''Peace Has Come'' is a collection of short stories written and illustrated by
Parismita Singh
Parismita Singh (born 1979/1980) is an Indian author, illustrator, graphic novelist, and educator. She is a founding member of the Pao Collective, and her work includes ''The Hotel at the End of the World'', which was shortlisted for the Shakti B ...
, published by
Westland in 2018.
Synopsis
There are eight stories in the collection that take place in the
Bodoland region of
Assam, India, during a time of "ceasefire".
The stories feature characters from a variety of communities, including
Bodo Bodo may refer to:
Ethnicity
* Boro people, an ethno-linguistic group mainly from Northwest Assam, India
* Bodo-Kachari people, an umbrella group from Nepal, India and Bangladesh that includes the Bodo people
Culture and language
* Boro cu ...
,
Nepali
Nepali or Nepalese may refer to :
Concerning Nepal
* Anything of, from, or related to Nepal
* Nepali people, citizens of Nepal
* Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...
,
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
,
Koch-Rajbongshi,
Rabha
The Rabha are a Tibeto-Burman community to the Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal. They primarily inhabit the plains of Lower Assam and the Dooars, while some are found in the Garo Hills. Most of the Rabhas of Dooars refer to thems ...
,
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
and
Santal
The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking
Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and A ...
.
Background
In 2018, Singh told ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' that she wrote the stories over three years while working on another project related to primary schools in
Assam.
Reception
In a review for ''
Mint'', Sanjukta Sharma writes "The title of Parismita Singh’s collection of stories, ''Peace Has Come'', is a tragicomic irony."
Supriya Sharma writes in a review for the ''
Hindustan Times'', "The irony of the title
..becomes evident in its absence in the lives of the characters of these short stories set in the villages of upper Assam (the area called Bodoland).
..Surprisingly, its subject matter does not weigh down this collection or make it a depressing read."
In a review for ''
The Sunday Guardian'', Anshika Ravi writes, "The brilliance of her work lies in the lingering feeling of dissatisfaction and restlessness that she manages to instill. All stories end on an ambiguously tragic note, only ascertaining that peace is nowhere near."
writes in a review for ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'', "The plotlines are often predictable. But Singh’s uniqueness lies in the way she carves out her characters, looking deep into their heart and minds, so that readers immediately empathise with them."
Jessica Xalxo writes for ''
SheThePeople
''SheThePeople.TV'' is an Indian digital media website that focuses on women related news and entertainment in video format, though "The Women's Channel" has a large amount of text based content as well. It was launched in 2015 by an Indian jour ...
'', "With Singh’s illustrations too marking the pages, readers find themselves experiencing what the newspapers glossed over and what only a look into the lives of the people amidst ceasefire could give."
In a review for ''
Scroll.in
''Scroll.in'', simply referred to as ''Scroll'', is an Indian digital news publication owned by the Scroll Media Incorporation. It publishes content in both Hindi and English languages. Founded in 2014, the website and its journalists have won ...
'', Sayali Palekar writes, "''Peace Has Come'', I believe, is crucial to read today, as more and more people realise how violent peace can be, to realise the sheer impossibility of these three titular words."
A review by Kamalika Basu in ''
The Telegraph'' concludes, "With tension continuing to brew in Assam, the book is particularly relevant to our times. Rather than taking a partisan stand on militancy, Singh represents diverse ethnic groups that inhabit the space, and ties them together through the shared struggle for rights and identity and an undercurrent of humanity."
References
{{Reflist
External links
Sultana’s story is fiction, but the Bodo versus Muslim conflict in Assam is fact(story excerpt, ''
Scroll.in
''Scroll.in'', simply referred to as ''Scroll'', is an Indian digital news publication owned by the Scroll Media Incorporation. It publishes content in both Hindi and English languages. Founded in 2014, the website and its journalists have won ...
'', 2018)
2018 short story collections
Indian short story collections
War short stories
Assamese literature
Books about politics of India
Westland Books books