Itanagar: It’s a literary triumph from the country’s far east as Subi Taba, an agriculture development officer from Arunachal Pradesh, makes her mark with “Tales from the Dawn-Lit Mountains.” Published by Penguin Random House’s Vintage imprint, this debut collection plunges readers into the mystical heart of India’s northeastern frontier, where the veil between the real and the supernatural is wonderfully thin.
Taba’s intimate connection with her homeland shines through in these eight compelling narratives. Drawing from the diverse tribal communities nestled amidst Arunachal’s towering peaks and dense forests, she brings to life villages where ancient Donyi-Polo rituals are still performed and whispers of headhunting traditions linger. “Each story is a glimpse into the heart of life. A peek inside the dark corridors of a bamboo house in the hills. A look at the wild outcry rising amid a fire lit up in the distant mountain villages,” Taba shares, offering a peek into her narrative philosophy.
The collection is a masterful blend of cultural anthropology and magical realism. Readers will encounter a village gripped by the terror of a supernatural tiger, and a Nocte boy whose life is irrevocably altered by a simple bee sting, transforming him into a headhunter seeking vengeance. Taba skillfully navigates the delicate balance between preserving indigenous traditions and the encroaching tide of modernity, weaving in “creative liberty to fictionalise glimpses and layers of cultural history, familial ties, ethnographic identity, symbolism of animals, geopolitical transition, life’s mundanity, nature and supernatural beliefs existing within the ethnic tribes of Arunachal Pradesh.”
Among the more haunting tales is that of a thief pursued across generations by a high priest’s curse after stealing sacred ornaments. Another story follows a Donyi-Polo priest’s desperate struggle to keep his fading animistic religion alive against the powerful currents of cultural change. Taba’s deep understanding of how Arunachal’s unique geography shapes its culture – where mountain rivers and seasonal harvests dictate life’s rhythm – permeates every page, making the extraordinary an everyday occurrence.
“I feel delighted to have liberated these stories dwelling inside me, which have now been set forth on to their journeys, expanding like white smoke rising above the roof of a village hut,” Taba reflects on the journey of bringing these tales to print. Her work joins a growing chorus of indigenous voices from India’s northeastern states, now gaining well-deserved recognition in mainstream publishing. “Tales from the Dawn-Lit Mountains” offers a rare and enchanting window into Arunachal Pradesh, inviting readers to explore a world where myth and reality dance in beautiful, inseparable harmony.