SIBA K GOGOI A SSAM’S literary land- scape is as diverse as Northeast India itself; Assamese literature has drawn, to a significant extent, on the cultural and historical legacy shared by the states of the region. Assamese, an Indo-Aryan lan- guage, though, was a lingua fran- ca for many ethnic groups of Aryan and non-Aryan descent in undivided Assam. The languages that most ethnic communities spoke had no script. After freeing it from the shadow of Bengali, the British – and then the government of independent India – granted Assamese official language sta- tus. Inevitably, people of the re- gion, tribal or non-tribal, were ed- ucated in Assamese. The geo- graphical boundaries of Assam were, however, redrawn after its fragmentation into seven states, including Arunachal Pradesh, also formerly known as North-East Frontier Agency, or NEFA. State reorganisation, coupled with the spread of English large- ly because of the missionaries, brought about a sea change on the education scene in the North- east. Assamese, with its new ge- ographical periphery, gradually stopped being what it used to be – a shared language in an ethni- cally diverse region. Nonetheless, Assamese retained its charm for tribal people, particularly those who had studied in Assamese- medium institutions but later come under separate political en- tities. They not only carried on the legacy of education gained through Assamese but also used the language to produce works of creative imagination; Assamese, in fact, became a mirror of the hopes and aspirations of the com- munities they belonged to. So, tribal writers educated in As- samese – perhaps because they did not have their own written languages or literary traditions – continued to embrace the lan- guage as an outlet for their cre- ative talents to portray different ethnic societies and cultures. Assamese literature will be poor- er minus the contribution tribal writers have made to its growth and development. From Arunachal Pradesh specifically, the authors that have made their mark on the Assamese literary scene include Lummer Dai (1940- 2002), Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi (1952-) and Kengsam Kenglang (1942-2012). Lummer Dai, of the Adi tribe, and Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, of the Sherdukpen tribe, deserve special mention for their valu- able contribution to the repos- itory of Assamese literature. Kengsam Kenglang, from the Tangsa community, mainly wrote children’s books. Lummer Dai, considered Arunachal Pradesh’s literary pa- triarch, was a novelist, short sto- ry writer and journalist. Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi writes of him thus: “Foremost among all writ- ers from Arunachal Pradesh is late Lummer Dai, who con- tributed the most to Assamese literature. Today, even after his death, he enjoys a special place amongst the readers. This is ev- ident from the fact that his nov- el Prithibir Hanhi is still a most sought-after book. He wrote only five novels but the number is not important as far as their literary value is concerned.” Born at Siluk village in East Siang district, Lummer Dai studied in Guwahati and Shillong. Starting his professional career as a part- timer with All India Radio, Di- brugarh, he went on to hold the post of director, information and public relations, government of Arunachal Pradesh. Dai emerged as a creative writer in the Ramd- henu era of Assamese literature. His first novel, Paharor Xile Xile, was published in 1960. It was, however, his second fictional work, Prithibir Hanhi (1962-63), which confirmed his place as a novelist in the history of Assamese literature. He later published Mon Aru Mon (1965) and Koynar Mu- lyo (1975-76). He did not have the fortune to see in print his fifth novel, Upor Mohol, as it appeared in an Assamese weekly in 2003. He has received various awards, including Asom Sahitya Sabha’s Kamala Devi and Sitanath Brah- machoudhury Awards in 1960 and 1985 respectively. Another award has been instituted by the Sahitya Sabha in Dai’s name. The highest literary body of Assam has also established the Lummer Dai North East Centre for Language, Literature and Cultural Research at Bihpuria in Assam’s Lakhim- pur district. Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi was born into a poor family in Jigaon, a remote village in West Kameng district. He did his schooling in Jigaon and Bomdila, and received higher education in Guwahati. After completing his studies, Thongchi joined Arunachal Pradesh Civil Service and was lat- er elevated to Indian Adminis- trative Service. He held several top positions, such as tourism commissioner and deputy com- missioner, in the Arunachal Pradesh government. Thongchi had a busy life as a bureaucrat, but that never deterred the writer in him from pursuing his calling. He felt the urge to write during his school days, which was evi- dent from the poems he com- posed then, but he soon focused on writing novels and short sto- ries that made him popular, es- pecially as a novelist, among As- samese readers. Thongchi has enriched As- samese literature with some fine works, novels of varied interest: Sonam (1981), Lingjhik (1983), Mouna Onth Mukhor Hridoy (2001), Xo Kota Manuh (2004), and Bix Konyar Dexot (2006). His oeuvre also comprises Papor Pukhuri (2000) and Banh Phular Gundh (2005), both collections of short stories, and Kameng Xi- mantor Xadhu (1972), a book of folktales. He has won, among oth- ers, the Sahitya Akademi Award 2005 and Asom Sahitya Sabha’s Bishnu Rabha Award 2001. Kengsam Kenglang, from Old Changlang village in Changlang district, retired from government service as director, District Art and Culture Centre, Changlang. He authored seven books, pri- marily for children. Among them are Longkai Aru Thaknang, Tangsa Janajatir Xadhu, Teeli, Jene Kukur Tene Tangon and Aair Xoman Hobo Kon. In 2011 Asom Sahitya Sabha con- ferred the Phulchand Khandel- wal Award on Kenglang, the sec- ond Arunachalee writer, after Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, to be so honoured. In their novels and short stories, Lummer Dai and Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, who belong to the first generation of intellectual elite or writers in Arunachal Pradesh, de- pict with conviction the customs, behaviour and longings of different communities of native Arunachalees, such as Adis, Sherdukpens, Monpas and Nishis. Lummer Dai was the first au- thor from Arunachal Pradesh to introduce the Assamese reading public to the variegated world of the tribal groups, especially the Adis, in the ‘Land of the Ris- ing Sun’. Prithibir Hanhi, for in- stance, gives readers captivat- ing insights into the lifestyle, cul- tural traditions and belief sys- tem of the Adi people. Dai wrote his stories with a reformist agen- da; he dug up the rot in tradi- tional institutions like the ‘ke- bang’. Some of the key themes in the novels of Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi are conflict between modernity and tradition; devel- opment with regard for tradi- tional values; an awakening of the individual self, which is also evident in Dai’s works; sharp criticism of social evils and su- perstitious beliefs. Both Dai and Thongchi use the Assamese language lacing it with an ethnic punch, albeit contrast- ingly. Critic Tilottoma Misra writes:“Thongchi makes liberal use of this form of speech (pid- gin Asamiya) in the novel (Mouna Onth Mukhor Xridoy), unlike Dai who rarely uses it. Dai experi- ments with other interesting de- vices, including ‘translation’ of tribal speech into different vari- eties of Asamiya and even at- tempts to blend the lexicon of one language with the phonemics of another (as in the speech style of the village idiot Libo in Prithibir Hanhi).” These tribal authors achieved something highly significant as storytellers: they served as bridges between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and what is more they redefined the fron- tiers of Assamese literature. Although Assamese was replaced by Hindi as the medium of in- struction in NEFA, Dai and Thongchi continued to write lit- erary fiction in the language that had not only brought them edu- cation but also served as a pre- ferred mode of communication, in the form of Nefamese, or pid- gin Assamese, between the peo- ple from Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra Valley. The decision of the government of independent India to impose Hindi on NEFA – at the expense of the linguistic or ethnic identities of the native groups – was part of its strategy to integrate the tribes of the region into the Indian nation. Ironically, in later years, Meghalaya, Naga- land and Arunachal Pradesh de- clared English their official lan- guages. It was significant that sec- tions of the tribal people who were either educated in English or con- sidered it an important driver of future development of their com- munities had backed the language as the medium of instruction in these states. While the various trib- al communities did not get the platform for assertion of their iden- tities as they were drawn into the so-called process of nation-build- ing, removal of Assamese from the schools