Book titled ‘Flame Of A Fire: A Collection Of Stories’ written by Shelmi Sankhil released by Dr Lorho S Pfoze, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha for Outer Constituency, Manipur on January 23. (Photo Courtesy: NSA)
Dimapur, January 23 (MExN): A book titled ‘Flame Of A Fire: A Collection Of Stories’ written by Shelmi Sankhil was released by Dr Lorho S Pfoze, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha for Outer Constituency, Manipur on January 23. The book release was organized by Naga Scholars’ Association (NSA) in collaboration with Bibliophile South Asia.
The NSA in a press release said that according to the author, the book is a collection of stories clubbed into three categories with overlaps. Some of the stories are based on specific moments in the history of the Lamkang people.
Starting with the historical event of the third century Common Era, when a Lamkang village was razed to the ground by Leiya Punsiba, the then king of the Moirang kingdom, the historical arc of the stories in this category includes later encounters with the unified kingdom of Manipur (1570 CE), the British in the early nineteenth century, and the Japanese during World War 2.
“These stories written in the mould of historical fiction should not be read as ‘pure’ history, for they are imaginative reconstructions of actual events. Nevertheless, their historical relevance should not be dismissed as ‘fiction’ either,” the author stated.
Sankhil also stated that the second category of the book is a set of stories that is categorised as memoir. Some of them recount the author’s encounters with military excesses in Manipur at a given time, while others recount notable experiences of select individuals that were narrated to a living audience. The third category is the short story. What separates the stories in this category from those in the first two, though all can be labelled as ‘short story’, is that they are entirely fictional in both their conception and treatment. They are topical and intended to generate healthy dialogue on some aspects of culture and tradition. The story form provides the opportunity for an ‘objective’ and harmless evaluation of certain issues that afflict contemporary Lamkang culture.
“Although the tribe of principal focus in this collection is Lamkang tribe, these stories can be taken as representing the people of Chandel. The shared cultural heritage and overlapping territories of the tribes of Chandel allow for that extension,” the author added.
The event was moderated by Senganglu Thaimei, Assistant Professor of English, Miranda House. Dr Pfoze and Ashok Butani, publisher delivered short speeches before the author read few passages from the book. NSA President, Dr Zuchamo Yanthan delivered the welcome.
