Huthuka Sumi, Harper Collins 2025
A racy, delightful read is Huthuka Sumi’s debut novel. The protagonist is a young boy, Kato, dearly loved by his mother, and sadly,mute. But this disability does not take away from the spirit of the book.
There is much happening all the time, at the same time, the story is authentic and not contrived.. A boyish hyperactive spirit runs through the book, picking up adventure as it goes and deftly spinning the supernatural into the course o f everyday life. Huthuka’s story evokes many emotions, joy, trepidation, naked fear and love. Giants won the Atta Galata BLF Book award for children’s fiction.
The cover illustration by Canato Jimo is beautifully made, with its cloud covered mountain ranges promising even more extraordinary stories to those who dare scale its heights. On first look, I am reminded of Miyazaki’s beloved children’s movie, ‘My neighbor Totoro.’ And the convenient removal of adults at night encourages more of Kato’s meetings with Kene the giant, providing more adventures as well as precious life lessons. The setting of the village, and the deep woods beyond the boundaries of the village offer a perfect setting for the supernatural that is very much a part of the book. It is easy to brand it magic realism, but in truth, it is indigenous reality which easily accepts that the spiritual world is not far from the world we inhabit, and that willing minds and hearts can access it more easily than the hearts that lack faith.
Kene the giant is part of Sumi mythology, one of the old ones, a cohabitant of planet earth. He is a timi-ala, a being that is more than man. He says he is looking for a storyteller, and the reason is because ‘A people without stories disappear.’ Kene tells Kato ‘a story is much more than the telling of it.’ “Without stories we have no memories and without memories our roots shrivel and die. It has been foretold that we, the old ones, must return from the long sleep one day, but without our memories, we will have nothing to return to.’ Because ‘memories are roots.’ At the same time, Kene warns Kato that not every story is true, and there are ‘some even told with evil design.’
This is precious indigenous wisdom that protects the members of the community and extends to its non human members. It always amazes me that our cultures set so much store by respect for all forms of life that they extend that respect to the non human as well, to the spirit world and its many denizens. Throughout the story, life lessons are imparted, not in a boring manner, but in quite a natural way, and Kato is reminded of a truth he is already familiar with: never be unkind to people. Such teachings are passed on in the course of the storytelling.
A point that is intriguing for me is discovering shared myths. There are forest creatures that are familiar to my tribe, such as the Shi-kher. The Angami equivalent is Chiikhieo, the guardian of wildlife.
Both the Sumi and the Angami versions are seen fulfilling the same role of taking care of wild animals. The timi-ala has its counterpart in the Angami temi, a gigantic creature that is terrible to look at, and not commonly sighted. But Kene is not malevolent as the Angami Temi is rumoured to be. Kene is an imparter of wisdom. And Lakhe the tree is feminine and Kene calls her sister. Kene says, ‘My sister’s roots go very deep, right to the heart of the land.’ Kato is able to put his ear to the trunk of the tree and hear the heartbeat of the land. That is a lesson in the interconnectedness of all forms of life on earth.
Huthuka writes brilliantly, weaving thoughts and ideas together like one of Kato’s mother’s intricately patterned body cloths. The symbolism of the bright scarlet lines on a background of black seems to represent indigenous life where many threads come together to form a beautiful whole. The mention of Hutton as political officer in Kohima provides a time period to the story – pre Christianity and colonized, but still close to the old religions and ways of belief. This possibly helps them to experience more of the spirit world. Yet the characters constantly talk of a change coming soon, a change that would turn their world upside down. When it comes, it is the Japanese invasion of India via the Naga Hills, a war like no other, and it changes Kato’s world forever.