in NEFA initially caused a lot of heartburn for Arunachalees and people of Assam, for they had long cherished their relations founded on a shared language, his- tory and cultural heritage. The Arunachal Pradesh gov- ernment’s recent announcement of Assamese as the third official language of the state – a recogni- tion for the Arunachalee authors writing in Assamese – has, how- ever, raised hopes of renewed so- cio-cultural, literary links between the two states. This is expected to take the works of Dai, Thongchi and Kenglang to a wider reader- ship in Arunachal Pradesh, their own people. ❚ POST script JULY 29, 2012 SEVEN SISTERS NELit review 2 FIFTH WALL UDDIPANA GOSWAMI Literary Editor ❘❘❘❘❘❘❚● Although Assamese was replaced by Hindi as the medium of instruction in NEFA, Dai and Thongchi continued to write literary fiction in the language that had not only brought them education but also served as a preferred mode of communication between Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra Valley From the hills to the valley FRONTIS PIECE Lummer Dai Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi Kengsam Kenglang A S ethnic clashes rage once again in western Assam, it is time per- haps to take stock of the com- monalities between our various com- munities rather than continue count- ing the dead and the displaced. It is in- evitable that where there are so many distinctive groups of people living to- gether, there will be differences that crop up every now and then. What is moot, however, is how we deal with these differences. Do we kill each oth- er because we don’t like the way the other person dresses, or because we cannot stand the smell of their food? Or do we try to accommodate their ‘otherness’ and familiarise ourselves with it? Because if we do the latter, we can all survive – and in a healthy at- mosphere at that. If the former, soon- er or later, we will all perish. For long now, the states of the North- east have been embroiled in political conflict with each other over the de- marcation of their state boundaries. These conflicts have also often taken a violent turn in the border areas. Sometimes, whole insurgent armies have been involved as have govern- ment officials. Once in a while, the civilian population has also turned perpetrator and participant in acts of violence. An unfortunate state of af- fairs given that there are so many things in common, especially in the border areas, between people living on either side of the boundary line. In any case, these are arbitrary lines drawn by people sitting in distant pow- er centres without much regard for the human population living there. To allow these lines to divide kith from kin is to play right into the hands of the people who drew them in the first place and perpetuate their self-serv- ing agendas. It is equally self-defeating for peo- ple everywhere else – further inland from the margins – to not recognise the games these people play in turn- ing them against each other. The games those at the helm of affairs play are always at the expense of the ones at the grassroots. It is, therefore, these people who need to understand the futility of conflicts – ethnic or other- wise. And one way in which they can understand is through reading each other’s literatures, and learning about each other’s cultures. In the Northeast, given our shared history and political destiny (among other areas of commonality), we have had literature produced from one state that reflects life and reality in the neighbouring state(s). Sometimes – though not very often – it has even been done in the language of the oth- er state(s). This issue of NELit review showcases the literature of Arunachal Pradesh written in Axamiya and cel- ebrated in Assam. Geo-politically speaking, Assam has been at the heart of the northeast- ern region for long. On the one hand, this has inspired the elite of the said state to try and dominate over most of the other states, even to the extent of imposing its language and culture on them. This is a terrible historical blunder for which the constituents of the region continue to view each other with suspicion. But, on the oth- er hand, the centrality of Assam and the Axamiya has also meant that this linguistically and culturally multi- farious region once had a lingua fran- ca which they used freely to com- municate with each other. Often, as in the case of Nagamese and Ne- famese, they even adapted it to suit their own requirements, much the same way as English has been mould- ed in many parts of the erstwhile British Empire. Had it not been for the