The Story of Shangmiyang the Tangkhul Giant
by Birendra Kumar Bhattacharyya and illustrated by Suddhasattwa Basu
“The Story of Shangmiyang the Tangkhul Giant” by Birendra Kumar Bhattacharyya and illustrated by Suddhasattwa Basu. A hilarious tale of the gentle giant who sneezed up a storm to make the Tangkhul potters go everywhere across the world.
Koncheng was a little boy whose favourite place was his grandmother’s home. She lived next to the hills where the Shiroi Lily grew. Every night she told him a story and his favourite one was of Shangmiyang. She would start the story by asking Koncheng to describe how Shangmiyang looked. Koncheng would do so animatedly. Grandma Atib and Uncle Rishang were telling the story to Koncheng one night.
Shangmiyang was a large and magnificent demon who was kind. He could sweep away the mountains from one end of the earth to the other with his breath. His body was as large as the Tangkhul hills. He could touch the Chindwin river in Burma with his left hand and play with the Brahmaputra river with his right hand quite easily.
What happened when a group of potters lost their way at night and found themselves near Shangmiyang unknowingly? Did he realise their presence? Did they get to know that he was there? How did he make them go all over the world? Read the hilarious and delightful story to find out. The illustrations are a visual delight. Especially the spread where there is a cutout spanning four pages showing the entire body of Shangmiyang. That is when he is shown the first time.
My seven year old has loved the story from the time he was six. He couldn’t stop chuckling as we read the adventures of the potters when they went near Shangmiyang. No wonder Koncheng loved the story! The story has been excerpted and retold by the author from his novel “Yaruingam”. He is an eminent Asomiya writer and winner of several prestigious awards of the likes of Sahitya Akademi Award and Jnanpith Award. Thank you Vidya Mani of Funky Rainbow for recommending this lovely book!
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 5+.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Katha here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.