The Legends of Pensam
I’ve just started reading a new collection of stories by Mamang Dai called The Legends of Pensam. The lovely cover illustration is based on a painting by Ozing Dai, which in turn is based on an illustration by Shiavax Chavda (reproduced in Verrier Elwin’s A Philosophy for NEFA). The book is a collection of interconnected stories about the Adi tribe who live in the Siang Valley, the valley of the Siang River, known as the Tsangpo in Tibet. I’ve read only four stories so far, and they are wonderful.
I’ve travelled in Arunachal Pradesh many years ago and hope to travel there again some day. The places I visited then were some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.
From the author’s note at the beginning of the book:
There are few road links in their territory. Travel to the distant villages still entails cumbersome river crossings, elephant rides and long foot marches through dense forest or over high mountain passes.But the old villagers who walk miles every day say: ‘When you look at the land you forget your aches and pains.’
