In 2010, just as the Indian government was stepping up its counterinsurgency operations in the country's Naxal-affected areas, Alpa Shah set out on a seven-night march with a guerrilla platoon across 250 kilometres of the same territory. An anthropology professor, she wanted to understand why, against the backdrop of a shiny new India, the country's poor had shunned the world's largest democracy and united with revolutionary ideologues.
Dressed as a man in an olive-green guerrilla uniform, Alpa was the only woman and the only person not carrying a gun in the platoon. Her gritty journey reveals how and why people from very different backgrounds come together to take up arms to change the world but also what makes them fall apart.
Unfolding like a thriller and brought to life by Alpa's years of research and immersion into the daily lives of the tribal communities in a Naxal stronghold, Nightmarch is a reflection on economic growth, rising inequality, dispossession and conflict at the heart of contemporary India.
Dressed as a man in an olive-green guerrilla uniform, Alpa was the only woman and the only person not carrying a gun in the platoon. Her gritty journey reveals how and why people from very different backgrounds come together to take up arms to change the world but also what makes them fall apart.
Unfolding like a thriller and brought to life by Alpa's years of research and immersion into the daily lives of the tribal communities in a Naxal stronghold, Nightmarch is a reflection on economic growth, rising inequality, dispossession and conflict at the heart of contemporary India.
Nightmarch is a non-fiction about
the lives of naxals written by anthropologist Alpa Shah. The author is
Associate Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics &
Political Science. She has reported & presented on India for BBC Radio 4
& the World Service. Her work is based on her insights from living as a
social anthropologist for several years amongst the Adivasis of eastern India.
The author takes on a challenge to
explore the world of Naxalites from an inside view & in her quest to do so
she travels from the naxal affected areas of India covering several states. The
author tries to understand their psyche which makes them leave their normal
lives & join the forces of revolution & resistance against the
government. From unemployed youth to
well settled affluent people, men or women, the author captures their stories
in the most sensible & riveting way. Get the book here,
I have been planning to read a
book around this topic for quite some time now & when I found out that this
book has come out AND it’s written by an anthropologist then I was sure that I
need to read it. The author being an anthropologist knows the importance of
fieldwork & that shows in her book. The hardwork she has put in to live
with the naxals & learn about their lives from an insider perspective is
what made this book more interesting & a smooth read. The language used is
easy, the title & cover couldn’t be better. An awesome read, don’t miss it!
Sounds interesting!
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