ABSTRACT
Temsula Ao's soulful re-creation of Nagaland in Laburnum for My Head (2009) and These Hills Called Home: Stories from a War Zone (2006) won her accolades such as the Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi award. While providing a panoramic view of Nagaland's socio-cultural and political situation, they offer a multi-pronged perspective into the lives of the ones who perished or survived during the insurgency of the 1950s. The main objective of this chapter is to explore the theme of resistance within Nagaland's conflictual geography. The theme of resistance overflows into the other themes. Additionally, the thematic analysis of gender-interplay and agency within the context of violence forms a substantial part of this analysis. The theme of triumph overrides the depiction of gender because women are not portrayed as victims. The responses of the young men and the geriatric population to the insurgency and its aftermath intermingle with the articulation of gender because these relationships do not operate in isolation. The chapter engages with the theme of justice that Ao seamlessly juxtaposes with the Naga space. It is an inevitable part of the discussion as it depicts systemic violations.
