Christmas With The Naga Girl Who Rocked The National Anthem

Meet Imnainla Jamir, a self-taught guitarist who got India rocking to her rendition of Jana Gana Mana.

'Wonderful way to unite the country' Imnainla Jamir, a self-taught guitarist, who got India sway to her rendition of Jana Gana Mana.

(The Quint/Deeksha Malhotra)

Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan Video Input: Cine Rec Production

She got the India rocking when she ripped a soaring solo of Jana Gana Mana. But there is more to Imnainla Jamir than just a girl who can play six strings.

This guitar prodigy did not take any formal education in music and first learnt to play the guitar from her brother and then taught herself to play the way that she does now.

Even though it was not her idea to play the National Anthem at the Hornbill Festival 2022, she feels it was a wonderful way to unite the country.

It was a great honour for me to perform the National Anthem. And it was a very special moment for me.

Imnainla Jamir

This is not first time Imnainla performed at the Hornbill festival and also not the first time she went viral on social media.

Imnainla was 16, playing at small gigs in her hometown Mokokchung, when videos of her playing the lead guitar went viral. There was something fascinating for people to see a woman playing the lead as there are not many women guitarist in the Naga music scene at the moment.

She became an internet sensation which helped her land her first big gig at the Hornbill Festival in 2018. After which she 'officially' entered the music scene in Nagaland.

She not only played at the Hornbill festival in the consecutive years, her performance also became an inevitable part of events happening around Nagaland.

She may not be the first girl to play the electric guitar in the region, but certainly one of the most promising!

Grew Up In The 'Cultural Capital' of Nagaland

Mokokchung is a district where majority of the people are musically talented. So, growing up I remember going to concerts, gigs, smalls gigs in my hometown with my family.

Imnainla Jamir

It is natural that the musically rich environment around her inspired Imna to be a musician. Her brother introduced her to roots of blues, jazz and basic chords which helped her to explore and play other genres.

Blues is the root; everything else is the fruit

Quoting the legendary Willie Dixon, Imna believes that the complexity of blues helped her in developing knowledge and emotions for all other genres. And as she says, 'for a musician it is very important to stick to the roots!'

Imnainla has shifted to Kohima from Mokokchung to pursue her career as a musician. With deals from big audio brands such as shure and the recognition her talent has received, the world is an oyster for Imnainla.