In this densely packed novel, poet and writer Mamang Dai follows the intrigues and violence of an Assembly election in Arunachal Pradesh. Seen through the eyes of Maying, who has returned home after a gap of several years to write a history of her native place, several interesting characters people this novel: Lutor, the troubled and main contender for the chief minister’s post who feels “caught between a feeling of great humiliation and a pitying love for his homeland”, his
In this densely packed novel, poet and writer Mamang Dai follows the intrigues and violence of an Assembly election in Arunachal Pradesh. Seen through the eyes of Maying, who has returned home after a gap of several years to write a history of her native place, several interesting characters people this novel: Lutor, the troubled and main contender for the chief minister’s post who feels “caught between a feeling of great humiliation and a pitying love for his homeland”, his political rival, the rather unscrupulous Tanik, who has loads of money and hatchet men, Lutor’s friend and supporter Kamin, Lipun, his ageing mentor, the forest mafia, and several other interesting characters.
Among them is the mystic rainman “who could make fish jump out of the water in a silvery shoal… his touch could make a dry rock weep water’, and Umsi whom Lutor loves. Maying reflects, “(Umsi) was calm and soothing. Lutor was happy too, relying on Umsi to be the conduit between Lipun and him when both of them were inward, silent and similar.”
But this is mainly a political novel in which “politicians knew how the anxiety of losing power would affect a person. A person hangs on, even if only by the nails and agrees to do anything, begs, weeps, dangling over the edge of the precipice because no one wants to fall into that abyss of oblivion”.
As in the smaller states, it is the migrant labour force that holds the key to the outcome of an election. They were everywhere, from the tea plantations to the public works, “down to the last petty traders, butchers and cobblers”. Those who “donated” to them, usually won an election.
And protecting the environment be damned. As Maying puts it: “Look at this earth, scarred with cutting, the claws and bones of the seasons, the failure of development.”
Almost the entire novel revolves around conversations, with very little action. This is a book that you can read at leisure, 20 pages or so at a time. It is largely about the contemporary history of Arunachal and its surroundings. If the subject interests you, Escaping the Land is where you’ll find escape from your daily routine.
Manohar Shetty’s forthcoming book of poems is Borderlines
The views expressed are personal
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