Book Review
Title: Lapbah: Stories from the North-East
(2 volumes)
Editors: Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih & Rimi
Nath
Publisher: Penguin Random House India 2025
Pages: 366 + 358
Nestled among the eastern Himalayas and some breathtakingly
charming valleys, the Northeastern region of India is home to hundreds of
indigenous communities, each with distinct traditions, attire, music, and
festivals. Languages spoken range from Tibeto-Burman and Austroasiatic tongues
to Indo-Aryan dialects, reflecting centuries of migration and interaction.
Tribal matrilineal societies thrive
in Meghalaya, while Nagaland and Mizoram showcase rich Christian tribal
traditions. Manipur is famed for classical dance and martial arts, and Tripura
and Arunachal Pradesh add further layers of ethnic plurality and ecological
richness. Sikkim blends Buddhist heritage with mountainous serenity, and Assam
is known for its tea gardens and vibrant Vaishnavite culture. Collectively, the
Northeast is a unique cultural tapestry that won’t be found in any other region
of the world.
One can imagine the infinite variety
that the literature from the region can offer us. Lapbah is a
collection of 57 short stories from the eight states, though two are excerpts
from novels. Most of the writers are well-known in the region as well as
outside, like Indira Goswami, Easterine Kire, and Janice Pariat. The stories
span a period of the whole last century.
The editors also underscore the diversity
of the place and hence its stories, in their brief introduction. “A variety of
themes and styles could be found in these stories,” they inform us, “emanating
from the many different linguistic, literary and ethnic cultures.” We are
offered different genres within the short story, such as realistic, satirical, political,
and the fantastical. Altogether, these 52 writers (a couple of them are
represented more than once) present eloquently before us the rather exotic
world of the Northeast which has a lot of international borders too.
In the very first story, ‘Laburnum
for My Head’, we meet an old, ordinary woman who defies the rigidity of man-made
traditions and rituals as well as the passivity expected in death, by claiming
an active agency over her own death. Individual autonomy is a recurrent theme
in the anthology. One of the final stories in the second volume, ‘No Man’s Land’,
has a Khasi woman living in the Bangladesh border and whose love crosses the
international border. Lily Marbaniang’s love for Riyaz Ahmed is seen as treason.
Lily has to learn it the hard way that she can’t defy borders as smoothly as
men cross some.
Patriarchy and gender discrimination,
corruption in politics, struggle for survival, militancy, ordinary domestic
problems, drugs, insanity… They are all there in these stories. The intention
of the editors seems to be to bring together the finest writers of the region
rather than go for thematic cohesion or chronological order.
It would have been advisable,
especially because there is no chronological order, to mention the year of each
story’s original publication. Every story, every work of literature, is rooted
in a particular time and place. As the time changes, meanings change too. The
reader’s understanding changes. Some of the stories are a century old and the
reader’s cognitive faculties have to make quantum leaps from 1932 to
contemporary period as they move from one story to the next.
Most of the stories are more than
entertaining. They are well-crafted. The prose is precise, often poetic or
suggestive. There are catchy twists towards the end of some of them. A few end
in thought-provoking ambiguity. Characterisation is admirably subtle in quite many.
By the time we move from Temsula Ao’s
sobering laburnums in the first story to the scandalous corruption in the 57th
story, ‘School Inspection Report’ by Lamabam Viramani, we will have travelled
across the length and breadth of the wonder that is the Northeast of India.
Personally, I missed Sikkim which is represented only by two stories.
Otherwise, this is a remarkable compilation.
PS.
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Hari OM
ReplyDeleteAlthough these are unlikely to be added to my ridiculously long wishlist, I still much appreciate your review! YAM xx
Thanks for the appreciation.
DeleteIndia is not a Culture but a, mosaic of civilizations.
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteQuite appreciable to note that " The intention of the editors seems to be to bring together the finest writers of the region rather than go for thematic cohesion or chronological order."
ReplyDeleteCohesion is only an academic myth.
DeleteSounds very interesting.
ReplyDeleteDiversity is definitely far more interesting than uniformity. I wish our nationalist leaders understood that.
Delete