divisive politics played by the In- dian State – of introducing Hindi and the Devnagari script among the eth- nic communities of the region who had hitherto been educated in Ax- amiya – the people of the other states might still have had their moments of schadenfreude in transmogrifying the language while at the same time, being bound together by a common medium of communication. The Ax- amiya language and its practitioners also, in their turn, would perhaps then have learnt some humility and inclusiveness, much like the English language has. ❚ Sister tongue Lummer Dai, Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi and Kengsam Kenglang served as bridges between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and what is more they redefined the frontiers of Assamese literature NEW PRINTS MAHAPURUSH SRIMANTA SANKARADEVA Bimal Phukan Saidul Islam (trans) Kaziranga Books, 2012 `180, 154 pages Hardcover/Non-fiction A well-informed book on the genius of Vaishnava saint Sankardeva. It highlights, particularly for the people outside Assam, the multifarious life and achievements of the 14th century social, religious reformer. BHIWANI JUNCTION The Untold Story of Boxing in India Shamya Dasgupta Harper Sport, 2012 ` 250, 200 pages Paperback/Non-fiction F rom Vijender Singh to Mary Kom: will Indian boxing remain a force to reckon with in the next few years or will it go the hockey way? And when it comes to the women, will someone start by taking them seriously for a change? UNTHAT TIL THAKA DHUNIA CHUWALI EJANI Bipul Sarmah Laipulia Gosthi (Pratima Devi), 2012 ` 60, 56 pages Hardcover/Fiction A teacher and journalist knows love can be futile most of the time. Yet, he cannot help but express his feel- ings for someone he loves; to him, love stops a man from being a beast; it’s a driver of creativity. Here are 35 poems for those who love reading. BARNABAS Bombay's First Private Detective Sangeeta Nambiar Westland, 2012 ` 250, 234 pages Paperback/Fiction T he son of a cook takes up the job of tracing a British woman who goes missing from the leafy lanes of Wode- house Road, Bombay in the summer of 1942. His search for her leads him to Girgaum where he finds a murder to solve. Family secrets and the machina- tions of an evil mind are all there for him to unveil! BIXOY BIXOYANTAR Jyoti Prasad Saikia Natun Asam, 2011 `150, 141 pages Hardcover/Non-fiction T arun Gogoi vs Tarun Gogoi, the co-operative movement under Sarat Chandra Sinha, why ministers blabber and some more interesting topics. It’s a collection of personal essays on a host of issues concerning contemporary public life. BARBED WIRE FENCE Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee (ed) Dipendu Das (ed) Niyogi Books, 2012 ` 250, 186 pages Paperback/Fiction A n anthology of 17 short stories deal- ing with the immigrant experience of people from present-day Bangladesh, who were forced to leave their native land during and after India’s indepen- dence and to settle, amongst other places, in the Barak Valley of Assam BOOK ABLE News: Talk on John le Carré Bal Sahitya Akademi Award winner, Sid- dhartha Sarma, delivered a talk on John le Carré on 21 July in Guwahati. The talk is the first in a series planned by the North East Writers’ Forum (NEWF) on noted writers and their literary influences. Sarma spoke passion- ately of his introduction to and involvement with the writings of the master spy novelist who has been creating literary masterpieces for nearly five decades now. In his reply to an audience query, Sarma maintained that le Carré has influenced the way he looks at life, not however on how or what he himself writes about the world. Invitation/CFP: Muse India literary journal Journal: Muse India (www.museindia.com) Theme: Dalit/marginal literature of eastern and northeastern India Issue: Nov-Dec 2012 What to submit: Articles/essays, book reviews, life-narratives, short stories, stories for children, interviews and poetry Contact: [email protected] Deadline: 30 September 2012
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SIBA K GOGOI
ASSAM’S literary land-scape is as diverse asNortheast India itself; Assamese literature has
drawn, to a significant extent, onthe cultural and historical legacy shared by the states ofthe region. Assamese, an Indo-Aryan lan-
