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Bitter Wormwood
Kohima, 2007. A young man has just been gunned down in cold blood—the latest casualty in the conflict that has brutalized the people of Nagaland, in the neglected northeastern corner of India. Rich in culture and history, Bitter Wormwood traces the story of one man’s life from 1937 until 2007, offering poignant insight into the human cost behind the political headlines of one of India’s most beautiful regions.
In a gripping story that brings to life the processes that propel social change and transform communities, Easterine Kire skillfully renders the small incidents of Mose’s childhood, his family, and the routines and rituals of traditional village life, painting an evocative picture of a peaceful way of life, now long-vanished. The coming of radio into Mose’s family house marks the beginning of the changes that will connect them to the wider world. They learn of partition, independence, a land called America. Mose and his friends become involved in the Naga struggle for independence, and are caught in a maelstrom of violence that ends up ripping communities apart.
In a gripping story that brings to life the processes that propel social change and transform communities, Easterine Kire skillfully renders the small incidents of Mose’s childhood, his family, and the routines and rituals of traditional village life, painting an evocative picture of a peaceful way of life, now long-vanished. The coming of radio into Mose’s family house marks the beginning of the changes that will connect them to the wider world. They learn of partition, independence, a land called America. Mose and his friends become involved in the Naga struggle for independence, and are caught in a maelstrom of violence that ends up ripping communities apart.
269 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
About the author
Easterine Kire
33 books101 followersEasterine Kire (Iralu) is a poet, writer, and novelist from Nagaland. She is one of the finest story tellers from the region and has written several books in English including three collections of poetry and short stories. Her first novel, A Naga Village Remembered, was the first-ever Naga novel to be published.
Easterine has translated 200 oral poems from her native language, Tenyidie, into English. She has been actively involved in working on creating better opportunities for the Naga youth and nurturing and evangelizing the Naga folktales.
She is also the Founder-partner of the publishing house called Barkweaver, which publishes Naga folktales, children’s stories and real stirring stories of ordinary people. Easterine Kire has a Ph.D in English Literature from University of Pune.
Easterine has translated 200 oral poems from her native language, Tenyidie, into English. She has been actively involved in working on creating better opportunities for the Naga youth and nurturing and evangelizing the Naga folktales.
She is also the Founder-partner of the publishing house called Barkweaver, which publishes Naga folktales, children’s stories and real stirring stories of ordinary people. Easterine Kire has a Ph.D in English Literature from University of Pune.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 9, 2013
What massive stupidity and ignorance for us not to know about parts of our country and its people we see as "fringe Indians. We want their lands to be part of our territory, but we do not care at all about the inhabitants and owners of that land.Their rights, their well being, their progress is none of our business really, they are so far from Delhi...
It is another story to read about invaders and colonizers exploit and brutalize our people and land; but what a shame to read about one's own government brutalize its own people! What have the north eastern states done to deserve such contempt and cruelty? This book is an eye opener for all who have sung " Sare jahan se achcha..."
It is another story to read about invaders and colonizers exploit and brutalize our people and land; but what a shame to read about one's own government brutalize its own people! What have the north eastern states done to deserve such contempt and cruelty? This book is an eye opener for all who have sung " Sare jahan se achcha..."
March 15, 2014
There is a marvelous simplicity and sincerity with which Easterine Kire tells the story of the Naga struggle for freedom. A people and a part of the world I knew nothing about have begun to seem very close after reading this book. The first two parts of the book set in and around Kohima and detailing the life of Mose work beautifully. However, I was a bit disappointed with Part 3 of the book which follows Neibou (the grandson of the main character Mose) into Delhi as a student. While it is important to the narrative because it brings the story full circle by revisiting events from the other side of the divide and holds out hope for peace,forgiveness and moving on it is very sketchily written. The Indian characters and the setting are hurriedly drawn and didn't quite ring true (eg. Rakesh's father commutes between Faridabad - which is in Haryana - and Haryana, his mother Dipti an editor with a publishing firm in Haryana (Gurgaon perhaps?) improbably keeps a cow in her back yard). I couldn't help wishing that the third part had been developed better - it took away from a very powerful and moving testimony.
January 29, 2017
If you don't know Nagaland's history, this is the right book to start. The novel follows the life of a character from independence of India till about 2010s through the various phases of nagaland's struggle.
The book doesn't have a plot. The plot of the naga struggle is its plot. The characters merely flow through the history, explaining to themselves and to the reader how a genuine demand for independence loses its way in factional war. The book turns introspective towards end, asking the right questions - so as to put.
Also, there are a couple of good reads in the appendix.
The book doesn't have a plot. The plot of the naga struggle is its plot. The characters merely flow through the history, explaining to themselves and to the reader how a genuine demand for independence loses its way in factional war. The book turns introspective towards end, asking the right questions - so as to put.
