Myths and legends are part of the air of the mountains and rivers passed on as a civilisational inheritance through the bards, wisdom keepers, as shared keepsakes of the communities. In writing Tales from the Enchanted Village, author Vishü Rita Krocha has gleaned a heartfelt recall from her childhood days as an eager listener and a reflective admirer of nature. A compendium of 13 stories tells the tale of an unflinching bond between the ancestors’ word and the present-day generation. A way to preserve the wisdom and collective consciousness of the village folk. Evocative stories that tell of the stories ground up, of folk that till the land, rear cattle and revel in communitarian existence.
People of the enchanted lake
The author traces the title of the book to her village’s name, Zhvame, which means “people of the enchanted lake”. A thoughtful note on the cover design traces the arc of the selection – a picture of the village pond – which took the writer some time to come up with. “The artwork is the artist’s attempt to visually write his own tale and also to portray Naga folktale visually and transpose oral tradition to visual art,” which the writer says, “captures the heartbeat of every tale retold in this book.” The tales in the book embody lessons on life and living told through the prism of familial and communitarian aspects In this retelling is where the perpetuity and continuity of traditions and culture lies.
Vishü Rita Krocha is a poet, journalist and author from Nagaland and has written three collections of poetry: A Bucket of Rain (2011), Yearnings (2019), and From the Broken Earth (2021). Her short stories titled “Cut Off” and “A Grandmother’s Tale” were published in the Zubaan anthologies, The Many That I Am and Homeward, respectively. As a proud Naga and a passionate storyteller, in this book, there’s an unmistakable undercurrent of the nostalgia of her land and an urge to conserve the tradition of storytelling. She mentions in the preface the unbroken bond between her and the lush, verdant valleys of wild forests covering the mountains.
No surprises that the stories emanate from a deep sense of appreciation of the gifts of nature, compassion, empathy and intuition. Part whimsical, part inspirational, they are engagingly written. Take, for instance, the intriguing condition set upon a plate of rice: “Before he left his two friends, Zhopozholi gave them two wooden plates filled with steaming rice. He covered the plates and told them, ‘As long as the plates are warm and steaming, do not look for me, but on the day the rice becomes cold and turns to fungus, you must then start looking for me’”.
The stories, such as “Snakes and Tigers”, bring about in their allegories and symbols, are a way of explaining the existence of creatures in the wild. What ties the stories is the thread of respect and harmony that abounds in these regions.
A book for every reader
What makes the stories especially readable and befitting for all age groups is the absence of overt didacticism, and he fact that they are written as tribute to the land, the flora and fauna and the unshakeable bond. No surprises then that there are elements of the mystical, magical and the fabulous that are available in plenty in the stories. Animals that speak the human tongue and humans that understand the wounds of the land.
In “A Royal Pathway to Money”, the fantastical element comes into full display with the miraculous drawing of a sea between the mountains and pulling them apart as fish begin to gather in a land-locked land! Stories such as these are like an ocean of calm for a reader reading them in urban chaos.
The author evocatively rebrands the story for the modern day reader with an empathetic hand – a world where only the wishes of the orphan come trye true “and although they could never pound anything out of the wish pounder, they were all happy to have the often who ensured that nobody in the village ever go hungry again”. An egalitarian, perhaps utopian land where miracles take place at the hand of the living as do evils. Poetic justice is served and humans learn their lessons quietly – here, kindness is a way of life. A symbiotic existence that may be too perfect to be true, but certainly aspirational.
Tales from the Enchanted Village, Vishü Rita Krocha, PenThrill Publication House.
