Easterine Kire a Terrible Matriarchy –A Re-Interpretation of The

High Technology Letters ISSN NO : 1006-6748 Easterine Kire A Terrible Matriarchy –A Re-interpretation of the Cultural aspect of Naga Life Dr. A Rajeswari Associate Professor Department of English St. Jude’s College Thoothoor 629176 Tamil Nadu Dr. R Wilson Professor and Head English Research Center St.Jude’s College, Thoothoor 629176 Tamil Nadu Diana Dickson J C Research Scholar Department of English St.Jude’s College Thoothoor 629176 Tamil Nadu Volume 26, Issue 10, 2020 421 http://www.gjstx-e.cn/ High Technology Letters ISSN NO : 1006-6748 Easterine Kire Iralu is one of the strong voices of India’s seven sisters. Her books explore the socio-political, cultural and historical background of Nagaland. Her writings support a peaceful future for Nagaland. In 2015, she has won the prestigious The Hindu Literary Prize (2015) for the novel, When the River Sleeps (2014). Kire also received many prestigious awards such as Free word Prize(2013), Tata Book of the Year Award(2017), and Balsahithya Puraskar (2018). The novels like A Naga Village Remembered (2003), A Terrible Matriarchy (2013), Mari(2010),Bitter Wormwood (2011), Don’t Run My Love(2017),A Respectable Woman (2019) and The Dancing Village (2015) made the writer more prolific. This article focuses on the historical and cultural aspects of Naga life through the novel A Terrible Matriarchy. This is a bildungsroman, talks about a young girl growing up in a traditional Naga society and it flashback the history of Nagas, the history where the Nagas were under colonial rule and Naga nationalism. Indian Literature selected the book abroad for translating into UN languages. The novel takes us to the 1960s and 70s town of Kohima. Dielieno, a little girl of five years old, is the only daughter with four brothers. This story is not only the story of Dielieno, but also of many girl children in the traditional Naga society. The Novel showcases various denials that she experiences from a young age at the hands of her grandma. The multiple layers in the novel addresses social, political and cultural changes presenting a multi-faceted view of Volume 26, Issue 10, 2020 422 http://www.gjstx-e.cn/ High Technology Letters ISSN NO : 1006-6748 Naga society. It grapples with complex issues of customary practices, tribal culture, Christianity and changing mindsets about male and female roles that impact men, women and children in diverse ways. With this novel Kire takes her readers to the heart of Naga society and reveals the layers of experience that make a society. The novel gives the experience of three generations of women – Dielieno, her mother Nino and grandmother Vibano. Through their narratives, the novel inter connects the experiences of women at different stages of the history of the Nagas. In Nagaland there are many tribes, one such tribe that Kire mentioned in this novel is Angami tribe. Each tribes has its own practices, rituals, customs and culture. The novel sketches the familial and gender relations against an Angami Naga cultural background. The cultural context of A Terrible Matriarchy reflects the social predicament of women in a tribal culture that values men above women. Patriarchal practices ensure women’s subordinate position which entails the performance of most of the domestic work falling on the women, while men appear to do much less. In the novel young girl child Dielieno’s eyes, Kire visualizes the gender divisions, family relationships, economic conditions and cultural realities that shaped her life . From the innocent eyes of Dielieno, Kire traces the struggle of the girl child to get educated, to get freedom, to get acceptance and respect from the male supremacy. In her struggle, her mother’s support, strength and wisdom guide and help her to cope up with the pressures of having to constantly navigate herself through the prevailing cultural currents of her time. Volume 26, Issue 10, 2020 423 http://www.gjstx-e.cn/ High Technology Letters ISSN NO : 1006-6748 The novel begins with a denial. When she asks for one chicken leg, grandmother denies her and tells her, “that portion is always for boys. Girls must eat the other portions”(1). From there onwards she comes across many instances of bitter experiences of discrimination. Later she learns that, being the youngest gave her no privileges in the matriarch’s eyes. There girls had to fetch water, not boys. They had to sweep, clean the house, wash clothes, feed chickens, dry and store vegetables. Here boys are excluded from all these menial work but