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Temsula Ao's Laburnum For My Head deals with eight utterly delightful, yet thought-provoking tales from Nagaland. I highly recommend this!
My blood boils when I hear about racial slurs hurled at our friends from the North East community. In the same breath, I ask myself – how much do I know about them? Yeah, I can rattle off the names of the states and the capital cities. However, that isn’t enough. So, when I came across a recommendation for books in Facebook, I was intrigued by the title of this book and I went ahead and ordered Temsula Ao’s Laburnum For My Head. I was not disappointed at all!
Laburnum For My Head by Temsula Ao deals with eight utterly delightful, yet thought-provoking tales from Nagaland. The writer’s disdain for vanity in humans is evident in the first story, the titular one, which while dealing with a topic as morbid as death, surprisingly elicits chuckles from us.
The emphasis on living in tandem with nature continues in the second story, which however is gut-wrenching and describes subtly the agonizing end of a marauding elephant. ‘The Death of a Hunter’ is symbolic, because the protagonist is haunted by ghosts from the past.
Stories set in the NE are incomplete without the insurgents. Ms. Ao brings out wryly the dilemma of the so-called rebels, and how the innocent villagers are torn between them, the Indian government and the army. She doesn’t take sides, but just writes about the different stakeholders.
‘The Letter’ shows the humane side of the ‘underground man’, while ‘A Simple Question’ gives off ‘Roja’ vibes. ‘Sonny’ is melancholic because it spells out the disillusionment of the youth in a poignant manner.
As I finished the book, I realised that there were very few dialogues. They usually enliven a story, but the tales still managed to keep me engaged for the duration. The writer has a dry humour, and that is evident in her tales. Cemetery is defined as a place of the ‘assorted dead’. Indeed! Death is, after all, a great leveller.
What I loved about these tales was the sensitivity with which they were dealt. Even ‘The boy who sold an Airfield’ doesn’t shock us, it rather makes us applaud Porkey for his wits and survival instincts. I am a sucker for strong female characters, and every story has one, who stand beside their male counterparts and never behind.
Don’t miss the saga of ‘Three Women’, as each one outdoes the other in terms of courage and tenacity. The bond between the three remains as strong as ever, while men flit in and out of their lives. Only a woman writer can do so with such panache.
In a nutshell, Temsula Ao’s Laburnum For My Head is a must-read for anyone who wants to know more about the Northeast and her oft-misunderstood people, sadly by their own people.
Image Source: Amazon/poetassigloveintiuno
I am an IT professional, lost in the monotonous world of Excel. So, I seek refuge in Word, pun intended. I write for various literary platforms and have quite a few anthologies to my credit. read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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