The Khasis from Meghalaya have a legend about how they lost their script. It was swept away in “the great flood”—an undated reference that has currency in several ancient cultures. The tribesmen eventually lost all memory of it and their descendants were left without alphabet.
Postcard: The scenic landscapes of the North-East feature in the work of writers from this region.
With the coming of the Christian missionaries in the 18th century, the Khasis got back the written word. Over the next century, tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram took to writing as well, stimulating a giant transcription of these oral cultures into written texts.
Today, there is a profusion of literature from the seven states of the North-East. Intense political conflict and complex issues of identity provide much fodder for storylines. And the subsoil of myth and folklore, coupled with scenic landscapes, make it a fertile ground for literary ferment.
Over the next three months, Penguin India will have five books by writers from the region on bookstands. The publishing house is working on organizing a gala in Guwahati in December to celebrate the joint launch of books by Dhruba Hazarika and D.N. Bezbaruah from Assam, Mamang Dai from Arunachal Pradesh, Temsula Ao from Nagaland, and a pan-North-East poetry anthology edited by K.S. Nongkynrih and Robin Singh Ngangom, both members of the faculty at Meghalaya’s North-Eastern Hill University (Nehu). Zubaan, a relatively smaller publisher, is also set to launch Shadowmen by Khasi writer Bijoya Sawian and a book of poems by the Manipuri activist, Irom Sharmila.
Ravi Singh, editor-in-chief, Penguin India, was introduced to this batch of writers through the annual publication of the North East Writers Forum, NEWFrontiers, around five years ago. Singh believes that writers from the North-East are the “single most organized group of writers” in the country today and their self-created literary platforms have given impetus to large-scale publishers such as Penguin. Niche publishers, such as Katha, had recognized the literary merit of this region in the mid-1990s. “I haven’t been able to find any other comparable group of writers in the country that meet regularly, work together and self-publish with such drive,” says Singh.
Singh himself has been a great crusader for drawing mainstream attention to this region. Book circuit rumour has it that he has flown down to attend small book launches in Guwahati and Itanagar. He says some of the most interesting Indian writing in English today is coming from this region. The reason: They have something more than just middle-class angst to address.