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This is a translation of the Assamese novel Aolingar Jui that focuses on life in the village of Hanyat, a small stretch of land that lies on the border area of India and Myanmar. Although it legitimately falls under no political authority, the region experiences constant conflict because multiple political forces try to bring it under their control.
The title 'Aolingar Jui' refers to a fire that happened during the spring harvest festival which burned most of the village. This is the central episode of the novel.
List of contents
- Authors Note: Writing Aoleangar Jui
- Translators Note: Echoes of a Text in the World of Languages
- Introduction: Villages and Maps: Space,
- Text, and People
- Remains of Spring
- Glossary
- About the Author and the Translator
About the author
Jibon Krishna Goswami is a popular Assamese writer. His works of fiction and poetry have been critically acclaimed in Assam, India.
Manjeet Baruah teaches at the North East India Studies Programme, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
Summary
An idyllic Naga village surrounded by misty hills, Hoyat is located in the No Mans Land between India and Burma. When Atanu reaches here to begin a new life, he is stunned to see the entire village burnt down. Life in this war zone is a ceaseless cycle of resurrection from the ashes. Yet its people dream and hope.
With his own past buried under layers of darkness, Atanus quest to build a life of consequence encounters an abrupt turn of events in Hoyat. Will he survive in this ravaged land where the danger of an impending war is as sure as fate? Will he be able to plumb the mysterious depths of Imli Apa, a Naga revolutionary? Will Hoyat accept him as one of its own?
Translated from the popular Assamese novel Aoleangar Jui, Remains of Spring is a riveting story set in the 1990s where love, life, and hope are constantly pitted against the daunting realities of politics, pain, and space.
