‘The Distaste of the Earth’: Kynpham S Nongkynrih’s novel is a love story between humans and nature

Stories have the potential to be disruptive, disturb the status quo, and inspire revolutions. And then there are those novels that transcend the particulars of its content to remind you that the human experience – in all its pain, glory, and meaninglessness – remains constant across space and time. Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih’s new novel The Distaste of the Earth strives to encompass all the elements that make for an excellent story.

For starters, it transports its reader to a land that is familiar to but a few, set in a time long, long gone. Nongkynrih narrates a tragic tale of star-crossed lovers residing in Hima Mokkhiew, a society nestled in the lush rainforests of the Khasi Hills. This is the tale of Manik Raitong, or Manik the Wretched, a “filthy pauper” who was orphaned by misfortune and a recluse by choice.

Through oral traditions, the tale has survived across generations in the Khasi community as the tragic love affair between the wretched Manik and the Khasi Queen Lieng Makaw continues to inspire an ideal for true love. However, Nongkynrih hints at his subversion of this classic Khasi legend as he confesses in the Author’s Note that the love story does not form the meat...

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