Kashmir has many stories of its own to tell beyond the visible political ones, though these have not been brought to the forefront because of the way New Delhi has treated place and its inhabitants over the decades.

                 — Onaiza Drabu, "The Legend of Himal and Nagrai and Other Stories"

Onaiza Drabu, is an anthropologist, who graduated from Oxford University and whose research focuses on identity and nationalism in Kashmir. In her recently published book The Legend of Himal and Nagrai, she re-tells the folktales from Kashmir.

The following excerpts have been reproduced from an interview by Gokul S Prabhu for scroll.in. Drabu talks about the method of collecting these folktales, choosing the voice in re-telling of these folktales and reflections on the tradition of storytelling.

We invite the readers to share their thoughts on the interview and over nuances of storytelling and choosing the voice in the process.

Pu Lamkhothang: The hill patriot of Japan-Gal is written by Michael Lunminthang on his late great grand uncle for the session on Day 2: Reading/Writing/Re-writing/Telling/Re-telling using prompts, 20 December 2019.

Dedicated to ‘no ordinary person’ Pu Capt. Lamkhothang of INA (Indian National Army).

“What I really appreciated was that the workshp provided a space where even while working with a timer, we were be able to produce something... to write something which was very direct and to the point”.

          Nicolas Bautès, Research Fellow, French Institute of Pondicherry

“… how do you express yourself in stories when you’re writing down… this is something I’m beginning to see after this workshop…how to put my thoughts together… how to bring and access information…how to use it and prioritise it in a meaningful way to make it impactful...”

                              - Dharitri Narzary, Assistant Professor, Ambedkar University Delhi