In ARDEN: A Memoir of Four Years in Shillong, 1974-78

Reviews, Interviews, and Mentions

“Newly married, my wife and I went to teach English at a newly established university in north-eastern India. During our four years there, we made many friends, getting to know some unique features of the countryside, as well as the tribal culture of the locals who were fast modernizing. These memoirs try to communicate, as vividly as I can, my experiences, discoveries, and disappointments. So here is a somewhat unusual introduction to the Khasi Hills, its people, and those years, which should interest everyone who wishes to discover more about a fascinating part of India that is still too little known.” – Brijraj Singh

. . . a vivid remembrance . . . written with empathy and insight . . . . sensitively drawn portraits of individuals from all sections of society, of landscapes urban and rural, and of animals too . . . . a wry sense of humour and a sharp eye for pomposity. Evocative without being sentimental.
– Ramachandra Guha, historian and public intellectual

A classic of the times, and a classic of Shillong.
– Malsawmi Jacob, the first Mizo novelist in English

Undoubtedly makes the author the cultural ambassador of Northeast India to the wider world.
– Varghese Mathai, former Fulbright Scholar; Professor of Doctoral Writing, Judson University, USA

A delightful memoir ….Opens a floodgate of memories of people and places that come back to life ….narrated with an openness and honesty that reflects a love and zest for life, for the place and people.  Any reader is sure to enjoy the flow and mastery of language that describes what seems like a lifetime of adventure, curious encounters, interesting personality studies, love of nature, disappointments – all packed in the span of just four years.
– Margaret Ch Zama, retired Professor of English, Mizoram University

The book feels like postcards from the past, yellowed with time.  For the 21st-century Shillongite, sepia-tinged characters greet us, as we smile at them.

– Adity Choudhury, reviewing the book in The Meghalayan magazine, November the 12th, 2022 https://themeghalayan.com/a-postcard-of-remembrance/

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“Brij’s observations about the individuals he writes about are kind, generous; and his comments, when on the unflattering side, are strikingly fact-based and evidence-based. He is never evasive. This memoir has integrity of spirit, and integrity in the delightfully forthright texture of its writing. 

-Dr Paulus Pimomo, Professor of English, Central Washington University, USA

. I learned about the founding of Shillong by the British in the 19th century, the institutions they started, and what have stayed and what have changed a century later, in the late 1970s when he lived there. People don’t generally think of Shillong as a place they can get to interact socially with the governor and top bureaucrats of the State, but Brij does, and yet he also gets to negotiate the price of pineapples in rudimentary Khasi with the local vendors, and he goes to work daily with the region’s leading academics at the only university in the State back then. And what makes Brij’s memoir so special is that they are all — from the governor on down — spoken for with keen fascination, empathy, and honesty.”

-Dr Paul Pimomo, Professor of English, Central Washington University, USA