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POST script
JULY 29, 2012

SEVEN SISTERS

NELit review
mosphere at that. If the former, sooner or later, we will all perish. For long now, the states of the Northeast have been embroiled in political conflict with each other over the demarcation 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 government officials. Once in a while, the civilian population has also turned perpetrator and participant in acts of violence. An unfortunate state of affairs 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 power 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-serving agendas. It is equally self-defeating for people everywhere else further inland from the margins to not recognise the games these people play in turning 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 otherwise. And one way in which they can understand is through reading each others literatures, and learning about each others 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 other state(s). This issue of NELit review showcases the literature of Arunachal Pradesh written in Axamiya and celebrated in Assam. Geo-politically speaking, Assam has been at the heart of the northeastern 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 other hand, the centrality of Assam and the Axamiya has also meant that this linguistically and culturally multifarious region once had a lingua franca which they used freely to communicate with each other. Often, as in the case of Nagamese and Nefamese, they even adapted it to suit their own requirements, much the same way as English has been moulded in many parts of the erstwhile British Empire. Had it not been for the divisive politics played by the Indian State of introducing Hindi and the Devnagari script among the ethnic communities of the region who had hitherto been educated in Axamiya 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 Axamiya language and its practitioners also, in their turn, would perhaps then have learnt some humility and inclusiveness, much like the English language has. T

FIFTH WALL
UDDIPANA GOSWAMI
Literary Editor

Sister tongue
S ethnic clashes rage once again in western Assam, it is time perhaps to take stock of the commonalities between our various communities rather than continue counting the dead and the displaced. It is inevitable that where there are so many distinctive groups of people living together, 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 other because we dont 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-

From the hills to the valley

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
SIBA K GOGOI

SSAMS literary landscape 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 language, though, was a lingua franca 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 status. Inevitably, people of the region, tribal or non-tribal, were educated in Assamese. The geographical 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 largely because of the missionaries, brought about a sea change on the education scene in the Northeast. Assamese, with its new geographical periphery, gradually stopped being what it used to be a shared language in an ethnically diverse region. Nonetheless, Assamese retained its charm for tribal people, particularly those who had studied in Assamesemedium institutions but later come under separate political entities. 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 communities they belonged to. So, tribal writers educated in Assamese perhaps because they did not have their own written

languages or literary traditions continued to embrace the language as an outlet for their creative talents to portray different ethnic societies and cultures. Assamese literature will be poorer 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 (19402002), 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 valuable contribution to the repository of Assamese literature. Kengsam Kenglang, from the Tangsa community, mainly wrote childrens books. Lummer Dai, considered Arunachal Pradeshs literary patriarch, was a novelist, short story writer and journalist. Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi writes of him thus: Foremost among all writers from Arunachal Pradesh is late Lummer Dai, who contributed the most to Assamese literature. Today, even after his death, he enjoys a special place amongst the readers. This is evident from the fact that his novel 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 parttimer with All India Radio, Dibrugarh, 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 Ramdhenu era of Assamese literature. His first novel, Paharor Xile Xile, was published in 1960. It was,

Lummer Dai

Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi

Kengsam Kenglang

FRONTIS PIECE

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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
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 Ximantor Xadhu (1972), a book of folktales. He has won, among others, the Sahitya Akademi Award 2005 and Asom Sahitya Sabhas 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, primarily 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 conferred the Phulchand Khandelwal Award on Kenglang, the second 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, depict 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 author 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 Rising Sun. Prithibir Hanhi, for instance, gives readers captivating insights into the lifestyle, cultural traditions and belief system of the Adi people. Dai wrote his stories with a reformist agenda; he dug up the rot in traditional institutions like the kebang. Some of the key themes in the novels of Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi are conflict between modernity and tradition; development with regard for traditional values; an awakening of the individual self, which is also evident in Dais works; sharp criticism of social evils and superstitious beliefs. Both Dai and Thongchi use the Assamese language lacing it with an ethnic punch, albeit contrastingly. Critic Tilottoma Misra writes:Thongchi makes liberal

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 Mulyo (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 Sabhas Kamala Devi and Sitanath Brahmachoudhury Awards in 1960 and 1985 respectively. Another award has been instituted by the Sahitya Sabha in Dais 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 Assams Lakhimpur 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 later elevated to Indian Administrative Service. He held several top positions, such as tourism commissioner and deputy commissioner, 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 evident from the poems he composed then, but he soon focused on writing novels and short stories that made him popular, especially as a novelist, among Assamese readers. Thongchi has enriched Assamese literature with some fine works, novels of varied interest:

use of this form of speech (pidgin Asamiya) in the novel (Mouna Onth Mukhor Xridoy), unlike Dai who rarely uses it. Dai experiments with other interesting devices, including translation of tribal speech into different varieties of Asamiya and even attempts 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 frontiers of Assamese literature. 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, in the form of Nefamese, or pidgin Assamese, between the people 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, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh declared English their official languages. It was significant that sections of the tribal people who were either educated in English or considered it an important driver of future development of their communities had backed the language as the medium of instruction in these states. While the various tribal communities did not get the platform for assertion of their identities as they were drawn into the so-called process of nation-building, 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, history and cultural heritage. The Arunachal Pradesh governments recent announcement of Assamese as the third official language of the state a recognition for the Arunachalee authors writing in Assamese has, however, raised hopes of renewed socio-cultural, literary links between the two states. This is expected to take the works of Dai, Thongchi and Kenglang to a wider readership in Arunachal Pradesh, their own people. T

BOOK ABLE
News: Talk on John le Carr
Bal Sahitya Akademi Award winner, Siddhartha Sarma, delivered a talk on John le Carr 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 passionately 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 Carr has influenced the way he looks at life, not however on how or what he himself writes about the world.

NEW PRINTS
MAHAPURUSH SRIMANTA SANKARADEVA
Bimal Phukan Saidul Islam (trans) Kaziranga Books, 2012 `180, 154 pages Hardcover/Non-fiction 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

BARNABAS Bombay's First Private Detective

Sangeeta Nambiar Westland, 2012 ` 250, 234 pages Paperback/Fiction

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?

he son of a cook takes up the job of tracing a British woman who goes missing from the leafy lanes of Wodehouse 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 machinations of an evil mind are all there for him to unveil!

BARBED WIRE FENCE

Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee (ed) Dipendu Das (ed) Niyogi Books, 2012 ` 250, 186 pages Paperback/Fiction

UNTHAT TIL THAKA DHUNIA CHUWALI EJANI

Bipul Sarmah Laipulia Gosthi (Pratima Devi), 2012 ` 60, 56 pages Hardcover/Fiction

BIXOY BIXOYANTAR
Jyoti Prasad Saikia Natun Asam, 2011 `150, 141 pages Hardcover/Non-fiction

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: sarangijaydeep@gmail.com Deadline: 30 September 2012

n anthology of 17 short stories dealing with the immigrant experience of people from present-day Bangladesh, who were forced to leave their native land during and after Indias independence and to settle, amongst other places, in the Barak Valley of Assam

teacher and journalist knows love can be futile most of the time. Yet, he cannot help but express his feelings for someone he loves; to him, love stops a man from being a beast; its a driver of creativity. Here are 35 poems for those who love reading.

arun Gogoi vs Tarun Gogoi, the co-operative movement under Sarat Chandra Sinha, why ministers blabber and some more interesting topics. Its a collection of personal essays on a host of issues concerning contemporary public life.