"Closing" the Wounds: A Close Reading of Easterine Kire's Bitter Wormwood

This article reads Easterine Kire’s popular novel about Naga insurgency movement, Bitter Wormwood (2011), framed by its metaphorical title. Naga insurgency is the oldest in the Northeast region of India and has shaped the subjectivities of generations of Naga men and women. In this article, Kire’s choice of a metaphor from traditional Naga herbology is used as an interpretive frame to tease out the meaning and objective of the novel. From this exercise, a picture of disillusionment with Naga insurgency and the need to find closure to the collective memory of being subjected to military excesses by the Indian armed forces emerges. Kire’s novel represents an attempt to provide Nagas with an alternative view and attitude towards the not-so-pleasant memory of their past while also exploring new avenues of relationships underpinned by a desire for a mutually respectful co-existence.