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Zorami: A Redemption Song
Malsawmi Jacob takes on the most traumatic period in Mizo history, the insurgency years of the nineteen sixties, to tell the story of a young girl, Zorami. After an uneventful, idyllic childhood, she comes of age at the time when the political unrest and struggle for independence gathers momentum and breaks out to devastating effect. Zorami's life and experiences reflect those of her people, land and culture. The novel is written in Malsawmi's distinctive restrained, understated, always beautifully lucid style that breaks into poetry in moments of passion. --Zualteii Poonte, Associate Professor in English, Aizawl Government College.
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 21, 2022
From my childhood days, the North Eastern states always had my fascination. Their race, their surroundings, their languages, their culture - they seemed exotic for a person like me from the South of India.
As I grew up, I often heard of armed struggles/terrorist activities associated with these people, especially people of Assam and Nagaland. I was not sure of exact history. But I felt bad for the 'terrorist activities.'
Later I visited some of the states in the North East (Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim). I just fell in love with the North East. I loved everything I saw about the North East.
It never occurred to me to read the literature from the North East. I still wonder, why it happened like that. Normally I am a person who likes to read literature from the region that I love.
Anyway better late than never.
ZORAMI is the first novel to come out of the state of Mizoram. The author Malsawmi Jacob has done a fantastic job. The novel is set in the backdrop of 'Mizoram war of independence.' Mizo people fought for independence from India. It lasted for 20 years(1966-1986) - This fact stuck me very hard. Later I realized that the struggles of many North Eastern states were similar. They longed for independence after the British left the subcontinent. They were not given the freedom to break away and to be free by the Indian state. India crushed down the 'thirst of independence' of the North East people with a heavy hand. Army was given a free hand in suppressing the 'rebellion.' The Indian army looted, killed, raped, destroyed, burnt the properties and fields, etc. Indian army rained down bombs on their own people. The ordinary Mizo people were harassed just for the sake of fun. Concentration camps were there in which suspected Mizo people underwent severe ordeals.
To read about them was a shock and a revelation to me. I had hardly known all these details. The media was playing into the hands of the Indian government obviously.
These historical events along with the accompanying terror is aptly presented by the author in this novel. But they are not just given as details. They flow into a well knit story. Besides the historical details, there are many details from the Mizo culture (Mizo's Christian Faith, Folk Beliefs, Folk Songs/Stories, Food Habits, etc) which are expertly interwoven.
Moreover, this novel is also about very many characters. The title character ZORAMI witnesses the struggle and thirst for freedom, the initiation of the armed struggle, the ravages of the war, the longing for peace/restoration of the Mizo land to its original beauty, the armistice, the present day situation. Everything is narrated as the reminiscence. But there is also an individual personal story of hurt and healing which accompanies the character of ZORAMI.
Overall, a real sad story.
But a story to be told.
Thanks to Malsawmi for telling it (must have been very painful).
As I grew up, I often heard of armed struggles/terrorist activities associated with these people, especially people of Assam and Nagaland. I was not sure of exact history. But I felt bad for the 'terrorist activities.'
Later I visited some of the states in the North East (Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim). I just fell in love with the North East. I loved everything I saw about the North East.
It never occurred to me to read the literature from the North East. I still wonder, why it happened like that. Normally I am a person who likes to read literature from the region that I love.
Anyway better late than never.
ZORAMI is the first novel to come out of the state of Mizoram. The author Malsawmi Jacob has done a fantastic job. The novel is set in the backdrop of 'Mizoram war of independence.' Mizo people fought for independence from India. It lasted for 20 years(1966-1986) - This fact stuck me very hard. Later I realized that the struggles of many North Eastern states were similar. They longed for independence after the British left the subcontinent. They were not given the freedom to break away and to be free by the Indian state. India crushed down the 'thirst of independence' of the North East people with a heavy hand. Army was given a free hand in suppressing the 'rebellion.' The Indian army looted, killed, raped, destroyed, burnt the properties and fields, etc. Indian army rained down bombs on their own people. The ordinary Mizo people were harassed just for the sake of fun. Concentration camps were there in which suspected Mizo people underwent severe ordeals.
To read about them was a shock and a revelation to me. I had hardly known all these details. The media was playing into the hands of the Indian government obviously.
These historical events along with the accompanying terror is aptly presented by the author in this novel. But they are not just given as details. They flow into a well knit story. Besides the historical details, there are many details from the Mizo culture (Mizo's Christian Faith, Folk Beliefs, Folk Songs/Stories, Food Habits, etc) which are expertly interwoven.
