It is rare to come across a collection of short stories that presents the distinct identity of the Naga people in all its brutal honesty. The Last Free Naga by Jim Wungramyao Kasom takes the reader into a different realm, one that mainland India doesn’t seem to be familiar with, capturing the way of life of Tangkhul Nagas and their love for nature.
Born and raised in Manipur, Kasom threads an autobiographical strain through his stories, animating the landscapes and tensions of the place he calls home. Overlapping cultures, broken dreams, an omnipresent military, the grief of loss, all these themes appear with a sense of rootedness.
In the story A Village Boy’s Dream, a young boy at the edge of adolescence finds companionship in a dog. When poverty forces the dog to be sold, he is heartbroken. Yet when the dog returns occasionally to his old home, the boy finds himself feeling a cautious joy, which, in a way, mirrors the drama and tension that the author portrays almost in every story. Good Samaritan on a Rainy Day centres on a young boy who comes home for vacation. He loves his life in the village and asks not to be sent back to school. “You’ll hate me now, but you will thank me later,” his mother says. With this simple premise, Kasom captures the living conditions and everyday dreams of the Naga people. He writes, “The Tangkhul Naga living in villages were industrious people. They treated laziness like a sin. It didn’t matter if they succeeded in life. If they worked hard and tormented themselves enough, they felt fulfilled.”
Another story tells of a mother and son carrying produce up steep slopes, meeting a young Naga man who returned to the village for his father’s funeral. His quiet help and polished manner leave a mark on the boy. who is struck by the fact that the man helps carry the mother’s burden. Impressed by his “more refined than robust” look, the boy changes his mind. “Soon, he would join the mass exodus of young Naga people for education and opportunities.”
The River that Bends Time traces a father taking his city-bred son back to the village. The boy’s shifting understanding of nature and the father’s quiet farewell—signalled by two car honks as they leave—make the story especially moving. Across the collection, we see the struggles of a fiercely independent tribal community that has endured deprivation for decades.
The ever-present political spectre adds fear and foreboding to the stories. There are no flashy literary flourishes—only clear, concentrated emotion. Kasom’s simple language makes the book accessible, and the varied stories together form a vivid portrait of a life far from the turbulence of cities.