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Dying in Dimapur

This chapter examines living and dying in Dimapur as a place-making practice. The ambiguities of belonging emerge in death, as relatives want the bodies sent back to ancestral villages. In this sense, Dimapur remains a migrant city where a sense of impermanence always dwells among the numerous tribal residents settled here. Increasing numbers of Nagas living in Dimapur are not associated with their ancestral villages in their everyday lives. Yet, conversation about dying in the city presents a compelling portrait of tribal alienation, exclusion, and disenchantments of modern living. The chapter explores death in different locations and sites within the city, from a tribal women’s association meeting, to reflections on an NSCN-IM leader’s funeral, to the memorial schools and parks (dedicated to the deceased) that have been built across the city, to the philosophy and life-story of one of the city’s coffin-makers.