And That is Why :: Retellings from Manipuri mythology
Book Launch Date : June 21st, 2021

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Book Cover : And That is Why

Penguin Random House India is delighted to announce the release of L. Somi Roy's And That is Why (Puffin), an illustrated collection of endearing and vibrant retellings from Manipuri mythology told for the first time ever to the outside world.

The book is scheduled to release on June 21st, 2021.

A well-known curator and cultural conservationist, L. Somi Roy, is a writer and translator whose work helps bring his native Manipur to the outside world.

The mythological stories in And That is Why are derived from text and oral sources in the Tibeto-Burman language of Manipuri, or Meiteilon to use its endonym. The oral traditions are from ballads and rituals. The written texts are found in a very little-known tradition of manuscripts called puya and handwritten mostly in Meitei Mayek, one of a handful of Tibeto-Burman scripts.

The mythology the stories draw upon is that of the Meiteis, the dominant group that established the feudal kingdom of Manipur, and that the author belongs to. They are gathered from scholars, archivists, and balladeers.

The myths in And That Is Why and their source manuscripts and oral ballads are a part of the pre-Hindu religious practice of the Meiteis, that is largely ancestor-worshiping and animistic, and which continued to co-exist with Vaishnavism and is practiced to this day. Many stories overlap with or feature adjacent tribal traditions of Manipur, such as that of the Kabui, and minor traditions within the Meiteis such as the Chakpa, Kakching, and Moirang.

Roy's selection of myths for And That Is Why takes into account these smaller traditions while indulging in a personal predilection for tales that feature birds and animals.

Book Cover : And That is Why

Advance Praise for the Book

'This book is very interesting. You would probably never find a book like this. Though I don't understand why the pied cuckoo was able to wash dishes or weave. Then again, it is just a story with some fiction in it'—Jessica Aribam, age 10

And That Is Why is available in India and worldwide on Amazon as an ebook and in print. In Manipur, Ukiyo Bookstore partners with Penguin Random House India to make the title available exclusively in their store on Sega Road, Imphal.

About the book

Twelve magical tales from Manipur, the mountain land in the north-east of India on the border with Myanmar, passed down by learned scholars, balladeers and grandmothers over hundreds of years. The retelling of these unknown myths are enriched with beautiful paintings for the book by modern Manipuri artist Sapha Yumnam that introduces the never-seen-before art form of Manipuri manuscript illustrations.

L. Somi Roy

About the author L. Somi Roy

L. Somi Roy is a cultural conservationist and curator who writes on film, culture and polo for publications in India and the United States. He promotes international polo and Manipuri pony preservation in India, and is a film curator who has organized exhibitions for the Asia Society, Museum of Modern Art, Film at Lincoln Center, and Whitney Museum of American Art.

He has also translated the original Manipuri works of his mother, the Manipuri writer M.K. Binodini Devi. His published translations of Binodini include her historical novel The Princess and the Political Agent, a Penguin Modern Classic published by Penguin Random House India; memoir essays The Maharaja's Household: A Daughter's Memories of Her Father; her play Crimson Rainclouds; and screenplay My Son, My Precious.

Roy is the founder of Imasi: The Maharaj Kumari Binodini Devi Foundation (www.imasi.org) in his native land, Manipur.