India, Sept. 14 -- What was it like to partner with Zubaan on the anthology, The Many That I Am: Writings from Nagaland?

Zubaan gave me creative space. They have also reached out to me to work on other projects, and I've said yes to them without hesitating because they are empathetic towards the stories from the Northeast.

It must have been a huge responsibility curating it.

That responsibility was very much on my mind. When the submissions came in, most were sad stories, and I was concerned whether they would present a particular picture of Nagaland. Ours is a patriarchal social setup, so if we're to start telling our stories somewhere, then why not talk about something close to us, why not start with pain? If you read the stories, yo...