[caption id="attachment_284893" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Resource persons pose for a photograph on the first day of the workshop in Kohima on Thursday. EM Images[/caption]
Our Correspondent
Kohima, Nov. 28 (EMN): A two-day workshop for aspiring Naga writers started on Thursday at Hotel Ura in Kohima, sponsored by the Kohima Educational Trust and connected with the Gordon Graham Prize for Naga Literature, “with a view to help build the health of the mind and thinking ion of Naga society”.
Resource person, Vishü Rita Krocha of PenThrill Publication House, and formerly of Eastern Mirror, shared her experience as a publisher in Nagaland saying that when she ventured into publishing, she did it without knowing many of the risks involved.
“It was in the later part of the year 2013 in November that PenThrill was formally opened by the then chief secretary of Nagaland, Alemtemshi Jamir. I had just quit fulltime journalism and had been thinking about this ambitious dream, with nothing in my pocket but dreams,” she shared.
Krocha said that working as a fulltime newspaper correspondent for so many years had provided her with an enriching experience but no savings at all. “When you give your heart to something and pursue it relentlessly no matter what, then you are going to survive,” she said.
“I think the idea about starting a publishing house started to form inside my mind. First and foremost because I had not heard of an existing one in Nagaland and mostly because I thought it would help aspiring writers like myself to have their works published,” she said.
According to Krocha, the journey of a book is not as easy as it looks because once a manuscript has been accepted, it goes through a lengthy process of editing, among other things, like layout and designing, proofreading etc.
“And because unlike other people who venture into business specially prepared with financial resources to keep them going at least for a couple of years, mine is a different story. I did not have enough money to employ people. I still don’t. So, yes, I am the publisher, but I am also the labourer who loads and unloads books during delivery; I am that salesperson and distributor who distribute books at various local stores; I am the editor, the proofreader—although sometimes services such as editing and proofreading are outsourced, including other professional services like designing and printing,” she narrated.
“From my experience, the greatest challenge in publishing books in Nagaland has been the lack of readership,” she stated adding ‘you need a lot of patience to have your books sold and only years later, be able to make up the capital you invested in for a particular book’.
She shared that there were times when she had to withdraw some book titles from some stores because it had been around for a long period of time. Nevertheless, she encouraged aspiring writers to focus on the positive ‘and just keep going’.
“The good news is that I see many new, fresh, emerging voices coming up now,” said Krocha.
According to her, the new writers associated with her publishing house were mostly from schools and colleges. “The number of readers has also increased, which is good news for the entire literature community in Nagaland,” she added.
“In publishing books, I am more and more convinced that this is one of the greatest gifts we can leave behind for the generation to come,” she said, adding, “the fact that you are leaving behind a story of a life as you saw it—to be read and imagined by another reader is something worth pursuing.”
She expressed belief that someday “our books will be read not only by Nagas but by people from all over the world.”
Fellow resource person, Bano Haralu, Editor of Nagaland Today, spoke on the topic: Interpreting the role of writers/journalists in Naga Society today.
She maintained that there is a need for workshops for journalists and newspapers in Nagaland. According to her, “our (news)papers need to reflect more.”
She also mentioned that there was a time when newspapers in Nagaland underwent ‘a great stress as newspapers were hijacked by insurgents’.
Haralu said that newspapers look forward to opinion pieces that reflect where things have gone right or wrong. She encouraged the readers, especially the youth, to write their thoughts.
Asked if there is freedom of speech in Nagaland, she was of the view that ‘the environment right now, the right to freedom of speech is under threat’.
Editor and publisher of Imphal Free Press, Pradip Phanjoubam, another resource person, observed that fiction writing in Nagaland is coming up.
He also elaborated on how ‘literary version of fiction is more than real life situation’ saying ‘something which cannot happen in reality can be imagined and put in fiction’.
Oken Jeet Sandham, a senior journalist working in Nagaland, shared about his experience as a working journalist in Nagaland.
He spoke mostly on the Naga political issue, narrating about incidents and stories he came across as a journalist. “I started seeing the bloodshed with my own eyes where many leaders were gunned down.”
Sandham shared why he was driven to write books on the Naga political issue: ‘People, today, do not know but Nagas have a political history and a political movement.’
He also observed that since the October 31 round of Indo-Naga talks, Governor and Interlocutor RN Ravi “has not tried talking to the press people in Nagaland till today.”
He wondered why Ravi was “not prepared” to face the state media “even after the conclusion of talks”.
Sandham urged writers to not only write “what we see but beyond what we see”.
“We have to see the real picture of what is happening,” he added.
The Kohima Educational Trust is a charitable organisation set up in Britain by the British veterans of the Battle of Kohima to assist the education of the Naga children, initiated by Gordon Graham.
