‘Where The Light Finds Us’ by Vishü Rita Krocha is a
captivating collection of seven short stories, many of which were previously
published by esteemed platforms like PenThrill, Zubaan, Sahitya Akademi, and
Routledge. Through these tales, Krocha skillfully weaves themes of addiction,
hope, family, grief, and resilience, often set against the backdrop of Naga life
and folklore.
The first story, “Cough Syrup,” explores the painful grip of
addiction through the life of a man who becomes dependent on cough syrup.
Krocha juxtaposes addiction with love, delivering powerful lines like, “…love
isn’t enough for an addict. It takes a miracle for him to abandon his
addiction.”
In “A Glimmer of Hope,” the reader follows Monko, a
12-year-old boy from Tuensang village who grew up in a conflict zone seeing
things a normal boy is not supposed to see like a dead body because of the
persistent and brutal factional conflicts between the NSCN (IM) and K groups.
Amidst the terror and horror, he manages to find hope.
“Cut Off” presents a sweeping family saga, beginning with
Tasu, a headhunter, and spanning generations to his grandson Kavikha, the first
graduate of the village, and who went on to contest elections. In a violence
which erupted during the elections, it was Tasu’s granddaughter Chavi who would
play an important role in subsiding it.
“The Son of the Village Gaon Bura” tells the tragic story of
Lekho, a young man driven to join the ‘Underground’ movement after witnessing
atrocities committed by the Indian Army and the death of his grandfather, the
Gaon Bura, at their hands. Years later, his life ends in a brutal factional clash,
not against the forces he once fought, but against his own people.
“A Grandmother’s Tale” is my favourite of the lot. Herein,
the protagonist reminisces her grandmother, the stories she used to tell her,
her memories of times gone by and her death which changed the protagonist’s
life forever. Among the many stories her grandmother told, the love story of
Durule and Sacho remained the protagonist’s favourite—a tale she insisted on
hearing repeatedly. The narrative subtly weaves a feminist undertone, highlighting
the gentle and strong attitude of the grandmother who “never talked back even
when grandpa insulted her for the silliest thing. She would simply carry on”
with whatever she was doing. This story not only explores
granddaughter-grandmother love and relationship but also talks about
storytelling as a love language, connecting generations.
“All the Broken Things” delves into the pandemic’s impact
through various perspectives: a returnee whose father died of COVID-19, the
doctor who treated him, a grieving mother at the church, and an ordinary girl.
Through these characters, Krocha reflects on how the nature of grief and
mourning changed during the pandemic. The ordinary girl’s words linger:
“Negativity will kill us before the virus does,” and “If it was the end of the
world, wouldn’t you like to die a better person?” This story reminds me of a
poem in Krocha’s poetry book, “From the Broken Earth” (PenThrill, 2021) - “I
saw there was a funeral/yesterday/ I went to one this morning/ in the pouring
rain/ and I think to myself/ they are no longer the same/ will these dark
times/ even change the way we grieve?”
“Where the Light Finds Us”, the titular story, is a tale
about ‘themeludu’ or ‘the path of the dead’; talks about death as something
which is a part of life. Based on Naga folklore, this magically realistic tale
tells us that like death and grief, the light will also find us. At its core,
the story offers comfort and reassurance, with a powerful message that
resonates: “Just know that there is light somewhere waiting for you.”
These diverse stories are bound in a book with a beautiful
cover. There is an age-old saying that one should not judge a book by its cover
but with this one, you can!
