Rovi Chasie’s The Quaint Little Village is a delightful little book that offers many valuable lessons. It contains ten short stories presented through the adventures of the protagonist, a little girl called Tono. Her adventures are based on incidents and interactions with people during her frequent trips to her native village Khonoma with her family. Through Tono’s experiences, the narrator takes us on a tour of Khonoma village, giving us a glimpse of life in the village, its myths, beliefs and way of life. In the process we learn about the characteristic traits and qualities of her village and its people, which give them their unique cultural identity.
Each of the stories depicts an important aspect of cultural beliefs, heritage and wisdom. This clearly demonstrates the close link the writer has with her cultural moorings. There are stories of traditional beliefs and sayings; myths and legends; indigenous knowledge system such as that of the pollarded Alder trees and use of medicinal plants; the significance of names, dreams and songs, and myriad anecdotes of folk wisdom. Besides these, there are also many general knowledge lessons to learn from the book. Such as, the fact that the state animal – the Mithun, and the state bird – the Blyth’s Tragopan, are native to Khonoma village; the villagers have been practicing the scientific process of pollarding Alder trees for hundreds of years, which helps in environment conservation; Khonoma is the first green village in the country – a status awarded primarily due to its nature conservation practices; but paradoxically, it is also called ‘quaint’ because though it is only about 20 kms away from the state capital Kohima, the village continues to exist in a semi-idyllic state, largely unaffected by so-called modernization and holding on firmly to its traditional ways. And regretfully, it is at times, taken advantage of as a cultural specimen by the government, with no returns for the villagers, as is depicted in the story “When a Princess came calling.”
Though it is her first attempt at story writing, the author has skillfully interwoven her tales with a perfect blend of fact and fiction. She has moulded stories by taking events and situations from the real world and blending them with creative imagination. It is also significant that the protagonist is a town-bred child who is curious and inquisitive about everything that is strange and unfamiliar to her urban sensibility. These are stories that are not taught in schools, nor are they recounted to children by the new generation parents living in urban towns and cities. But these are the kind of stories that need to be told, and kept alive, for they are our only link to our past, our history and our heritage.
The structure of the book, which is built on the travels and visits to the village, is a metaphor for the need to maintain the link between the past and present. The way in which all the stories are connected by Tono and her family going to and from Khonoma village, illustrates the need to keep the link between our past and our present alive.
It is these occasions that provide opportunities for the child to enquire and learn about her cultural heritage, and for the parents and elders to share their traditional knowledge and wisdom.
Today, many of us have settled away from the village and due to changing times, we live a semi-urban life that has little relation to the traditional way of life. Hence the cultural values that were upheld by our forefathers are no longer taught or continued, and they are increasingly losing significance. But even in this modern world, we are identified by the place from which our forefathers came, the place which gives us our name and our identity. Therefore, the book can also be read as one that expresses the yearning for cultural identity in the face of rapid modernization, urbanization and globalization.
In one of her poems entitled “The Old Story Teller,” Temsula Ao conceives of the art of storytelling as her “racial responsibility.” This sense was instilled by her grandfather who had repeatedly warned her “That forgetting the stories/ would be catastrophic:/We would lose our history, /Territory, and most certainly/ Our intrinsic identity.” Rovi Chasie has certainly ensured that her sense of history and identity is kept alive through her storytelling. It is hoped that she will continue to cook up many more stories.
The book is priced Rs. 250/- and is available at all leading bookstores.
Dr. Vizovono Elizabeth, Asst. Prof & Head Dept. of English, Baptist College Kohima
