Thechano Kithan’s Whispering Rocks.  Unistar Books, Chandigarh, India, 2006, pp. 62.

Perhaps the title of this collection of poems, “Whispering Rocks,” is best explained by the author herself in the opening paragraph of her introduction to the book.  It refers to the “unshakable strength” of mute rocks that break their native silence in a language all their own because they can no longer bear their secret longings.  If this explanation does not fully satisfy, the reader who becomes privy to the whispering rocks will soon discover the aptness of the image as a metaphor for the poet’s (or poetic persona’s) own lived experiences out of which these poems emerged.  Read the rest of this entry »

A Review of Abraham Lotha’s History of Naga Anthropology (1832-1947).

Chumpo Museum Publication, Dimapur, Nagaland, 2007. Rs. 250.

 History of Naga Anthropology (1832-1947) is a short monograph on writings about Nagas by British colonial administrators and ethnographers from 1832, the year Nagas first came in contact with the British, to 1947, the year the Raj dissolved and the British officially left the Naga Hills.  The book is based on research Abraham Lotha did for the master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology at Columbia University in New York.  He is currently working on his PhD dissertation at CUNY’s Graduate Center. Read the rest of this entry »

 Easterine K. Iralu, A Terrible Matriarchy, Zubaan, India, 2007. 314 pages. Rs. 295.

“My Grandmother didn’t like me. I knew this when I was about four and a half.” These are the opening words of Easterine Iralu’s A Terrible Matriarchy spoken by Lieno, the narrator. 313 pages and 19 years later, Lieno has an offer of marriage: “Mother and I found out that this was not the first offer I had had. There had been three others but the boys’ families had gone to speak to my Aunt Bino as was our custom. Each time, she had rebuffed them saying that I was probably too outspoken to be considered as good wife material.” Read the rest of this entry »