Shadow Men and two stories published by Speaking Tiger Books New Delhi was shortlisted for the prestigious Tagore Literary Prize 2020.In her lyrical, haunting prose, Bijoya Sawian paints a dark, threatening picture and shows how violence has tainted the very fabric of everyday life in a place that was once peaceful, untroubled and calm. A thick mist envelops an isolated house and a cottage atop a hill. Raseel, looking out from her window, hears the sound of shots. Suddenly the mist parts, and three men come into view, furtive, quick. Then they are gone, and there is silence. Raseel, visiting her old school friend Aila in Shillong, is determined to get to the truth behind the strange death of a ‘dkhar’, an outsider, in the grounds of her hosts’ house. Why was he killed? Who are the killers? As she begins to unravel the mystery, Raseel finds herself caught in a tale of intrigue and violence that mirrors the world of insurgency around her. The tense and dramatic undercurrents that emerge in Shadow Men continue in the stories that follow. In ‘The Flight’, eighteen-year-old Mawii has to make a difficult decision between her ‘own people’ and her one true love—when that love involves a ‘vai’—yet another word for ‘outsider’. And in ‘The Limp’, octogenarian Nipendro Roy finally feels he ‘belongs’ in this hill state to which he came as a twenty-year-old immigrant from Bengal. Shillong remains the true hero in these stories, as Bijoya Sawian draws the reader into a world where the downside of a matrilineal society, the scourge of drugs, alcohol and corrupt politicians, the disconnect with mainstream India, and above all, the fight for identity and belonging, threaten to rock this idyllic hill state that was once a paradise and, perhaps, no longer is.
Bijoya Sawian is a writer and translator.
She did her schooling from Seng Khasi and Loreto Convent Shillong. Sawian graduated in English Honours from Lady Shri Ram College New Delhi and did her post graduation in English from Miranda House Delhi University .
Her literary works which comprise of her highly acclaimed translations from Khasi into English of the indigenous culture of the Khasis, have been published by Vivekananda Institute of Culture Guwahati and Ri Press Shillong.
Translations
The Teachings of Elders (VKIC Guwahati), Radhon Singh’s literary masterpiece the Khasi book of ethics and etiquette which was first published in Khasi in 1901
The Main Ceremonies of The Khasis(VKIC Guwahati)-Naming ,Marriage and the Last Rites published in three separate essays by KS Marbaniang, Sitimon Sawian and Wallamphang Roy in 1997 and translated by her in 2014
About One God (Ri Khasi Press Shillong 2003)-by the Khasi literary icon, Babu Jeebon Roy Mairom first published in Khasi in 1900
Khasi Myths Legends and Folktales (Ri Khasi Press Shillong )-a retelling of the author’s childhood days stories showing the important role that folklore plays in tracing origins of ancient tribes
Bijoya Sawian’s works of fiction include Shadow Men (Speaking Tiger Books New Delhi 2020). A Family Secret and other Stories (Zubaan New Delhi 2014)
Shadow Men has been referred to as one of the most important literary works that has emerged from the North East, a “classic novel” (Namita Gokhale Co-Director Jaipur Litfest).The book was shortlisted for the prestigious Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2020.
Many of her short stories have been published both in India and abroad including the Sahitya Akademi. Sawian is also a regular contributor to various literary journals, magazines and newspapers .Her stories and articles have been translated into Hindi by the Ramnika Foundation New Delhi
Sawian is also a keen and dedicated educator. Along with her husband, Alark Singh, she runs The Annfield Senior Secondary Co Educational School in Vikasnagar, Dist Dehra Dun in Uttrakhand.
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