SLINGSTONES

Slingstones is a poetic
exploration of the historical and spiritual landscape of Naga
communities.   Mmhonlumo Kikon’s poems
isolate and examine the unchanging nature of space and time, the past and the
present, the here and now. He takes a penetrating look at the banalities of
daily life that actually shape and define the contours of identity, both
within communities and outside.  
Kikon’s poems identify the constructs of the modern world that seek to
replace the indigenous. He explores the process of self-preservation employed
by tribes against the onslaught of material and ideational forces. From the
habits of culture to the distinct quandary that communities have to face; from
the struggle to come to terms with the evolving world to the rush to educate
the so-called ‘savage’; and from abandoning the ruins of colonialism to
taking a measured approach to change, this collection is an intimate and
brave review of lives lived in the wide expanse of nature and their
interactions with the outside world.  
This is a searing portrayal of the innate and native desire to revive
a cultural ethos that has been drowning in a vortex of complex and systemic
institutions.   The path of these poems
and their sweeping swathe is magnificent and painful.