The outsider’s voice

Khasi author Janice Pariat emphasises the need for more cultural exchanges between people of different states so that misunderstanding and misgivings are rooted out

March 01, 2015 11:45 am | Updated March 02, 2015 07:26 pm IST

Janice Pariat. Photo: M. Vedhan

Janice Pariat. Photo: M. Vedhan

The Tatseo sisters from Nagaland were on their last song for the evening when I saw Janice Pariat walk in and settle down on the steps of the amphitheatre at the India Habitat Centre. We got talking shortly after the performance. The singing duo from Nagaland, Janice from Meghalaya and I from Assam were the ‘outsiders’ that evening in the nation’s capital which has been the scene of repeated violence against people from the North-Eastern states.

How does it feel to be a Khasi writer? How difficult is it to get your voice heard in the cacophony of political discourse that emerges every day? For Janice, whose first book “Boats on Land” won the Sahitya Akademi Young Writer Award in 2013, the journey as a writer from the North East has been tentative, hesitant one.

“I feel I am in the process of being born. This insider-outsider issue is very complex and highly reductive. I see the fear and hesitation in the eyes of non-Khasi people in Meghalaya despite their being in the state for generations. The feeling of alienation hangs heavy in the air. I notice the same sense of unease amongst many from the North-East wherever I go in the country. It’s deeply disturbing,” says Janice. In the Capital to address a session at the recently concluded World Book Fair which delved deep into the issues of alienation, constantly living on the edge of the world’s largest democracy, and the struggle to define human existence in terms of belonging, citizenship and freedom, Janice felt that there is need for greater empathy amongst people and more cultural exchanges between people of different states so that misunderstanding and misgivings are rooted out.

We fear what we don’t know. It is not only the government’s responsibility to maintain law and order but it is also incumbent on ordinary people to not give in to prejudice and rabid dogmas. After all, when violence erupts, it is the ordinary citizens that lose their livelihood, land, a way of life.

Janice shuttles between London, New Delhi and Meghalaya, a bit like the nomad, as she likes to describe her life, and feels that the North-East like ‘North India’ and ‘South India’, is a vast, complex region of intricate cultural disparities with different culture and customs among tribal communities living within the same administrative area. What perhaps binds the people from the North-Eastern region is the attitude of the central government towards the people of this region — marginalised and neglected.

She feels that the region is often seen as a place of endless conflict and militancy, of several groups of tribal people who are perpetually dressed in tribal costumes and love to do their tribal dances, of fun loving women who are yours for the asking and of young men who dress in trendy clothes and strum the guitar. Janice wants this narrative to change as much as the perceptions and prejudices. She does not want to take on the role of a messenger. She is happy being an author and a poet, and her interests transcend borders.

A restless author, Janice loves to play the piano and the guitar and also goes for long walks to think out her plots, the rhythm of her sentences. She loves to talk to her husband or her friend as she walks without looking at either. “I like a conversation with myself and with others when I set out for my usual long walks in the midst of nature. It is a great feeling to think aloud and hear my husband or a friend speak while I take in the beauty of nature. It helps me to re-imagine the world in as many possible ways as I can,” says Janice with a smile that lights up her face.

Her second novel “Sea Horse” has been received well. Where will she go from here? “I will surprise myself. I meet interesting people, encounter situations that move me deeply. My mind is working all the time,” says Janice with a childlike laugh.

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