guage, though, was a lingua fran-ca for many ethnic groups ofAryan and non-Aryan descent inundivided Assam. The languagesthat most ethnic communitiesspoke had no script. After freeingit from the shadow of Bengali, theBritish – and then the governmentof independent India – grantedAssamese official language sta-tus. Inevitably, people of the re-gion, tribal or non-tribal, were ed-ucated in Assamese. The geo-graphical boundaries of Assamwere, however, redrawn after itsfragmentation into seven states,including Arunachal Pradesh, alsoformerly known as North-EastFrontier Agency, or NEFA. State reorganisation, coupled
with the spread of English large-ly because of the missionaries,brought about a sea change onthe education scene in the North-east. Assamese, with its new ge-ographical periphery, graduallystopped being what it used to be– a shared language in an ethni-cally diverse region. Nonetheless,Assamese retained its charm fortribal people, particularly thosewho had studied in Assamese-medium institutions but latercome under separate political en-tities. They not only carried onthe legacy of education gainedthrough Assamese but also usedthe language to produce works ofcreative imagination; Assamese,in fact, became a mirror of thehopes and aspirations of the com-munities they belonged to.So, tribal writers educated in As-
samese – perhaps because theydid not have their own written
languages or literary traditions –continued to embrace the lan-guage as an outlet for their cre-ative talents to portray differentethnic societies and cultures.Assamese literature will be poor-
er minus the contribution tribalwriters have made to its growthand development. FromArunachal Pradesh specifically,the authors that have made theirmark on the Assamese literaryscene include Lummer Dai (1940-2002), Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi(1952-) and Kengsam Kenglang(1942-2012). Lummer Dai, of the Adi tribe,
and Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, ofthe Sherdukpen tribe, deservespecial mention for their valu-able contribution to the repos-itory of Assamese literature.Kengsam Kenglang, from theTangsa community, mainlywrote children’s books.Lummer Dai, considered
Arunachal Pradesh’s literary pa-triarch, was a novelist, short sto-ry writer and journalist. YesheDorjee Thongchi writes of himthus: “Foremost among all writ-ers from Arunachal Pradesh islate Lummer Dai, who con-tributed the most to Assameseliterature. Today, even after hisdeath, he enjoys a special placeamongst the readers. This is ev-ident from the fact that his nov-el Prithibir Hanhi is still a mostsought-after book. He wrote onlyfive novels but the number is notimportant as far as their literaryvalue is concerned.”Born at Siluk village in East Siang
district, Lummer Dai studied inGuwahati and Shillong. Startinghis professional career as a part-timer with All India Radio, Di-brugarh, he went on to hold thepost of director, information andpublic relations, government ofArunachal Pradesh. Dai emergedas a creative writer in the Ramd-henu era of Assamese literature.His first novel, Paharor Xile Xile,was published in 1960. It was,
however, his second fictionalwork, Prithibir Hanhi (1962-63),which confirmed his place as anovelist in the history of Assameseliterature. He later published MonAru Mon (1965) and Koynar Mu-lyo (1975-76). He did not have thefortune to see in print his fifthnovel, Upor Mohol, as it appearedin an Assamese weekly in 2003. He has received various awards,
including Asom Sahitya Sabha’sKamala Devi and Sitanath Brah-machoudhury Awards in 1960and 1985 respectively. Anotheraward has been instituted by theSahitya Sabha in Dai’s name. Thehighest literary body of Assam hasalso established the Lummer DaiNorth East Centre for Language,Literature and Cultural Researchat Bihpuria in Assam’s Lakhim-pur district.Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi was
born into a poor family in Jigaon,a remote village in West Kameng
district. He did his schooling inJigaon and Bomdila, and receivedhigher education in Guwahati.After completing his studies,Thongchi joined ArunachalPradesh Civil Service and was lat-er elevated to Indian Adminis-trative Service. He held severaltop positions, such as tourismcommissioner and deputy com-missioner, in the ArunachalPradesh government. Thongchihad a busy life as a bureaucrat,but that never deterred the writerin him from pursuing his calling.He felt the urge to write duringhis school days, which was evi-dent from the poems he com-posed then, but he soon focusedon writing novels and short sto-ries that made him popular, es-pecially as a novelist, among As-samese readers. Thongchi has enriched As-
samese literature with some fineworks, novels of varied interest:
