NELit review

POST script 3
JANUARY 29, 2012

SEVEN SISTERS

SYMPHONY OF SORROW
I
In the trackless plains of folklore, I read the story of how one lives backwards. With parched hearts too full to understand, we entered into the land itself, we bled into its veins. Here in Ri-Bhoi, we celebrate the ceremony of regret, the symphony of sorrow.

NEW

III
I met him the first time when light rain fell against the window of a hotel room overlooking the Himalayas. It was nineteen years ago, many stories, much laughter poetry of unknown hemispheres exploding far above the satin sky of Sikkim. He retired as a school teacher weathering the turbulence of the movement in the hills of a Mao village He wrote his best lines there, torn between his love for teaching and returning to the turbulence of the movement in the valley. I met him again when light rain fell against the window of a room of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences. He lay curled upon on the bed breathing quietly while the daughter watched over tubes pushing life into his feeble body. Looking at me for a long time, the corners of his eyes started to move, his lips trembled, dentures almost falling off. I know you, you have been there amidst the ruins of my ancient mind I remember your name because I can still think and say thermoflask. I wept a little for the poet who made me laugh when nineteen years ago I was searching for losses among mountain streams faraway. The daughter also wept because I made him happy after a long time of suffering the silence of chronicling the windsong of his life.

PRINTS

II
Today, a song, light as lea, soft as the melting dew of dawn got picked by a vagrant breeze from the sacred forest where Dising buries his heart. It sang its way across the scorching plains to protect itself because its tunes kissed life into trees, into the humming heap of insects, into the soul of a now stranger poet who is weeping in a faraway place. The poet, crushed and lonely cried out his symphony of sorrow to the winds and his tears fell on Disings forehead, furrowed with toil and disease. Dising cries because the poet-child of his was in pain faraway in a city where even his dreams cannot reach. Dising pleaded with the song to rescue the vagrant son birthed by these Bhoi jungles. The song settled on the pain-riven heart of the prodigal poet, squeezed itself of sap and watered it with love. The poet was able to sleep. The song, smiling gently, died as only a sister can die for a brother

JANASEVAK JANARDAN, THE SPARK

Pabitra Borah (ed.) DIHUN, 2011 `251, 313 pages Hardcover/Non-fiction

compilation of articles on the life and works of veteran Gandhian and social activist Janardan Pathak, first Deputy Chairman of Mikir Hills District Council, now Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council

OT NKP i
L OND DESM NG PHLA MAW KHAR

IV

SEVENTEEN
Anita Agnihotri Arunava Sinha (trans.) Zubaan, 2011 `295, 247 pages Paperback/ Fiction

They
They came for him one evening, packed his bag and even carried it to the jeep parked on the roadside, near the dry public water tap where oil containers line up, marking space in a spaceless locality. They offered him cigarettes calling him uncle as the jeep sped away from the city in the throes of a dusk he was not to see, as he told me, for some time. The moon was already stripping off his gossamer robe ready for his bath. They plunged into the orchestra of night insects and followed the moon as he swam the length of his misty pool. They rested at dawn, waiting for the fifty- four year old frame of their captive to revive. It was not easy with gout beginning to torch flames in my friend's joints. They called him teacher and urged him to lecture on the magic of myths to make blood sing about unity. We are one, they said, and our common history is inscribed in memory of stone. My friend did his share of tutorials in the jungles but he confessed that the practicals were too exciting for his old bones. When the month was over, they half carried him through the bamboo jungles. He woke up by the side of his gate. The water tap was still dry, and the oil containers still jostled for space on ground where no space can be seen.

At the village plaza, I sat and waited for my poem to return home. The face of the sky is beaten with exhaustion and the jungle leans more precariously on the evening.

I carry a tired song day in, day out, and no matter how lustily the cicadas click, I am out of tune.

compilation of short stories that deal with a gamut of human emotions and show the reader hitherto unexplored facets of the country

The edges of this helpless season shatter and fall to the ground, deserted by their own voices The Umngi river washes the feet of these adopted hills with ghostlike silence.

Leaning on the bamboo gate of my hovel I sill wait for my poem to return home.

EBAR UBHATI SAO

Nirupama Bargohai Pratisruti Prakashan, 2011 `85, 160 pages Hardcover/ Novel

novel loosely based on the lives of her parents by one of the foremost women writers of Assam. Has many autobiographical elements

DUST OFF

Romance of the Garo Hills

Barbara S Sangma re-introduces us to a Garo classic, placing it within the context of Garo literature, culture and society
RRRRRRT G

HALSIN aro Sonatchi (Khalsin and Sonatchi) is a Garo (A.chik) romantic novel. The title stands for the names of the novels two protagonists. Khalsin and Sonatchi are A.chik romantic icons just like Romeo and Juliet created by Shakespeare and Laila and Majnu in Indian context. Milton S Sangma in his book History of Garo Literature (first published in 1983) writes: The first novel was written by Redin Momin under the title Khalsin aro Sonatchi and was published posthumously in 1972 by Tura Book Room. Khalsin and Sonatchi are the archetypal Garo man and woman representing the idealist essence of the moral universe of the Garos. However, there is a controversy over the authorship of this manuscript. According to some, Upendra Ch Momin was the real author of this manuscript, but it slipped into the hand of Redin Momin who revised and improved upon it. Today Khalsin aro Sonatchi is accepted as written by Redin Momin. In the foreword to the novel, the publisher, Grimchi C Marak, says Redin Momin was a primary school teacher and his age and experiences helped him write a mature fictional narrative. As a writer, he has been rather prolific. He is credited with writing the Ra-

