I regularly update my ‘Books’ story highlight on Instagram with what I am reading. In the past, I’ve been part of Book Clubs via work and with friends. I’ve enjoyed the conversations I’ve had with people when we’ve found reads in common. To extend that, I am going to do my best to share my monthly reads on my blog. Happy Reading!
Yakthung Civilization, Imbiri Yangthangwa Pumma – a collection of articles by Sandhya Subba (Singzango) was my April read. It was a mini-mission to get this book to Kathmandu. It came all the way from Sikkim.
As it says on the title, this book features a collection of articles in a very reader-friendly format and length. There are twenty-five chapters, articles, all in English. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every page and learning about the rich history of Limbu people, their place and movement in Eastern Nepal and Sikkim. With the writer being from Sikkim, this book and the chosen articles feed a lot of history on the Limbu community in Sikkim. For me, this only fuelled my desire to visit Sikkim even more.
In the past ten years, I am slowly questioning more about my Limbu heritage and wanting to know about why we do certain things. This is all a bit new as culturally we’ve been practicing traditions and customs that, I guess, are not Limbu customs. So it has taken some time to learn more about Limbu traditions and history. Finding books like this, easily digestible in English, is truly a gift. Reading this book gave meaning to some of the things I’ve seen elders do… it also provided clarity. Sometimes it’s easy to group things and certain communities together. Equally, it also made me aware of how much I do not know.
The chapter on Sirijunga Thebe was very fascinating! I had known about Sirijunga Thebe being a Limbu educator, scholar but the way that he died was something I had never learned about. I have driven past and seen the statue of Sirijunga Thebe countless times as you enter Dharan… the statue, which shows his body being struck by arrows, paints a clear picture that his was not a peaceful death, yet I never questioned or wondered enough to find out what or who played a part in his death. He was murdered was all I knew. Chapter eighteen was quite educational in that aspect.
I hope the publisher and author is able to make the book accessible to Limbu people and those interested in this subject all over the world. It’s a great introductory book!
Happy Reading!