Sonam (1981), Lingjhik (1983),Mouna Onth Mukhor Hridoy(2001), Xo Kota Manuh (2004),and Bix Konyar Dexot (2006). Hisoeuvre also comprises PaporPukhuri (2000) and Banh PhularGundh (2005), both collections ofshort stories, and Kameng Xi-mantor Xadhu (1972), a book offolktales. He has won, among oth-ers, the Sahitya Akademi Award2005 and Asom Sahitya Sabha’sBishnu Rabha Award 2001.Kengsam Kenglang, from Old
Changlang village in Changlangdistrict, retired from governmentservice as director, District Artand Culture Centre, Changlang.He authored seven books, pri-marily for children. Among themare Longkai Aru Thaknang,Tangsa Janajatir Xadhu, Teeli,Jene Kukur Tene Tangon and Aair Xoman Hobo Kon. In2011 Asom Sahitya Sabha con-ferred the Phulchand Khandel-wal Award on Kenglang, the sec-ond Arunachalee writer, afterYeshe Dorjee Thongchi, to be so honoured. In their novels and short stories,
Lummer Dai and Yeshe DorjeeThongchi, who belong to the firstgeneration of intellectual elite orwriters in Arunachal Pradesh, de-
pict with conviction the customs,behaviour and longings of different communities of native Arunachalees, such asAdis, Sherdukpens, Monpas and Nishis. Lummer Dai was the first au-
thor from Arunachal Pradesh tointroduce the Assamese readingpublic to the variegated worldof the tribal groups, especiallythe Adis, in the ‘Land of the Ris-ing Sun’. Prithibir Hanhi, for in-stance, gives readers captivat-ing insights into the lifestyle, cul-tural traditions and belief sys-tem of the Adi people. Dai wrotehis stories with a reformist agen-da; he dug up the rot in tradi-tional institutions like the ‘ke-bang’. Some of the key themesin the novels of Yeshe DorjeeThongchi are conflict betweenmodernity and tradition; devel-opment with regard for tradi-tional values; an awakening ofthe individual self, which is alsoevident in Dai’s works; sharpcriticism of social evils and su-perstitious beliefs. Both Dai and Thongchi use the
Assamese language lacing it withan ethnic punch, albeit contrast-ingly. Critic Tilottoma Misrawrites:“Thongchi makes liberal
use of this form of speech (pid-gin Asamiya) in the novel (MounaOnth Mukhor Xridoy), unlike Daiwho rarely uses it. Dai experi-ments with other interesting de-vices, including ‘translation’ oftribal speech into different vari-eties of Asamiya and even at-tempts to blend the lexicon of onelanguage with the phonemics ofanother (as in the speech style of the village idiot Libo in Prithibir Hanhi).”These tribal authors achieved
something highly significant asstorytellers: they served asbridges between ArunachalPradesh and Assam, and what ismore they redefined the fron-tiers of Assamese literature.Although Assamese was replaced
by Hindi as the medium of in-struction in NEFA, Dai andThongchi continued to write lit-erary fiction in the language thathad not only brought them edu-cation but also served as a pre-ferred mode of communication,in the form of Nefamese, or pid-gin Assamese, between the peo-ple from Arunachal Pradesh andBrahmaputra Valley. The decisionof the government of independentIndia to impose Hindi on NEFA –at the expense of the linguistic orethnic identities of the nativegroups – was part of its strategy tointegrate the tribes of the regioninto the Indian nation. Ironically,in later years, Meghalaya, Naga-land and Arunachal Pradesh de-clared English their official lan-guages. It was significant that sec-tions of the tribal people who wereeither educated in English or con-sidered it an important driver offuture development of their com-munities had backed the languageas the medium of instruction inthese states. While the various trib-al communities did not get theplatform for assertion of their iden-tities as they were drawn into theso-called process of nation-build-ing, removal of Assamese from theschools in NEFA initially caused alot of heartburn for Arunachaleesand people of Assam, for they hadlong cherished their relationsfounded on a shared language, his-tory and cultural heritage. The Arunachal Pradesh gov-
ernment’s recent announcementof Assamese as the third officiallanguage of the state – a recogni-tion for the Arunachalee authorswriting in Assamese – has, how-ever, raised hopes of renewed so-cio-cultural, literary links betweenthe two states. This is expected totake the works of Dai, Thongchiand Kenglang to a wider reader-ship in Arunachal Pradesh, theirown people. �
POSTscriptJ U L Y 2 9 , 2 0 1 2
SEVEN SISTERS
NELit review2
FIFTH WALLUDDIPANA GOSWAMI
Literary Editor
��������
Although Assamese was replaced by Hindi as the medium of instruction in NEFA, Dai andThongchi continued to write literary fiction in the language that had not only brought themeducation but also served as a preferred mode of communication between Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra Valley
