Personal and ancestral history
TribalBookworms
“Revenge is a dish best served cold,” is how the blurb of Yumlam Tana’s novel The Place Where Rivers Meet (2020) begins. It hints...
On indigenous literature and ‘Tales from the Dawn-lit Mountains’
TribalBookworms
What qualifies literature as an indigenous literature? Is it the place from where it has originated? Should we call the place ‘home’, which is...
Reflection on ‘In Between the Blurry Lines’
Book review
Having just finished reading In Between the Blurry Lines by Sonam Chombay, a native of Tawang district and alumnus of Hindu College, University...
On Bride Price
TribalBookworms
Lummer Dai’s novel Bride Price brings literary expression to the traditional practice of bride price exchange in tribal societies, examining this age-old custom through a modern...
On Stories of the Headhunters of Arunachal Pradesh
TribalBookworms
How many of us would agree with Socrates, who in his Phaedo, also known as On the Soul, remarked that a true philosopher always...
On reading Beyond the Frozen Hills
TribalBookworms
Miranda Pertin’s Beyond the Frozen Hills (2021) is a breath of fresh air in the literary landscape of our state. What stands out is...
On Ato1 Menlar, the unsung warrior from the foothills (A ballad)
TribalBookworms
This song I sing
of a man called Menlar,
a convict for you
but a warrior for me,
imprisoned for defending
his home with blood
that rendered him
feeling trapped
and asphyxiated.
Never...
On Tani philosophy
TribalBookworms
I had a basic understanding of Donyi Polo, having grown up in a family that wasn’t overtly religious. Yet, certain aspects of our lives...
On contemporary folk music from Arunachal
TribalBookworms
Journeys can be interesting when we have so much to discuss in a little time with good companions. But if you have no one...
Society and Literature
TribalBookworms
The pulse of a society is often gauged by how much it values art and culture and how these are respected and celebrated. It...
On Tai Nyori’s A Freedom Movement in the Twilight: Tribal Patriotism in the North-Eastern...
TribalBookworms
Flashback to the times when our forefathers were called ‘Abors’, a term deemed derogatory as it was an address for the barbaric savage tribes...
Recovering hidden histories
Tribal Bookworms
Hidden histories do not remain hidden - they linger in memories and stories, waiting to be rekindled and retold. Stuart Blackburn’s Into the...
On the spatial politics of home
TribalBookworms
A fortnight ago, the court of the special judge (POCSO), west session division, Yupia, delivered a landmark judgement by passing the death sentence to...
What’s with the brows?
TribalBookworms
Have you ever heard of socks as a way to tell generational differences? It’s true! Recently, during a fascinating conversation with my friend and...
Tribal Bookworms
On Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi’s ‘Paharar Cha’
Human nature is such that we take people, moments and things for granted, until they are no longer around....
Tribalbookworms
On oral histories of 'The Legends of Pensam'
In societies without written records, storytellers, rhapsodists, and shamans play vital roles. They preserve collective memory, document...
Tribal Bookworms
On anthropocentrism in Lummer Dai's 'Heart to Heart'
In recent times the news about the alarming rise in incidents related to dog bites, the reported...
Tribalbookworm
Silent Lips and Murmuring Hearts
The saying “Literature is the mirror to society” is true to a great extent. It conveys literature’s ability to reflect...
Himalay Ki God Mein
Book Review
Asok Pillai’s Himalay Ki God Mein takes readers on an adventurous journey through the mystical Himalayan hills, where love, suspense, and intrigue blend seamlessly in...
‘Resonance: Echoes of Life’ by Nending Ommo
Book review
The latest buzz among the literati of Arunachal Pradesh is Nending Ommo, serving as an assistant professor at Dera Natung Government College, Itanagar....