Moreover, this novel is also about very many characters. The title character ZORAMI witnesses the struggle and thirst for freedom, the initiation of the armed struggle, the ravages of the war, the longing for peace/restoration of the Mizo land to its original beauty, the armistice, the present day situation. Everything is narrated as the reminiscence. But there is also an individual personal story of hurt and healing which accompanies the character of ZORAMI.
Overall, a real sad story.
But a story to be told.
Thanks to Malsawmi for telling it (must have been very painful).
May 26, 2015
Malsawmi Jacob's debut novel has taken a good turn in narrating the plight of Mizoram entwined with politics and cold wars. The story is told through the voice of Zorampari, and this voice becomes the carrier of the Mizo history which bore the traumatic times of the land. The style is interesting for the personal and the political merges at various points, and a traumatized Zorampari tries to make her way, through the bad memories of the past, to the present. Almost all the characters bear an equal importance, either in contributing to or in recording the land's history. The novel was a nice read on the whole, which used simple language, vivid picturesque descriptions and major strands of Mizo history.
January 29, 2022
It is not easy to find books set in Mizoram or other North-Eastern Indian states, so I was really very happy to see the review of a Goodread's friend about this book. I immediately bought and read it.
It was a very interesting read, above all for me, European, that never heard about the war and struggles in Mizoram. Though I liked to read about Mizoram's history, the Mizo people and their traditions, I found the story slightly disjointed, maybe because the author added too many characters and events. It is a flowing read, but the author sometimes moves from some characters to others, from one event to another and I wasn't always able to understand how and why they were linked to each other. Maybe some year gaps are too high and it is not easy to understand what happened in the meantime. Despite this, I enjoyed this book and I learned a lot. Very helpful the glossary, but I also went to look for some landscapes, the Mizo dance and their traditional clothes online because I was really curious, and I have to say that everything is amazing.
I recommend this book to everyone interested in Indian contemporary history.
It was a very interesting read, above all for me, European, that never heard about the war and struggles in Mizoram. Though I liked to read about Mizoram's history, the Mizo people and their traditions, I found the story slightly disjointed, maybe because the author added too many characters and events. It is a flowing read, but the author sometimes moves from some characters to others, from one event to another and I wasn't always able to understand how and why they were linked to each other. Maybe some year gaps are too high and it is not easy to understand what happened in the meantime. Despite this, I enjoyed this book and I learned a lot. Very helpful the glossary, but I also went to look for some landscapes, the Mizo dance and their traditional clothes online because I was really curious, and I have to say that everything is amazing.
I recommend this book to everyone interested in Indian contemporary history.
November 7, 2020
This work of art has perfectly woven Mizo history with its culture, ethos and folklores. "Zorami" will go down in history , being the first Mizo novel in English. This poignant tale encompasses several important issues and burning problems of its days which are still of relevance even today... A must read..
September 18, 2020
This book Zorami picturizes the insurgency period of Mizoram. While India had fought for independence from the British Rule, Mizo people with the help of MNF army was fighting for their independence as a new nation. The war between the MNF and Indian Army is narrated through the lives of many characters. The bad memories of the past haunt Zorami even at her old age.
I had earlier noticed a paperclip of Assamese women protesting against the evil deeds of the Indian Army. This book too draws a clear line that the ladies of Mizoram were not safe in those days.
This books which carry personal stories and political situations is can be classified as a historical fiction which also contains the lifestyle, culture and tradition of Mizoram
I had earlier noticed a paperclip of Assamese women protesting against the evil deeds of the Indian Army. This book too draws a clear line that the ladies of Mizoram were not safe in those days.
This books which carry personal stories and political situations is can be classified as a historical fiction which also contains the lifestyle, culture and tradition of Mizoram
July 9, 2021
It's a lovely book written in a unique style - poignant prose interspersed with Mizo & English poetry. A very evocative book about life in rural Mizoram, especially during the times of the insurgency. I never even knew that Aizawl was bombed by the Indian Air Force. It's a must-read book if you are planning to go to Mizoram. I wish I had read this book before travelling there. It would have made my journey much more meaningful.
August 11, 2022
Zorami was my Mizoram read for my #ReadingIndia challenge.
I knew nothing whatsoever about Mizoram, its history or its people. So, this served as a history lesson of sorts. While it is the story of Zorami, an older Mizo woman, as she reminisces about her past, we also learn some Mizoram history, from about the ’60s to the 2000s.
In the 1960s, as a famine strikes Mizoram, the people feel neglected and in desperation, demand independence from what they considered was a neglectful Assam state government (since Mizoram at the time was a part of the state of Assam) and the Indian central government. In return, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered bombs to be dropped by the Indian Air Force on Mizo villages for the audacity of asking for a better life! “About two decades earlier, during the Second World War, there had been fears that the Japanese might reach Mizoram. But the area had stayed safe. Not one bomb of the enemy had fallen. But now, India had begun an attack on a part of its own territory. Targeting its own citizens.”
