The Last Free Naga
Fiction
2025 208 pages
The Last Free Naga by Jim Wungramyao Kasom is a collection of twelve evocative short stories that capture the heart, history, and spirit of the Naga people. Set against the backdrop of a remote homeland—where distance is both a shield and a chosen way of life—Kasom’s prose is fresh, haunting, and deeply rooted in cultural memory.
From the fervor of the Naga national movement to the quiet rhythms of rural existence, each story reveals a world of striking beauty and uncompromising reality. In the title story, a young boy prepares to leave his village for a safer neighboring state, wondering how to fit the essence of his home into a single suitcase. Salt portrays a man’s struggle to build a peaceful life in the mountains, only to confront the brutality of the state. In Season of Cicadas, myth and memory merge when a lone walk is disrupted by the mysterious Khangneyi. And in The River that Bends Time, generations are bound together by fishing nets and a river that endures every change around it.
Within these pages are silent lovers, fractured families, steadfast fathers, spirited grandmothers, and uncles lost to time—each character unforgettable in their own way. The Last Free Naga stands as a lyrical tribute to the solitude, resilience, and singular identity of the Naga people.
"Technology made communication easier but not necessarily more meaningful"
"They had been doing fine without the technology, the rock music, the Yamaha RX 350 bike, and the heroin. They had each other. They had the community. They had the forest, the hunting, and the fishing.…"
"Life was simple. There were rights and wrongs. Honest and dishonest people. And there were consequences for one’s action. The most important thing in her life was to choose one way and live by it."
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