Waiting for the Dust to Settle

Veio Pou

Ten-year-old Rakovei, who aspires to become a soldier, watches every day as an army convoy passes his house. But after his family comes face to face with tragedy in 1987, he begins to see the darker side of the military. This debut novel, set in Manipur, reveals how the brutal Operation Bluebird—conducted by the Assam Rifles in retaliation for an attack by the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland—tears apart Rakovei’s life.

Speaking Tiger, Rs 399, 224 pages