SLINGSTONES by Mmhonlumo Kikon [Hardcover]

Slingstones is a poetic exploration of the historical and spiritual landscape of Naga communities. Mmhonlumo Kikon’s poems isolate and examine the unchanging nature of space and time, the past and the present, the here and now. He takes a penetrating look at the banalities of daily life that actually shape and define the contours of identity, both within communities and outside. Kikon’s poems identify the constructs of the modern world that seek to replace the indigenous. He explores the process of self-preservation employed by tribes against the onslaught of material and ideational forces. From the habits of culture to the distinct quandary that communities have to face; from the struggle to come to terms with the evolving world to the rush to educate the so-called ‘savage’; and from abandoning the ruins of colonialism to taking a measured approach to change, this collection is an intimate and brave review of lives lived in the wide expanse of nature and their interactions with the outside world. This is a searing portrayal of the innate and native desire to revive a cultural ethos that has been drowning in a vortex of complex and systemic institutions. The path of these poems and their sweeping swathe is magnificent and painful.