Shillong Shining

In surveying modern Indian literature, we can now earnestly begin to talk about a “Shillong canon” in writing since a long enough period of creativity has passed through this hill station. However, we must be cautious not to make this canon “exclusivist” or to posit one common standard of writing attributable to this place. The problem with many canons – Western or otherwise – is that they tend towards discrimination between “high” and “low”, between “popular” and “elite” art forms. A canon can be used to formalise personal bias, thereby making it seem authoritative and definitive.

I attempt here an analysis, not a rating, of writers belonging to Shillong (or, more correctly, Meghalaya) whose writings either reflect or fracture experiences about their culture.