Jim Wungramyao Kasom, a Tangkhul Naga writer shares the inspiration behind his works and the importance of writing for a community that relies heavily on oral traditions to preserve its history.
The air conditioner in the apartment is turned off as the torrential September rain provides momentary respite from the suffocating Delhi humidity. Jim Wungramyao Kasom, a Tangkhul Naga writer, stands leaning on a chair and softly reads a few lines from his poetry book Cradling Memories of My Land:
‘So we existed on our own,
stopping at what we had,
Not leaving, not arriving –
a perishable civilisation
with houses made of logs,
boundaries made of words,
and stories that could be forgotten in time.’
A short silence follows. His apartment is adorned with paintings and relics from his hometown – Ukhrul in Manipur. As it is with his writings, the room also emanates a sense of nostalgia.
“I come from a small community that relies heavily on oral storytelling and collective memory,” Kasom says reflectively as he puts down the book. “My journey as a storyteller also starts from there.”
Kasom, 38, was born and brought up at Sirarakhong village in Ukhrul, Manipur, and belongs to the Tangkhul Naga community. The eldest among six siblings, Kasom’s interest in storytelling stemmed from being surrounded by great storytellers in his family during his childhood.
“From a very young age, I was inspired by the stories I grew up listening to and wanted to be a storyteller in some capacity when I got older. Even today, I still look at the world through the lens of my grandparents and parents. Their stories left a profound impact on me,” he says.
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Although he cannot pinpoint one moment that led him to become a writer, Kasom shares that he started writing as a means to share his thoughts and express his love for nature. His first piece of writing was a poem about a flower and one of his aunties who read it complimented him that the keen interest with which he looked at the ordinary flower reminded her of her father (Kasom’s grandfather). It is an outlook Kasom continues to hold with his writings to this day.
“I’d like to think that no one is inconsequential and I believe there is much power in telling stories about the ordinary lives of ordinary people,” he says when asked about his style of writing.
The vivid imagery with which Kasom writes about the Tangkhul Naga community, the landscapes and the culture of his hometown makes you think that he is at the heart of his hometown when he writes. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Kasom has been living away from home for more than 23 years and reveals that most of his works about home have been written in the confines of his apartment in Delhi.
“The mind wanders more when your body is confined,” he laughs before adding that his short visits back home continue to be his biggest source of inspiration. And that his interest in writing about home and the Tangkhul Naga community also comes from a long process of marination and fermentation.
“I always return to Delhi filled to the brim with inspiration and I let them ferment for a while before I create something out of it. I’ve learned that things take better shape when they’re left to ferment for a while,” he remarks when asked how he can incorporate such vivid details in his writings.
“My profession as a communications professional in the development sector allowed me to travel extensively and experience different cultures. And learning about other people and their cultures made me more aware of my own culture,” he explains.
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“I came to realise that there weren’t many writings about the Tangkhul Naga community and its history. And for a community that resorts to the collective memory of oral storytelling, our stories were fast disappearing with the passing of each individual from the older generation – bordering on collective amnesia of our past. I started writing so I could preserve the image of the hometown I grew up in and it eventually led me to other stories of our community from different times.”
His first book, Homecoming, was released in 2018. The anthology of 19 stories about the Tangkhul Naga community, narrated through the lens of different characters, stretching for over a century encompassing the onset of Christianity, the arrival of the Japanese during World War-II, the scars of the Nagas’ struggle for self-determination and the assimilation to new ideas and modern beliefs received wide acclaim among his community and literary circles.
His second book, Cradling Memories of My Land, which is a collection of poems that largely plays with the idea of memory, nostalgia and longing was released in November 2023.
“It’s easy to write about home because some of my fondest memories are from home and it is easiest to write about experiences and emotions that are authentic,” Kasom says when asked about the secret behind his two successful books.
But what about Delhi? The country’s capital has been a second home to him for more than a decade now. The place where he wrote and published both his books. He offers a weak smile to this question and ruminates for a while.
“Absence brings more essence to my writings,” he finally says. “Right now, I have nothing to write about Delhi because I live here and experience everything about the city in its fullness. Maybe I’ll write about Delhi when I go back home or move to another city.”
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There is a tinge of longing in his voice, almost as if he is talking about the hometown that shaped him as a storyteller.
Outside his apartment, the rain continues to pour, washing away the veil of pollution characteristic of the idyllic Delhi autumn.
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The lead photo on top shows Jim Wungramyao Kasom at his apartment in Safdarjung, New Delhi. (Photo by Worngachan A Shatsang)
Worngachan A Shatsang is a freelance writer based in Ukhrul, Manipur. He was a Village Square Fellow in 2022.
