Sixteen tales of human tenacity wrapped in The Yellow Dress

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Feb. 29 (EMN): From what started as a childhood hobby, 28-year-old Inakali Assumi has shown how her passion and resilience for writing have given her the platform to share stories that encompass the tenacity of the human condition.

PenThrill Publication House on Saturday launched Assumi’s second book ‘The Yellow Dress’ at Muffet’s Pantry in Dimapur. The Yellow Dress begins with narratives of little children subjected to life’s cruelties but triumph with the beauty of their ingeniousness, the innocent reasoning towards something as wild as envy or malice.

The Yellow Dress is Assumi’s second book after ‘Potpourri Poesy’. It is a collection of 16 short stories, both fictional and real-life, ranging from simple innocent childhood stories to others that dwell on the agonies and bleakness that surround old age and death.

Speaking at the programme, Assumi shared how she started writing her second book in 2018 and completed it during mid-2019. She expressed profound happiness that the stories and the characters from the story would now get to see the world.

On the story behind the title of the book, she said that it was from her childhood where her father bought her a ‘beautiful yellow dress’ during her schooldays at Mount Hermon in Kohima. She added that she still dearly remembers every little emotion associated with it.

Commenting on the book, Dr. Kevizonuo Kuolie, HoD, department of English, ICFAI University Nagaland, admitted that the title of the book itself immediately attracted her to this book, and stated that it was ‘pure innocence and simplicity standing out’.

Asserting that the writer prepares the mind of the reader to the next story in a very simple and subtle way, Kuolie stated that this particular book was no different from the rest, having (or using) a systematic pattern in sequencing the stories for the readers to go into the story further.

“From childhood to old age, from comic to tragic plots, from light to darker themes, from innocence to experiencing issues like physical and mental abuse, unhealthy relationships, internal conflicts, consequences of bad decisions, societal constraints and pressure, etc., which explores different parts of the person’s psyche are evidently seen,” said Kuolie.

The book, priced at INR 250 will be available at Fusion Store, OM books in Dimapur and at Crossword, Bible House and Gutouch in Kohima. One can also get it online at ilandlo.com.

The book was formally released by Dr. S Elika Assumi, Dean, Tetso College Dimapur.

In her brief address, she said that ‘we live in a society, and for it to grow, we not only need more thinkers, but also doers’.