Naseeruddin Shah gives voice to forests of the Northeast
The room of conversation, culture, and hills resonated with indigenous melodies. Hosted by the Government of Meghalaya, this New Delhi Prelude served as a cultural bridge to November’s Shillong Literary Festival, with live grassroots music honoring unspoken regional histories.
Listeners, including Navees with Insha, gathered. Discussions gave space to the unsaid stories of displaced communities. Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Shekhar Gupta discussed building a year-round creative economy, while Sangma and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia took in the Living Root Bridges display. On the cinema front, filmmakers Dominic Sangma and Pradip Kurbah called the ‘Hello Meghalaya’ platform a much-needed lifeline for independent storytellers. Grounding these discussions, Streamlet Dkhar and Crystal Cornelious D Marak delivered readings of Khasi and Garo classics, preserving linguistic history.
Then Naseeruddin Shah took over. He opened with James Thurber’s fables, laying bare the ugly reality of human greed against nature. He then shifted to Vikram Seth’s Beastly Tales from Here and There, reading about the pristine Bingle Valley. His voice brought the land of scarlet rhododendrons and cold rivers into immediate focus. He then shifted to Vikram Seth’s work, reading about pristine Bingle Valley. His voice brought the land of scarlet rhododendrons and cold rivers into immediate focus. He narrated the tale of the elephant and the tragopan drinking lukewarm tea.
The attendees sat in absolute silence as the creatures discussed disturbing human schemes to cut down the woods. By giving voice to these forest dwellers, Shah highlighted the deep, raw pain of those facing the sudden loss of their home. His commanding reading united literature, music, and art, bringing the quiet fears of the hills directly into the center of the capital.
Artists from the Grassroots Music Program took over the stage and brought the whole evening alive with Meghalaya’s music and culture
