Book Review: The Power To Forgive: And Other Stories by Avinuo Kire

Quote: Kevinei-ü ran back to the forest, this time shouting all the way. She spotted wild raspberry bushes in woods, dark green and unadorned, without any trace of the familiar orange. It was then that Kevinei-ü actually felt her heart plummet. It was not yet the season for the little berries which her daughter loved.

A dozen stories from my neighbouring state of Nagaland. Avinuo Kire tells tales known to all with clarity and elegance. She almost touches upon all the literary indicators that people expect from the literature of North East India. Though I felt she had toned down the complexities of Nagaland politics and society for her readers to ease into the narratives.

The stories are primarily told from the female perspective. The book opens with The Power to Forgive, the story of a rape survivor's who takes control of her life like Meena Kandaswamy asks in When I Hit You, and it bittersweetly unfolds the climax.

From Naga Freedom struggle to acceptance of Christianity as a tool of emancipation to wildlife conservation to folklore to the racism faced outside Nagaland, this little collection has lot to offer.

The stories are lovingly organised. Two stories I adored were Mete and the Mist, and Bayienuo; about mothers and daughters with bits of supernatural, and Red-Ridding-Hood and Princess Kaguya like folklore at play.

There are three love stories, one about first love heartbreak, other about saving the forgotten love and third one rekindling the lost first love.

Nigu's Red T Shirt shows how we northeasterns often internalise racism and discrimination. Nigu's attempt to look like K-pop stars and finally realising he is just a Naga boy who looks nothing like the people he has seen on East Asians movies was amazing.

Kire also shows how Patriarchy, religion and social stigma conspire together to hinder women's growth; from cheating husbands to depression caused by male child favouritism to social expectations on women to give up all for marriage are well described. Grandmother Sebu and the villagers in Bayienuo's village act as agents of social pressure and suck life and beauty and energy out of a thriving woman.

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