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The first book that I read of Ankush Saikia was The Girl From Nongrim Hills, a noir thriller which is set in Shillong. Saikia has come a long way since then. The Forest Beneath the Mountains is not exactly the noir that you find in Saikia’s works. It’s more than that. It is an amalgamation of history, ecology or environment, routine camaraderie of foresters, and some what semi-autobiographical. The protagonist finds himself leaving his job in Delhi and returning home to delve into the passing of his father, who was a forest Beat Officer. It may appear to be a story, (a fictionalised one at that) of Abhijit Saikia, the protagonist, but Saikia weaves the history of Bodo land and its rich ecology into his narration.
An elaborate and unhurried read, Ankush Saikia exhibits daily life in the mountains of Assam, North East of India. The day-to-day lives of the foresters mashed with alcoholism and dealing with insurgency in the border forests are evident in the story. In his quest for the truth, the protagonist finds himself getting deeper in to the past which he is not ready to face. The rich ecology of Assam is unveiled as the story progresses.
The Forest Beneath the Mountains is original and unembellished but it connects you with the familial and makes you comprehend the North East of India in the Assam or Bodo land point of view. There is history, there is politics, there is ecology, there is a story and there is the simple things. Ankush Saikia championed in creating a story that’s real yet invented. This book is surely a window to the forests of Assam that’s filled with vast history.
(Publisher : Speaking Tiger, Pages – 318, 499 INR)