Looking eastwards, Niyogi Books, under its imprint Thornbird, has unveiled two of its works from Assamese literature, The Rainbow Runners, translated from his book Artha by Dhrubajyoti Borah and Yatra: An Unfinished Novel by Harekrishna Deka, translated by Navamalati Deog Chakravarty. While one reflects on the insurgency and counter-insurgency in Assam through the eyes of an ordinary young man, the other highlights social issues like displacement of communities, state surveillance, the right to dissent, and the extent of human greed for power. Burning issues that never seem to end and never leave us without haunting us.
The books were launched simultaneously at the Vivekananda Kendra Auditorium, Guwahati, on 22 June 2024 at 6 pm in the presence of academic, translator and critic Pradip Acharya; Writer, translator and columnist Mitra Phukan; Sahitya Akademi Award winner and author of The Rainbow Runners, Dhrubajyoti Borah; Poet, critic, and translator of Yatra: An Unfinished Novel, Navamalathi Neog Chakraborty; and academic and translator Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee.
During the book launch, while speaking on the novel Yatra, Acharya said, “Yatra by Harekrishna Deka talks about alternative reality.” He also mentioned that ‘yatra’ never ends that’s why the book has a subtitle ‘Unfinished Novel’.
Navamalati Neog Chakraborty analysed the contents of the novel Yatra and spoke about her engagement with the book while translating it. She also shared with the audience that translating this book was a great challenge for her as a translator.
Phukan commented that unlike Yatra, which is difficult to read, The Rainbow Runners is a racy narrative, which keeps the attention of the reader engaged. She briefly narrated the story of Sriman and his predicament against the insurgency movement in Assam.
Borah said that it is very difficult for an author to speak about his own book because what he wanted to say has been expressed in the book itself. He concluded that the ultimate human quest is for peace and harmony.
Dr Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee who chaired the session opined that the two books launched together are definitely divergent in theme but one thread binds them. They are both highly physical and metaphysical in content.
When asked earlier about his book, Borah said, “This novel recounts the tragic saga of an ideological movement that lost its way. A poisonous atmosphere of distrust, betrayal, and secret killing that followed on one hand and the struggle to remain sane by the youths caught in its web on the other, makes it a contemporary narrative. From the banks of Brahmaputra, galis in Guwahati to the Dalai Lama’s Macloeodganj in the bosom of The Himalayas, the protagonist Sriman experiences terror, mental shock, memory loss, recovery and experiences impossible love and heartbreak. The journey through travails and terror and myriad experiences of Tibetian struggle for independence and Buddhism kindled that small but eternal flame of hope of a new and purposeful life that promises a new meaning.”
On publishing the book, Trisha De Niyogi, Director and COO, Niyogi Books pointed out, “In the words of the greatest wordsmith in the world, William Shakespeare, ‘What's past is prologue’. As a publisher, we are constantly seeking out compelling stories that will set the context for our present. One such riveting story is Dhrubajyoti Borah's 'The Rainbow Runners'. Assam's tumultuous insurgency and counter-insurgency days are brought to life in this epic novel with unnerving accuracy.”
When asked about his book, Deka said, “It is fascinating how stories find their way into being, this novel emerged first from my time in Spain where I came across information about untapped indigenous peoples and their lives which were yet to become narrative realities for others to read. The compelling urge to bring the unwritten into the space of recognised documentation also served as a motif, which became part of the writing process embedded in the novel's creative infrastructure. I believe that this layering of the unwritten, coupled with the quest theme would be of interest to a contemporary audience.”
Chakraborty on her inspiration to translate Yatra, said, “When Harekrishna Deka rang me up to make this onerous offer to translate his novel Yatra: An Unfinished Novel, I felt honoured, but wished to read the novel before I agreed; I felt this would be a new experience for me. I worked in peace and isolation on the translation, and the book was a class apart in style and substance; characters, events and language; and essentially the novel plot! The entire book in its infrastructure delved into the lives of a pristine people, far from the world we know, unrooted in our system of clamour and triteness. The readers, of course, will get to decide to what degree they have been moved by the tale.”
Niyogi commented on Yatra, “Yatra is a highly philosophical and disconcerting read. Fans of high modernism and political fiction will find much to ponder over in this intriguing novel. Readers will be forced to imagine themselves in permutations of ethical choices. Anxious, idealistic, urgent, nightmarish: it is a yawp against our fast-paced, technology-addicted consumerist world, which offers terrifying alternative speculations of unchecked human greed and the increasingly urgent need for sustainable development.”
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