Whispers between Beads & Decoding the Silences
MK Binodini Devi's a String of Beads (Charik Pareng)
- Part 1 -

Dr Elangbam Hemanta Singh / Rashmi Elangbam *

Photo Credit :: MK Binodini Collections

A String of Beads (Charik Pareng) by MK Binodini Devi (translated into English by Ksh. Chetan and published in Ch. Jamini Devi, Malem, 2007, Leikol). The reason for a review of "A String of Beads" has come to our mind most seriously as the outcome of an email of "Appreciation" received on 6th April 2025 from the Imasi Foundation: "Dear Oja Hemanta, I have read your article on Sur with great interest and enjoyment. It is very well done. I am reaching out to commend you on your essay and convey my appreciation. I look forward to reading more of your work in the future. Thank you. L Somi Roy."

With that, we take this privilege and honour of ... Let me introduce who is L. Somi Roy—the founder of Imasi and also son of late MK Binodini Devi (Imasi)—who translated his mother's major works into English, include The Princess and the Political Agent (2020) (Boro Saheb Ongbi Sanatombi), Itamacha (2004) (Imphal Turelgi Itamacha), Crimson Rainclouds (2012), The Maharaja's Household : A Daughter's Memories of Her Father (2015).

Above all, he is a writer, curator and publisher as well. Some of his works, include o And That is Why Manipuri Myths Retold (2021), o Makers of Indian Literature : MK Binodini Devi (2022), and o Feathers, Fools and Farts : Manipuri Follctales Retold (2024).

With this, I urge, the readers must read And That is Why Manipuri Myths Retold (2021)—in this book, you may analyse between the Manipuri myths and the Hindu mythology, for instance, I excerpt, Soraren the Sky God and the Eternal Creator who has two sons—Asiba the Worker and Haraba the Destroyer, giving task to them to make the Earth.

However, there was a conflict between brothers : "In everything Asiba did, Haraba created obstacles... destruction" (p.2). On the other hand, according to Hindu mythology/scriptures, Brahma the Lord of Creation, Vishnu the Lord of Preservation, and Shiva the Lord of Destruction are considered the beginning of everything—Brahma was born from the lotus which grew from Vishnu's navel.

Then, Brahma created the world and all living beings as well. Here we may explore the binary oppositions / theory between the two myths—creator/creation, worker/preservation, destroyer/destruction.

In my sincere opinion, I have no idea, yet, we need to do a lot scholarly research on it. If somebody is interested in, I suggest you to study the works of Claude Levi-Strauss, Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida and both ancient scriptures .

Let's first examine the plot of "A String of Beads" before moving on to a postcolonial analysis. The story's metafictional nature is among its most remarkable features. Story telling itself turns into a means of reconstructing the past. T

he story opens with a "dinner party," where the host, who is "from Kerala," introduces the guests—"the Ahmed couple, their sisters (Noor and Leal), and ourselves formed the group"—to a "Major Sharma...a bachelor," who turns out to be a much larger and older man than anticipated, perhaps "not below forty years of age."

Setting the scene, Major Sharma introduces Colonel J Thomas, whom he had met in the Manipur highlands and who he calls "a most wonderful person." The reader is reminded of the intricate connection between oral histories and cultural history in Indian and Manipuri literary traditions by the dinner party, which turns into a narrative frame that creates a space for memory to resurface.

The host's lengthy—but ultimately deceptive—introduction of Major Sharma and his story about the Colonel initiate a recursive process in which the forgotten memories of the unidentified female narrator start to reappear. By highlighting the voids, silences, and erasures that invariably precede acts of remembering, this technique of nested storytelling—stories within stories—reflects the fragmented and frequently enigmatic character of memory itself.

After that, the story turns to the protagonist's personal interactions with the Colonel, providing a detailed portrait of this fascinating person. According to the description, the Colonel is a tall, slender man in his "fifty or sixty", resembles "Abraham Lincoln" and is dressed like the "Pied Piper of Hamelin."

His "Oxford English" speech pattern and extensive subject-matter expertise point to a highly educated and sophisticated upbringing: "He had a PhD". During the Second World War, he enlisted in the army. The protagonist of the narrative finds it difficult to comprehend the Colonel's mysterious nature and the causes of his apparently unusual and lonely way of life.

Speaking of his "nine months" in prison during the war, the Colonel describes how this experience influenced his outlook on life and his decision to live "backward in time," away from the comforts of contemporary society. Through the protagonist's talks with the Colonel, MK Binodini deftly interweaves the Colonel's backstory, providing glimpses of his history.

We find out that the Colonel had "a relationship with a girl in the continent" and that he had sent her a package "a string of green beads with a small silver image of Ganesh". He had no one to entrust the package to, though, as it was returned to him with a letter from her family explaining that "She had already left this world."

The Colonel's visit to say goodbye to the main character, disclosing his plan to relocate farther into the hills and ask for a little piece of land for his burial, is a moving point in the story. His application, which is written in a poetic and literary style, demonstrates his profound philosophical comprehension of life and death.

This encounter profoundly affects the protagonist, and the story concludes with the question of where the valuable "string of beads" that the Colonel had entrusted to her might be. In the setting of Manipuri society, "A String of Beads" provides a sophisticated examination of postcolonial identity, memory, and cultural hybridity on a larger scale.

The story explores the lasting impacts of colonialism on individual and societal consciousness through the symbolic usage of the beads and the nuanced interaction between the anonymous female narrator and Colonel Thomas, a British officer. This review analyses the narrative using post colonial theory, highlighting the text's interaction with colonial legacies by referencing ideas like mimicry, hybridity, and the subaltern.

The underlying of the story is that the relationship between the narrator and the Colonel epitomizes the cultural hybridity and characteristics of colonial encounters. In The Location of Culture (1994), Homi K Bhabha's concept of hybridity describes the creation of new cultural forms resulting from the interaction between the colonizer and the colonized, leading to an interstitial space where traditional identities are destabilized.

In A String of Beads, this hybridity seems to be evident in the narrator's recollection of the Colonel's fascination with Manipuri culture and his attempts to engage with it. "He talked on various topics. I enjoyed greatly his Oxford English. Most of his anecdotes were rather sketchy. There was no proper sequence of the events. Starting from philosophy we also talked about the flowers found in India. We never talked about his origin and ancestry. I could somehow form an idea about his life from such talks."

This passage highlights the narrator's attempt to understand the Colonel's background and experiences, which blend elements of Western education and military service with an interest in Manipuri culture and philosophy. This quote also demonstrates the Colonel's fascination with a local person he encountered in the hills of Manipur, drawing comparisons to historical and literary figures.

Despite his efforts to engage with the local culture are marked by a blend of admiration and appropriation, the Colonel remains an outsider, as evident in the following quote : "Oh no, don't say so, sister. I do not wish to fight with destiny. Call me a coward, if you like."

This quote suggests the Colonel's inability to fully integrate into the local community, as he acknowledges his position as an outsider and his unwillingness to "fight with destiny," which may be a reference to the colonial power dynamics that he is unable to overcome.

Throughout the story, the relationship between the narrator and the Colonel is characterized by a blend of admiration, curiosity, and a sense of disconnect, reflecting the interstitial space of cultural hybridity described by Homi K Bhabha's theory of hybridity.

In The Location of Culture (1994), Bhabha's notion of mimicry refers to the colonized subject's imitation of the colonizer's culture, language, and behaviour, which simultaneously mocks and destabilizes colonial authority.

The story of Colonel J Thomas in "A String of Beads" by MK Binodini Devi can be interpreted through the lens of Bhabha's notion of mimicry as the Colonel's attempts to assimilate into the local Manipuri culture reveal the ambivalence and fragility of colonial authority.

One key instance that suggests the Colonel's mimicry is his adoption of the local dress and customs, as evident in the following quote : "I could not guess his Nationality from dress. He introduced himself saying: `Good morning Sir: I am Col J Thomas.'

To be continued...