“I could not tell anyone what I was going through, so I complained to God.” Tia Longkumer, a young professional singer from Nagaland struggled to find acceptance for looking different. As much as Tia’s parents longed for a child, his mother was physically unable to bear a child. They decided to bring their bundle of joy into the world with the help of a surrogate mother.
People were shocked and amazed to see Tia when he was born. He looked very different from his parents! Tia happened to share DNA with his birth mother who was not from Nagaland, hence the difference in appearance. He was teased and insulted in school for not looking like everyone around him. In school, many of us may have experienced something similar or seen something like this happening. Tia would face ridicule and unpleasant comments from his classmates. They would tear his books, insult him and push him around. They’d even try to put their snot on him and bully him. Naturally, he felt there was something wrong with him and that’s why he was being excluded and shunned.
Tia’s grandmother would always tell him that he was ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’, when he asked her what was wrong with him. Young Tia was afraid of telling his parents about his trauma in school; worried it would double if the others found out. So, he would complain to God, crying out to Him, “Why!?” Around this time, he met a friend who invited him to children’s camp. Having experienced much trauma around other children, Tia was sceptical about meeting new children, worried they would bully him too. After a lot of internal fights, he eventually found the courage to say yes.
Tia knew he had made the right choice of overcoming his fears when he felt the warmth at the camp. Odi Tali, the man conducting the two-day session, was hugging everyone who entered the hall. Tia felt a whole new kind of warmth when Odi Tali hugged him – he felt what he had longed for: acceptance! It was these two days that changed Tia’s life for the better. He learnt about song writing and how it can be useful in expressing oneself when words just won’t do. Music became a way for Tia to escape reality while growing himself beautifully!
Today, as a professional singer, Tia looks back and realises that God had been nurturing him through music for all these years! Who would have thought his way to escape reality would become the source of his success!
“God has been so kind to us that we often forget to be kind to others. Just like a simple hug from Odi Tali made me feel welcomed and accepted, we too, can be more inclusive, and treat the people around us like family. Being inclusive means treating others the way you want to be treated. It means being kind to them because of who they are, not because they are physically challenged, or because they have a trauma that you know about,” says Tia, wanting to pay forward the beautiful experience and learning he gained in his life.
