A book titled ‘Yopum Galo Lok Kathaye’ authored by Gumpi Nguso, Hindi Officer of Rajiv Gandhi University was released on Tuesday at Arunachal Institute of Tribal Studies (AITS) conference hall.

The book release event was attended by Chief Guest Vir Bharat Talwar, JNU Professor through virtual mode from JNU New Delhi, RGU Vice Chancellor Prof Saket Kushwaha and Galo Welfare Society President, Er Tanga Kena, Joint Registrar Dr. David Pertin, Hindi Assistant Profesor Dr. Abhishek Kr. Yadav among others.

Professor Vir Bharat Talwar in his speech mentioned the significance of the book as a representative of the millions of tribal people scattered around the country. He related the importance of the book to the tribal society as much as it is to the mainland people with Ramayana and Mahabarata.

RGU VC Prof. Saket Khushwaha in his brief speech said tribal society is not only society but a religion. He exhorted for cultivating good deeds for the society to uplift the traditional culture by highlighting the issues that matter in society.

Jt. Registrar Dr. David Pertin appreciated the writer for her dedication towards completing the book despite the rigorous lockdowns and wished best for her future endeavours. She has written the folk stories of Galo society and did her best to create a book of the Galo traditional oral stories which would not only save the rich tradition of the society but also the inspiration to coming generation, he said.

Author Gumpi Nguso in her deliberation shared the traditional way of greeting each other with ‘churgen’ and explained its mesmerizing details about how it is close to nature.

Highlighting the reason of having her book named as Yopum which was asked to her by many, she said: “This resembles feminism and the power to be able to work at any region, and to be a girl as from any other region.”

This book not only covers Galo society but also talks about Abotani, Nyishi community and other tribes of Tani clan.  I have tried my best to capture the real story and tried to avoid the biasness, she said.

Registrar Dr N T Rikam spoke about the importance of Hindi language and its presence in our nation as a Dev Nagri Script. He also highlighted the necessity of promoting one’s culture and tradition through various other creative ways.  One should not only be confined to the theoretical part of the learning process but also explore and find a way to preserve our old decaying tradition, he said.

He also advised young students to utilize the abundance of opportunity in Arunachal Pradesh.

GWS President Er Tanga Kena talked about the importance of preserving traditional knowledge and mentioned about GWS’s current mission on persevering Galo society through language development program, online galo folk tale competition which was recently organised and library movement.

Dr. Abhishek Kr. Yadav congratulated the writer and appreciated her hard work.