Myth, reality, universal concerns headline Rashmi Narzary's 'The Lost Soul of the Joukhoorei'

Hindustan Times

15-06-2025

Guwahati, Bringing together a blend of myth and reality, award-winning author Rashmi Narzary's says her latest book – 'The Lost Soul of the Joukhoorei' – underscores universal concerns along with the 'joys of befriending and the pains of letting go'.
Narzary, who hails from the Bodo community, has narrated many a story of yore of the land with creative sensibility and her recent book, too, brings to the fore myths, folklore and legends drawn from lost and forgotten tales.
The only Assamese writer to be invited by the Sahitya Akademi as a house guest recently to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Narzary, told PTI that 'The Lost Soul of the Joukhoorei' was born out of her ''crazy imagination and I dole out magic and suspense, too, along with legends of the land''.
Eminent lyricist and poet Gulzar has mentioned in the book's blurb, 'If there is a Cosmos within Cosmos, a Universe within a Universe, it's in the storytelling by Rashmi Narzary. She takes you across infinite time. The book ends. The story does not.'
Narzary said the story of her new book 'begins with an ancient feel about it, that would flow through realms, space and species, human, animals, birds and insects, all speaking the same language, and being bound by elements of love and compassion'.
The 'Joukhoorei', the title derived from the Bodo words 'jou' meaning wine and 'khoorei' signifying bowl, is the dry shell of a gourd with its insides scooped out to hold liquid.
The book tells the story of ''having and losing, of uprooting and settling, of the joys of befriending and the pains of then letting go - It is a tale of a soul not lost forever but a soul which had only lost its way", she said.
It is redolent with the legends of 'our land, but is imbued with universal concerns where the lines between myth and reality blur, and every choice carries the weight of destiny', Narzary said.
"A visit to the serene 'gompas' in the high altitudes of Sikkim and Bhutan refused to leave my thoughts, and I set this tale in the mountains, which are generally thought to be home to spirits, mysteries and mythical songs,'' she said.
The author has woven the tale around 'Bathou' and the Buddha, but she points out that they are essentially separate and have distinct identities, though they are manifestations of the same belief.
"The connect with the Buddha and the Jataka era in the book was incorporated for a feel of ancientness and mythical allure, as well as to add a bridge between the very distant, enchanted past and the present," she said.
Her books may be works of fiction, but Narzary maintains that a lot of research goes into her writings as she "observes people, situations, objects, and anything around me".
'I listen to people talk and at times, I get old people in our villages to speak of days of yore, of unchronicled incidents, of lost customs which were bound with lost clans. I also read a lot of academic papers, old news archives and even consultation with former army personnel like in 'An Unfinished Search' are involved,' she said.
Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Bal Puraskar, Narzary is the author of eight books, which are taught in universities and researched for doctoral thesis, and have been translated into various Indian and foreign languages.