Also, there are a couple of good reads in the appendix.
October 3, 2013
The book opens with a muder of a young man in the market of Kohima in the year 2007 with the protagonist being present at the scene. The village life of Naga Hills with its rituals and dynamics is brought well to the fore. Expressing huge respect to Easterine Kire for the wonderful blending of the art of storytelling with academic engagements of the history and livelihood of the people. Happy Reading.
February 27, 2013
The many truth/face of Naga society, the untold story, a story of love & friendship between Mother-Son & Grand Mother, the tale of two childhood friends, the transformation of Naga society... and the beginning of full fledged Freedom Struggle with the new formed GOI
I am loving every moment reading it
I am loving every moment reading it
March 13, 2014
The book is really an insight into the struggle and turmoil in the north east of India. For a naive person who lacks even the basic of the lifelong struggle, this is the apt book one should read.
Author has cleverly weaved a story around all the struggle and reached onto a positive end!good read I must say, and the add ons are the annexures, so informative and lively about Naga people!
Author has cleverly weaved a story around all the struggle and reached onto a positive end!good read I must say, and the add ons are the annexures, so informative and lively about Naga people!
February 11, 2015
Picked up this book during a recent trip to Nagaland. The ending was emotional. Book explains perspective of Nagas of the last hundred years. Preface of the book acts as an outline of the story in the book. Must read if visiting Nagaland.
August 23, 2012
Reality gives you a lump in your throat and questions you don't know how to answer. One of the best books I have read this year.
April 2, 2019
Bitter wormwood by Easterine Kire
State: Nagaland
I, for no reason was very much in eager to read books from the northeastern states of India. It always intrigues us to get to know about mysterious and alienated places. But if a particular state of the same county we live in seems to be alien and foreign then there lies a valuable discovery. Probably one such urge made me pick a book from Nagaland (skipping many states down the list) - most beautiful yet prejudiced state.
Nagaland is a mountainous state of North East India, in the borders of Burma. She was added to India as a state, only at the cost of liters of bloodshed of Nagas and Indians. Killings to conquer and defence. Yet she has not failed to retain her grandeur and beauty.
With a hope to find an answer for the feeling of non- connectiveness and strange interest towards northeastern states I chose Bitter wormwood. Eventually I was very proud of myself for making this choice.
Of course, this book is about the struggle of Naga people who were fighting against the Indians' will of making Nagaland as an Indian state. But the addition of a family's internal sufferings due to the external war and a story of 70 years is what makes it interesting.
Mose, a small boy, son of a widow, grows with his mother and grandmother in Kohima ( Capital of Nagaland) . He looses his innocent grandmother to the violence of the conquering military. He then joins the Naga army in order to find justice for his grandmother's death and people. Several killings and brutality takes place. Mose returns home after many years and gets married to Neilhounuo 'the rifle girl' of the Naga army. He leads a normal life thereafter but is highly vulnerable to death as he was a former member of the foe of the Indian army. Generations develop with the development of violence. Racialism is at its core when his grandson goes to Delhi for his higher studies. There he faces a lot of ill treatments but befriends an Indian boy through which he comes to know the other perspective of India-Naga war-- The Indian version which he has never heard of before, from his friend's grandfather. The rest of the story deals with decisions based on no culture but a supreme law - humanity.
With the sense of satisfaction for finding the answer for the strange urge, I would highly recommend this book to everyone as it is a complete masterpiece both as a novel and as a descriptive work. The author brings out important and real incidents inside the plot. I was completely hooked up with the fast moving story.
State: Nagaland
I, for no reason was very much in eager to read books from the northeastern states of India. It always intrigues us to get to know about mysterious and alienated places. But if a particular state of the same county we live in seems to be alien and foreign then there lies a valuable discovery. Probably one such urge made me pick a book from Nagaland (skipping many states down the list) - most beautiful yet prejudiced state.
Nagaland is a mountainous state of North East India, in the borders of Burma. She was added to India as a state, only at the cost of liters of bloodshed of Nagas and Indians. Killings to conquer and defence. Yet she has not failed to retain her grandeur and beauty.
With a hope to find an answer for the feeling of non- connectiveness and strange interest towards northeastern states I chose Bitter wormwood. Eventually I was very proud of myself for making this choice.
Of course, this book is about the struggle of Naga people who were fighting against the Indians' will of making Nagaland as an Indian state. But the addition of a family's internal sufferings due to the external war and a story of 70 years is what makes it interesting.