are not excluded from special foods like sweet, tasty portions of meat. The reward for all the works and tasks that she performed was a meager meal with a piece or two of meat or a cup of tea with one biscuit. Her widowed grandmother needs a helper. So a little five year old girl’s childhood is sacrificed for serving an irritated women’s loneliness. She was forced to live under the strict supervision of her grandmother, made her separated from her father mother and brothers. There Dielieno starts to understand the unequal world that boys and girls live in. Grandmother denied her to bath in warm water, play time, rest time, and even tries to deny her education. Her mother Nino is the only person who quietly and firmly stands up for her to be send to school. Here, Delieino is a girl from the third generation and her mother Nino from the second generation, but her grandmother Vibano was in the first generation. As Delienio is under the control of her grandmother, she is trying to impose her prejudices and her views upon Delieno. Volume 26, Issue 10, 2020 424 http://www.gjstx-e.cn/ High Technology Letters ISSN NO : 1006-6748 Kire gives insight into the reality of Naga society where girl’s education was not prioritized. Boys were given preference and a girl had to face tough phases to get an education. According to Grandmother’s view, getting girls educated made them immoral whereas education for boys made them wise and educated. In our day, Grandmother began, “ girls did not go to school. We stayed at home and learn the house work. Then we went to the fields and learnt all the fields and learnt all the field work as well. That way one never has a problem with girl- children. …I really do not approve of girls getting educated. It only makes them get fancy notions about themselves and they forget their place in the family.”(23) A good women in Grandmother’s view was akin to do all domestic woks. Boys, in her opinion, will be boys. “ They should be taught to be manly. In my father’s day, boys never did any work because they had to look after the village and emerge enemy warriors in warfare. The household that did not have a male heir was considered barren”.(37) Volume 26, Issue 10, 2020 425 http://www.gjstx-e.cn/ High Technology Letters ISSN NO : 1006-6748 The cultural context of A Terrible Matriarchy reflects the social predicament of the tribal women in a tribal culture that values men above women. Dielieno’s best friend Vimenenuo comes from a home with an alcoholic father. The reason behindher father Zekuo’s alcoholic addiction is because of the frustrations over a low paid job and the lack of a son . It is reflective in many men over the volatile atmosphere that prevailed in Nagaland. His desire for a son to continue his name been unfulfilled, he always blames his wife for not producing a son. In the mist of these unhealthy social situations little Dielieno learns that, “ girl children are never considered real members of the family. Their mission in life is to marry and have children and be able to cook and weave cloth and look after the household. If they got married, they would be always known as somebody’s mother and never somebody’s daughter”(26). When Dielieno reaches the seventh standard, many girls drop their studies to get married. She is among the few who cope with studies. After her puberty her life takes a major turn. Her sickly third brother tragically passed away, her mother’s condition went worse. These situations enable her to return to her parental home after a long six years of strict matriarchal control. Dielieno takes over the running of the family. Volume 26, Issue 10, 2020 426 http://www.gjstx-e.cn/ High Technology Letters ISSN NO : 1006-6748 After grandmother’s death, Dielieno forgives all her abuses towards her and buries all the strict matriarchal behavior with her. The novel ends with the prospect of Bulie, the youngest brother marrying Nisano and Dielieno too looking forward to marry. Starting her journey as a four and a half year old child Dielieno is the pivot whose coming of age from victim to confident young women is a reflection of the changing tribal society. Works Cited Primary Source Kire, Easterine. A Terrible Matriarchy. New Delhi: Zubaan, 2007. Print. Secondary Sources Elizabeth,Vizovono., Sentinaro Tsuren.Insider Perspectives: Critical Essays on Literature from Nagaland .Norway : Barkweaver,2017. Print. Kire, Easterine. Walking The Roadless Road. New Delhi: Aleph, 2019. Print Volume 26, Issue 10, 2020 427 http://www.gjstx-e.cn/.

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