The Place Where Rivers Meet is Yumlam Tana’s debut novel. Known for his captivating poetry, Yumlam Tana is one of the pioneers in English writing in Arunachal Pradesh. His earlier works include The Man and the Tiger (1999) and The Wind also Sings (2015).
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| Our ancestors went upto the starts and married their women. Our forefather Abutani married two of them. All of us, the Nyishis are born from such celestial union. |
Divided into three parts – the beginning of the end, a drop of blood on the parey sala and curse of the tutelary spirits, The Place Where Rivers Meet is a story about vengeance and revenge killing; about the curse of a female widowed hornbill for killing her mate and aftermath that follows; about an illicit but true love based on class barrier and about a man whose dream of becoming an officer is shattered.
The story keeps moving from past to present and vice-versa with an ordinary beginning. The readers are taken back to early 1850s telling about the Nyishis and Nyishi land; their relationship with nature; the tribal culture, customs, traditions and rituals including evil practices that were followed in the past by the Nyishis; their oral history that has been passed over to generations by their ancestors and the changes narrator’s ancestors have gone through.
But the crux of the novel starts unfolding as the chapter progresses. Readers’ curiosity is heightened, when they find that the protagonist has been murdered and the narrator’s ghost telling the story. This sudden surprise keeps the readers glued to the pages.
All the above events and incidents are inter-related to narrator’s life, that led to his murder, have been beautifully intertwined.
Coming of an alien faith in the pristine virgin land is depicted through a minor character Flaming Beard appears suddenly in a tribal village. He is welcome without any resistance. Gradually he starts converting people to new faith. But this new faith couldn’t survive for long in the village. Narrator says, “When the missionary left, everything reverted to normal. Flamming Beard never came back. The seeds planted by him didn’t grow because there was no one to water and look after it when he left.”
The narrator also mirrors about nationalism, education system, politics and changes that came along with time; influence of Assamese and Hindi languages; Bollywood songs and phony American culture and its effect on new generation. New generation doesn’t like anything that is indigenous. It’s aptly described when the narrator says, “They don’t take tassey anymore.”
Language is simple and lucid. Use of several Nyishi words with glossary at the end will help the readers to get their meanings easily. The readers may find few chapters dull. Nevertheless, there are chapters that are poetic. Sometimes, readers may feel as if they are reading short stories that are inter-connected.
Description is so vivid that the readers can visualize everything as if they are watching a film. The writer has succeeded brilliantly to evoke readers’ emotion. This blend of myth and reality makes The Place Where Rivers Meet an interesting read.
Published in 2020 by Leadstart INKSTATE it has 214 pages and costs only Rs 249/-