From the hills to the valley
FRONTIS PIECELummer Dai Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi Kengsam Kenglang
AS ethnic clashes rage once againin western Assam, it is time per-haps to take stock of the com-
monalities between our various com-munities rather than continue count-ing the dead and the displaced. It is in-evitable that where there are so manydistinctive groups of people living to-gether, there will be differences thatcrop up every now and then. What ismoot, however, is how we deal withthese differences. Do we kill each oth-er because we don’t like the way theother person dresses, or because wecannot stand the smell of their food?Or do we try to accommodate their‘otherness’ and familiarise ourselveswith it? Because if we do the latter, wecan all survive – and in a healthy at-
mosphere at that. If the former, soon-er or later, we will all perish.For long now, the states of the North-
east have been embroiled in politicalconflict with each other over the de-marcation of their state boundaries.These conflicts have also often takena violent turn in the border areas.Sometimes, whole insurgent armieshave been involved as have govern-ment officials. Once in a while, thecivilian population has also turnedperpetrator and participant in acts ofviolence. An unfortunate state of af-fairs given that there are so manythings in common, especially in theborder areas, between people livingon either side of the boundary line. Inany case, these are arbitrary linesdrawn by people sitting in distant pow-er centres without much regard forthe human population living there. Toallow these lines to divide kith from
kin is to play right into the hands ofthe people who drew them in the firstplace and perpetuate their self-serv-ing agendas. It is equally self-defeating for peo-
ple everywhere else – further inlandfrom the margins – to not recognisethe games these people play in turn-ing them against each other. Thegames those at the helm of affairs playare always at the expense of the onesat the grassroots. It is, therefore, thesepeople who need to understand thefutility of conflicts – ethnic or other-wise. And one way in which they canunderstand is through reading eachother’s literatures, and learning abouteach other’s cultures.In the Northeast, given our shared
history and political destiny (amongother areas of commonality), we havehad literature produced from onestate that reflects life and reality in
the neighbouring state(s). Sometimes– though not very often – it has evenbeen done in the language of the oth-er state(s). This issue of NELit reviewshowcases the literature of ArunachalPradesh written in Axamiya and cel-ebrated in Assam.Geo-politically speaking, Assam has
been at the heart of the northeast-ern region for long. On the one hand,this has inspired the elite of the saidstate to try and dominate over mostof the other states, even to the extentof imposing its language and cultureon them. This is a terrible historicalblunder for which the constituentsof the region continue to view eachother with suspicion. But, on the oth-er hand, the centrality of Assam andthe Axamiya has also meant that thislinguistically and culturally multi-farious region once had a lingua fran-ca which they used freely to com-
municate with each other. Often, asin the case of Nagamese and Ne-famese, they even adapted it to suittheir own requirements, much thesame way as English has been mould-ed in many parts of the erstwhileBritish Empire. Had it not been forthe divisive politics played by the In-dian State – of introducing Hindi andthe Devnagari script among the eth-nic communities of the region whohad hitherto been educated in Ax-amiya – the people of the other statesmight still have had their momentsof schadenfreude in transmogrifyingthe language while at the same time,being bound together by a commonmedium of communication. The Ax-amiya language and its practitionersalso, in their turn, would perhapsthen have learnt some humility andinclusiveness, much like the Englishlanguage has. �
Sister tongue
Lummer Dai, Yeshe DorjeeThongchi and Kengsam
Kenglang served as bridgesbetween Arunachal Pradesh
and Assam, and what is morethey redefined the frontiers of
Assamese literature
NEW PRINTSMAHAPURUSH SRIMANTA SANKARADEVABimal PhukanSaidul Islam (trans) Kaziranga Books, 2012`180, 154 pagesHardcover/Non-fiction
Awell-informed book on the genius ofVaishnava saint Sankardeva. It highlights,
particularly for the people outside Assam, themultifarious life and achievements of the 14thcentury social, religious reformer.
