Boats on Land

By Janice Pariat,

Book cover of Boats on Land: A Collection of Short Stories

Book description

Boats on Land is a unique way of looking at India’s northeast and its people against a larger historical canvas—the early days of the British Raj, the World Wars, conversions to Christianity, and the missionaries. This is a world in which the everyday is infused with folklore and a deep…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Boats on Land as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love how this short story collection traverses time but not locationthe setting is the northeastern state of Meghalaya while the stories span 150 years. In these fifteen tales, folklore mixes with modern life and myth is steeped in the mundane. The result? The reader journeys through a rich smorgasbord of a multi-faceted Meghalaya and its people. Given the tendency to clump the seven northeastern states together, this book helps us view one of those states distinctively.

From Venkataraghavan's list on discovering a modern India you’ve never seen.

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