“A Country with No Home” a collection of poems by JNU alumni Lozaan Khumbah, was launched at The Book Home on July 26 at Billy Graham Road, Kohima.
PenThrill’s 91st publication, the book was released by Alice Yhoshü, President of Kohima Press Club.
“A country with no home” by Lozaan Khumbah is a collection of 40 poems written during the course of his academic years in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) New Delhi from 2011. The author shared that these were penned as personal reflections or as responses to the events around him at the time without any particular outcome in mind. But while compiling them for this book, roughly in order that they were written, he realised that they traced his own journey from an overconfident Masters student to an anxious PhD scholar.
In her speech, Yhoshü expressed that Lozaan’s ‘A Country with No Home,’ conveys deep thoughts and emotions, engaging and relatable. She praised his poems for being stark, honest, alive, current, and somewhat desolate. From the melancholy of ‘Sons of the Soil’ to the hopefulness of ‘When I Wake up Tomorrow,’ his poems deeply resonate. She singled out ‘Waiting for the Dust to Settle?’ and ‘Is This My Country?’ as her personal favorites, stating that she truly enjoyed the book. She thanked the author for sharing his thoughts through his work and noted his skill in capturing fleeting moments and transforming them into powerful and soulful verses. She encouraged him to continue writing and explore further.
The launch was followed by conversation between Bauna Panmei, Assistant Professor, History Department, Patkai Christian College with the Author.
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The poems documented some of the major developments in the University and the nation in the past decade, from the tumultuous JNU years in 2016 when the JNUSU President was arrested, to the protests and movements that ensued.
The collection also explores friendship, home and belonging, perhaps made more acute by the socio-political context one live in. It is the recognition of this reality and the concern and love for this wonderfully diverse country of ours that animate this booklet. These verses are a raging against the dying of light, an exercise in hoping, an attempt at singing in the night.
Lozaan Khumbah studied in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi for a Master’s and PhD in Geography. He grew up in the once-remote hills of Tamenglong, Manipur which is now being opened up for the Asian Highway. His late father passed on to him the love for writing. His poem ‘If you come to JNU was published in the book ‘JNU Stories: The First 50 Years. He follows cricket religiously, plays badminton for fun and loves gardening. He lives and teaches in Aizawl, Mizoram. A Country With No Home is his first book.
