Vaishna Roy reviews Arupa Patangia Kalita's 'The Loneliness of Hira Barua'
The book of short stories titled Mariam Austin othoba Hira Barua that won for Arupa Patangia Kalita the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2014 has now been translated from Assamese to English by Ranjita Biswas, opening another important and sensitive window to a corner of the elusive Northeast. The 15 stories are soaked in nostalgia for a way of life slowly disappearing from interior Assam, which Kalita celebrates and memorialises here with a tenderness that is immediately apparent. Each grinding stone, each wood stove, each bakul tree and fragrant malati flower is dwelt over lovingly and lingering...
Source: thehindu.com