Headhunting of the literal sort figures quite prominently in Now the Hell Will Start, our 386-page labor o’ love. We dedicated an entire chapter to the practice, and thus field frequent questions from readers regarding whether or not the tribal inhabitants of North-East India and northwest Burma still take skulls. Our stock answer is that [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Assam'
What Young Men Still Do
December 30th, 2009 · 1 Comment
Tags:anthropology·Assam·Borneo·crime·Dayaks·headhunting·India·Indonesia·journalism·Madurese
The Black Widow Gets Stung
June 9th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Big news out of North-East India, where the leader of the infamous Black Widow insurgency is finally in police custody. According to Indian officials, Mihir Barman (whose nom de guerre is Jewel Gorlosa) was picked up in Bangalore while awaiting delivery of a false passport—a document he needed to reach Nepal for romantic reasons: Gorlosa [...]
Tags:Assam·Black Widow·crime·India·Jewel Gorlosa·Nepal·plastic surgery
The Cannabis Debate, Circa 1894
April 29th, 2009 · No Comments
For today’s edition of NtHWS Extras, we’ll be covering a topic that’s been much in the news as of late: Cannabis laws. Ganja use plays a significant role in Now the Hell Will Start, as it did in the lives of thousands of American GIs during World War II. The book’s main character became a [...]
Tags:Assam·British Empire·drugs·India·Indian Hemp Drugs Commission·marijuana·Now the Hell Will Start·NtHWS Extras Month·World War II
The Fighting Bulbuls of Assam
February 24th, 2009 · No Comments
Every year ’round this time, the denizens of Assam throw a harvest shindig called Bhogali Bihu. Folks eat too much, dance around bonfires, and bang on dhols all night. Less predictably, they also watch drunken songbirds beat the tar out of one another. Fighting bulbuls attract thousands of onlookers during Bhogali Bihu, and countless rupees [...]
