The Northeast is home to eight different states and multiple ethnic communities.We find similar theme being explored in Nabina Das’ ‘Chitro of the dung buckets’ , Jacqueline Zote’s ‘The other side of the looking glass: Retelling of Mizo folktales’ and Nitoo Das’ ‘How to cut a fish’. Parismita Singh has made an honest attempt to bridge the gap between the margin and the mainstream. It is either portrayed as an area of darkness untouched by civilisation and modernity or as a land of trigger happy insurgents.It will not be erroneous to claim that Centrepiece problematises this kind of misrepresentation.Mamang Dai’s short fiction.

‘The story of Tanik — the mythmaker’, which is an extract from one of her novels, deals with the implications of living in a society at the crossroads of tradition and modernity.In a globalised world where disseminating and accessing information have become so much easier than before, it is a matter of immense perplexity that majority of the people’s knowledge about the Northeast is still so painfully limited. The short story, Women’s literature, by Sanatombi Ningobam is a powerful critique of the oppressive structures of the patriarchal world that often silences a woman’s voice.The writing and art manage to delineate the complexities and contradictions associated with the Northeastern identity without exoticising the region or its people.

Representation of the region in the mainstream media remains trapped in stereotypes. In Moitra’s narrative, Dimapur is much more than a backdrop.Prashansa Gurung’s photo project documents the moments in the life of a stylist called Josie Paris who has left her home behind to work in the entertainment industry.Something common to most of the works included in this compilation is that they deal with the experiences of being a woman. Centrepiece, edited by Parismita Singh and published by Zubaan, brings together a diverse range of art and writings from the region. Assertion of identity by the “otherised” have taken the shape of violent armed struggle against the Indian state in many cases.11Shares.Edited by Parismita Singh, ‘Centrepiece’ brings to the readers stories of a region which still remains largely absent in the popular imagination.

Though all the works included in this book distinctly bear the imprint of the Northeast, they differ greatly in terms of their medium, style and tenor thereby highlighting the striking diversity of the region. In fact, many are of the opinion that even the term Northeast is a misnomer that downplays the diversity found in the region. The author paints a unique picture of the place, carefully highlighting the complex negotiations that one has to make in the course of their daily lives while living in the politically troubled district.In ‘The objects of everyday work: A photo essay’, Aungmakhai Chak subverts the established iconography for indigenous women by shifting the focus from the women’s body to that of objects of everyday work. Manipur-based artist Kundo Yumnam too deals with this same issue in her evocative self-portraitthat these authors do in their writings.Nandini Kalita is a Doctoral Fellow and a Teaching Assistant, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, IIT, DelhiThePrint’s YouTube channel is now active and buzzing. Despite being an extremely heterogeneous space, recognisable markers of cultural, ethnic and linguistic difference in the people of the region from the rest of the population of the country often create a flawed notion about the Northeast being a homogenous entity. Her narrative will find resonance with all those who have migrated from the Northeast to other parts of India in search of better opportunities but feel disillusioned away from home.However, this term can also be an indicator of a shared identity and solidarity. Thingnam Anjulika Samom’s set of amusing poems aptly titled ‘China Sports Towel Suppliershashtag poetry’ shows how form and content of art too changes with changing times.Centrepiece through a wide variety of writings and images brings to the readers, stories of a region which still remains largely absent in the popular imagination. The picture of the region that emerges through the works included in the compilation is very different from the one that we find in dominant discourses. Gurung captures several images of Josie at work in Goa.The racial distinctiveness of the inhabitants of the Northeast often make them victims of a kind of “otherisation” in the rest of the nation. A photograph does not only serve the purpose of documentation but also goes on to shape our notions of what is worthy of being focussed upon. Please subscribehere. Aheli Moitra in her powerful essay “Naga neki” traces # her own journey as a journalist with a newspaper based in Dimapur, a district in Nagaland. Using textile art she recounts the story of her journey as a designer from the city back to her hometown and in the process perspicaciously underscores the contesting pulls of tradition and modernity that she experienced during this transition.Alyen Leeachum Foning’s contribution too is about the journey of self discovery.As the publisher’s note itself claims at the very outset, this edited collection of writings and visual art by women from northeastern India and “one or two of its neighbours” was conceived with the intention of addressing the marginalisation that the region faces.

At a meeting with his department officials, a minister in charge spoke so harshly, and rebuked the officers without having understood the problems being faced by the department,” he said, without naming the minister. He calls the Sikh Review his labour of love. Singh now lives in Kolkata, and was communicating through his nephew, Satnam Singh Ahluwalia.“After retirement, he immersed himself in welfare work for Sikhs completely,” said his nephew Ahluwalia. The attitude to social issues has become more vibrant. We were the only men with turbans at the time,” he said.

At this point, I snubbed the minister and objected to his aggressive handling of the officers. “In fact, he only stopped playing golf 6-7 years ago when his doctor asked him to stop,” Ahluwalia said.“Times have changed. I was privileged to serve the government of India for 35 years,” Singh said.Post-retirement careerSingh was appointed adviser to the governor of Assam from 1981-1982, at a time when the state was under President’s Rule. “The chemistry of the personnel in the current dispensation seems to have changed. This was why the West Bengal IAS Association felicitated him on his 95th birthday earlier this month.

Also read Quietly, Modi govt ‘hides’ list of IAS, IFS, IPS officers eligible for Delhi postsHe had an integral role in the formation of the World Sikh Council, an elected body of gurdwaras and Sikh institutions across the world, catering to Wholesale Beach Towels Manufacturers the religious and educational needs of the Sikh community. The availability of information is an aid that helps officers be more vigilant and alert.Sardar Saran Singh, 95, speaks about how things have changed for the civil service in the 71 years since independence.A Bihar cadre officer of the 1948 batch, Singh has seen the services evolve since the time officers facilitated India’s historic first general election in 1952, which they did while moving from booth to booth on foot or by cart.

Systems, too, have changed for the better.New Delhi: At a time when there is debate over whether Indian civil servants are ceding ground to their political masters, Sardar Saran Singh, one of the country’s oldest living IAS officers at 95, said political pressure on bureaucrats is as old as Indian bureaucracy itself. The minister promptly went to the chief minister and complained about me and I was promptly shifted to another department. Please subscribehere.”Also read: Top retired IAS, IFS officers join cushy corporate boards, some in sectors they regulatedPatience is a rare qualitySingh’s journey as a bureaucrat ran parallel to the history of the civil services in Independent India. There are more complex administrative problems demanding attention today.”However, the civil services have their problems too, he said.In an interview to ThePrint, Singh recalled the pressures he had to resist decades ago in order to perform his duties.When he was preparing for the civil services exam back in 1947, it was still called the Imperial Civil Services.“Today, technology has completely reinvented itself.ThePrint’s YouTube channel is now active and buzzing.”In 2011, Singh went on to be conferred with the Shiromani Sikh Lekhak Sanmaan by Sri Akal Takht Sahib in Amritsar, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs. “He has edited several Sikh magazines and continues to be an editor of a magazine called Sikh Review even at this age.