Jeumon has a complicated story stuck in her head: her family’s. In the newly-drawn boundaries of Assam and Meghalaya in 1972 India, young Jeumon wonders how she should define herself. Is she Assamese, like her father, or Khasi, like her mother?  As a researcher and writer, she speaks with passion of the oral narratives and folk tales shared by the people of the hills and plains, those of different tribes, and those with different languages. To herself, she wonders: if stories can do this, why can’t people? Why must they be trapped in singular identities?
 
In this moving narrative of change, Tilottoma Misra tells the story of one family to explore how lives are impacted by sweeping geographical partitions and how human relationships morph under the weight of political turmoil.
 

Tilottoma Misra is a writer, critic, and translator based in Assam, India. Her previous work includes Literature and Society in Assam and Swarnalata, also published by Zubaan. She is also the editor of The Oxford Anthology of Writings from North-East India. Udayon Misra is an academic and translator. He is former professor and head of the department of English at Dibrugarh University, Assam. He is the author of many books including India’s North-East: Identity Movements, State and Civil Society. He is currently based in Guwahati, Assam.