Mose, a small boy, son of a widow, grows with his mother and grandmother in Kohima ( Capital of Nagaland) . He looses his innocent grandmother to the violence of the conquering military. He then joins the Naga army in order to find justice for his grandmother's death and people. Several killings and brutality takes place. Mose returns home after many years and gets married to Neilhounuo 'the rifle girl' of the Naga army. He leads a normal life thereafter but is highly vulnerable to death as he was a former member of the foe of the Indian army. Generations develop with the development of violence. Racialism is at its core when his grandson goes to Delhi for his higher studies. There he faces a lot of ill treatments but befriends an Indian boy through which he comes to know the other perspective of India-Naga war-- The Indian version which he has never heard of before, from his friend's grandfather. The rest of the story deals with decisions based on no culture but a supreme law - humanity.
With the sense of satisfaction for finding the answer for the strange urge, I would highly recommend this book to everyone as it is a complete masterpiece both as a novel and as a descriptive work. The author brings out important and real incidents inside the plot. I was completely hooked up with the fast moving story.
Read
September 10, 2021Bitter Wormwood is a historical fiction novel, written by Esterine Kire, one of North-East India's most prominent writers. This book follows the story of Mose over the course of 70 years. The way it was set up, it kind of reminded me of Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, even though the writers have two very distinct style of writing, their approach to both these stories were kind of similar.
Kire's writing is very different from the writers I have read so far. She is definitely the best of the North-Eastern writers I know of. Her writing style was very direct, fast paced, and very simplistic. It took some time for me to get used to, but once I did, it was easy going.
In this book, Kire brings forward the struggles of the Naga Freedom Movement, the atrocities committed by both the Indian soldiers and the Naga Underground. Never truly divulging into the graphic scenes but rather passing a commentary through the dialogue of Mose and Neituo, two former Naga Underground members. Kire provides all the necessary political and cultural context for the readers to understand the problems of the Naga people; also giving us, through this commentary, the solution to solve the particular problem.
Kire's writing is very different from the writers I have read so far. She is definitely the best of the North-Eastern writers I know of. Her writing style was very direct, fast paced, and very simplistic. It took some time for me to get used to, but once I did, it was easy going.
In this book, Kire brings forward the struggles of the Naga Freedom Movement, the atrocities committed by both the Indian soldiers and the Naga Underground. Never truly divulging into the graphic scenes but rather passing a commentary through the dialogue of Mose and Neituo, two former Naga Underground members. Kire provides all the necessary political and cultural context for the readers to understand the problems of the Naga people; also giving us, through this commentary, the solution to solve the particular problem.
May 19, 2023
A sublime exploration of the extraordinary lives of ordinary people in a region which is rife with violence and insurgency. Easterine Kire weaves a people’s story from one of the most misunderstood regions- Nagaland.
A great introduction to Naga literature and Naga centric narrative.
My only complaint with the book was that the dialogues were very flat and very poorly written.
A great introduction to Naga literature and Naga centric narrative.
My only complaint with the book was that the dialogues were very flat and very poorly written.
August 4, 2019
A compelling tale of The Naga Struggle for Sovereignty Against India and its impact on the lives of the Naga people. I love it when things come full circle in the plot of a novel and Part Three of this book did that beautifully. Recommended for fans of Historical Fiction and History alike.
June 23, 2021
This was an eye opening book about Naga history and the story Kire weaved around the insurgency was a heartfelt one. The later half of the story towards the ending however felt hastily written and the end too oversimplified to a beautiful amd gripping start.
April 17, 2025
Naga insurgency, Nagaland freedom struggle
April 17, 2016
While there is a certain predictability about the plots in the book, I nevertheless liked it. The book charts the violent history of the Nagas of northeastern India that remains unknown to most people in India and the world. Very uncomplicated writing, although Kire's narrative and overall plot organisation resemble other sympathetic writers who engage with issues surrounding identity, nationalism, viz., Achebe, Adichie, Tash Aw.
Most fiction writers who narrate history prefer the comfort of ambiguity in choosing an ending for their books, allowing the reader to imagine a suitably righteous future for him-/herself. There is beauty in it - no doubt. But Kire, it seems, knows the way out of the mire for the new generation Nagas, and she is bold in laying it out for the reader through her characters in the book. And perhaps it is this very prescription for her people that I thought was her real intent of dramatising the post-colonial Naga history into book form. On the whole, the book is not bad.
Most fiction writers who narrate history prefer the comfort of ambiguity in choosing an ending for their books, allowing the reader to imagine a suitably righteous future for him-/herself. There is beauty in it - no doubt. But Kire, it seems, knows the way out of the mire for the new generation Nagas, and she is bold in laying it out for the reader through her characters in the book. And perhaps it is this very prescription for her people that I thought was her real intent of dramatising the post-colonial Naga history into book form. On the whole, the book is not bad.
April 14, 2012
The name of the book itself suggests the subject the book dealing with is not customary to us. It portrays the Naga resistance about the Indian state through the lie of common people. Although it portrays only one view from authors side. Good read to uncover the other side of the story
May 21, 2012
A keeper of Nagaland's past takes us through the unusual life of Naga people which started from cultural difference but soon became political and militant. A keeper.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews