Foreword by Rajmohan Gandhi

‘Those in India or elsewhere who would like to get to know Nagas and their history cannot do much better than to read Visier’s remarkable, if in places thorn-filled, story.’—from the Foreword by Rajmohan Gandhi

Five-year-old Visier Meyasetsu Sanyü and his fellow villagers from Khonoma fled for their lives from the Indian Army into the jungles of Nagaland in 1956. He and his family survived privations and starvation there for over two years, though many others did not. Visier emerged from the jungle into a turbulent new Nagaland, altered by civil war and oppression. Violence and fear followed him through his student days in a military school in Bhubaneshwar, where he and other Naga boys were beaten and taken into custody, and his undergraduate years in Darjeeling, adjacent to the theatre of the 1971 war over Bangladesh. When even his dreams of a peaceful life in the University of Nagaland were threatened by fratricide, he finally sought refuge in Australia. During his two decades there, he faced the loss of home and tradition, but also found healing in his work with refugees—and a second home.

This powerful story tracks Visier’s fascinating journey: from a barefoot village schoolboy to a professor, from indigenous religion to Christianity, and from small-town life to appearances before the United Nations. In this fascinating book, his kaleidoscopic sixty-year-long odyssey to find peace, tranquillity, and forgiveness for others is vividly told against the rich tapestry of the Naga quest to be free.

Review

‘Visier's story is riveting, a saga of suffering, fortitude and perseverance interspersed with the Naga tales of struggle for freedom… His engrossing story is about refugees all around the world who have had to flee from violent and political oppression. For anyone who wants to get to know Nagas and their history, this book is invaluable.’—Deccan Herald