09 July,2022 01:25 PM IST | Mumbai | Sammohinee Ghosh
Representative Image
Where does the sun go after finishing its day job? Why do day and night take turns to swathe earth? Since when does man grow food? How do teensy humans know that baby cabbages should be harvested before caterpillars get to them? Origin myths guard the frontiers of misgivings; they build a sense of self that can attach and distance itself from a community in desired parts.
And so does Norway-based author Easterine Kire's book, Spirit Nights. Kire reveals the riches of Naga literature through her simple yet suggestive writing. "Tiger has eaten the sun" - is an exclamatory phrase that latches on to the reader's curiosity from the prologue itself. In Spirit Nights, Kire leans on the oral histories of the Rengma and Chang tribes to describe a rapidly descending darkness and a society's courageous fight to win light back. The brave feat requires people to transcend the limits that separate the spirit world from the real.
While Kire narrates a story inspired by ancient folklore, her elegant writing analyses the inter-relations in a community and the emancipation of every individual. At the heart of it, the book is a tale of fearlessness, hope and conviction. The youth's search for answers from veterans of life also marks their journey in self-actualisation. Spirit Nights is a spontaneous attempt to demystify a region and present its past through uncomplicated daily wisdom.