mayana in Garo, Katta Chisak Chibisik and Gipin Golporang. He spent his retired life fruitfully by writing about and rendering religious services. In the introduction to the novel, Redin Momin wrote that the story of Kalsin and Sonatchi was narrated in different versions in different regions of Garo Hills. It is noteworthy that the story has also been written in a play form by Julius LR Marak with certain variations; the chief of them is in the name of the male protagonist whose name is spelt as Kalsinand not as Khalsin as inthe novel. The author acknowledged that the novel incorporates pre-modern lifestyle, education scenario, dress habit, thoughts and expressions in Garo society. He stated that the novel has captured the essential ethos of the ageold Achik customs and traditions and hoped that the present-day Achiks would take the best elements and qualities in the story, and would practise and preserve them at the same time. The Garo or Achik community has a strong oral tradition. Its stories, songs, sayings, religious chants, rites, and even the laws that govern society are all handed down orally. It was only with the coming of Christianity that the Achiks were made to adopt the Roman script. It was easier than using the

THE novel has made an indelible impact on Garo readers down the generations. Besides, it marks the beginning of modern fiction writing in Garo language
voluminous than other genres. This may be because mostof their oral narrations arepoetic in form. Milton S Sangma in his book History of Garo Literature traces the origin of Garo (Achik) literature in oral and traditional literature. Garo written literature was ushered in with the compilation of Garo words. It was the British officials and American Baptist missionaries who introduced the written form of the Garo language in the last decade of the 18th century. Most of these compilations of Garo vocabularies were published by the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta. This was followed by various dictionaries, including Bengali-Garo Dictionary in 1863 by Reverend Ramke W Momin, one of the first two Achik converts. The compilations were done in Roman and Bengali scripts. There followed more textbooks and religious books. However, in 1902, an official decision was made to adopt Roman script for Garo language.

KHALSIN ARO SONATCHI BAK I & II

Redin Momin Tura Book Room, 1996 `40,155 pages Paperback/ Fiction
Bengali script. The year 1902 saw the dawn of a new era for Achik writing. That was the year when the Roman script fully came into force. However, even after over a century, Achik literature has not attained the desired growth despite efforts being made by a few educated Achiks to write stories, poems and pursue other forms of literature. It is observed in Achikku or Garo language that poetry is more

An important landmark in the evolution of Garo literature is the translation of the Bible into Garo (1874-1924). Garo secular literature may be said to have begun in 1924 with the publication of books containing folklores, stories, social studies, essays, etc. The first published book, Nokdang(Family), a drama by Keneth M Momin, appeared in 1969, while the first Garo novel Khalsin aro Sonatchi was published in 1972. The novel Khalsin aro Sonatchi is set in Goalpara, now under Assam and parts of which are in Dacca in present Bangladesh. The novel is basically a romantic tale that bears witness to the ultimate triumph of love. It also speaks about education in general and womens education in particular. It is set at a time when both education and Christianity had just made an entry among the Garos. That was the time when Meghalaya and Assam were within one state. There are many Garo villages along the Meghalaya-Assam border even today. Thus there is also an undercurrent of clash of values between Christianity and traditional Achik social set-up. Contained within 155 pages, the novel tells the story of Khalsin and Sonatchi, which is familiar to almost every Garo, although in different versions. It enjoys great esteem among the Garo readers and occupies a high place in Garo literature. It has also gained a canonical status and become part of the MA syllabus of Garo Literature. Sonatchi is an exceptionally beautiful girl born to a rich family, while Kalsin is a destitute. They are desperately in love with each other. Kalsin

wanders off to Dacca to get educated. He leaves Sonatchi with solemn promises to remember and love her wherever he is. He reaches Dacca and finds a home in the house of a Bengali lawyer. Kalsin fares well in his studies and later works as a teacher. Sonatchi is not allowed to continue with her studies. Her father forces her to marry his nephew Chandra. However, Sonatchi even hates the shadow of Chandra. Chandra has a friend by the name of Malsin who is an expert in herbal medicine. The time is fixed for the marriage of Sonatchi to Chandra. However, Sonatchi gets seriously sick. Chandra comes with the medicine concocted by his kaviraj friend, Malsin. The medicine works on Sonatchi and makes her unconscious so that she is buried with great promptness. Chandra and Malsin go to the burial place with the intention of abducting her. But Chandra and Malsin fail in their dubious attempt. Sonatchi regains consciousness and she too wanders off to Dacca in search of education and Kalsin. She finds a loving home in the house of a reverend who helps her resume her studies and subsequently gets a job for herself. It takes Kalsin and Sonatchi nine years to meet in Dacca. They finally get married and leave Dacca after some years. Back at home, they take up the reins of the family in their hands. The novel has made an indelible impact on the Garo readers down the generations. Besides, it marks the beginning of modern fiction writing in the Garo language. The latest edition of the novel is a must read. The language is simple and lucid. The rich narrative of the pre-independence Indian geo-political reality in the novel makes one nostalgic of a pristine past. This is one book which deserves to be translated into various languages of the Northeast as it would unfurl the landscape of the regions shared emotional universe. T