The Black Magic Women

Many writers in the recent past have acquainted the rest of India to the composite culture of this north-eastern state through their writings. Black Magic Women makes a similar attempt with a stark difference! Moushumi Kandal brings her characters out of Assam and places them in the mainstream, capturing their struggle to retain their inherent 'Assameseness' as they try to assimilate at the same time into a larger picture. The title story, Black Magic Women, is about how the mainstream India perceives the Assamese women, who powered with the art of seduction and black magic, are made to endure social discrimination that can range from racial slurs to physical abuse. Juxtaposing two different eras, it is a historic-fictional re-telling of gender bias chronicled in the early nineteenth century colonial reportage by a British officer. The stories make one pause, think and debate issues that range from racial discrimination to the politics in the entertainment industry to sexual harassment to the existential and ideological dilemma induced by the complex sociopolitical scenario of the late eighties. Using a generous sprinkle of fable, myth and various metaphors, they deliver a powerful punch to the reader.