task of fencing herself first from external threatening elements and then head on into the struggle filled exercise of marking a place for herself. To a great extent, for both the male and the female individuals hailing from this small region, it has become a very common scenario that they possess a schizophrenic kind of dual sense of location within their nation.

The story of a Northeasterner's struggle for an acceptable 'location' in this country which claims to be his or her 'home' but is still a half-home will continue just like the way narrations of migrations still preoccupy lives of African Americans in America. May be this unending sort of questioning one's 'limbo' like existence will continue and somehow release a Northeasterner from its crippling sense of hold and let him or her achieve an elevated sense of self. Somehow the continuous sense of disconnectedness and placelessness may ultimately provide a Northeastern with a kind of gifted and elevated vision of the world born out of its unique social position. So much so that, like Salman Rushdie's notion of creating 'Imaginary Homelands', the often derogatorily referred 'Chinky' from the northeastern region of India possesses the wisdom of seeing the world with a Contrapuntal vision. Just like Edward Said states when he talks of such a vision that is fully capable of even 'exiling the sense of exile', who knows one day the majority will witness the eruption of the challenging counter narratives of 'what' is exactly being an Indian mean and the criteria to befit this sense of Indian-ness felt and questioned by a Northeasterner soon.

References

Ashcroft, Bill. (2009). Caliban's Voice: The Transformation of English in Post-Colonial Literatures. New York: Routledge

Zieleniec, Andrzej. (2007). Space and Social Theory. London: Sage Publication

Said, Edward W. (2000). Reflections on exile and other essays. New York: Harvard University Press

Childs, Peter. Williams, Patrick. (1997). An Introduction to Post-colonial Theory. Harvester Wheatsheaf: London.

Ashcroft, Bill. Griffiths, Gareth and Tiffin, Helen. Eds. (1995). The Post-colonial Studies Reader ; Routledge: London.

Bhabha, Homi K. (1994). The Location of Culture. London ; New York: Routledge.