BHIWANI JUNCTIONThe Untold Story of Boxing in IndiaShamya Dasgupta Harper Sport, 2012` 250, 200 pagesPaperback/Non-fiction
From Vijender Singh to Mary Kom:will Indian boxing remain a force to
reckon with in the next few years orwill it go the hockey way? And whenit comes to the women, will someonestart by taking them seriously for a change?
UNTHAT TIL THAKA DHUNIACHUWALI EJANIBipul Sarmah Laipulia Gosthi (Pratima Devi), 2012` 60, 56 pagesHardcover/Fiction
Ateacher and journalist knows lovecan be futile most of the time. Yet,
he cannot help but express his feel-ings for someone he loves; to him,love stops a man from being a beast;it’s a driver of creativity. Here are 35poems for those who love reading.
BARNABASBombay's First Private DetectiveSangeeta Nambiar Westland, 2012` 250, 234 pagesPaperback/Fiction
The son of a cook takes up the job oftracing a British woman who goes
missing from the leafy lanes of Wode-house Road, Bombay in the summer of1942. His search for her leads him toGirgaum where he finds a murder tosolve. Family secrets and the machina-tions of an evil mind are all there forhim to unveil!
BIXOY BIXOYANTARJyoti Prasad Saikia Natun Asam, 2011`150, 141 pagesHardcover/Non-fiction
Tarun Gogoi vs Tarun Gogoi, the co-operative movement
under Sarat Chandra Sinha, why ministers blabber and some more interesting topics. It’s a collection of personal essays on a host of issues concerning contemporary public life.
BARBED WIRE FENCENirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee (ed)Dipendu Das (ed)Niyogi Books, 2012` 250, 186 pagesPaperback/Fiction
An anthology of 17 short stories deal-ing with the immigrant experience
of people from present-day Bangladesh,who were forced to leave their nativeland during and after India’s indepen-dence and to settle, amongst otherplaces, in the Barak Valley of Assam
BOOK ABLENews: Talk on John le Carré
Bal Sahitya Akademi Award winner, Sid-dhartha Sarma, delivered a talk on John leCarré on 21 July in Guwahati. The talk is thefirst in a series planned by the North EastWriters’ Forum (NEWF) on noted writers andtheir literary influences. Sarma spoke passion-ately of his introduction to and involvementwith the writings of the master spy novelistwho has been creating literary masterpiecesfor nearly five decades now. In his reply to anaudience query, Sarma maintained that leCarré has influenced the way he looks at life,not however on how or what he himselfwrites about the world.
Invitation/CFP: Muse Indialiterary journal
Journal: Muse India (www.museindia.com)Theme: Dalit/marginal literature of eastern and northeastern IndiaIssue: Nov-Dec 2012 What to submit: Articles/essays, book reviews, life-narratives, short stories, stories for children, interviews and poetry Contact: [email protected]: 30 September 2012
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