Of course, this did not quell the voices demanding independence from India and nearly 20 years of insurgency followed. The conflict was marked by violent excesses on both sides, those fighting for freedom (and executing those they felt were not supportive, even if that meant killing their own kin sometimes) and those sent to suppress these freedom fighters (who are unfortunately infamous for their most-often unpunished crimes, from Kashmir to Manipur and more, and instances of which continue even today). Malsawmi Jacob patiently illustrates the fact that there are good and bad people on both sides of a conflict, whether it’s Ralkapa the freedom fighter who turns malicious army informer or the sardar havildar who makes friends with Mizo prisoners and refuses to ill-treat them, in contravention of orders.
The central protagonist is dealing with unimaginable personal trauma like many Mizo people. At one point, Zorami thinks to herself, "There’s no such thing as a bygone as long as the effects last."
For Zorami, the trauma she suffers colours her entire life and makes it difficult for her to live to the fullest. I am not sure how I feel about religion offering succour and definitely not as presented here. Until that point in the book, I was appreciative of Jacob’s attempt to highlight what effect trauma has when it has not been processed and the person has not been helped to overcome it. However, the resolution disappointed me. But that’s a personal opinion.
Through Zorami, Jacob also shows us patriarchy in action in Mizoram: little girls learn ‘modesty’ when their joy in their achievements is curbed; they learn shame and are then afraid even to discuss what bullies and perverts do to them because they believe they brought it on themselves; rape leaves them ‘damaged goods’ and anyone who then offers to marry them is little less than a saint.
The only problem I had with the book was that its non-linear structure and its host of real and fictional characters meant that keeping track of everyone other than frequently recurring characters was a bit tough.
But I liked Zorami, not least because the titular character is happiest staying at home and curling up with a book. Like me!
I knew nothing whatsoever about Mizoram, its history or its people. So, this served as a history lesson of sorts. While it is the story of Zorami, an older Mizo woman, as she reminisces about her past, we also learn some Mizoram history, from about the ’60s to the 2000s.
In the 1960s, as a famine strikes Mizoram, the people feel neglected and in desperation, demand independence from what they considered was a neglectful Assam state government (since Mizoram at the time was a part of the state of Assam) and the Indian central government. In return, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered bombs to be dropped by the Indian Air Force on Mizo villages for the audacity of asking for a better life! “About two decades earlier, during the Second World War, there had been fears that the Japanese might reach Mizoram. But the area had stayed safe. Not one bomb of the enemy had fallen. But now, India had begun an attack on a part of its own territory. Targeting its own citizens.”
Of course, this did not quell the voices demanding independence from India and nearly 20 years of insurgency followed. The conflict was marked by violent excesses on both sides, those fighting for freedom (and executing those they felt were not supportive, even if that meant killing their own kin sometimes) and those sent to suppress these freedom fighters (who are unfortunately infamous for their most-often unpunished crimes, from Kashmir to Manipur and more, and instances of which continue even today). Malsawmi Jacob patiently illustrates the fact that there are good and bad people on both sides of a conflict, whether it’s Ralkapa the freedom fighter who turns malicious army informer or the sardar havildar who makes friends with Mizo prisoners and refuses to ill-treat them, in contravention of orders.
The central protagonist is dealing with unimaginable personal trauma like many Mizo people. At one point, Zorami thinks to herself, "There’s no such thing as a bygone as long as the effects last."
For Zorami, the trauma she suffers colours her entire life and makes it difficult for her to live to the fullest. I am not sure how I feel about religion offering succour and definitely not as presented here. Until that point in the book, I was appreciative of Jacob’s attempt to highlight what effect trauma has when it has not been processed and the person has not been helped to overcome it. However, the resolution disappointed me. But that’s a personal opinion.
Through Zorami, Jacob also shows us patriarchy in action in Mizoram: little girls learn ‘modesty’ when their joy in their achievements is curbed; they learn shame and are then afraid even to discuss what bullies and perverts do to them because they believe they brought it on themselves; rape leaves them ‘damaged goods’ and anyone who then offers to marry them is little less than a saint.
The only problem I had with the book was that its non-linear structure and its host of real and fictional characters meant that keeping track of everyone other than frequently recurring characters was a bit tough.
But I liked Zorami, not least because the titular character is happiest staying at home and curling up with a book. Like me!
December 12, 2024
A very interesting story, the first English language book by a Mizo author has talked about the instability of insurgency and military governance and injustices. It offers a time travel experience to a time of essential transformation of a society and the individual in such a place and time. It also grants a lot of historical insight with creative tweaks.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews