'History does not always speak the truth.
Sometimes, it silences the truth.'
Rita Chowdhury’s Makam (2010) (translated into English as Chinatown Days) occupies a seminal place in the Assamese literary canon, offering a powerful meditation on a silenced and deeply painful chapter of India’s sociopolitical history—the marginalization and erasure of the Assamese-Chinese community.
Framed against the tumultuous events of the 1962 Sino-Indian War, the novel excavates the traumatic experiences of nearly 1,500 individuals who were unjustly detained and deported to an unfamiliar land, branded as traitors and severed from their homeland. This act of exile was not merely physical, but symbolic, rupturing their sense of belonging and identity.
With 10 editions published in its first year, Makam’s reception is testimony to its enduring intellectual and emotional resonance. It transcends regional boundaries to emerge as a universal narrative of historical injustice, cultural displacement, and the resilience of memory.
At once a literary tour de force and an act of historical reclamation, Makam stands as a solemn call to amplify silenced voices—an ethos the author continues to embody.
Makam (Chinatown Days): XXXXXX copies sold
“I would call myself a fighter rather than a rebel. I am a nonconformist.
I have an instinct to protect and protest.”
– Rita Chowdhury
Rita Chowdhury
A Luminary of Letters, Thought, and Cultural Discourse
A distinguished novelist, poet, and literary luminary, Rita Chowdhury's oeuvre transcends mere storytelling to grapple with the profound existential, historical, and philosophical dimensions of human experience. A venerated presence in Assamese literature, her works serve as both artistic expressions and intellectual inquiries, delving into the intricate tapestry of history, identity, resilience, and the ceaseless evolution of the human spirit.
By Rita Chowdhury
